Rookie NHL Player Gets Chance To Settle A Grudge That Started When He Was 11

In 2006, Miles Wood was an 11-year-old hockey player in Buffalo dreaming of lacing up his skates, stepping out onto the ice and scoring goals, just like his idol Alex Ovechkin was doing for the Washington Capitals.

Attempting to reach out to his favorite player, Wood sent Ovechkin a hockey card and a letter saying: “If you don’t sign this and send it back to me, when I make it to the NHL, I’m going to give you a big body check.”

I like 11-year-old Wood’s strategy here, scare him into giving you an autograph, what could go wrong?

Well it turns out Ovechkin didn’t send Wood an autograph back and last night, the Devils and the Capitals faced off for the first time this season. Giving the 21-year-old from Buffalo his first shot at playing against his childhood idol.

Before the start of the game, Ovechkin got word of Wood’s story and attempted to ease the tension and make things right.

Fulfilling a young boy’s dream was enough to end the feud between the two. Ovechkin and Wood shared the ice together many times during the course of the Devils 2-1 win over the Capitals in a shootout.

Wood didn’t hit Ovechkin once.