Though he’s best-known for scoring goals, Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin registered a major assist in Edmonton Friday, when he bought a full set of winter clothes for a homeless man whom he saw shivering outside without a shirt.
Ovechkin was spotted giving the clothes to the man outside the Sequel Café in downtown Edmonton. Staff at the restaurant recognized the Russian forward and tweeted about the good deed.
Ovechkin confirmed that it was him the following morning ahead of a game against the hometown Oilers.
“Saw the guy, no shirt, and (I) went to the store and bought him a sweater, coat and hat,” Ovechkin told a throng of reporters. “Next question.”
Ovechkin repeatedly tried to shift the conversation back to hockey, but reporters were eager for more details about his act of generosity.
Ovechkin said the man did not recognize him, and that he was shocked by the gift.
“He was like, ‘Are you serious?’ You know. He was a little bit shocked.”
The temperature fell to a low of -1 degree Celsius on Friday, according to weather records.
Ovechkin says he was just doing the right thing, because the man was not dressed for the weather.
“If you see a guy almost naked out there in that kind of temperature, I think every human can do something – a coat or a shirt or whatever,” he said.
In addition to racking up the “good guy” points, Ovechkin notched three assists Saturday in the Capitals’ 5-2 victory over the Oilers on Saturday.
