Alex Ovechkin welcomes first graders back to school during Knowledge Day celebrations

Thursday was Knowledge Day in Russia and Alex Ovechkin spent his morning welcoming children back to school.

Joined on a stage by Russian stars Artemi Panarin, Vladimir Tarasenko, Sergei Bobrovsky, Pavel Datsyuk, and Ilya Kovalchuk, the Russian machine helped celebrate the first day of classes at School #576 in St. Petersburg, a special boarding school for developing athletes. Today marked the 60th anniversary of its opening.

“Hi, everybody,” Ovechkin said when given a microphone. “You see people on the stage here who are prominent athletes, Olympic and World Champions. We hope that sometime you will be standing on this stage and saying the same words to future first graders.”

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Photos: fhr.ru

А как первое сентября проходит у вас в школе?📚✂️🎉 @yulianna_karaulova #Овечкин#Ковальчук#Караулова#первая5сборнойроссии#главныйтренерсборнойроссии#школа#первоесентября

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Translation by Igor Kleyner.