Ovechkin thrills 895 school kids at Capitals practice

ARLINGTON -- Jamie Borg made a prediction on Wednesday.

"These kids are going to lose their minds when 'Ovi' comes out," the principal of Glebe Elementary School said.

She was right.

Alex Ovechkin skated onto the ice at MedStar Capital Iceplex to the shrieks and shouts of fourth and fifth grade students from Arlington Public Schools who literally came by the busload to watch him practice for the first time since he surpassed Wayne Gretzky as the NHL's all-time goals leader.

How many students were there? Well, 895 of course, to match his goals total.

"I'm pretty excited," said Anthony O'Connor, an 11-year-old fifth grader at Glebe Elementary. "It's not every day you get to a professional practice, so it's pretty fun to miss school and watch my favorite player play. I watched him break the record at my house, and it was an exciting time to watch Ovi do something historical. I was really happy."

The cheers reached a crescendo when Ovechkin repeated the center ice belly slide he did at UBS Arena after he scored his historic goal against Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders.

Ovechkin said Capitals defenseman John Carlson gave him the idea to do the belly slide.

"Yeah, 'Carly' tell me the kids wants to see it, so OK," Ovechkin said. "Yeah, it's a great memory."

Ovechkin said opening the practice to the students is another example of the Capitals going all-in on bringing hockey to the community.

"I think the Capitals organization does a great job to raise the hockey game in this area," Ovechkin said. "Obviously, the players are involved as well. You can see kids right now get crazy. Look at the fans. How many new fans come into the building, go to the practice and they get involved in the game? So, it's great for hockey."

The 39-year-old, who joined the NHL in the 2005-06 season, said the days since he achieved the record have been crazy with messages from fans, well-wishers and celebrities.

"When you are a little kid, you get drafted and you're like, 'Wow, this is unbelievable.' You play first game," he said. "Then, you score a goal. Then, like a snowball coming. Then, you have a chance to meet Wayne Gretzky, LeBron James. That's unbelievable. It's a tremendous honor. To get a message from legends like those people, it's special."

Wednesday was special for Sidney Stringer, a 10-year-old Glebe Elementary fifth grader.

"I've never been to an actual practice or hockey game ever," she said. "I've never, ever, seen Ovi in my life before. It was really cool to see Ovechkin and how he is. He broke the record."

The students were away from the classroom, but the field trip to cheer Ovechkin had a valuable lesson behind it, Borg said.

"I think what it ultimately means is that you can set a goal and you can achieve it because that's what we saw happen on Sunday," Borg said. "To be able to come here and see this in person and get to recognize Ovechkin is beyond exciting."

Ovechkin acknowledged the student's adoration. He clapped enthusiastically to the crowd as he skated from one practice rink to another. He and Capitals players skated along the boards after practice and waved to the students before leaving the ice.

The event Wednesday was one of the first in the Washington area to celebrate Ovechkin. He will be honored for breaking the goals record during a ceremony before the Capitals host the Carolina Hurricanes at Capital One Arena on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET: Disney+, MNMT, HULU, ESPN+, SN1). It will be a chance for the fans in Washington to celebrate with Ovechkin after he broke the record on the road.

Carbery expects a similar atmosphere to when Ovechkin tied the record by scoring his 893rd and 894th goals in a 5-3 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at Capital One Arena on Friday.

"I think it will be more of what you saw that night of just an appreciation," Carbery said. "And some of what you saw here today of people and our fanbase and the community acknowledging what an amazing achievement and wanting to celebrate that with him and show him how much that record has had an impact on this whole community. They deserve that."

It's been a whirlwind for Ovechkin since he broke the record. On Wednesday morning, he appeared on "Good Morning America."

On Friday, Ovechkin and his family will attend a fan celebration event at the great hall in Amtrak's Union Station with owner Ted Leonsis, chairman Dick Patrick, president of hockey operations Brian MacLellan, Nicklas Backstrom and T.J. Oshie.

Once the celebrations end, the Capitals (49-19-9) will go for another historic achievement -- winning the Stanley Cup again. The 2018 Cup champs will likely be the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference when the Stanley Cup Playoffs start next week.

NHL.com staff writer Tom Gulitti contributed to this report