Alexander Mikailovich Ovechkin, the son of Tatiana and Michael Ovechkin was born on September 17, 1985 in Moscow, Russia. He began playing hockey at the age of 7. Soon after he began, however, he had to postpone his hockey career because his parents were unable to take him to the rink. But one of Ovechkin's coaches saw Ovechkin's talent and communicated to his parents that he should continue to play hockey. Ovechkin's brother, Sergei, who later died in a car accident, saw that Alexander loved hockey and insisted that he be allowed to return. Ovechkin resumed playing a few months later and never looked back.
At the age of 16, Alexander Ovechkin surpassed the scoring record set by countryman Ilya Kovalchuk in the World Under-18 Junior Championships by scoring 14 goals and 4 assists in 8 games. At the age of 17, Ovechkin helped lead the Junior National Team to the Gold medal with two hat tricks, one against Switzerland and one against USA, and an assist. Also at the age of 17, when he was selected by legendary Russian coach Victor Tikhonov to play in the Ceska Poistovna Eurotour tournament, Alexander became the youngest skater ever to play for the Russian National Team in the history of Russian hockey. The only other player to play for the National Team at that age was legendary goaltender Vladislav Tretiak. In that tournament he also became the youngest player ever to score for the National Team. He finished the tournament with 1 goals and 2 assists in 3 games.
Projected to be 1st overall at the age of 14, Alexander Ovechkin never relinquished his reign of the 2004 Draft Class. Performances in prestigious tournaments and leagues only reinforced his position as the best undrafted prospect in the world. On June 26, 2004, Alexander Ovechkin was drafted 1st Overall by the Washington Capitals. Ovechkin is only the second Russian in NHL history to be drafted 1st Overall (The first was countryman Ilya Kovalchuk in 2001). On June 26, 2004, Alexander Ovechkin was drafted 1st Overall by the Washington Capitals. Ovechkin is only the second Russian in NHL history to be drafted 1st Overall (The first was countryman Ilya Kovalchuk in 2001). Ovechkin is now on top of the NHL prospects list maintained by Hockey’s Future.
