Alex Ovechkin takes Stanley Cup to childhood rink, celebrates with father

Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin holds the Stanley Cup during his trip home to Moscow. (Dmitry Serebryakov/AP)

Having finally reached the Stanley Cup summit in his 13th NHL campaign, Alex Ovechkin took some time to relish the moment.

He frolicked in city fountains. He did keg stands (Cup stands?). He led choruses of ‘We Are The Champions’ on more than one occasion.

But having returned to Russia for his official two-day stretch with the Cup, the Capitals captain opted for a more sentimental celebration.

After starting the day by bringing the trophy to the 2018 World Cup fan zone in Moscow, Ovechkin travelled half an hour to the suburb of Novogorsk to bring the Cup to the training centre for Dynamo Moscow — the club whose uniform Ovechkin donned for four seasons in his youth.

The Great Eight savoured the moment, taking a spin in his old barn, Cup in hand, before showing off the prize to the youngsters gathered to see their local hero.

The Dynamo return still offered up a few moments of levity for Ovechkin and Co., though, mostly due to the displays adorning the training centre’s halls. One in particular caught Ovechkin’s eye — a framed picture of teammate Nicklas Backstrom, who logged a hefty 19 games with the club during the NHL’s 2012-13 lockout.

Ovi made sure to give his fellow Dynamo legend his due.

The most touching moment of the trip, however, came when Ovechkin was finally able to celebrate his crowning achievement with his father, Mikhail.

The elder Ovechkin wasn’t able to travel to the U.S. to watch his son lift the Cup in June due to health concerns, but the two were able to lift the trophy together in Ovechkin’s childhood rink — a poignant full-circle moment for The Great Eight’s family.

“I can’t even put it into words. Thirteen years we were working toward that goal, and finally to win the Stanley Cup,” Mikhail said through a translator, according to NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti, who travelled with Ovechkin during his first day with the Cup. “It’s a huge happiness. Huge happiness.”

“It was something he was dreaming about,” Mikhail’s son, he of Capitals fame, added. “That’s why he gave so much help, so much of his time to me, and it’s all about that.”

[relatedlinks]

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.