Alex Ovechkin is starting the 2014-15 season on a charming note.
The Washington Capitals star recently surprised 10-year-old Ann Schaab, taking his biggest fan on a dream date that neither of them will forget any time soon.
According to The Washington Post, Ovechkin first met his little admirer on Sept. 11 while he was participating in a skating session with the American Special Hockey Association, which gives kids with disabilities a chance to play and learn the game.
Ann, who has Down syndrome, skated over to No. 8 at the event and simply went for it, asking him out on a date for some sushi and kickball. Ovechkin obliged and quickly got to work on arranging the details of the date, as he kept the sushi part in the plans, but swapped out kickball for the Caps’ Oct. 5 preseason game against the Carolina Hurricanes.
“She’s the cutest little girl I’ve ever seen,” Ovechkin said, via NHL.com. “She asked me for a date to go and eat sushi, but we didn’t have lots of time, so we decided to bring her to the Capitals (preseason) game against the Carolina Hurricanes. We would talk before the game and then after go and spend some time to eat sushi.”
But that’s not all Ovechkin had up his sleeve when the big day finally arrived. After surprising Ann with a personalized jersey and roses at the Caps’ practice rink, Ovechkin then drove her to the Verizon Center (after promising not to speed and heeding her warnings to not get pulled over), where she watched pregame warmups from the bench.
Following the Capitals’ 5-2 win, Ann and her family went to the locker room, where she got her jersey signed by the players. Then it finally was sushi time. After introducing Ann as his “new girlfriend” to Caps head coach Barry Trotz, the two made their way to a booth in the owner’s lounge and enjoyed some salmon rolls together.
“It was great to see a smile on her face,” Ovechkin said. “She is a terrific and funny kid. She seemed to have a lot of fun, and I was very pleased to spend some time with her.”
Check out video of the date that will be borderline impossible to top in the video below.
