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Cooley admired Crosby, but he grew up a Washington Capitals fan for a very specific reason: Alex Ovechkin.

“That’s the real one,� said Cooley, who’s now playing for the Utah Hockey Club. “He was my favorite player growing up.�

Cooley is not alone. Ovechkin has for two decades been a role model for kids watching hockey all around the world, from his homeland in Russia to the U.S. and Canada, thanks to his powerful slap shot and physical style of play, his familiar yellow skate laces and tinted visor, and that gap-toothed smile. He is one of the most recognizable faces of the sport.

Now closing in on Wayne Gretzky’s career goals record, the 39-year-old Ovechkin is now playing against many of those youngsters who grew up watching his highlights and hoping they could be like the “Great 8.�

“I had Ovechkin jerseys, and everyone did. Who didn’t?� U.S.-born defenseman Brock Faber of the Minnesota Wild said. “Everyone always wanted to be Ovi. ... When he was younger in his career and the yellow laces and just the style and swag he brought to the game, being so loved around the league, it’s one of the coolest things in the world to play against guys like him.�

The admiration starts at home, from players who were years or decades from putting on skates when Ovechkin was born in Moscow on Sept. 17, 1985. Ivan Miroshnichenko, Washington’s first-round pick in 2022 who has been a teammate for 40 NHL games, said: “He’s a big, Russian man. He’s a legend.�

That legend started early. Dmitry Kulikov of the Florida Panthers recently played in his 1,000th regular-season NHL game and is just five years younger than Ovechkin, but he recalls the buzz beginning in the ‘90s.

“When I was growing up, he was obviously just starting off a few years before me and he was already talked about being great back then,� Kulikov said. “Obviously when he came over here, he proved it with his style of play and his goal-scoring ability, how unique of a player he is and how good he was going to be.�

How unique? Ovechkin is not only second all time to Gretzky with 879 goals and holds the record for the most on the power play and most shots, but his 3,701 hits rank third among all players over the past 20 seasons. During that time, he won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year, the Hart three times as league MVP and the Conn Smythe in 2018 as playoff MVP after leading the Capitals to their first Stanley Cup title.

Slightly younger but still with more than 750 games in North America, Winnipeg winger and fellow Russian Vladislav Namestnikov considers Ovechkin a part of multiple iterations of his career.

“I just grew up watching him, an idol growing up,� Namestnikov said. “Our generation, he opened up the doors for everyone else.�

Wyatt Johnston was still in diapers growing up in Toronto when Ovechkin and Crosby — picked No. 1 in the NHL draft a year apart — became hockey’s biggest stars.

“They’ve dominated the league for as long as I’ve lived,� said Johnston, who entered NHL with Dallas in 2022. “(Ovechkin) was a really fun player to watch, just how dynamic he is. He’s one of those guys that I think him and Sid are maybe on a different level of me being kind of starstruck when I’ve seen them just kind of growing up, and they were dominating the league for my whole life.�

Faber credited Ovechkin and Crosby for paving the way for so many players. And that doesn’t just include from places like the U.S. and Canada. Florida defenseman Niko Mikkola grew up in the outskirts of Oulu, Finland, across the Gulf of Bothnia from Sweden and was locked in to that rivalry.

“Obviously you know those two big names were Crosby and Ovechkin,� Mikkola said. “You followed those guys, obviously, and you see in headlines those guys are usually there. The highlights, also, you see how they score goals.�

Now teammates with Mikkola with the Panthers, Nate Schmidt still considers himself lucky to play his first four NHL seasons alongside Ovechkin with the Capitals. That’s full circle for a kid who grew up in Minnesota playing minor and high school hockey watching Ovechkin wide-eyed at what he could do.

“It’s hard not to,� Schmidt said. “Being his teammate and seeing what he does in practice and games firsthand gives you a different appreciation for what he is as a player.