Ovechkin Announces Retirement After This Season, Final Run with Capitals

Alex Ovechkin announced on Monday, exactly 21 years to the day he made his NHL debut, that this season will be his last, per sports.yahoo.com.

The 41-year-old Washington Capitals captain called it "the biggest decision — and hardest one" of his career.

"It's hard to say when (I knew), but the game's changed," Ovechkin said. "Younger and younger."

The exact moment he decided to retire is not specified in the source.

Ovechkin said the decision was made with his family, and he wants to be healthy enough to play with his two sons, eight-year-old Sergei and five-year-old Ilya. The choice, he said, was about looking toward the future.

"I have to look in the future and I have to be able to play with the kids and be healthy and do little things," he added.

But it wasn't just family pulling him back. Ovechkin said what the organization did this summer gave him "motivation to come back and play one more year."

The game is getting younger around him, and he knows it. This is his last run.

WHY NOW

Stepping away wasn’t a decision Ovechkin made lightly, but he said he believes it is the best path forward for him personally. The 41-year-old pointed to his own body as the clearest sign it was time.

"Me and my wife talk about it, I have to heal my body as well," Ovechkin said. "How I said, I'm not 20 years old."

Ovechkin is a father to two sons, eight-year-old Sergei and five-year-old Ilya, and they played a major role in his thinking. He wants to be physically able to keep up with them as they grow.