* * *
It so happened that on this day, February 15, exactly nine years ago, Ovechkin’s father was struck by a heart attack.
Uncle Misha later talked about it like this: “Ours played with the Americans in the Sochi Olympics. And do you remember that moment when the referee didn’t count our goal against them? I took it very close to my heart. With all my heart, I rooted for ours. And when such wickedness was committed in relation to Russia, then I was covered. After the game, I kept everything to myself for about a day and a half. It was burning in my chest. The doctors took him to the hospital and examined him. And they said, “Another 15 minutes, and now you’ll be talking to God about hockey.” I was already in this world. But good people pulled me out…”
We talked to the hospital in Sochi, where Father Ovechkin was taken. Sasha himself continued the tournament. I went to see my father… But when they say that Ovi was not like this Olympics, then Russia flew out of the Finns in the quarterfinals – remember in what circumstances Alexander the Great played hockey .
And Uncle Misha simply answered the call when I wished him good health: “Yes, you come to see me. Anyway, I’m lying here alone in the room. And we went there – with commentator Sergei Nailevich Gimaev and correspondent Regina Sevastyanova. When Mikhail Ovechkin saw her, he immediately began to give advice on how to establish relationships with men and choose a husband. He was kind and sincere.
* * *
Uncle Misha, otherwise no one called Ovechkin’s father, was the kind of person everyone in hockey knew.
When he came to Washington, he went smoking in the same column during breaks, and American fans crowded around. They didn’t understand him, he didn’t understand them. But somehow they quickly found a common language, discussed the course of the match, and the fans called him “Boris Yeltsin.”
Mikhail Viktorovich really looked like the first president of Russia. And about Sasha’s popularity in the NHL, he told me this: “He’s the first person in Washington, the second is me, Obama is the third.”
Even in America, he went to his son’s ice lessons. “I did not miss a single training from Sasha – neither in the United States, nor in my youth in Novogorsk. Once all the fathers gathered in the hall after training. We hid where the machine filler left, because coach Zinetula Bilyaletdinov did not allow us to attend. Passing by after class, Bilyaletdinov said to me: “Well, Micha, couldn’t you foresee five? Sasha was then 16 years. Well, at the age of 17 he entered the Russian national team, and Viktor Vasilyevich Tikhonov immediately put him in the first link. And the guy went and went … “
* * *
Uncle Misha in his youth played football for the Dynamo Moscow team and was a good defender. And he met his future wife at the stadium.
“I was with a friend and her boyfriend. Then a football player approaches us, ”recalls Ovechkin’s mother. – And then I came from Bulgaria – all fashionable, stylish, with a beautiful handbag. And there, I have scattered a little. And he said jokingly, “Daughter, can you offer me an ice cream?” It was in 1968…”
When I called Ovechkin’s parents for an interview or a short comment, I usually dialed Uncle Misha’s number, because he is talkative, speaks in colorful phrases. But Mikhail Viktorovich understood that some of his incorrect, somewhere enthusiastic and politically incorrect words could fly in the press, because at the very first minute he said this: “By the way, now I will pass the tube to Tatyana Nikolaevna, she’ I’ll tell you better…”
I had the impression that Ovechkin’s father and mother were still together. And at home, and in the country, and at events, and in America, and in Russia. I thought about it now and can’t even remember when I saw them separately.
It was a real, real love, more than half a century old.
* * *
Uncle Misha might suddenly call, “Give me someone’s phone…I saw it was his birthday. I want to congratulate him.”
Even this tall, sociable person didn’t have all the numbers on the phone. And I kept suggesting. And Mikhail Ovechkin liked to watch videos about Sasha. He especially liked the report when Alexander went out to play football at the Dynamo stadium.
It began with the fact that Ovi, having moved from the lawn to the VIP box, hugged all his friends and relatives. And then Sasha and Uncle Misha stood in front of my camera.
– Dreams come true? – I asked Alexander, who turned from a hockey player to a football player.
This is my dream come true! cried Uncle Misha. And then he added: “Wonderful day! We are all happy: my mother, and me, and all the parents. So we’re all fine.”
* * *
I looked at the messages on my phone. The last from Uncle Misha was this: “Happy New Year, the Ovechkin family congratulates you.”
Just December 31. And in January he was already in the hospital.
… And then, nine years ago in Sochi, after a heart operation, Mikhail Ovechkin was sitting on the bed and, when we were already at the door, he said to us with a sigh a wonderful phrase from which I wonder still remember:
“There seems to be everything in this life. Money, relationships, wonderful children, a beloved wife. But there is no health.
Uncle Misha was simple, kind and true. Those who spoke, they know. He will be greatly missed.
Source : MatchTV
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
