NHL star Alex Ovechkin of The Washington Capitals did something on Friday night that’s sparking quite a bit of attention — and for all the right reasons: he bought a shirtless homeless man some winter clothing.
Ovechkin was in Edmonton, Canada, when he encountered the man in need and decided to take action. And the story about his kind deed first started going viral after a cafe tweeted that its staff saw it firsthand.
“We saw The Alex Ovechkin take off his winter jacket and hat and give it to a homeless man he passed on the street,” the message read. “Wow!”
We saw The Alex Ovechkin take off his winter jacket and hat and give it to a homeless man he passed on the street. Wow! #gooddeeds
— Prince Pauper (@2ehHoles) October 27, 2017
As it turns out, Ovechkin actually bought some clothing for the man and didn’t hand him his own jacket.
The Washington Post later corroborated the story, noting that, though it was in the 50s in Edmonton, Ovechkin couldn’t stand by and watch the man lack basic winter gear. So, he bought a sweater, hat and coat for him.
The NHL player’s wife reportedly also later posted a photo of a text conversation during which Ovechkin told her that he felt bad for the man, so decided to step in and help.
Ovechkin, too, spoke out about the good deed on Saturday, though he was reportedly uncomfortable diving too deep into it.
“He was like, ‘Are you serious?’ He was a little in shock,” he said of the homeless man. “But again, we don’t have to concentrate on this moment right now.”
Ovechkin continued, “It’s something I think where if you see a guy almost naked out there with that kind of temperature, I think every human can do something, you know? Warm coat or a shirt or whatever.”