- Lars Eller says the Capitals once threw Alex Ovechkin out of the car on the highway with all his bags
- Dmitry Orlov gave a much softer version and tied it to a postponed game in Philadelphia
- Read below for both versions and what the two of them said about Ovechkin
Alex Ovechkin has stranded plenty of goalies over 21 seasons. His own teammates once stranded him on the shoulder of a highway.
Lars Eller, speaking in Russian, told the story to Sport-Express reporter Igor Rabiner, who had asked the former Capitals center to name Ovechkin’s best joke. Eller went a different direction and described the day the room dumped its captain out of a car as he tried to leave for the holiday break.
“One time he was supposed to go on vacation. So we threw him out of the car right on the highway. He was walking along the side of the highway with all his bags. We had a lot of stories like that.”
Dmitry Orlov was in that car, and when Rabiner brought the story to him days later, he softened it considerably.
“Something like that happened. But it wasn’t so harsh that they just dropped [him] off. I think they canceled our away game against Philadelphia because of COVID; someone got sick. If I’m not mistaken, we were traveling by bus from Philadelphia to Washington, and since we were flying out of Washington Airport, our cars were there. They dropped Sasha off on the highway so a friend could pick him up. It was just more convenient that way!”
By Orlov’s account, this happened on Dec. 21, 2021. The league pulled the plug on that night’s Capitals-Flyers game at Wells Fargo Center a few hours before puck drop:
Daniel Sprong and Justin Schultz got pulled off the morning skate once their test results came in. Washington had already made the trip without Nicklas Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov and TJ Oshie.
Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia caught John Carlson walking out in dress clothes to tell the guys still on the ice they were leaving:
The break kept growing from there. Washington’s Dec. 27 date with Ottawa was postponed as well, which opened a 10-day gap between the Dec. 19 game against the Kings and a Dec. 29 meeting with Nashville.
Both players landed on the same read of their old captain. Eller was asked what makes Ovechkin easy to be around.
“He’s someone who spreads a positive vibe around him. He loves to joke, laughing at others and at himself. It’s always a pleasure to be around him. I’ve always said that Ovi never had a bad day in his life. At least, that’s the impression he gives.”
Orlov pointed to the grind as the reason a room needs a guy like that. “It’s a tough season, with ups and downs, and stress,” he said. “You have to find stories and jokes to relax and take your mind off these problems.”
