COLUMBUS, Ohio – So, why did Alex Ovechkin need a new car so badly? To give away to charity, of course.

What seemed like a simple joke during the Friday night NHL All-Star draft had a special reason behind it all along. As reported by NHL.com, Ovi wanted the car so he could donate it to the Washington Ice Dogs, a hockey team for kids with special needs.

Earlier this year, Ovi went on a special first date with a young girl from that program, 10-year-old Ann, who has Down’s Syndrome. Her impact on him has lasted long past a simple dinner.

“It means a lot,” Ovechkin told NHL.com. “Honda connected with my agent and they just gave me a car, so I’m going to donate to…that sweet little girl.”

No one except a handful of people close to Ovechkin were aware of the plan. Even his All-Star teammates were totally in the dark. Many thought it was Ovi just going for a laugh. Anyone who watched the draft could tell he really, really wanted that darn car.

Despite his aggressive petitioning, he got picked third to last.

“We had it planned that he was going to third-to-last no matter what,” Drew Doughty said at the time. “He’s not too happy.”

As The Washington Post’s Alex Prewitt found out, Honda wasn’t even aware of Ovi’s plan until after the draft.

Before the game, Honda upped the stakes for Ovi.

Once they found out the real reason he wanted the car, the NHL sponsor wasted no time making it happen. And now, the Cool Cats have a cool new ride.

So, to get this straight, a guy who many people in the league call a “selfish player” had a secret plan all along to win a new car and donate it to charity.

And even when people thought he was acting odd and brash, he stuck to his original idea no matter what anyone said.

Yeah, sounds pretty selfish to me too.