Catching Up With Brooks Laich: What It Was Like Being Alex Ovechkin's Net-Front Man & Seeing The Capitals Star Change The NHL

Brooks Laich remembers the first time he came across Alex Ovechkin. The two were on the international stage, as Canada faced Russia in the 2003 IIHF World Junior Championships gold medal game. Laich had been well-aware of Ovechkin, 17 at the time, and what he could do, but his impact became even more apparent when he went first overall to the Washington Capitals soon after.

"I was 19, he was 17, he might've had multiple hat tricks in that tournament and was a force to be reckoned with, so he had been on my radar, obviously prior. Then the Capitals, we draft him, and it's an organizational immediate trajectory change, that draft pick," Laich, who was traded to Washington as part of the Peter Bondra trade in 2003, said. "It was such an exciting time for the NHL, not just for the Capitals.

There was a transition from veterans to youth and exuberance and outstanding talent. Ovi comes in, Sid comes in. "For the Capitals at that time, we were loaded up with Boyd Gordon, Brian Sutherby, Steve Eminger, myself, Jakub Klepis, Tomas Fleischmann, Mike Green came shortly after, Alex Semin, there was just a youth movement.

It was, 'Okay, we have a bunch of tremendous young hockey players, we're going to put you all out there and let you battle it out and see who elevates. '" Ovechkin didn't take long to burst onto the scene, picking up two goals and breaking the baords in his NHL debut in Columbus, and then finishing that season with 52 goals and 54 assists for 106 points to win the Calder Trophy. For Laich, that star power was something that not only Washington needed, but the league as a whole did.