Ovechkid: 'Oilers Country' kid cheering Ovi in Stanley Cup final

Call him the Ovechkid, or better yet, 'Niebvechkin.'

Cash Niebergall may live in Oilers' country but he considers himself Alex Ovechkin's biggest fan.

The nine-year-old boy from Stony Plain has been cheering on the Washington Capitals captain since he first entered grade school.

Clad in hisred No. 8 Ovechkin jersey, Cash will be watching 'Ovi'as he hits the ice against the Golden Knights in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals Thursday night.

Cash is confident his hockey hero will do all he can to bring home the cup, a victory that would make him the first Russian captain to ever hoist the cup.

"I think that would be really cool," Cash said in an interview Thursday with CBC Radio's Edmonton AM.

"And I hope he does because he's worked hard his whole career and he hasn't won the cup yet so I hope this is his year."

• Capitals 1 win away from 1st Stanley Cup after rout of Vegas

The young player with the Stony Plain Predators idolizes Ovechkin. He wears yellow skate laces like Ovi, tries to shoot like Ovi and watches every Capitals game religiously.

He even has a shrine of Ovi memorabilia and collectibles in his bedroom.

"It kind of started right from the get-go," said Cash's mother, Miranda Niebergall.

"It started with subtle things like, 'I need to be number 8,'to things like, 'I need yellow skate laces.'

"It kind of started off slowly and then it just took over and consumed his whole life actually."

Surprise meeting

Cash got to meet his hero last October, after Ovechkin gave the boy one of his sticks during a game in Edmonton.

His new jersey stood out in the sea of orange and blue, and caught Ovechkin's eye.

The Russian winger tossed over his stick right before the puck drop, a moment caught by television cameras and broadcast across the country.

• Ovechkin, Capitals figure the desert a great place to end Stanley Cup drought

He created an online video thanking his favourite player for the birthday gift. It went viral and Ovechkin promptly invited the boy and his family to the Capitals' next game in Calgary.

Cash came prepared to return the favour.

During the locker room meeting, Niebergall gave the captain one of his favourite hockey sticks.

The exchange grabbed headlines all over the world, and earned Niebergall the nickname 'Niebvechkin.'

In his second year of ice hockey with the Predators, Cash finished in the top-five in league scoring and was named his team's captain.

Despite the significant age and size difference, Cashsaid he tries to emulate his favourite player'shard-hitting style every time he gets on the ice.

"Just the way he plays so hard," Cash said. "He doesn't stop. And every shift he takes is 100 percent."