Alex Ovechkin has at least one more exhibition game in him before returning to Washington, DC in September.
After participating in the Ovi Cup gala match on Saturday (where his son outscored him), the Capitals captain said he will be in attendance for Pavel Datsyuk’s “Magic Game” on August 30 at the UGMK Arena. Datsyuk was the captain of the team opposite Ovechkin’s at the Ovi Cup.
“Yes, I will definitely fly to Pasha [in Yekaterinburg],” Ovechkin said per the game’s Telegram account and a translation by Google Translate. “I can’t miss this day, especially since we had a wonderful conversation with Datsyuk when he played in the gala match in Mytishchi at the Ovechkin Cup.”
At Datsyuk’s World Hockey All-Star Game, Ovechkin will reunite with former Capitals teammates Alex Semin, Sergei Fedorov, and Ilya Kovalchuk, who have all confirmed their participation.
Other players scheduled to attend include Sergei Gonchar, Viacheslav Fetisov, Kirill Kaprizov, Alexander Radulov, Nikita Gusev, Alexey Morozov, Danis Zaripov, Sergey Mozyakin, and Valeri Kamensky. Datsyuk added that Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau are considering attending. Though one of his close friends with the Detroit Red Wings, Henrik Zetterberg, will not.
“He was afraid to go to Russia, like many foreigners,” Datsyuk, now 47, said per Match TV.
Tickets for the game went on sale Wednesday. Players will wear, per HC Avtomobilist, special burgundy and beige retro jerseys inspired by the sweaters from the 2014 NHL Winter Classic.
“We are looking forward to this day and are sure that it will be memorable for all fans and hockey players,” Datsyuk said in a statement through the team. “Our hockey jersey will become an important part of these memories.”
The exhibition game will mark Ovechkin’s third major outing of the offseason. His first appearance on the ice came at the annual “Match of the Year” charity event in July, where he was gifted a car, scored a goal, and operated a t-shirt gun.
The Datsyuk game appears likely to be Ovechkin’s last before Capitals’ training camp begins next month. He reportedly will return to the United States in early September.