Photo credit: @WashCaps

If you searched Alex Ovechkin‘s name on Twitter the afternoon of March 27th, you witnessed several Capitals fans freaking out publicly.

“I was just within 10 feet of Alex Ovechkin,” @ChiSportsLife said. “No big deal.”

That beautiful March day, Ovechkin filmed a commercial for Verizon Wireless, where the script called for the Russian Machine to approach random people walking by Verizon Center and start up a pick-up hockey game.

Tuesday, the commercial was finally released to YouTube  – and it is awesome.

Surprisingly, not everyone wanted to play hockey with Ovi.

“Nooooooooooooooo,” cried one lady scurrying into Verizon Center to avoid The Great Eight.

“Street hockey?” one jogger replied when asked to play. “Right now?”

“I don’t know how to play,” another passerby, looking mortified, said.

“It’s okay,” the gregarious Ovechkin replied. “We’re going to teach you.”

And teach them he did. Ovi brought out all the tricks scoring goals, high-fiving the crowd, and getting everyone involved. Capitals announcer Wes Johnson summed it up best mid-way through the video: “F Street definitely stands for fun today.”

Thanks to the DC Sports Bog for first posting.

Okay, he’s just showing off now. (Photo credit: @mpoindc)

Alex Ovechkin shot a commercial for Verizon on Wednesday afternoon, and the extras were… well, pretty much everybody who walked past Verizon Center. Our own resident artist Rachel Cohen was at the event and gave us the scoop. Ovi, dressed in his full Washington Capitals gear, walked out through the front doors of the Verizon Center holding a bundle of hockey sticks. The Russian machine approached some passersby and asked if they’d like to play some pick-up with him. And then, right there on F Street, they played. Really.

The Red Rockers came out of Verizon Center to cheer on Ovi. The PA voice of the Capitals, Wes Johnson, did play-by-play. Owner Ted Leonsis and John Walton were there as well.

The game was three-on-three. Ovi picked players out of the crowd to play every few minutes. Judging by the chatter, a little game of flash shinny with the Great Eight has changed some lives.

@ovi8 you made my day when you handed me the hockey stick that you played with during the commercial

— The Social Butterfly (@cheesiepeesie) March 27, 2013

A #Capitals surprise on the streets of #DC today. Thanks for the fun, @ovi8 #Ovechkin! twitter.com/PamelaBrossman…

— Pamela Brossman (@PamelaBrossman) March 27, 2013

I was just within 10 feet of Alex Ovechkin. No big deal. twitter.com/ChiSportsLife/…

— CSL Mike (@ChiSportsLife) March 27, 2013

Hockey players are the best. They are so frigging down to earth.

Here are some more photos from the day.

Photo credit: @SergeyKocharov

Photo credit: @washcaps

Photo credit: @washcaps

Photo credit: @krenz105

Photo credit: @GeorgeWNEW

Ovi and Wes. (Photo credit: @wesjohnsonvoice)

Photo credit: @mkpanda78

A before and after shot of Wes with his health coach Elaine.

On December 6, 2012, while the NHL lockout was in its 82nd day, employees of the Washington Capitals game entertainment crew reunited for hockey for the first time in seven months. The Caps AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears, played the Norfolk Admirals in front of a sold out crowd. Hours before the game, arena employees met near the Caps locker room area for a briefing.

As PA Announcer Wes Johnson entered the room, Michael Wurman, Director of Game Entertainment and TV Products, pointed over to the man that many referred to as “Big Guy.” “There have been quite a few changes over the offseason,” Wurman said with a big smile. “And one of them just so happens to be sitting over here: Wes.”

The room gave Johnson a round of applause. “It was very gratifying,” Johnson told me in a phone interview. “And a little embarrassing too.”

“You’re probably in the last five to ten years of your life”

During a winter day a few years ago, Johnson walked out the front door of his Virginia home to run a few errands. As he made his way to his car, the 51-year-old actor, voice-over artist, and comedian, slipped on a patch of ice in his driveway. Despite his five-foot, nine-inch height, Johnson took a big tumble to the ground, ripping ligaments in his ankle.

