Reebok, Reebok Hockey Jersey
Red Knit Pullover
Polyester, Spandex
Size 58
2011
This Red Away jersey was worn by Alexander Ovechkin on May 1, 2011 in Game 2 of the 2011 Eastern Conference Semifinals. Ovechkin recorded a clutch goal with just over a minute to go that sent the game into overtime. The Lightning ultimately prevailed in overtime, 3-2.
This jersey was also worn by Ovechkin during the following games:
April 15, 2011, when the Washington Capitals played the New York Rangers in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals of the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Capitals won 2-0, and Ovechkin recorded one assist.
April 23, 2011 in Game 5 of the first round against the Rangers. The Capitals defeated the Rangers 3-1, clinching the series, and Ovechkin recorded a goal and an assist in the closeout game.
April 29, 2011 in Game 1 of the 2011 Eastern Conference Semifinals, when the Capitals took on the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Capitals lost 4-2. Ovechkin did not record any points.
This jersey accompanied Ovechkin through much of his fourth Stanley Cup Playoff run in the NHL and his second since being named Washington’s second youngest captain in January of 2010. It saw him demonstrate the skills and fortitude that had already made him an NHL superstar and continued to serve him as he became an all-time great, namely his unprecedented ability to score and his ability to remain cool, calm, and collected in the clutch.
After tying Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals in the latter stages of the third period, which sent the game to overtime, Ovi and the Capitals held on to win in the extra period. Ovi added an assist in Washington’s Game 2 victory in this jersey, giving them a commanding 2-0 lead going to New York.
When the series returned to Washington, the Capitals held a 3-1 lead and the opportunity to advance to the second round for only the second time of the century so far. Ovi did not let the chance slip. In this jersey, Ovechkin assisted the first goal of the game before scoring what would become the game-winning goal in the second period. Ovechkin finished with a series-leading six points, and the Capitals advanced.
The following round saw the Capitals play the Lightning, and while the Capitals lost the series, Ovechkin’s skill and love of the game shone through. After being held scoreless in Game 1, he made his mark on Game 2 in dramatic fashion. With just over a minute to go in regulation, the Capitals trailed 2-1. Ovechkin took matters into his own hands. After slamming defenseman Victor Hedman and allowing the puck to fall back to teammate Jason Arnott, keeping possession with Washington. Ovechkin circled around as multiple shot attempts were made to no avail. After a brief moment, Washington secured possession and circled the net, with Ovechkin closing in fast on the front of goal. Arnott found Ovechkin and laid the puck off for Ovechkin to fire the tying goal into the net, sending the game to an overtime period. Ovi threw his hands in the air as he was mobbed by his teammates amidst the thunderous cheers of the Washington faithful. Ovi, the captain, had given his team a chance to win with a signature clutch goal. His face was one of ecstasy, with Ovechkin letting out a scream as he skated away, captured in a photo that would go on to grace the cover of Red Rising: The Washington Capitals Story.
This jersey is accompanied by a letter from Sports Investors Authentication with regard to the photomatch. The note references a tag that has been sewn into the jersey by MeiGray, with MeiGray certificate number H00072.
Going Deeper - Alexander Ovechkin
Alexander Ovechkin entered the NHL at a turbulent time for the league. After being drafted first overall by the Washington Capitals in 2004, a labor dispute erupted that, for the first time among the four major North American Sports leagues, resulted in a lockout that forced the cancellation of a full season of play. When play resumed in the fall of 2005, there were two freshly minted number one picks on the ice, with his 2005 counterpart being his soon-to-be career-long rival Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Ovechkin proved worth the wait for Capitals fans. Ovi made his NHL debut on October 5, 2005, and immediately let the hockey world know that an elite scorer had arrived in Washington. With 12:39 left in the second period, Ovechkin fired a laser from the middle of the ice to score his first goal to tie the game, and then came back four and a half minutes later to tie the game again with a lightning-fast rebound shot. Thus began the most prolific scoring career that the NHL has ever seen. Ovechkin set his pace with 52 goals, the third best total for an NHL rookie on his way to the Calder Trophy for Rookie of the Year.
His extraordinary abilities were on full display when he scored what has since been called simply “The Goal,” in front of Phoenix coach Wayne Gretzky no less. Already up 5-1 with 8:12 left in the third period, Ovechkin took the puck from the Caps’ side of center ice, skillfully maneuvered around Paul Mara, and then as he fell to the ice released a rocket of a backhand to score Washington’s sixth goal of the game. The Great One remarked ““That was pretty nice…He’s a phenomenal player. He’s that good. He deserves all of the accolades he’s getting.” Auston Matthews, a player many see as a potential successor to Gretzky and Ovechkin’s goal scoring prowess, also witnessed the goal as a fan in the stands and said it was the best that he had ever seen. Glen Hanlon, the goalie who Gretzky had scored his first NHL goal against and was now coaching Ovechkin, looked on in awe and could only muster “holy mackerel.”
