Alexander Ovechkin's teammates explain why he's 'the most dangerous hockey player ever'

Alexander Ovechkin surpassed the legendary Wayne Gretzky on Sunday for career NHL goals. His past and current teammates explain why he was able to achieve the unthinkable.

There’s an unwritten rule in hockey that players go a bit easier against their own goaltenders in practice. Alexander Ovechkin didn’t know that. 

“He took a one-timer that just missed me and went into the net. I was thankful it didn’t hit me,” Washington Capitals legend Olaf Kolzig joked to NBC News about Ovechkin’s first training camp as a rookie. “I hadn’t seen a shot that powerful in a long, long time.”

Kolzig, a veteran leader on the 2005 team, pulled Ovechkin, the No. 1 draft pick, aside to remind him they were in it together. 

“‘Listen, I’m your teammate. I don’t need to see the full velocity of your shot,’” he told Ovechkin. “He was like, ‘OK, I’ll take some off.’”

And while Ovechkin agreed to lessen the intensity in practice, he has done the opposite in games. Eight hundred and ninety-five times. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/nhl/alexander-ovechkin-nhl-record-rcna195937

---