When Wes went to get his ankle checked out, the doctor was more concerned about Johnson’s weight. With a busy work schedule and three kids at home, Wes saw his weight balloon over the years. The PA Announcer was also too charitable with his time, never quite able to turn down a request to hang out after Capitals games. “You don’t want to give up the after-the-game meal,” he told me. “You don’t want to give up going for drinks with folks.”

After years of constantly doing things for other people, finding no time for exercise, and putting no limits on what he ate, his body pushed back: hard. Johnson became diabetic and had to take multiple medicines for high blood pressure.

“You know, Wes,” the doctor began. “If you don’t do something about your weight, you’re probably in the last five to ten years of your life.”

“That’s pretty scary to hear,” Johnson admitted.

The doctor recommended Johnson have a gastric bypass, an aggressive surgery which reduces the size of a person’s stomach to force weight loss. Today show weather man Al Roker lost 150 pounds due to the procedure.

“I was nervous about that,” Wes said. “That’s a permanent solution. A permanent change to your body just so that you can make something else take over with the will power that you can’t muster yourself.”

He went home with a brace for his ankle and a lot on his mind.

A Chance Encounter

Before one of the final home games of the 2011-12 regular season, Wes went upstairs to the press area to hoard some refreshments.

“I was getting a bunch of bottled waters to take down to the penalty box area where I emcee, because once you get inside the penalty box for the game, you’re locked in there,” Johnson explained. “You don’t come out for intermissions. During a playoff game, you could suffer renal failure because you’re in there for overtime after overtime after overtime.”

As Wes was stocking up, he ran into another Verizon Center employee, Elaine Rom. Rom, who has worked for the Capitals since 1996 as a camera operator, is also a certified health coach during the day with Take Shape For Life, a division of Medifast. When Rom saw Johnson with so much water, she was intrigued. It usually signals someone who is on a diet trying to lose weight.

“For a lot of people, drinking a lot of water is the hardest part,” Rom told me in an email. “So I started a conversation with him and asked if he really drinks all that water. He said he does. Then I told him what I do.”

“Now if you’re a heavy-set guy, and if someone starts talking to you about a health coach thing, you get the same alarming sensation that you would get when a Jehovah’s witness asks for a few hours to talk,” Johnson told me. “But she was really nice. She told me that there were things she could do to get me back to a better weight. She said it in such a cool, casual way. She gave me her number, and I didn’t think anything of it.”

“I look at this way,” Rom said. “A lot of people would love to choose health over being unhealthy, most of the time they don’t know how to get there. If you don’t open this door for them, you’ll never know if this could’ve been the program to turn their health and their life around.”

The two would run into each other once or twice again. One night, she even visited Wes after a game at the penalty box where he sits. “I started thinking more and more,” Johnson said. “Maybe this is something I should do.”

Pulling The Trigger

At the end of May, after the Capitals were eliminated by the New York Rangers, Johnson continued his conversations with Rom. He decided to pull the trigger on the weight-loss plan.

“Sticking around for my family was a huge influence on me,” Johnson said. “My sons– I have two of them in college and one’s mid-way through high school– and I want to see them all graduate. I want to see them get married. I want to see them have kids.”

Johnson continued: “Being around for my wife. I’ve waited my whole life for somebody as sweet and as wonderful as her.”

There was one tiny caveat, however. Johnson would begin Rom’s plan in five weeks on Independence Day or as Wes put it: “my independence-from-weight day.” Before then, he wanted a few weeks to say goodbye to some, um, close friends.

“The last few weeks of June,” Johnson said. “You’ll never see someone eat as shittily as I did.” He called his binge “The Wes Johnson Foods-I-Love Farewell Tour.”

First, Wes went to Mario’s and had a foot-long Triple Cheese and Egg sub. “You eat one of those things and it knocks you in a coma for three days,” Johnson said with a laugh. Another night, he went to the Irish Channel and had some sirloin dips. Finally, the PA announcer went to The Celebrity Delly in Falls Church, where they have a sandwich named after him. The “Wes Johnson” is grilled roast beef, melted Muenster cheese, creamy cole slaw, and Russian dressing served on grilled sourdough.