During the 2007-08 season, Ovechkin made his next step toward all-time greatness. Ovechkin became the first player to score 60 or more goals in the 21st century with 65, played in his second NHL All-Star game, earned the Hart Memorial Trophy for MVP, and earned a playoff berth for the first time in his career while leading his team to their first playoff appearance since 2002-03, all the while negotiating the largest contract in NHL history to date, a $124 million, 13 year deal. It was clear that, to Washington, Ovechkin was the future. Of Ovechkin, owner Ted Leonsis said at the time “if you’re going to make a long-term investment, who else would you do it with? This takes away any of the issues of how committed we are to winning a Cup, how committed we are to keeping a team together.”
Ovechkin continued to reward the Washington faithful with stellar play. He followed up his 65 goal season with two more consecutive 50 goal seasons to round out the decade and was named captain in January 2010, the second youngest in Capitals history. The 2010s would see Ovechkin etch himself into the minds of hockey fans around the world and take a giant leap toward all-time great status.
Beginning in the 2012-13 season, the NHL saw Ovechkin lead the league in goals for seven out of eight years, including four straight between 2012-13 and 2015-16. It was in January of 2016, after becoming the 43rd player to reach that milestone as well as the fifth fastest, that in the pages of the Washington Post, speculation began on Ovechkin’s chances to claim a record once thought unbreakable: the Great One’s all-time goal record. More than that though, Ovi wanted to win. His first overall pick rival, Sidney Crosby, had already won Stanley Cups in 2009 and 2012 and would go on to in 2016 while Ovi had only ever made it as far as the second round. This would soon change.
The 2017-18 season saw the Great Eight on a mission. Ovechkin once again claimed his goal scoring crown after relinquishing it in the 2016-17 season while reaching another major milestone: 600 goals. The 20th player to ever achieve the feat, and the fourth fastest, Ovechkin was hardly finished.
Ovechkin and the Capitals stormed into the playoffs, with a number of pundits predicting that they would win it all. They dispatched the Columbus Blue Jackets in six games before seeing off Crosby and the Penguins to reach Ovi’s first Conference Finals and the Caps’ first since the 1997-98 season. There they faced the Tampa Bay Lightning and, despite falling behind 3-2 in the series, Ovi and the Caps held strong and came back to win the series in seven games.
The Russian Machine went on to lead his team to a five-game romp over the new expansion Vegas Golden Knights, clinching their fourth straight series on the road and Ovechkin, as well as the franchise’s, first ever Stanley Cup and ended the city’s 26 year major sports championship drought. During the trophy presentation Ovi was called to lift the cup first. His name would literally be etched into NHL history. He had reached the NHL summit.
In the years since, Ovechkin’s goal scoring has not let up. He put together another two straight seasons where he led the league in goal scoring and became only the eighth player, as well as the fastest and youngest, to score 700 goals in NHL history in 2020. The COVID shortened 2020-21 season saw him score less than 30 goals in a season for the first time in his career and saw the end of that mammoth 13 year contract. Ovechkin signed a five year extension that would take him to age 40 and then sprang right back to his old ways, scoring 50 in the 2021-22 season before becoming only the third player to score 800 goals in an NHL career in December 2022 and break Gretzky’s record for 40 goal seasons with his 13th.
2023-24 saw Ovechkin’s longest goal scoring drought ever and some began to wonder if he was finally beginning to slow down. He finished with 31 goals and early in the 2024-25 season suffered a fractured leg that kept him out for 16 games, the longest stretch of his career (until then he had only missed 35 games for injury in his 19 year career). For most 39 year-olds, this may have been the death knell for a record chase. But as Ovechkin’s loyal fans say: The Russian Machine Never Breaks. Ovi returned to action in December 2024 and went on a tear. On April 6, 2025, Ovi claimed his place in history, notching his 895th goal against the New York Islanders with The Great One in attendance.
The Sunday matineé was in many ways a pleasing bookend to Ovechkin’s career thus far. 21 years to the day since the Capitals had won the draft lottery that saw Ovi begin his career with the only NHL team he has ever known. The same broadcasters that had called his first ever NHL goal. The crowd may technically have been an away crowd, but you would hardly know it looking at it: among the Islander fans in attendance was a sea of #8 Capitals shirts, jerseys, and other apparel. The shot that made up almost half of his career goals: from the top of the left circle. The pandemonious, thunderous cheers from the crowd. The euphoric joy that clearly took hold over the 39-year old Ovechkin as he belly flopped at center ice, showing the same emotion and love for the game that Ovi has shown for decades. It is rare for the world of sport to descend on a moment like it did on April 6: such displays are reserved for the highest achievement. Ovechkin now stands alone as the NHL’s all-time leading goalscorer, and does not seem to be slowing down. As tributes from the likes of Michael Jordan, Simone Biles, Derek Jeter, LeBron James, Michael Phelps, and Gretzky poured in over video and in person, Gretzky issued Ovi’s next challenge: get to 900. As he enters the 2025-26 season, his 21st in the league, he only needs three to hit this mythical milestone. It seems not a question of if but a question of when he will meet Gretzky’s challenge. One thing is for sure: The Great 8 has earned his nickname and then some.
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