Alex Ovechkin almost stopped playing hockey. His mother, Tatyana, was a basketball player, his father, Mikhail, was a soccer player and they were traveling with their teams, leaving no one to take

Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin is knocking on the door of an NHL record most thought would never be broken. Only three players in NHL history have scored 800 or more goals — Ovechkin, Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe.

Raised in the final years of the Soviet sports system by parents who were already accomplished athletes, Ovechkin was given every chance to succeed and, along the way, showed he didn’t need special treatment.