It has been a season to remember for the Capitals star, Alex Ovechkin. While he has scored consistently this season and been a crucial part of his team’s success, Ovechkin also broke Wayne Gretzky’s record for the most goals scored in the NHL. It was a widely celebrated moment, and the 39-year-old won’t stop at this. While the Washington Capitals made it to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Pittsburgh Penguins, boasting of Sidney Crosby, missed out on the chance to progress this season. As a result, there were talks in the hockey circle that it could be the end of the rivalry between Ovechkin and Crosby, with not much time left in their careers. However, Ovechkin quashed those rumors with a firm update.

Many fans felt that Ovechkin could call time on his illustrious career once he broke Gretzky’s long-standing goals record. With that achieved now, rumors of Ovechkin announcing his retirement circulated in the hockey world. However, the Russian star put an end to those rumors with an assuring statement.

During an interview, Ovechkin was asked if it was important to go up against Sidney Crosby one more time in his career. “I’m not retiring, so,” said the Russian star, as he assured fans that he is here to stay and there could be more battles seen between him and Crosby.

Interestingly, Ovechkin enters the final year of his contract with the Capitals next season. As for whether he’ll retire after his contract runs out, Ovechkin said, “Well, I have one more year, and we’ll see what’s gonna happen. I love the team, I love being around the boys, and as long as I can, I will try to stick around and put my great body in the NHL.” 

Although he gave a cryptic response surrounding his retirement, he assured fans that he is here to stay for at least another season, and we could see more battles between him and Crosby. The two have had a fierce rivalry spanning years, but their relationship has changed over the years.

Alex Ovechkin breaks down his relationship with Sidney Crosby

The two have been stalwarts for their respective teams and have faced each other multiple times on the ice. Their battles have been keenly fought, sometimes going the way of Ovechkin, while on others, Crosby emerged on top. With time, their rivalry matured, and the two found mutual respect for each other.

Spilling details about their relationship, Ovechkin mentioned, “The first couple of years was not that good, but right now we talk, congratulate each other if we hit some milestones. Those relationships is like, you know, from the battle to like in hockey and outside of hockey, it’s total different thing. After the game we always talk, we always chatting and, yeah, we have respect to each other.”

Interestingly, Crosby also broke a Wayne Gretzky record this season. With 89 points in 79 games, it was his 20th consecutive season where he averaged more than a point per game, breaking Gretzky’s streak of 19. This goes to show the magnitude of performances that Crosby and Ovechkin have put on this season, irrespective of where their team finishes this season.