He’s known as one of the greatest goal scorers in hockey but on Friday night, Alex Ovechkin was assisting a homeless man on chilly Edmonton streets.
The Washington Capitals forward was spotted in downtown Edmonton buying warm clothes for the man.
When asked about it during a scrum with reporters ahead of Saturday night’s game against the Oilers, Ovechkin downplayed the act.
“(It was) nothing,” Ovechkin told reporters. “I just went to the store with (Evgeny Kuznetsov and Dmitry Orlov), I saw the guy, no shirt. Went to the store to buy him a sweater, coat and a hat.”
“You see a guy out there — almost naked in that kind (of) temperature — I think every human can do something,” he told reporters.
When asked if the man recognized the Capitals star, Ovechkin said “no.”
“He was like, are you serious? He was a little bit shocked.”
Capitals coach Barry Trotz was not surprised to hear about Ovechkin’s good deed.
“I think what you’re going to find in hockey in general is that they’re pretty giving people,” Trotz said. “They give of their time and of their blessings, and that doesn’t surprise me at all.”
The Capitals went on to beat the Oilers 5-2 Saturday night.