Alex Ovechkin will have his gamer skills tested on August 13 when he takes part in a Russian eSports tournament. Ovi will be putting his joysticks to work playing NHL 22 on PlayStation 5.
The event is being held in Moscow at the Festival Square of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex and hosted by the Department of Sports in Moscow, the International Hockey Academy, and the Moscow Computer Sports Federation.
TASS reports that there will be a one million ruble prize pool ($16,535 USD).
Participants will be divided into three divisions – pro, semi-pro, and amateur. It’s unclear where Ovi will slot. Professionals and semi-professionals have been personally invited into their divisions, while the amateur division will be entered following the results of four open qualifying tournaments, which were held on Moscow’s eSports platform.
We’ve seen in the past that Ovi takes his gaming very seriously but he also lost to Wayne Gretzky during the pandemic in NHL 20.
“It is important for us to emphasize both the fact that eSports is a real sport and the direct connection between the eSports skills of a person with good physical shape and training,” Maxim Fler, President of the Moscow Computer Sports Federation, said in a statement via Google translate. “Athlete’s Day is an excellent occasion to tell and show it to a wide audience. I invite everyone to our tent at Luzhniki on August 13!”
In addition to the NHL 22 tournament, several other games will be on display at the event. PC gamers will host “master classes” in popular titles Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, and Rocket League.