His donations will be matched by Monumental Sports & Entertainment.
As of Wednesday morning, Ovechkin has 884 career goals, only 11 away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 894.
"The whole thing, everything that's happening right now with the organization, with the 'GR8 Chase,' everybody has heard about it, right," Ovechkin said after the Capitals morning skate Wednesday. "So I think it's very important for us (to use that) to help kids, help people who have cancer to fight for it. It's a cause that's very important."
Ovechkin said he and the Capitals began talking about how to leverage his chase for Gretzky's record into something impactful off the ice earlier this season.
"We have such an unbelievable team and organization, and we talked about it a long time and we just make a decision to go now," Ovechkin said.
He said part of the reason they chose to partner with Hockey Fights Cancer and the V Foundation now is because he's close to the record, but this was going to happen regardless.
"I'm close but it's not about close," Ovechkin said. "We started talking about it at the beginning of the year and we were talking about when is the right time. Now."
Legendary basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski -- who has served on the V Foundation’s Board of Directors since the foundation’s inception -- welcomed Ovechkin to the team and shared his excitement about partnering with the NHL star.
“Not only do we have the National Hockey League on our team, but we have one of the greatest players ever joining us. Welcome,” Krzyzewski said in a social media video. “And, by the way, we’re going to be watching you in the pursuit of that milestone.”
