If Alex Ovechkin must already be considered, in my opinion, as the best scorer of all time in the NHL, Quebecer Alexandre Giroux must also be considered as the best scorer in the history of the American Hockey League.
The Quebec winger scored 368 goals in 771 games in the NHL lobby. It comes seventh in history. But the top six played in the 50s, 60s or 70s. And only one has a higher goals-per-game ratio than Giroux. In short, what the latter has accomplished, especially in Hershey, is extraordinary.
And you already know, Giroux played in the Washington Capitals subsidiary and he worked alongside Ovechkin on several occasions, notably during several call-ups with the big club.
“With the Capitals organization, it was fun because if you were a first line player in the American League, if you were called up, they also made you play on the first line in the NHL. So, when I went with the Capitals, I automatically played with Ovechkin,” explains Alexandre, who has been retired from hockey since 2022, after having played quite a bit all over the world.
Regrets
But looking back, Giroux regrets a little the way he approached his matches with Ovechkin. “In my head, the first year, I was like: I have to give him the puck, I have to give him the puck, I have to give him the puck… I’m not an idiot. I told myself he was going to be crying otherwise.”
The problem is that Alexandre Giroux is also a scorer. It’s his style of play. If he has to turn into a passer overnight, it could go badly.
The following year, he started playing his style of play, especially after Ovechkin’s advice. “I tried to pass to him and it was obvious I had to throw. He told me to stop trying to please him and that it would work. I made two passes on his goals that match,” explains Giroux.
Provided by Alexandre Giroux
“We are happy to play with an icon, but in the heat of the moment, it can be less obvious,” he adds.
A melodrama
The relationship between Giroux and Ovechkin experienced a little melodrama in Buffalo on March 21, 2007.
“I had the puck for a split second and I didn’t have time to pass him even though that was my intention. We came back to the bench, he gave me a little shit and he told the coach that we had to change the numerical advantage. So I didn’t return to the power play that evening.”
Quickly like that, we can say to ourselves: what arrogance or what a horrible attitude!
But Alexandre Giroux is not of this opinion when we know the context, which even he did not understand at the time.
“It’s been five games since the power play hasn’t scored. We were losing. He came up to me at the bar and started laughing, telling me it wasn’t against me. He apologized. We were going to play in Montreal and he said we were going to have fun. I went back to the power play. You have to understand, he wasn’t doing this for himself. He did it for the team.”
Everywhere, it’s madness for Ovi
Remember that Ovechkin was only 22 years old at the time. He has matured since then, underlines Alexandre Giroux, who mentions having had an excellent relationship with him.
“I got off the plane and he invited me to a restaurant. He was never alone. He always wanted to be with others and invited everyone everywhere.”
Scoring so many goals is “phenomenal”, in his opinion. “It’s hard to compare generations. But no one would have thought that a Gretzky record would be broken,” he continues.
Photo AFP
On the rockstar aspect, Giroux was able to witness Ovechkin’s popularity.
“At the hotel, it’s never the name of the room. Everywhere we went, it was crazy. At one point, he broke two sticks during a game and said he wanted to change hockey brands. Within a few days, there were five companies that had lined up 15 sticks in the corridor. That’s what it’s like to be a rockstar!”
What struck him the most was precisely how much Ovechkin loves to score. It makes him euphoric, he says.
“In practice, he always, always, always throws to score. It has always fascinated me. If he takes 100 shots in a practice, he wants to score 100 goals and he’s happy every time it goes in. He offered us games like: “OK, the first one to score eight goals in practice wins!”
To expose how much Ovechkin loves scorer: Giroux once witnessed Capitals players asking him, during lunch, to describe each goal he had made, giving a specific date. “He remembered every goal, I swear!”