Then July 4th came around, and it was time to get down to some serious business.

“The first week I lost 18 pounds”

On July 4th, Johnson went on the Medifast plan, a diet consisting of five small meals and one lean and green meal per day.

The first week was tough as Johnson found himself eating smaller portions than he was accustomed to. After just a few days, he noticed a difference. “Your metabolism starts to catch up,” Johnson said. “For the first time since my mid-30′s, my metabolism came back. My metabolism was suddenly working again.”

Even after just a change in diet, Wes saw immediate results. “The first week I lost 18 pounds,” Johnson revealed. “It was incredible. And then I continued on.”

Johnson lost anywhere from one to five pounds per week, posting his weekly weigh in on his Facebook timeline. He began to take brisk walks around his neighborhood. Three weeks into the diet, Wes went to the gym. He made a new friend: the elliptical machine. “At first I started walking for about 10 minutes,” Johnson said. “Then I’d go to 15 minutes,, and then I’d go a little farther.” Johnson was shedding weight.

About a month into the diet though, there was a scary moment. The family went on vacation to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia. One day while he was there, he felt woozy, close to passing out. Fearful there was something seriously wrong, Johnson went to see a doctor.

“You know what it was?” Johnson recalled. “It was the fact that I was getting healthier and my blood pressure medication I was taking was suddenly too strong. It was over compensating. So the doctor lowered it.”

What could have been a set-back actually became a galvanizing moment for Wes’s turnaround.

“Now I’m going over 4 miles and 40 minutes on the elliptical,” Johnson said. “I love going out and walking. I go for a brisk mile walk, even in the winter time. It’s wonderful.”

Most importantly, he has the support in Rom that he never had before. “Elaine has a sixth sense. If I start to waver, I will suddenly get a text from her and she helps me out. It’s nice to have a little angel on your shoulder.”

The Less Johnson

Since Johnson began his Medifast diet and exercise regiment, he’s lost 92 pounds in six months. He’s been taken off of two blood pressure medications and, oh, by the way, he’s no longer diabetic.

Not only does Wes feel better in general, the weight loss has helped him land new acting roles. He was in a national VISA commercial with Ray Lewis and landed a role in Veep, an HBO series, featuring former Seinfeld star Julia Louis-Dreyfus. “Would I have gotten those if I weighed 90 pounds more?,” Johnson rhetorically asked. “I don’t think I would have. It puts me in a brand new weight-category as far as acting is concerned.”

Johnson’s dramatic weight loss has inspired those around him. Rom and Johnson recently met with other Caps fans looking to lose weight. After hearing his story, five of them started with the Medifast plan and are already losing weight. Even Capitals owner Ted Leonsis has reached out to Johnson. “He was proud of my effort and he said it was inspirational. Then I turn around and I see Ted’s losing weight too.” During the Capitals home game Sunday against the Sabres, CSN panned to a svelte-looking Leonsis looking on from his lower-level suite.

“Wes is this genuinely passionate and kindhearted person,” Rom said of Johnson. “You can’t help but root for the guy. He’s made me shed a tear or two along the way.”

Meanwhile, I wondered what Johnson thought about the fact that now that he’s on the diet, he can’t even eat his own sandwich at The Celebrity Delly.

“I’ve gone in there many times with people since and I encourage them to order the Wes Johnson Sandwich. But I order myself a salad. I think eventually, I would like for them to have a Wes Johnson sandwich and a Less Johnson salad.”

Yeah, Celebrity Delly. I think Wes deserves that.

As the NHL spirals towards its second lockout in less than a decade, every member of the Washington Capitals organization — from the players, front office, and arena workers — will find themselves without work. (Oh no, us too!) Lucky for Caps PA Announcer Wes Johnson, he has an awesome day job.

Wes is both an accomplished actor (A Dirty Shame, anyone?) and voice-over artist. You know when you’re driving to work listening to Elliot in the Morning? Wes’s voice is in like 95% of the commercials.

