MONTREAL – Alex Ovechkin isn’t just a pro athlete, he’s a fan, too.

So when news of Kobe Bryant’s death began to spread Sunday afternoon, like fans across the globe, Ovechkin’s emotions boomeranged from disbelief to sadness and eventually back to disbelief.

“I heard right before practice,” said Ovechkin, whose Capitals were returning from an eight-day hiatus due to their bye week and a break for the NHL’s All-Star Game. “It was not 100 percent confirmed (at the time). I was hoping it’s not true.

“You don’t want to hear about somebody get in a crash in a helicopter, or somebody passed away. That’s tough. I know him. He always treat me well when he saw me. It’s hard. He was a legend in the basketball world and the whole world. It’s tough. I still can’t believe it.”

“He was a legend in the basketball world and the whole world. It’s tough.” —Alex Ovechkin on Kobe Bryant, who once presented the #Caps’ captain with a game-worn jersey and sneakers after a game in L.A. pic.twitter.com/RQPZFFURem — Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir) January 26, 2020

Ovechkin, a noted basketball buff, always admired Bryant’s style of play and attended a handful of Lakers games over the years. On more than one occasion, he made sure to find Bryant and snap a photo.

“I met him, I think, three or four times after games,” Ovechkin recalled. “He always shake my hand.”

The photo featuring Bryant, Ovechkin and tennis star Novak Djokovic was taken at Staples Center during the 2015-16 season, Bryant’s last in the NBA. The Lakers were hosting the Orlando Magic that night. The Capitals, meanwhile, were in Los Angeles to face the Kings 24 hours later.

Although Bryant did not suit up for the game, he made sure Ovechkin did not go home empty-handed.

Looks like Ovechkin got hooked up with a Kobe jersey and a pair of shoes pic.twitter.com/gGjtL9oo27 — J.A. Adande (@jadande) March 9, 2016

“It was his last season,” Ovechkin recounted. “(The Caps) were in L.A. My wife was there. To see him play his last season, I will never forget about it. He give us his jersey and his shoes. It was pretty special because, how I said, as an athlete you want to meet one of the greatest. And he was the best.”

Ovechkin also won’t forget the time he was sitting courtside at a Lakers game and Bryant playfully pointed in his direction. As famous as Ovechkin is, he still felt a little giggly when the Lakers’ great acknowledged him.

“I was in the stands eating hot dogs,” Ovechkin said, “and he was pointing to me. I was like, ‘Holy!'”

“But,” he added, his voice trailing off. “It’s hard. It’s hard.”

Ovechkin was among the first players on the ice at Bell Centre, where the Caps will face the Canadiens on Monday night. As the players circled the rink for a pre-practice warmup, Ovechkin somberly informed a handful of teammates about the shocking news that he’d just heard.

Following the 40 minute practice, those who had yet to hear of Bryant’s death learned about it from teammates and members of the media. Player after player shook his head as the news sunk in.

“It’s pretty tragic,” Brendan Leipsic said. “It really hits home when it’s somebody famous. It’s just brutal.”

Coach Todd Reirden added: “It was devastating news, obviously. Especially in this situation, (Bryant’s) someone who has been an idol for many players in every sport. He’s been such a huge figure for the NBA. It’s just shocking and terrible news. You always see tragic accidents and, for the most part, you never know who’s involved. This is one, as athletes, it seems like it really caught the attention of our players. We send our best wishes from our organization to his family. It’s a very sad day.”

Like Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov is a hoops fan and follows the NBA. He counts a basketball that Bryant autographed for him after the Lakers played in Washington a few years back among his favorite items in his sports memorabilia collection.

“It sucks,” Kuznetsov said. “That’s a tough loss. As a kid, we’ve been dreaming about seeing him play.

“This guy will be in our memory forever, for sure.”

Subban on relationship with Kobe: ‘He was always willing to make time’

One played on hardwood and the other ice, but Devils defenseman P.K. Subban said no matter the sport, one thing stands out for him when he thinks about friend Bryant.

“As an athlete, you want to be Kobe. You think about anything else, you can have all the physical attributes, you can be a smart player, but to have that package? It’s fun being Kobe, I’m sure,” Subban said, not correcting the tense of his last statement.

Like many in and out of the sports world, Subban was still processing the news Bryant had been killed Sunday in a helicopter crash, which also claimed Bryant’s daughter and the lives of seven others.

“It was horrible,” he said of the rest of his day Sunday after hearing the news. “It was horrible, man. It’s just tough for everyone. You just don’t want to see that. In a lot of ways you replay it, you try and think about why things like this happen. It’s just unfortunate. All you want to do is just pray for the family and you hope that (Bryant’s wife) Vanessa and the kids and everyone stay strong. I think that we all can see there is going to be a ton of support for them. I don’t know, man. It sucks.”

Subban said he was surprised how many people reached out to him after hearing the news.

