It’s no secret that 2018 has been the greatest year of Alex Ovechkin’s life. After a long and frustrating tenure in the league that saw many first or second round exits after promising seasons, Ovi finally found his way to the top of the hockey universe. On top of that, he’s expecting his first child in the next couple of weeks. If that wasn’t enough to convince you, just take a look at how much fun he had after the historic victory and you will understand.

Now it just got a little better. While an ESPY award may not be quite as significant as the other factors, but it’s nice none the less. It was also nice to see Ovi win for a few other reasons that can mainly be summarized into this – it was somewhat unexpected.

It’s no secret that hockey does not have the same level of country-wide popularity as the other sports. While Ovi is one of the more well-known names across the NHL, the Russian does not carry the same amount of magnitude as that of Tom Brady, James Harden, and Jose Altuve – the other candidates he was up against.

 

 

Alex #Ovechkin takes home the Best Male Athlete ESPY Award. #ESPYS

A post shared by TSN (@tsn_official) on

 

Maybe his legendary celebrations helped to win a way to the hearts of America, and while he couldn’t be there due to his wife being 8 ½ months pregnant, nobody was out there saying he didn’t deserve it. 13 seasons of heart and soul into the game was finally recognized on a cross-sport level. Congratulations, Ovi!

 

 

(H/T ESPN)