Russian hockey fans cheer as NHL’s Ovechkin nears goals record

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By Mikhail Antonov and Yevgeniy Matveev

MOSCOW (Reuters) – The young hockey players gliding down the rink at Moscow’s Dynamo sports club know that they train in the shadow of greatness.

Portraits of alumni Alexander Ovechkin, now the captain of the National Hockey League’s Washington Capitals, dot the walls of the school’s museum. All the youngsters at the hockey academy know his name.

The Moscow-born Ovechkin is now just three goals away from beating Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record after Wednesday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes.

His fans back home in Russia couldn’t be prouder.

“For me, Ovechkin is a role model,” said 15-year-old Fyodor Nikitin, who plays hockey at Dynamo. “I would like to wish him luck so that he beats Gretzky’s record sooner.”

Dynamo coach Denis Kokarev said no one thought it possible to eclipse Gretzky’s feat, who scored his 894th goal in 1994 while playing for the Los Angeles Kings.

“Not if, but when, (Ovechkin) beats this record, nobody will be able to do the same in the near future”, Kokarev said.

Athleticism runs deep in Ovechkin’s family. Born and raised in Moscow to Soviet athletes – his mother is a two-time Olympic gold medallist in basketball – the 39-year-old fell in love with hockey before he entered grade school.

He broke Dynamo’s goals record at the age of 11, and began playing professionally while still a teenager. Ovechkin, who is a left winger, signed with the Capitals in 2005 and has broken several NHL records since.

Fans gathered outside the Dynamo stadium before a game late last month described Ovechkin as the pride of Russian sport and said they were watching eagerly for him to clinch the record.

“I think there is one such person born in a million,” said 26-year-old Ilya. “He’s just a huge sportsman.”

(Reporting by Reuters; writing by Lucy Papachristou; editing by Mark Heinrich)