Within the history of the Washington Capitals, the date of June 26 in 2004 ranks as a true milestone.
Exactly 21 summers ago, the Caps spent their first overall choice that year on Alexander Ovechkin — coming a season after Florida's Panthers had attempted to nab him prematurely in defiance of the rules. The selection permanently altered the franchise's trajectory.
Hosted inside North Carolina's RBC Center, located in Raleigh, the proceedings brought out a group of Washington representatives — among them Ted Leonsis the owner, the general manager George McPhee, plus Ross Mahoney. Biding his time, Ovechkin took in the proceedings from the seats next to his brother and his folks, mom Tatyana and dad Mikhail.
The instant the GM read the name, a fully-toothed Ovi wrapped up the family members nearby before climbing to the podium for photographs, having received a black jersey that carried the franchise's bygone Capitol Dome emblem.
A TSN man in that period, Pierre McGuire painted the young Russian as a player gifted with rare escapability, blistering quickness, and dependable two-way reliability. Peers of similar age, the analyst contended, fell short of Ovi's instincts in the defensive zone. That read held up nicely.
Skip forward 20 campaigns plus 897 markers, and Ovechkin now sits as the NHL's foremost career scorer, a champion who lifted the Cup, and a lock for inclusion on DC Sports' Mount Rushmore.
In the same vein that kids beg yearly for another reading of The Night Before Christmas, Ovechkin's draft-day saga merits another telling.
Coming off what stood as the organization's poorest showing in a span of 26 years, Washington at last caught a break, vaulting ahead of their rivals in Chicago and Pittsburgh to seize the lottery's premier position.
In those days the lottery had not yet morphed into the inflated TV event the league subsequently manufactured — there were no executives perched uncomfortably, knocked out one at a time the way hopefuls on a dating program are, as the order got revealed.
What actually happened was that the GM of that period, George McPhee, got word directly from a league official, Colin Campbell, whose dual NHL roles then covered a senior vice presidency along with running hockey operations as its director, that the franchise had nailed down the prize selection.
Relaying the episode in 2022 to the club's radio outlet, McPhee remembered sitting inside the Piney Orchard practice rink as the phone rang. The news didn't come right away; only after about half a dozen minutes of casual conversation did McPhee sense a reason behind the call. Then, in passing, his caller let slip that the club had won.
As improbable as it sounds, McPhee and the people upstairs genuinely agonized over whether to grab Ovechkin or instead his compatriot Evgeni Malkin — the prospect Pittsburgh would scoop up with the No. 2 selection.
By McPhee's telling, both names topped their rankings. The moment that phone conversation ended, he dialed up Mahoney to pass along that they'd come out on top in the lottery. Talks went on, turning quite thorough over the following few weeks, given that Malkin counted as a terrific talent. In the final analysis, McPhee said, it was the combination of scoring, grit, and zeal in Ovechkin's game that settled matters and stamped him as the pick.
Time validated that verdict, casting no shade on Malkin regardless of where he plays. Across his career Ovechkin leads his countryman by 383 in the goal column and by 277 in total points, though Pittsburgh can always note the trio of Stanley Cup titles won with Geno aboard.
Either way, what Ovechkin has meant to both his sport and his adopted town will last. He's about to begin the closing season of his Washington contract, on the brink of moving past the 900-goal threshold — a feat no one in NHL history has reached — all while pursuing one more Stanley Cup ahead of the point when he ultimately weighs whether to call it a career on this continent.