And on August 18th Johnson filmed a national commercial for VISA, starring both Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis and an adorable little girl.

Today, the commercial dropped and below the jump you can check it out.

Johnson, dressed in slacks and a button-up shirt, plays the hard-hitting journalist. He starts the 30-second commercial off with a question for Ray: “Seems like you guys got a little gassed out…,” Of course, Ray ignores the question because it’s not about him. Instead he points to a little girl, who I’m pretty sure is too young to have a blog, and has her conduct an entire one-on-one interview to humiliate the rest of the beat writers. Just imagine what it’d be like for me to ask questions in the Capitals locker room and that’s basically how it goes.

A few observations, First, I’ve never seen a press corps dressed this nicely. Where are the sweat pants and polo shirts? Second, did Lewis really say his favorite animal is a sea turtle? Um, what? Ray, you better change your favorite animal to that flying bird on your chest or you’ll be… quoth the raven, nevermore.

Anyways, Johnson’s acting in the commercial is tremendous. His facial expressions are perfect; his hand gestures subtle. The approving nod for the little girl after she finishes asking questions is a great touch.

The best news out of all of this is that Wes can now say he’s technically been in a commercial with Morgan Freeman. Another great achievement for a guy who does way more than scream “unleash the fury” at Verizon Center.

Photo credit: Wes Johnson

Photo credit: Chris Gordon

Thank you to everyone who attended RMNB Party 4: Judgment Day at Front Page Arlington. Thank you to Front Page for being such terrific hosts and putting up with our crowd. Thank you to Wes Johnson for rocking the microphone. Thank you to Mathieu Perreault for scoring the game-winner.

The turnout was terrific, the game was great, and it scarcely could have gone better. Our own paparazzo, Chris Gordon, was snapping pics all night long; here’s a sampling behind the jump. If you’ve got more pics to share, please link ‘em up in the comments or share ‘em on Twitter on the #RMNBParty4 hashtag. If you’ve got a story to tell about the party (love connections, anyone?), let us know that as well. Thanks again!

Sam the Horn Guy pumping up the crowd.

Adam from King of Leonsis was the only person not wearing red.

Arian, who is a Bruins fan, is an exceptional photobomber.

Chris was dedicated to getting awkward photos of me last night. Mission accomplished.

Ian wears Chris’ Yankees hat. The Orioles won 8-2 last night, in case you were wondering.

Wes Johnson makes everything funnier.

Our only fatality of the night. It was nice knowing you, Suzanne.

Ted Starkey and Dave Nichols taking what I’m told is a candid photo, but I’m starting to doubt it.

Happy moment or angry moment? Not sure.

GOAT leads a “Let’s go Caps!” cheer.

Wes delivers his St. Crispin’s Day speech.

Giving away swag during a rousing game of So You’re An Expert!?

Alan May rookie card.

Perturbation on the face of Mr. Sam Wolk.

Perturbation gone from the face of Mr. Sam Wolk.

The cheesy RMNB magnet is not worth that smile.

Our ultimate prize, a signed Pierre McGuire card. At right, Ana cannot believe it.

Superfan fight.

Craig and Doug with Chris.

Craig and Doug with Adam.

The traditional RMNB shooter, shared by Dave, Suzanne, and Ian.

Mike Knuble’s head will never be scratched from an RMNB party. Thanks, Knuble’s Knights!

Caps Basketball is hilarious.

We’re apparently not on the same page about how to pose here.

Neil and Nicci are adorbs.

The end.

If any of your friends disappear for the next few weeks, go ahead and blame Skyrim. Created by Bethesda Softworks and released today (11/11/11!), Skyrim is the latest installment in The Elder Scrolls, a series of beloved role-playing video games dating back to 1994. This new game already has earned rave reviews– including a few perfect scores– for its lavish landscapes, sprawling story, and tense action sequences. For the next 30 to 300 hours of game time, you can probably find your vanished friend questing in Tamriel, a magical and medieval continent populated with monsters, dragons,  …and Capitals P.A. Announcer, Wes Johnson.

