The ninth "Maurice Richard Trophy" and the birth of his second son: how May 27, 2020 was a special day in the life of Ovechkin

Ninth Maurice Richard Trophy

In the life of the captain of the Washington Capitals, Alexander Ovechkin, two joyful events happened during the day. At first it became known that the Russian striker will receive the prestigious Maurice Richard Trophy award of the 2019/20 season, and after a few hours the hockey player said that he became a father for the second time.

The National Hockey League (NHL) best sniper prize is awarded based on the results of the regular season. In mid-March, it was decided to suspend the tournament due to the coronavirus pandemic. At that time, “Washington” had to play another 13 matches. Until recently, the fate of the tournament remained unknown, but on May 27, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced that the season would resume immediately from the Stanley Cup.

At the time of the forced pause, Ovechkin had 48 goals. He shared the first line in the list of the best snipers with the striker of the Boston Bruins David Pastrnyak. For the Russian, the current “Maurice Richard Trophy” became the ninth in his career, which is an absolute league record. It is worth noting that the hockey player has not missed him over the past three seasons.

Thanks to this achievement, the captain of “Washington” took second place in the history of the NHL in the number of individual awards, catching up with the legend of “Pittsburgh Penguins” Mario Lemieux. Now he has 18 titles. The first place on this list by a wide margin is occupied by another legendary hockey player - Wayne Gretzky (34 awards).

Interestingly, not one of Ovechkin's compatriots who played in the North American League achieved such successes. In addition to nine Maurice Richard Trophy, he is the owner of three Hart Trophies (the most significant for his team) and as many Ted Lindsay World (the most prominent in the league), and also once won Art Ross (the best scorer), Calder Trophy (best newcomer) and Conn Smythe Trophy (MVP playoffs).

Interestingly, the fate of the main NHL sniper award was decided a few days before the forced pause. Ovechkin caught up with Pastyrnyak in the race for this title in the last match of Washington. Then the metropolitan team on the road met with “Buffalo Sabers”, and its captain noted an abandoned puck, although in the end the game ended in a 3–2 win for the hosts in a shootout.

Another contender for the Maurice Richard Trophy was the forward of the Toronto Maple Leafs Oston Matthews with 47 goals. At the same time, “Washington” had three games less than the Canadian team and the “Bruins”. 

One of the main disadvantages in the early completion of the regular season for Ovechkin is that he was not able to overcome the mark of 50 goals for the ninth time in the season, as well as reduce the backlog from the record of all time. By the way, in this indicator, he could catch up with Gretzky and Mike Bossi. In total, the Russian account has 706 goals, thanks to which he is in eighth place in the list of the best NHL scorers, two goals behind Mike Gartner.

The exact start date for the Stanley Cup is still unknown. It is assumed that from July 1, teams will be allowed to conduct training camps, and the playoffs will begin in late summer or early fall. For the main award of the North American League, 24 teams will compete.

Birth of a second son

Only a few hours after receiving the Maurice Richard Trophy, Ovechkin announced that his wife Anastasia Shubskaya had given birth to a son. The boy was named Ilya. According to his mother, his height was 55 cm, weight - 3800 g.

“Thank you, my beloved Anastasia, for our charming baby! I'm the happiest! I love you very much! Ilya Alexandrovich Ovechkin, welcome to this beautiful world, our boy! ” - Ovechkin wrote on Instagram.

The couple legalized their relationship in 2017. In August of the following year, their first-born was born, who received the name Sergei in honor of the brother of the hockey player. It is interesting that he was born in the same year when Ovechkin won his first Stanley Cup. The family lives in the USA, and the boy constantly attends training and matches of his eminent father.

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Publication by Nastasiya Ovechkina (@nastyashubskaya) Apr 10, 2020 at 10:48 PDT

In February 2020, Shubskaya announced a second pregnancy. Some joke that the replenishment in the family of the Capitals captain should continue the tradition and bring the team another champion trophy.

On the birth of the son of a striker congratulated in the Russian Hockey Federation (FHR).

“Congratulations to the national team striker Alexander Ovechkin and his wife Anastasia on the birth of their second son! Welcome to this beautiful world, Ilya Alexandrovich, ”the press service of the FHR said.