The Washington Capitals overcame a 4-2 deficit and knocked off Philadelphia in game one of their series.
All eyes were on Alexander Ovechkin, as always. For much of the game he was quiet and kept in check, but with some strong forechecking he was able to turn nothing into the game winning goal.
I know a lot of people don't believe athletes should get paid millions of dollars, especially in comparison to real heroes like doctors and firemen and so forth. But watching Washington's first playoff game in years makes me think Ovechkin is worth every penny of the $10 million a year he's going to get.
The building was sold out. 95% of the crowd was wearing Capitals red, no doubt most of which was officially licensed merchandise - tshirts, sweaters, jerseys, hats. I'm sure many of them bought hot dogs and drinks. And I'm sure there's tons of other fans not in attendance wearing #8 jerseys. That all adds up to very healthy revenue numbers.
All eyes were on Alexander Ovechkin, as always. For much of the game he was quiet and kept in check, but with some strong forechecking he was able to turn nothing into the game winning goal.
I know a lot of people don't believe athletes should get paid millions of dollars, especially in comparison to real heroes like doctors and firemen and so forth. But watching Washington's first playoff game in years makes me think Ovechkin is worth every penny of the $10 million a year he's going to get.
The building was sold out. 95% of the crowd was wearing Capitals red, no doubt most of which was officially licensed merchandise - tshirts, sweaters, jerseys, hats. I'm sure many of them bought hot dogs and drinks. And I'm sure there's tons of other fans not in attendance wearing #8 jerseys. That all adds up to very healthy revenue numbers.
This phenomenon was not evident in the American capital prior to Ovechkin's arrival. I seem to remember a lot of empty seats as the rule, not the exception. Ted Leonsis' $10M a year investment in Ovechkin-mania is cashing in nicely, both on and off the ice. And Ovechkin is worth every penny. As the man who is cheifly responsible for all that revenue, he is only seeing a fraction all those revenues.
Great Debut, Too: Ovechkin's 1 goal and 1 assist performance equalled Wayne Gretzky's production from his NHL debut.
But Ovechkin was not the only Capital to be making his post-season debut. In total 15 Caps made thier first appearance, including defenseman Mike Green. Green, who led NHL defenseman with 18 goals in the regular season, stole much of Ovechkin's spotlight on this night.
Green, became just the fourth defenseman in Stanley Cup history to score two or-more goals in his first playoff game. Green scored at 1:50 (followed by an attempted Bobby Orr flying leap) and 6:26 of the third period against Philadelphia Flyers' goaltender Martin Biron.
Great Debut, Too: Ovechkin's 1 goal and 1 assist performance equalled Wayne Gretzky's production from his NHL debut.But Ovechkin was not the only Capital to be making his post-season debut. In total 15 Caps made thier first appearance, including defenseman Mike Green. Green, who led NHL defenseman with 18 goals in the regular season, stole much of Ovechkin's spotlight on this night.
Green, became just the fourth defenseman in Stanley Cup history to score two or-more goals in his first playoff game. Green scored at 1:50 (followed by an attempted Bobby Orr flying leap) and 6:26 of the third period against Philadelphia Flyers' goaltender Martin Biron.
Chicago Blackhawks' Dick Redmond scored three goals in his first playoff game (Apr. 4/73) against St. Louis goaltender Wayne Stephenson, while Washington's Sergei Gonchar (May 6/95) versus Pittsburgh and Montreal Canadiens' Red Goupille (Mar. 22/38) against Chicago, join Green with two goals in their debut.
Bonus points if you knew about Goupille. I had never even heard of him until just now.
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