Wes's son Sam, me, and Wes

In addition to calling goals, Johnson is a veteran of stage, screen, and radio– lending his talents to works like John Water’s delightfully twisted A Dirty Shame, the cartoon Phineas & Ferb, and that classic Ovechtrick commercial. He’s appeared at a bazillion Capitals promotions, performed stand-up comedy, and worked radio with the legendary Wolfman Jack.

Since 2002′s Morrowind, Wes has been lending his voice to the Elder Scrolls series. He’s been an assassin, a master thief, an announcer at a gladiatorial arena, a mad god, and the freaking guards who bust you if you pick someone’s pocket in-game.

I tagged along with Wes to the midnight release of Skyrim at a GameStop in Vienna. Wes brought a platter of cheese (you had to be there) for the throng occupying the store. He answered questions, signed games, posed for photos, and generally held court with nearly one hundred enthusiastic fans. We discussed Skyrim, the overlap between calling goals and voice acting, and fighting his sons for the right to play the game.

I’ve been playing Skyrim since I uploaded this video, and it’s already sucking away my will to do anything else. The world of the game has a vibe a bit like Game of Thrones (sweet.), and the character customizations available are immense. It weaves a compelling story from the very first minute …and then it’s only a handful more before the first dragon shows up. I recommend it.

Skyrim is out today for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Windows PCs. You can follow Wes on Twitter at @WesJohnsonVoice. You can buy my red hoodie at Wal-Mart.

I feel like I’ve seen this person before… (Photo credit: Mitchell Layton)

Fans enter Verizon Center before the season-opener. (Photo credit: Chris Gordon)

One hundred fifty-seven days. That’s a long summer for Caps fans. And Saturday night at 7:09 P.M. Eastern Time when six ounces of vulcanized rubber tumbled toward the ice sheet it was finally over.

“The atmosphere was great,” Alex Ovechkin told reporters after the game. “The fans push us forward all the time. It’s nice to play at home, especially the first game. I know everybody was missing hockey here so it’s nice to come back.”

The trademarks of Caps hockey were all there last night: Sam Wolk pursed his lips to his horn and let lout three loud blasts at the drop of the puck; Wes Johnson bellowed out the name of Alexander Semin (heavy on the “r”) after Washington lit the lamp for the first time this season on Sasha’s tally; William Stilwell, better known as the Goat, let out a thunderous roar of “Let’s Go Caps!” as he stomped the metal beneath his feet when shown on the big screen in the second period.

There have been pre-season games (eight of them to be exact) and practices — a convention too. But nothing lives up to games that actually matter — or maybe do not matter depending on how you look at it. And Caps fans were ready. 18,506 of them packed Verizon Center, good for a sellout crowd at 100.6 percent of capacity, a number that makes sense if you don’t think about it.

“I’m super excited that they’re back,” Caps fan Jenn McAdoo said. “I felt last year they were trying to stay angry. Let’s just hope this year they stay in the playoffs.”

The off-season, which like all recent ones has begun much too early for the Caps’ liking, was one of change. Former playoff stud and ceiling enthusiast Semyon Varlamov was shipped to Denver, though he probably should do some stretching before hitting the slopes in Colorado. Eric Fehr, too, now plays for another team. Same goes for Matt Bradley, Boyd Gordon, Jason Arnott, Scott Hannan, and Marco Sturm (who was in D.C. for about half has much time as it will take you to read this post). But the team now boasts a new starting netminder — actually, that part might be complicated — in Tomas Vokoun. The D-corps have also received a veteran boost thanks to the acquisition of Roman Hamrlik. The forwards now feature the Hebrew Hammer Jeff Halpern along with former Moose Jaw Warrior Troy Brouwer and former Owen Sound Plater Joel Ward (I love junior hockey). And for fans before 2009 (those exist?), fan favorite Olie Kolzig is also back as a coach.

But enough about the summer. Now it’s finally time for hockey. Glorious hockey.

“I’m really excited for the season to be back because the off-season sucks,” said Caps fan Amanda Hill.

