Taking the phone from a member of the Washington Capitals' front office, first-round draft pick Alexander Alexeyev was clearly nervous as he turned it around to see his fellow countrymen, future teammates and long-time idol: Alexander Ovechkin.
He was so nervous that Ovi called him out on it.
"Why do you look so nervous?" Ovechkin asked in Russian, as translated by the Capitals.
"I've been sitting here for a minute and my knees are hurting," Alexeyev deflected, also in Russian.
Recognizing that he shouldn't take the call quite so seriously, the 18-year old took the next opportunity to zing the Great Eight.
"Well, you are going to come to Washington and get on our program," Ovechkin said.
"What program is that? In the fountains?" Alexeyev said with a grin, referring to the fountains that Ovi and teammates swam in after winning the Stanley Cup.
If that video didn't make international headlines, the parody he did with teammate Nicklas Backstrom last week in Las Vegas made it fresh on everyone's mind.
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin strips down to his shorts and dives into a fountain in Georgetown to celebrate winning the Stanley Cup. https://t.co/eddD7CnUbY pic.twitter.com/311ao9BPdZ
— ABC News (@ABC) June 11, 2018#StanleyCup champs: ✅Actors: --#NHL Awards pic.twitter.com/Pa4HoZqRw4
— NHL (@NHL) June 21, 2018"Well, that too," Ovi said. "Well, I'll see you,"
All Access | Behind the scenes look at the newest member of the Washington Capitals, @Alexeyev04 #ALLCAPS #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/DgrriwXJp4
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) June 23, 2018After another round of pleasantries, the two Alexes hung up and Alexeyev let out a long sigh of relief.
"I should have taken a screenshot," Alexeyev mused in English as he walked toward the media gauntlet.
Once his game is ready for the NHL, he's going to fit in great with this Caps locker room.
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