Ovechkin helped grow hockey in D.C. area long before becoming NHL goals leader

WASHINGTON -- Haley Skarupa grew up Ovechkin.

The 31-year-old Rockville, Maryland, native, who won a gold medal with the U.S. women's hockey team at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, took up the sport around the same time Alex Ovechkin was playing his rookie season with the Washington Capitals in 2005-06.

"I grew up idolizing him. I had Ovechkin posters all over my room, watched highlights of him all the time," Skarupa said. "I'm proud to be a statistic of the 'Ovi Effect' in the DMV."

Ovechkin's arrival in the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia area and his goal-scoring prowess helped trigger an explosion of hockey in the region long before he became the NHL's all-time goals leader on Sunday, passing Wayne Gretzky with No. 895.

More rinks have been built, with still more needed. Youth and adult leagues are filled or at near capacity, and some players, like Skarupa, have progressed to elite levels in the sport.

"You go back to D.C. and Maryland and Virginia, and there's more teams, more girls, boys playing, a couple more rinks than when we were younger," Skarupa said. "And that's a huge testament to (Ovechkin) and what he's done to help grow the game in that area just by being who he is, such an incredible player and person.

"Obviously, (Capitals owner) Ted (Leonsis) and the Caps organization, and then winning the Stanley Cup in 2018 was a huge part of that," she said. "But Ovi was a major factor."

Registration statistics from USA Hockey tell the story of growth in the region coinciding with Ovechkin's arrival.

The number of registered youth and adult hockey players in USA Hockey's Potomac Valley Region -- which includes Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia -- surged to 21,975 last season from 12,856 in 2005-06, Ovechkin's rookie season, a 71 percent increase.

Participation in men's hockey grew to 8,056 last season from 3,820 in 2005-06. Women's adult hockey went from 425 participants in 2005-06 to 1,077 last season, according to USA Hockey figures.

Boys' hockey jumped from 8,154 in Ovechkin's rookie season to 10,553 last season. Girls' hockey participation in the Potomac Valley region increased to 2,248 last season from 821 in 2005-06. Most of that growth was in Maryland, which went from 272 girls playing in 2005-06 to 1,159 last season.

Kush Sidhu, director and a coach for the Washington Pride, a girls program where Skarupa played and one that has sent more than 140 players to NCAA Division I and Division III schools since its inception in 1995, credits Ovechkin for part of the growth.

"Definitely the Capitals success, Ovechkin's success, sort of helps inspires the girls to play," Sidhu said. "And I think it's just more than him just being a goal-scorer. We didn't know he was going to score 895 goals when he came on the scene.

"But he came with a lot of energy and excitement, and he was fun to watch," Sidhu said. "He was entertaining, and I think that was important for kids to get excited about hockey. It wasn't about the goals, it was about his energy, his infectious play, his love of the game, his smile, and kids want to emulate him. I think the girls want to emulate him just as much as the boys."

The Capitals are working to keep the "Ovi Effect" going.

More than one million local elementary school students have participated in the Capitals Hockey School program. Available to students grades 1-8 at more than 1,600 schools, the program includes street hockey equipment, a custom curriculum and staff training.

The program, supported by the NHL/NHL Players' Association Industry Growth Fund, has donated 66,826 sticks, 2,992 nets, 44,240 balls and 12,568 pucks to participating schools.

More than 25,000 players have participated in a Capitals Youth Hockey event since 2019; and 9,000 players have been introduced to the sport since the Capitals launched its "Learn to Play" program in 2016. The program was offered to boys and girls in 21 rinks last season.

The Capitals have built or refurbished 14 outdoor inline/ball hockey rinks in the area due to increased youth hockey demand.

Former Capitals forward Jeff Halpern, who grew up in Potomac, Maryland, said hockey in the DMV has come a long way since he played as a youth.

"It was eight rinks and eight teams in the Capital Beltway Hockey League, kind of a small world that if you played hockey, you kind of knew everybody in one of those rinks or programs," said Halpern, now an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning. "I would say, 100 percent of all the grassroots that were being done, Ovechkin was right there.

"He was like a light to the whole thing and just set it ablaze."

Kendrick F. Ashton Jr. has seen the “Ovi Effect” as co-founder of the St. James, a massive Black-owned multisport facility in Springfield, Virginia, that has two NHL-sized ice rinks that opened in September 2018. Ovechkin loaned his star power, attending the facility’s groundbreaking in 2017 and skating with kids after it opened.

The St. James’ Under-14 girls’ Tier II hockey team won the 1A title at the 2025 Chipotle-USA Hockey Girls Tier II 14U National Championships in Coral Springs, Florida, on Sunday.

“It’s part of the ‘Ovi Effect,’ 100 percent.” Ashton said. “When I was growing up in the Washington area in the 80s and 90s, there were almost no girls were playing hockey. Now, we’ve got robust and growing girls’ hockey developmental ecosystem here in Washington. That’s a testament to the quality of the leaders we have here and the outgrowth of the popularity of Ovechkin.

“You have to give the Capitals credit of making Ovechkin available and relatable. He’s been such a charismatic, compelling, professional representative of the sport. He’s made hockey as popular as any of the other franchise in any other sport.”