Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby revealed what he and new NHL leading goal scorer Alex Ovechkin discussed as the latter approached the milestone.
Alex Ovechkin has officially taken the throne as the leading goal scorer in the history of the National Hockey League. He scored goal No. 895 on Sunday against the New York Islanders, officially passing Wayne Gretzky.
We text a little bit. So obviously, when he tied it, I reached out, and again today. That's a pretty special moment. Then playing at the same time, you think of how long hockey history is, how long the game's been around - and to be playing at a time when gets a record like that is special. I think we're all fortunate to maybe not be in the game, but to be around while he's doing it.
While it may have seemed that the two young phenom stars were bitter on-ice foes during their heated postseason battles, maturity has taken hold over the years.
In a 2023 interview, Ovechkin acknowledged that he and Crosby are good friends with one another and communicate regularly.
He still enjoy play hockey, I'm still enjoying playing hockey. I'm pretty sure when me and him is going to be retired, we're going to have a couple of beers together and talk about the whole thing that happened in the past 15, 16 years.
We're good friends. We can call to each other. If he has some milestones coming up and he reach it - I call him, shoot him a text. First couple years we kind of was different relationship. We was young. But, now we've matured.
Both players became the face of the NHL after the year-long lockout that wiped out the entire 2004-05 season and have combined for 4 Stanley Cup wins and multiple personal accolades and awards.