Earlier this season, Alexander Ovechkin shocked the hockey world with his answer to this little kid's question about Sidney Crosby.
Obviously the two have their rivalry, which has been a thing since their first NHL seasons in 2005, but clearly rivals can also be best friends, right?
Well, for those of you who disagree with the above statement, this past weekend during the All-Star game festivities, Ovi and Sid proved not only that they are friends, but best friends, and we have three pieces of evidence that prove that claim.
Confirmed by Ovechkin
In terms of factual evidence, this is the best we could do.
If you don't believe us, take Ovi's word for it for a second time, but this time his quote was from after he played on the same line with Crosby during the All-Star game.
Smile For the Cameras
During the NHL's unveiling of the Top 100 greatest players ever Friday night, Ovi and Crosby, both of whom made the list, took an epic picture together with Ovechkin's dad.
After they took the picture, Ovi's dad said something in Russian to him, which was translated by Russian Machine Never Breaks:
“Все!” Mikhail says. “Скажи, в Русской газете на первой странице!”
Both players laugh.
“What did he say?” Crosby asks.
“Russian newspapers. First page!” Ovechkin responds.
Best friends share laughs like this all-time.
Stick Exchange
In the NFL, oftentimes after games, players exchange jerseys with one another to add to their collections.
Now, one rule of thumb, players don't exchange jerseys with just anyone. Sometimes it's with a college teammate or friend and other times it's with a player they really admire or respect.
Something similar happens in the NHL, but rather than swapping jerseys, players sometimes swap sticks, and according to Tom Gulitti of NHL.com, that's exactly what Ovi and Sid did this past weekend.
While these two generational players will always be rivals in the eyes of fans, they might be viewed as best friends now, too, thanks to All-Star weekend.
