Alex Ovechkin announces this is his final NHL season, and Washington gets one last ride with the Great Eight
The 41-year-old Capitals captain told his teammates Monday morning before posting a public statement: the 2026-27 season is his last. For D.C. sports fans, the countdown starts now.
In brief
Ovechkin says goodbye on his own terms, and Washington has one season left to soak it in
Monday morning, before most of the sports world had finished its coffee, Alex Ovechkin walked into the Washington Capitals locker room and told his teammates what he had already decided over the summer. This is the last one. The 2026-27 NHL season. Then he's done.
Ovechkin announced Monday, Oct. 5, that he plans to retire after the 2026-27 season, bringing an expected close to one of the most remarkable careers in NHL history. He did not wait for trade rumors, a quiet exit, or a reporter to break it. He controlled the moment entirely.
A video surfaced of Ovechkin speaking to his teammates and saying that he will retire following the 2026-27 NHL season. Then he went public. "My family and I decided this summer that this will be my final year in the NHL," Ovechkin said in a post to the team's X account. "I love this game so much, but I know in my heart it's the right decision. It was important for me to make this announcement before our first home game, so I have the chance to thank all the people around the game, everyone who has been so important to me and my family and helped me through good times and tough losses."
For Washington, D.C., this is the rare sports moment that arrives with a full year's warning. Every home game at Capital One Arena this season is now freighted with finality.
What he is, by the numbers
The 41-year-old signed a one-year, $4.25-million contract on July 2 to stick around with the Capitals. That contract now reads as both a bargain and a farewell gift to a city that has watched him play every single one of his NHL games.
Ovechkin is in the midst of his 22nd NHL season and has suited up for all 1,575 games of his career with the Capitals. He joined Sidney Crosby, Gordie Howe, Alex Delvecchio, Stan Mikita, and Steve Yzerman as the only players in NHL history to play 22 seasons with one franchise.
The goals record is the number everyone knows. The No. 1 pick at the 2004 draft passed Wayne Gretzky to become the NHL's all-time leading goal scorer, and he is currently the only player in NHL history to cross 900 goals. He is also first in NHL history in 10 different statistical categories, including goals and power-play goals, and he is tied for first with nine 50-goal seasons.
Ovechkin was previously reported to be considering retirement this past summer, but elected to return to Washington. That decision now makes sense in a different light. He wanted one more lap. On his schedule.
Why he told them now
The timing was deliberate. Ovechkin said he wanted to make the announcement early to have the opportunity to thank fans, teammates, and supporters throughout his career. The Capitals' first home game of the 2026-27 season is coming up this week, and Ovechkin did not want to walk out to that crowd carrying a secret.
Ovechkin made it clear that his focus remains on competing for a Stanley Cup in his farewell campaign. He has one ring, from 2018. The Capitals have not been back to the Finals since. Whether this roster can get him there is a separate and genuinely open question, but the motivation is not in doubt.
While it is obviously unknown when Ovechkin's final game will actually be, he could end the season hoisting the Stanley Cup for the second time in his career, or an unforeseen circumstance such as an injury could push the timeline forward, what is clear is that by the time Capitals training camp rolls around next fall, the franchise's most consistent face of the past two decades will not be hitting the ice.
The rest of the sports world keeps spinning
While Washington processes Ovechkin's farewell, the MLB playoffs churned through another pivotal night. The pesky Tampa Bay Rays put all the pressure on the big, bad New York Yankees. Richie Palacios hit a two-run single in a four-run fifth inning, and Tampa Bay took advantage of New York's sloppy defense, beating Cam Schlittler and the Yankees 5-2 on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in their AL Division Series.
Facing a 1-0 ALDS deficit against the Tampa Bay Rays, the New York Yankees had hoped presumptive Cy Young Award winner Cam Schlittler would be the salve to lead them to a Game 2 win. It did not work out that way. The Yankees started Game 2 on Monday in Tampa with a disastrous first inning on defense that featured three errors, setting the tone for a mistake-filled night and an eventual 5-2 Rays victory. New York committed four errors total. Aaron Judge, dealing with a calf issue, was not on the Yankees' roster for the series against the Rays.
In the National League, the MLB postseason continues Tuesday with a pair of Game 3s in the National League Division Series. The Atlanta Braves return home with their series against the Los Angeles Dodgers tied at 1-1, while the San Diego Padres will try to keep their season alive after dropping the first two games against the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Brewers worked three walks against Padres closer Mason Miller before budding young superstar Jackson Chourio delivered with a two-RBI, walk-off single up the middle to take a 2-0 series grip. San Diego's season now hinges on Game 3 at Petco Park Tuesday night.
Back in the NHL, there was a notable footnote on opening week: the Sharks announced that Macklin Celebrini would miss their game Monday night with a lower-body injury and would be reevaluated daily. Young franchise cornerstones and injury reports, some traditions survive every era.
But the headline belongs to Ovechkin. Fans and opponents alike will now have an 82-game farewell tour to celebrate one of the most prolific offensive talents in hockey history. Washington gets every one of those home games at Capital One Arena, on 6th Street NW, where No. 8 has skated since George W. Bush's second term.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