“I didn’t know that many knew how big of a fan I was of his and how much I idolized him,” he said.

“For me personally he set the tone in terms of wanting to be a difference-maker in big games. Really, he’s the DNA of your prototypical athlete and what you want. Beyond that, he was an even better person and just very happy to have that relationship with him.”

Shocked and in complete disbelief… A father, husband, legend, and idol gone way too soon. Thank you for the time, the lessons, and 20 years of greatness. #ripmamba🐍 pic.twitter.com/oqAtpaMlz8 — P.K. Subban (@PKSubban1) January 26, 2020

Subban said his connection with Bryant started with his friendship with Los Angeles Lakers owner Jeanie Buss. After attending a few Lakers games, he got to connect with Bryant when he attended Bryant’s last game against the Boston Celtics in 2016.

Subban said he told Bryant he would like to be able to turn to him for advice. Bryant became a sounding board for him when Subban went to the Stanley Cup final in 2017 with the Nashville Predators.

“I was in touch with him throughout the whole finals. A lot of times whenever I would ask him what to do or things I wanted to maybe change, a lot of times he’d tell me not to change anything, just stick with what works,” Subban said.

“He was always willing to make time and I was just very lucky to have had that type of relationship with him. I wasn’t best friends with Kobe or anything like that, I’m sure you can understand the impact of just (getting) to feel like you could touch him and connect with him. He was that big. He was definitely someone who when I dream about playing in big games and wanting to make a difference, all that comes from him.

“When you get a chance to talk to Kobe you realize he is a special, special person. You feel that when you meet him you’ve known him for a long time. When you listen to the way he speaks and how he thinks, he’s miles ahead of everybody in terms of his mental makeup. He’s just a really special person.

“(I) definitely tried to emulate everything that he did. It’s kind of crazy because we play different sports, but that’s the type of guy he is. He may not know anything about hockey but he gave all the time in the world to me … those text messages, those few moments of what he gave me, I was just very appreciative. It didn’t really matter what came out of his mouth. Just the fact he gave the time. It was pretty awesome.”

Subban said he was drawn to Bryant’s mental toughness. While he is willing to concede Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time, Subban said he had a connection with Bryant because he was the star of Subban’s generation.

“The way he did it. Like I said, I never really got a chance to watch Michael Jordan and all his championships. Clearly, he’s the best. But in my opinion Kobe is right behind him and right there. Five rings. The way he did it and being a Laker his whole career. In my opinion there’s no one better,” he said.

“It’s the mentality. There’s nothing that ever kind of knocked him off of his game. You look at pro sports. You go into opposition buildings all the time. There are tough places to play and he just makes it look so easy. I think that’s the biggest thing that I always took from him was his mentality and his compete level and his understanding of just how to get the job done.”

While he’s been trying to make sense of it all, Subban said Bryant’s death has made him consider life outside of the bubble in which he lives as a professional athlete.

“It’s unfortunate but I think that also there is a positive that comes out of it. I think people are also going to take out of this that you’ve got to cherish life, it is so precious and cherish the people around you, the loved ones that you have, kids, family. A lot of times we get caught up in things that don’t really matter as much, so you’ve got to take that from it. This is not just affecting me. It affects everybody, everybody in the sports world, anybody that has a heart. He touched a lot of lives and he’s touching more now, for sure.

“One thing you know about Kobe is he wouldn’t want anybody to take it in a way that would stop them from moving forward. It’s just tough. You have to turn your phone off at some point. Everywhere you look it’s pictures of him and his daughter. It’s really, really tough to see. He would want everyone that’s a fan of his to take this as motivation and everything that’s he’s done in his career and in his life, the impact that he’s had, use it in a positive way.”

– Chris Stevenson

More reaction from around the hockey world

Flames forward Milan Lucic: “My one year playing for the L.A. Kings was his final season in the NBA. It was a dream come true for me that I got to see him play live the year that I was there at the Staples Center. Knowing what he meant to that team, that organization, that community, that whole city; words can’t describe what he was to Los Angeles. He’s going to be dearly missed by everyone in that community, everyone in the sporting world. For a guy like myself — I’m 31 years old, 10 years younger than him — I grew up watching him from an 18-year-old all the way right to his last game. I remember we were actually staying at the Ritz-Carlton downtown (in Los Angeles), getting ready for Game 1 of the playoffs, and he put up those 60 points. I just remember the madness.

“I did not (meet him), even though we shared the (practice) facility in El Segundo — different practice times and all that stuff. But I did see him drive by one day, and that was still a highlight. And I do have a signed Kobe Bryant ball that I’ve had for the last five years.

