The Washington Capitals' blast into elite status has also garnered honors from the White House.
President Donald Trump gave a nod to the Capitals and future Hall of Fame forward Alex Ovechkin at a pre-inauguration rally at Capital One Arena, the home of the Capitals, on Sunday evening.
"I wanna thank the owners of this arena, they are great," Trump said." They are up here someplace in one of those beautiful boxes. Their team is doing very well and Ovechkin is a great player, right?"
The filled house gave applause in response to his mention of the team and their beloved captain, who are currently leading the NHL in points while Ovechkin chases the all-time goals record.
He also gave words of praise to Monumental Sports & Entertainment owner Ted Leonsis.
"But I wanna thank Ted and all of the owners for allowing this to take place. It was really great and thank you. It's a hell of operation, a great place, and fantastic arena. Thank you, Ted. Thank you, everybody."
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Trump and No. 8 have met twice before. The first time was following the Capitals' Stanley Cup victory in 2018, the team visited the White House in March of 2019.
"I have no choice but to be his fan," Trump said during the visit. "Because he is something special. Look at those hands... Special athlete, player.
"Alexander the Great, they call him, has spent his entire 13-year NHL career with the Washington Capitals and his hard work and loyalty has paid off last season. He outscored every player in the league. Wow, that's not bad right? With 64 goals – It's like Babe Ruth – he had more than every player in the league. 64 goals, 114 points, and was named the playoff MVP and that was easy. No one did more to deserve the Conn Smythe trophy, and Alex congratulations."
The other time that the two crossed paths was at a Christmas Eve party in Mar-a-Lago that same year where Ovechkin presented Trump with a jersey of his.
Trump's appearance before reclaiming the Oval Office was his first public address in Washington D.C. since a riot of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
He was sworn in as the 47th President of the United States for his second term on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Capitals begin a five-game road trip in Edmonton on Tuesday as they hold a nine-point lead over the New Jersey Devils for the Metropolitan Division lead.
Ovechkin is 25 goals away from passing Wayne Gretzky as the game's all-time highest goal scorer. The magic number is 895.
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