“I have to admit, at the beginning of last year I was a little blasé,” the Goat said. “It was really kind of the status quo team and there was no real reason to think anything had changed. … Starting on July 1st I just felt, ‘This is it; this is a regular season to be excited about because we could actually see a different team out there.’”

“There’re a lot of guys on the Caps that have something to prove and I’m looking forward to seeing them prove it,” he continued.

Washington plans do just that. And though they may be professionals, the team can still get a case of the butterflies.

Said Head Coach Bruce Boudreau: “The crowd’s into it, there are a lot of new guys. Nerves were there. It’s like the first day on the job and going into the office — you’re nervous. Whether you’re a 20-year veteran on the job or just brand new.”

Team Maryland and Team Virginia pose after the game (Download the high-res version)

Despite Washington, D.C. setting a record high temperature of 102 degrees Saturday, it was a perfect day for hockey as over 40 players and over a hundred visitors gathered at Kettler Capitals Iceplex for the 4th Annual Dave Fay Memorial Game benefitting Hockey Fights Cancer. Former Caps Yvon Labre, Gord Lane, Paul Mulvey, Gary Rissling, and Alan Hangsleben joined players from across Maryland and Virginia to honor the long-time Washington Times hockey writer who passed away in 2007 after 12-year battle with cancer.

The game — raising over $4,500 for cancer research –certainly didn’t have a shortage of great moments. Our favorites include Dave Fay’s widow, Pat, starting the festivities off with a ceremonial puck drop at center ice, Gary Rissling playing with a bloody mouth after a collision on the ice, and Capitals PA Announcer Wes Johnson calling Team Maryland coach Steve Kolbe during the game and telling him to instruct Alan Hangsleben to get in a fight so that he could register a Gordie Howe Hat Trick (the plan was successful)!

Both teams displayed rustiness and a general lack of speed, but what they all lacked in talent was made up for in sheer determination, dirty play, and creative coaching (Kolbe yelled “Shoot!” a lot). In the end, Maryland edged Virginia, 8-7, with the game ending the way all important matches should — a shootout.

Below are the pictures I captured from the day.

(All photographs by Chris Gordon — Click to enlarge)

Dave Fay’s relatives including his widow, Pat (right), come out for the ceremonial drop of the puck.

 Former Capitals Gord Lane and Yvon Labre take the draw.

The action gets underway. 

 Team Virginia, in white, takes a 1-0 lead on Tom Moore’s goal.

Gary Rissling, a former player for the Capitals, Penguins, and the AHL’s Baltimore Skipjacks skates up the ice.

Labre fires off a breakout pass.

Virginia takes a 2-1 lead on Derek Newton’s tally.

 Rissling talks to goalie, OFB contributor, and former Miss Virginia Tara Wheeler.

Virginia nets a goal.

Perfectly legal in a charity hockey game.

If you haven’t noticed yet, Rissling was the star of the show.

Maryland scores.

Rissling and Michael Thomas go at it.

The puck drops on the second period.

Rissling gets clipped up high. No worries though, he’s a hockey player.

Virginia’s goalies Evey Staff and Tara Wheeler share a laugh. 

Wheeler looks on.

Maryland goes ahead, 7-5.

Former Whalers, Capitals, and Kings player Alan Hangsleben laughs on the bench.

John Kosak takes a photo of me, I take a photo of him.

Cliff “The Cataylst” Wilks is pumped after his late third period goal for Virginia to sends the game to a shootout.

Maryland coach Steve Kolbe approves of his plan.

Maryland’s Rick Dade celebrates one of his team’s shootout goals.

Jon Weetmay stops Virginia’s Bill Hardy.

Rissling informs Virginia of their loss.

 Labre shakes hands with Hangsleben.

Kolbe presents the trophy.

D.J. Tim Phillips and P.A. man Wes Johnson pose for a picture.

Before Wes decides to scare the crap out of you and me.

Additional reporting by Ian Oland.

Editor’s note: Reader Jerry Moxley is just your average, amateur hockey player, but he has got one of the greatest “meet your hero” stories we’ve ever read.

