Alex Ovechkin Donates Car to Special Needs Hockey Club

Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin really wanted to win a car at the NHL All-Star game. The last person picked in the fantasy draft and the MVP received a new car. He made it known he wanted to be drafted last so he could win that car. He played his heart out to win the MVP. Neither worked to his disappointment because he really wanted to win that car.

Even though he did not win a car, Honda presented him with a new car after the game because he wanted to donate it to the NOVA Cool Cats Special Hockey program, a hockey club in northern Virginia for kids with special needs.

I got the car !! Thanks to Honda!!! Go Cool Cats !!!!!!! hahahahah pic.twitter.com/1geE2QmeeL

— Alex Ovechkin (@ovi8) January 26, 2015

“It means a lot,” he said. “Honda connected with my agent and they just gave me a car, so I’m going to donate to Cool Cats and that sweet little girl.”

He shares a friendship with 10-year-old Ann Schaub on the team. In September, Ovechkin hosted the American Special Hockey Association at the Capitals’ training facility where he met Schaub. The brave girl asked him out on a sushi date when he told her he loved the food. He surprised her on October 5 when he arrived at her house with flowers and a personalized Capitals sweater. He took her to the rink, “where she got a tour of the dressing room and met the players.” The two then shared a special sushi dinner.

Media outlets were puzzled why Ovechkin lobbied so hard to win a car. The Washington Post asked him why he wanted a car and he responded, “You don’t want a car?” Honda heard about Ovechkin’s passion and contacted his agent David Abrutyn.

“The idea was if he doesn’t win the [All-Star Game] MVP award, let’s see if there is something else we can do,” Nick Lee, the national advertising manager for Honda, told NHL.com. “Once we learned there was a charitable component to it, we thought, ‘How great is that?’ At Honda we do a lot of charitable efforts ourselves, tie it in with youth hockey, and Alex has got a nice couple of charities he works with, so we thought that could be a nice angle and a great story for everybody. That’s the capper for us. It’s not just for him, it’s also for his charity and the kids, ultimately.”

Ovechkin loves to work charities, but does not publicize his amazing work. In December, his mother confirmed the superstar worked with several orphanages for children with special needs in Russia. He gifted them hockey equipment and rink since hockey is a major sport in the country. His mother bragged about her son’s generosity, but she said he would not be happy with it.

“We’re very proud of our son,” she said. “But after we talk to you, Sashka will say: ‘Mom, what are you doing? Why would you need this? I did a good thing and that’s it. Why would you want to talk to the TV camera about that? What will I answer to him? I’ll just say: ‘Sasha, the message is not only for you to do it, but many other people.’ We need to bring the good to the kids. What else we can do? So many grow up without a mom and a dad.”