Former Columbus Blue Jackets goalie, Pascal Leclaire, was given something he'll cherish forever.
By now, you've heard that Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin is just eight goals from tying Wayne Gretzky's all-time goal mark of 894, and there's a very good chance he could break that record against Columbus on April 12th or 13th.
Ovechkin has scored on a whopping 181 different goalies in his long career. But did you know that Ovi scored his first career NHL goal against a Columbus Blue Jackets goalie? Because, of course, he did, right? Ovi's first NHL goal was against Pascal Leclaire on October 5, 2005.
Leclaire, who is now an analyst for TVA, shared on a February 23rd broadcast a special gift he received from Alex Ovechkin.
Ovechkin gave him a signed Caps jersey that read "You were #1 :)", a nod to Ovi scoring his first goal against the CBJ's Leclaire. Ovechkin scored his first two career goals against Pascal and totaled five goals scored against Leclaire.
Leclaire joked during the broadcast, "I'm the one who put Ovechkin on the map."
Pascal went on to say, “My daughters didn’t believe me that I had faced Ovi. So, I contacted Washington, and they were very fine. Ovi sent me a signed jersey… But hey, it proves the kind of person he is. He is a good person, extremely generous of his time.”
Leclaire went on to say during the French broadcast, “You know, look, it’s his first goal in the National League. I was in front of the net with the Columbus Blue Jackets. It was at his first presence, you can see how dangerous he was going to be, the kind of career he was going to have with his launch. But his flair to find himself, to be forgotten in free spaces like that, that’s really what makes him quite effective.”
*We had to use Google Translate for the above quotes.*
Pazzy went on to play seven seasons in the NHL, five of which were in Columbus. He had a record of 45-55-12 for the CBJ and was the 8th overall pick in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft.
What's Next: The New York Rangers visit Nationwide Arena on Saturday.
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