Ovechkin wins ESPY for Best NHL Player second straight year
At last night’s ESPY’s, Capitals Captain Alexander Ovechkin won the Best NHL Player Award for his second straight year, one year after being the first NHL athlete to ever win Best Male Athlete.
Per the Capitals:
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin was the recipient of the Best NHL Player award at the 2019 ESPYS last night, defeating Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning, Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers. Ovechkin became a repeat winner after he received the honor last year. During the 2018-19 season, Ovechkin also received the Best Male Athlete award, becoming the first NHL player to win the award since the inaugural ESPYs in 1993.
Following a 51-goal season, Ovechkin won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the NHL’s top goal scorer for an NHL-record eighth time. Ovechkin passed Bobby Hull for the most times a single player has led the NHL in goals in a season. It marked Ovechkin’s eighth career 50 goal season, and he became the third player in NHL history to record eight or more 50-goal seasons (Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky: 9). Ovechkin, who was 33 years, 201 days old on the final day of the season, became the fifth player in NHL history to record multiple 50-goal seasons after his 30th birthday, joining Phil Esposito (4), Hull (2), Marcel Dionne (2) and Mario Lemieux (2).
Since entering the NHL at the beginning of the 2005-06 season, Ovechkin leads the NHL in goals (658), power-play goals (247), power-play points (464), game-winning goals (107), shots (5,234) and ranks second in points (1,211). Ovechkin leads the NHL in goals since 1994-95 and shots since the 1993-94 season, despite beginning his NHL career in 2005. Additionally, Ovechkin is the franchise leader in goals (658), points (1,211), power-play goals (247), game-winning goals (107), overtime goals (22), shots (5,234) and multi-goal games (132).
The ESPYs gather top celebrities from sports and entertainment to commemorate the past year in sports by recognizing major sports achievements, reliving unforgettable moments and saluting the leading performers and performances. The ESPYs honor ESPN’s commitment to The V Foundation for Cancer Research, a partnership launched with the late Jim Valvano at the inaugural ESPYs in 1993.
