- Spencer Carbery broke down his relationship with Alex Ovechkin on Spittin’ Chiclets
- Ovechkin came up to his coach’s hotel room after 2 a.m. during a rough stretch in 2023
- Read below for what Ovechkin asked Carbery for that night
Alex Ovechkin knocked on his head coach’s hotel room door at two in the morning.
Spencer Carbery told that story on Spittin’ Chiclets this week, and he used it to explain why he calls his captain a “coach’s dream.” The Washington bench boss joined the podcast’s Metropolitan Division preview and went back to a rough December in his first season behind an NHL bench.
Asked what it is like to work with Ovechkin day to day, Carbery started with a trip to Chicago:
“We were struggling my first year. We’re trying to find ourselves a little bit early in the year, and I remember we’re going into Chicago, and he texts me. O is like a coach’s dream when it comes to a captain. And he’s like, ‘Hey, uh, Carbs, can we meet?’ And I’m like, ‘Now? We gotta game tomorrow.’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, I’ll come up to your room.’”
What Ovechkin wanted was more work.
“Hey, listen, like we’re going through a tough stretch. Our roster is a little bit different. We’ve got some young players that are trying to find their way. Get me out on the ice as much as you can. I will get the job done.”
Watch Carbery tell it:
That stretch checks out. Washington had lost three in a row to Vegas, Arizona and Dallas by a combined 15-5 earlier in the month, and the Chicago game was the back half of a back-to-back on Dec. 10, 2023.
One detail in the retelling is off. Russian Machine Never Breaks pointed out that the Caps had beaten the Rangers 4-0 at home the night before, and they went on to win 4-2 at the United Center.
Ovechkin’s minutes did climb after that meeting. He skated 22:10 at Philadelphia on Dec. 14 and 23:07 at Nashville on Dec. 16, and he topped that number in only two other games all season. He finished with 65 points, and the Capitals grabbed a playoff spot on the final day of the schedule.
Carbery also described what happens when the two of them see a lineup question differently:
“Anytime that we’re talking about the group or him or line combinations, this and that, he always goes, ‘You’re the coach. You tell me what to do, and we’ll do it, and I’ll go out and say it.’”
The Ovechkin segment ran alongside Connor Hellebuyck’s trade request and Cale Makar’s record extension on Episode 667:
Season four of the partnership is probably the last one. Ovechkin re-signed with the Capitals in July on a one-year deal, and Carbery has not committed to a nightly ice-time number for him yet.
Camp gives him a deadline. Washington holds media day and opens its 2026-27 training camp on Sept. 17:
Sept. 17 is also Ovechkin’s 41st birthday.
