Athletistic / Hockey. Alexander Ovechkin’s collection includes a large number of different awards: individual and team. The Great Eight began to replenish him as a junior, then managed to make noise with Dynamo Moscow in the Super League, but after leaving for the NHL, the Russian won mainly personal awards. His two gold medals at the World Championships in 2008 and 2009 as part of the Russian national team can and should be remembered, but at the club level everything was not so happy – the Washington Capitals did not couldn’t go far in the Stanley Cup. Therefore, it was very timely for Ovechkin to make a short but championship-winning return to his native Dynamo.

Throughout the summer of 2012, the NHL and NHLPA failed to agree on a new collective agreement. As a result, on September 15, the previous contract expired, after which a lockout was officially declared. Since September 16, KHL clubs could recruit players from the North American League. The KHL took into account the mistakes of the Super League when, during the NHL lockout in the 2004/2005 season, Russian clubs were filled with NHL stars. KHL management has now amended the regulations, allowing teams to add three players (one of whom can be a foreign player) with existing contracts with NHL clubs.

Russian clubs mostly relied on their compatriots and even their students. So, for example, Evgeni Malkin, Nikolai Kulemin and Sergei Gonchar arrived in Magnitogorsk “Metallurg”, the SKA was strengthened by Ilya Kovalchuk, Vladimir Tarasenko and Sergei Bobrovsky, and CSKA was replenished with Ilya Bryzgalov, Pavel Datsyuk and the Belarusian Mikhail Grabovski. But the biggest win went to current Gagarin Cup winners Dynamo Moscow. In the first days following the announcement of the lockout, the Blue and White contacted Alexander Ovechkin.

Photo source: HC Dynamo Moscow

Ovechkin played his first match that season on September 20, when in a regular season home match he helped the Blue and Whites defeat Dynamo Minsk with a score of 7: 2. In this meeting, Ovi scored an assist. Dynamo fans did not have to wait long for the first goal of their favorite – on September 23, Alexander scored the goal for SKA, but this puck did not save Oleg Znark’s team from defeat (1:3). In his first month in the KHL, Ovechkin played 12 games and scored 12 (5+7) points using the goal+pass system.

When it became clear that the NHL lockout was prolonged and neither side intended to relent, top foreign players began arriving in the KHL. Ovechkin took advantage of this and, not wanting to completely sever ties with Washington, sent his friend, Swedish center forward Niklas Backström, from abroad. Dynamo’s third reinforcement from the NHL was Russian-Finnish forward Leo Komarov, who then belonged to the Toronto Maple Leafs. It was after their arrival (mainly after Backström’s appearance) that Alexander’s performance began to gain momentum.

On 22 October, Niklas made his debut for Dynamo in an away match with Lokomotiv. In this match, the Swede scored an assist and Ovechkin scored 2 (1+1) points. Over the next two and a half months, the team lost only six games, and Ovechkin and Backstrom averaged over 1.0 points per game.

Photo source: KHL

But on January 6, 2013, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman announced that the league and the players’ union had agreed on the main points of a new collective bargaining agreement and had signed a preliminary agreement to lift the lock-out. out. And on January 12, the end of the lockout was officially announced. Therefore, all players with existing contracts with NHL clubs packed their belongings and crossed the Atlantic Ocean.

By the end of the lockout, Alexander Ovechkin had played 31 games in the regular KHL championship and scored 40 points (19+21) for his performance. Niklas Backström scored 25 points (10+15) in 19 matches. It would seem that the story had come to its logical conclusion, but that was not the case.

“Dynamo” finished the regular season impressively, without trying too hard to challenge for the top seed in the playoffs. The Blue and White took third place in the Western Conference, behind SKA and CSKA (Dynamo was ahead of the Moscow Army team in points, but in the conference table they were ahead of them, since according to the regulations of the KHL, the first two places were occupied by the division winners).

Having saved their energy, Dynamo went through the playoffs like a hurricane. From the first round, the blue and white left no stone unturned against Slovan (4-0 in the series). Then Oleg Znarok’s team downgraded the powerful CSKA (4-1 in series). In the Western Conference final, Dynamo broke SKA’s resistance with a score of 4-2 and reached the playoff final for the second year in a row. In the decisive series, the Blue and White managed to surpass Chelyabinsk Traktor (4-2) and defend the title of winner of the Gagarin Cup.

Photo source: HC Dynamo Moscow

Immediately after the final, it became known that Alexander Ovechkin received gold medals and his name would appear on the Gagarin Cup. But it was not without scandal. The fact is that initially the names of Ovechkin and Komarov were inscribed on the Gagarin Cup, while the merits of Backström were forgotten. This step seemed very strange, because the Swede played more matches for Dynamo than Komarov and also scored more points using the goal+pass system.

At the solemn ceremony on the occasion of the Dynamo championship, Ovechkin transparently hinted that he was not satisfied with this behavior of the club’s leadership:

— It’s great that the management decided to put our names on the Gagarin Cup. Mine and Leo Komarov’s. There are, alas, not very pleasant nuances, but let’s not discuss them at this solemn moment” said Ovechkin, clearly referring to the absence of his Swedish friend’s name on the trophy.

As a result, a month later, Dynamo issued a statement in which they announced that the names of some hockey players, including Niklas Bäckström, would also be engraved on the Gagarin Cup. After that, the conflict was resolved.

Alexander Ovechkin deservedly won the trophy, ending his drought. The fact is that after winning the Russian Championship in the 2004/2005 season, Alexander could not even come close to the club trophy, because his Washington team was then far from winning the Stanley Cup. And the failure at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver (Canada) as part of the Russian national team greatly affected Ovechkin’s pride, which is why his personal statistics in the NHL fell noticeably. This success, although indirect, therefore became a breath of fresh air for the brilliant Russian. Over the next three NHL seasons, he scored over 50 goals three times and once again got everyone talking about the possible fall of Wayne Gretzy’s record. Alexander is now 41 accurate throws behind the brilliant Canadian’s result. Who knows if this would have been possible without the second championship with Dynamo?!

Nikita Serbakov, Athletistic



Athletistic