“Just the ice in his veins — the ability to want to take the big shot and to make the big shot time and time again. For a guy that achieved everything, he pushed for more. His willingness and wantingness to be the greatest and want to be the greatest on a day-to-day basis, I think speaks for itself with all the accolades he had in his career. That’s why he became a mentor to a lot of current guys in the league, teaching them what he called the Mamba mentality. Just the fire that he brought on a day-to-day basis. I remember seeing that one clip of him snapping and losing his mind in practice because guys weren’t practicing hard enough or well enough. That wasn’t good enough for him. That just showed what kind of competitor he was. It was an honor growing up to watch him play. He’s a guy that I’ll always remember. I remember him in the Finals in 2008 and 2010 against the Celtics when I was in Boston. The example that he was for a lot of athletes is what made him who he was, more than just the player on the court.”

Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf: “It’s definitely a big reality check for everybody I think when you’re talking about somebody losing their loved ones like that. Whether he’s a star or not, he’s got a family. His kid’s involved. All that kind of stuff. It’s just heartbreaking. And I think it’s important to point out that he is an Orange County guy. He’s been on the Newport Coast for a long time, and he’s got a lot of family and friends around this area. Obviously, our condolences go out to his wife and their family. It’s hard to see anything like that.”

When asked about the impact Bryant had in the entire Southern California region, as well as the sporting world:

“He was just an all-around superstar in everything that he did in life. There was a lot of different things that he went through throughout his career and post-career. Again, the mark he left on the game and in the community was big. Everyone will be definitely missing him.”

Kings defenseman Alec Martinez: “It’s obviously heartbreaking. What he’s done throughout his career – for the basketball world, the sports world, the world, for California, for the city of L.A. It’s tragic. It’s something that you read and you don’t believe it at first. Just incredibly sad.”

Stars assistant coach John Stevens, who previously coached in L.A., said he didn’t know Bryant that well but saw his impact on the community: “You understood how important he was to the community, you hear about something like that your heart goes out to everyone involved. I knew some of those guys traveled by helicopter to get around with all the traffic out there and it’s easier to get around. He was a fixture in L.A. for a long time, he was a champion there, very charismatic guy, I was very shocked to hear the news and saddened.

“I’m sure there’s a lot of bleeding hearts in Los Angeles because he’s been there his whole career and he did so many great things as a Laker. It’s hard to think about the Lakers in the modern era without thinking about Kobe.”

Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews: “It’s one of those things that you just can’t really put in words. It’s just hard to believe. Obviously, what he did on the court, what he did off the court, was just amazing. It’s sad. I really feel for his family and then obviously the world lost an unbelievable person, an unbelievable idol. It’s really sad news.”

Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau: “It’s awful. Kind of gave me stomach issues just thinking about it. Just real sad news. Being an athlete, you’re always flying, always going from here to there.

“I was a big fan of him. I watched a lot of his videos when he was cheering for the Eagles when we went on that Super Bowl run. He’s a big Eagles fan, so I loved watching that.”

Flames forward Sean Monahan: “He’s an icon. Almost every athlete I know is someone that looked up to him. … For me, the first basketball jersey I had was a Kobe jersey. He was someone I liked to watch play.”

Wayne Gretzky tweeted: “Janet and I have no words to describe our shock and sadness on the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant today. Praying for him and his family”

Flyers captain Claude Giroux tweeted: “I’ve always wanted to be like you. Not only as a player but also as a person. You represent everything that is great about sports. #RIPKobe”

Canadiens center Max Domi tweeted: “Father, husband, legend… a true icon in every sense of the word. My heart aches for the family and friends of Kobe and Gigi. Such a terrible tragedy. Thoughts and prayers are with them and the families of the three other victims. Sad day. #RIPMAMBA”

Lightning defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk tweeted: “Thank you Kobe for every lesson you never knew you taught me. Your work ethic and devotion to your craft will never be matched. May you and Gianna rest in eternal peace together.”

Avalanche forward Nazem Kadri tweeted: “I always wanted to be like you. Praying for you and your family through these tough times. RIP mamba @kobebryant”

Lightning forward Pat Maroon tweeted: “I don’t even know how to begin to process this and don’t feel I ever will. Kobe, you were one of my idols and someone I strived to be like. You changed the world and today the world hurts. My heart is broken. Thoughts and prayers to everyone involved in this tragedy.”

Wild forward J.T. Brown tweeted: “The shock and sadness we are all feeling is not only a testament to how powerful Kobe was on the court, but to his influence on all sports. RIP.”

Retired NHL player and mental health advocate Daniel Carcillo tweeted: “Tragedy and death has the ability to force us into the present moment & be grateful for what we have People will undoubtedly be hugging their children & more appreciative of life lived today I know I am Prayers & thoughts to the families who have lost loved ones today”

NHLPA tweeted: “All members of the NHLPA are extremely saddened by the loss of one of the world’s all-time great athletes.”

Scott Cruickshank, Eric Stephens, Lisa Dillman, Sean Shapiro and Jonas Siegel contributed to this story.

(Top photo: Courtesy of Alex Ovechkin)