This story was excerpted from Jessica Camerato's Nationals Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
WASHINGTON -- The decision was obvious when hockey aficionado Jake Irvin picked out what to wear to Nationals Park on Monday.
The day after Alex Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky’s long-standing NHL goals scored record, Irvin reached for the Ovechkin Capitals jersey he got last year.
“I figured it was only right to wear [it],” Irvin said.
Irvin grew up in Minnesota, where the Wild are his hometown team. But since being drafted by the Nationals in 2018 and making his Major League debut in ’23, he has embraced the Nats’ hockey counterparts.
“Being a part of sports in this city, that’s how you create a culture in a city, by supporting those other people,” Irvin said. “And I've obviously followed him since I was a kid and was just a fan before being in D.C. It’s really cool.”
Upon arrival in the clubhouse, Irvin received a commemorative red T-shirt. On the front was a drawing of Ovechkin’s face with the words “The Most Goals in NHL History” around it. Irvin swapped out the jersey for the T-shirt to take the field for warmups.
“In terms of just what it's done for the sport, how cool this season has been for him and the team, it’s up there for sure,” said Irvin.
The Nationals were playing on Sunday afternoon when Ovechkin reached the historical feat. Although Irvin couldn’t watch the goal live, he pored over video clips that evening.
“I watched it probably 200 times last night,” Irvin said. “I was just sitting at home, taking it all in. There were so many different things -- the fact that he just sat at the top of the blue line, took three hard strides in, like he knew it was coming. Just watching, dissecting the different parts of it and how cool it was, his teammates’ reactions. I tried to soak it in for not being there, but I watched it a lot. I watched it a lot.”
Irvin met Capitals Stanley Cup winning goaltender Braden Holtby in 2023 at Nationals Park. Irvin said at the time it would be a dream to meet Ovechkin, too, and that hasn’t changed.
“I want to [meet him] bad,” Irvin said. “I'm hoping that they come here. … [If we talk,] I’ll let it be natural. I heard he brings the energy, so we'll have some fun.”