Alex Ovechkin discusses his strong passion for hockey and opens up on delaying retirement thoughts

By Abhishek Dilta

Modified Jul 27, 2024 07:52 GMT

Alex Ovechkin is gearing up for his 20th season in the NHL and with the Capitals in the upcoming 2024-25 season.

Since being drafted first overall by the Washington Capitals in the 2004 draft, the 39-year-old Russian ace has impressively tallied 853 goals, only behind Wayne Gretzky's record 894 goals.

Even at his age, Ovechkin is still somehow defying all the odds by aging like fine wine on the ice. His undying love for the game of hockey is what kept him going all these years, and the passion is what will continue to delay retirement and give fans years of brilliance.

In a recent Russian-language interview with his friend and blogger Amiran Sardarov, Alex Ovechkin gave deep insights into his ongoing career. For him, what is pivotal in staying within the game is having fun playing it, and getting pleasure from the processes involved.

Accordimg to the Caps veteran, there is no reason for retirement as long as these feelings are present.

"As long as I enjoy [playing], as long as I get a thrill out of it, there’s no point in finishing,” Ovechkin said per a transcription by sports.ru and a translation by Google Translate (via RMNB). “The hardest period is after vacation. You’ve played volleyball, gone to the gym for fun, and when you come out [from vacation], you need to run cross-country, lift heavy weights, go on a diet.

"And then you think: ‘Why do I need this, I have everything, I have enough of everything.’ But after three to four days of suffering like that, you get into a routine and realize that you still love this business. If I didn’t love it, I would have finished already," he added.

Alex Ovechkin expresses strong aversion to preseason and training demands

In the interview, Alex Ovechkin said he hates preseason and training. He doesn't like just training and finds it really tough. The cycle of training, resting, and more training bothers the Capitals veteran.

"I hate preseason,” Ovechkin said. “I really hate it. I don’t like to just train. This is the hardest thing. Imagine, you arrived after your vacation, you have a tan, everything is fine, you’re happy. And your coach calls you and says, ‘Well, Sash? Tomorrow we begin training.’ You go to training, then rest, then another training session. I hate it, I can’t stand it.”

Ovi and the Washington Capitals will kick off their 2024-25 season against the New Jersey Devils on Oct. 12.