UAE Women's Hockey Player Shows Off Ovechkin-Like Skills in Front of Her Idol

.— Washington Capitals (@Capitals)February 8, 2017

The Middle East isn't the first place you'd think to look to discover hidden hockey talent.

But when Washington Capitals legend Peter Bondra traveled to Abu Dhabi last November to instruct for the Pavlikovsky Hockey School, there was one talented young woman who particularly caught his eye.

Her name is Fatima Al Ali, a member of the United Arab Emirates national women's hockey team who's only been playing the game for about seven years, but made a lasting impression on Bondra with her stick-handling ability and noticeable passion for the game in a place where neither is very common.

This is Fatima. She represents the UAE on their women's national team & it's safe to say she has better hands than me! — Peter Bondra (@PeterBondra12)November 13, 2016

A few weeks later, as part of the NHL's "Hockey is for Everyone" campaign, Fatima was moved to tears as Bondra and the Capitals organization surprised her with a pair of round-trip plane tickets to Washington and an invite to a February game at the Verizon Center.

In partnership w/ — Washington Capitals (@Capitals)December 20, 2016

A two-month wait and over 7,000 miles through the air later, the noted Alex Ovechkin fan got to meet her idol in person on Tuesday. After being in attendance to witness No. 8 open the scoring en route to the Capitals' 5-0 shellacking of Carolina, Fatima made her way to the dressing room where she got to mingle with players and personnel, schmooze it up with owner Ted Leonsis and, of course, had a face-to-face chat with the superstar she's been idolizing through her television screen for the past seven years.

New first line, Alex, TJ, and Fatima — Ted Leonsis (@TedLeonsis)February 8, 2017

On Wednesday, the team invited her out to practice where she was further able to display the skills that first caught Bondra's eye. After taking some one-timers from Ovi—burying them from his favourite on the ice, no less—and showing Evgeny Kuznetsov a thing or two with the puck, Al Ali was presented a stick signed by who else? Ovechkin, of course.

Yup, that's a signed game used stick direct from the source for — MonumentalSportsNet (@MonSportsNet)February 8, 2017

Fatima shoots and scores at — CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR)February 8, 2017

Stick Skills! — MonumentalSportsNet (@MonSportsNet)February 8, 2017

Sitting first overall in the NHL with 80 points and well on their way to a second consecutive Presidents' Trophy, the Capitals don't appear to need much help right now. If they want to exercise their postseason demons and advance to the third round for the first time in 20 years, though, they know who to call.

For more great pictures and video of Fatima's time with the team, check out the Capitals' Twitter feed.