Alexander Ovechkin is the greatest goal scorer of this generation and when his career is all said and done, he could arguably be the greatest goal scorer of all-time.
Entering play Tuesday night, Ovi is two goals away from 600 for his career after he scored goal number 598 against the Leafs Saturday night in the Stadium Series game.
598 goals is impressive, but it's not a milestone and you can bet when Ovi scores goal number 600, he'll be displaying that stick after he gets a certain teammate to sign it, as per Isabelle Khurshudyan of the Washington Post:
But Ovechkin has carefully maintained — and expanded — the collection himself, saving the stick from every milestone NHL goal he scores. The next one will be from the 600th tally of his career, and in what has become a tradition, Ovechkin will ask the players who record an assist on the goal to sign the stick before it’s displayed in the basement of his Northern Virginia home.
According to Isabelle, who wrote a fantastic article about Ovi's collection which you can read here, he has kept every stick used to record a major milestone, like his 50th career goal or 1,110th career point.
Ovi has more than sticks, though, in his collection. He's also got hats, photos, medals, pucks, and other items that weren't milestone related:
When Ovechkin was a 20-year-old rookie, the Penguins’ equipment manager sought him out after a Capitals practice in Piney Orchard, Md. He had a gift for Ovechkin: a signed Mario Lemieux stick. It was the first one he had ever received from another player, so Ovechkin then started asking other stars for their sticks, typically offering one of his in an exchange. He has roughly 100 sticks from other players now, including Pittsburgh centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and Edmonton’s Connor McDavid. Lemieux’s is still his favorite.
As per Isabelle, Ovi also has pads and masks from goaltenders who were his teammates and opponents. It's safe to say Ovechkin's collection rivals that of the Hockey Hall of Fame by the sound of it and we'd love it if he did a 'Cribs' style video to showcase it to the hockey world.