If you can make a living doing something you love, consider yourself lucky. I was able to take my interest in television and make a career out of it, but I put on my hockey skates too late to become more than a beer-league weekend warrior. With the birth of my second daughter, I decided to take more work on the side to pay the bills. One day, through Russian Machine Never Breaks and Carlyn Davis Casting, I learned that there was a commercial being filmed at my home rink in Laurel, MD that needed ice rink extras. I emailed the casting agency with the expectation that of a little extra money and maybe a spot in a blurry background somewhere. It turned out to be something bigger.

Suzanne Kang, the casting director, was recruiting for another commercial to be filmed downtown at the Verizon Center that needed crowd extras. I made myself available. A couple of days before the shoot, I received a call from the casting director asking me if I was interested in being on ice for the commercial. They needed extras to portray NHL players, and she recalled that I play. Spending the day on skates sounded more fun than sitting in the stands, so I said yes without hesitation. She told me to be downtown for a wardrobe fitting the day before the shoot.

Jerry awaits to step onto the set.

That Sunday afternoon was a game day for the Caps, so I decided to take my five-year-old daughter to the game after the fitting. I drove down to Hotel Monaco and met the directors and the wardrobe coordinator. There were also two other players and a referee trying on gear. The directors met with us to go over the details of the shoot and told us that we would be on the ice playing against Alexander Ovechkin and a few other Capitals. I looked around at the others there and knew that we were all trying hard to hold the excitement in. I left the hotel and told my daughter what her Daddy was going to be doing the next day. She was as excited as I was.

The next morning I took the Metro back downtown (try carrying a hockey bag and sticks on a train during rush hour and see how many looks you get). We were taken to a dressing room across from the Capitals locker room. The on-ice portion of the commercial wasn’t going to happen until the afternoon, so we spent the morning watching other scenes being shot and visiting the craft services table. Game announcer Wes Johnson was there to film a bit of him announcing yet another Ovechkin goal. I tracked down Suzanne to find out the details of the shoot. She told me that indeed Ovechkin would be on the ice as well as Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Green, and John Carlson. I couldn’t get my skates on fast enough.

After lunch we were told to get dressed, and I was outfitted in a #16 Los Angeles Kings jersey. Later someone told me that the last player to wear that number for the Kings was Sean Avery. Great, I thought. I’m representing my least favorite player in the NHL. We took the ice and got to warm up before the cameras started rolling. I noticed the door to the Caps locker room was open and the players were on their way to the ice. Carlson came out first and offered a handshake to all of us. Backstrom came out next, introducing himself as Nicky. Ovechkin followed, saying hey with a fist bump for each of us. Green must have had equipment issues because he made it out a few minutes behind the rest. I spent the next few minutes trying to balance my desire to look professional with my enthusiasm of being on the ice with some of the best players in the world.

Alex Ovechkin blows by Jerry, seen above in the #16 jersey.

The first setup was going to be 4-on-2 break up the ice with Oveckin coming into the zone and scoring a goal. I was assigned the job of defending against the world’s greatest player. The directors told me to “act” like he was getting around me to score. I assured them that wouldn’t require any acting– it was just going to happen. Someone yelled “action”, and Backstrom passed it over to Ovechkin on the left wing to start the first take. Ovechkin barreled down the wing, and I stepped in front of him at the blue line. In a blink of an eye Ovi threw the puck into his skates, kicked it to his backhand and moved around me. By the time I turned around, the puck was in the net. The four players in red all piled into the corner, celebrating, as the assembled crowd cheered and we were left to shrug our shoulders and offer fake condolences to our goalie.

At first we kept to ourselves and stayed out of the way between takes while the Caps players congregated on the bench. After the first few takes I noticed a puck floating towards me. I looked up and Backstrom was tossing me passes from the other end of the rink. It was quite a feeling to receive a pass from one of the greatest passers in the NHL. I launched a sixty-foot pass back at him and we all started playing a little game of four corners. Carlson threw me a pass and all I could think about was his gold-medal-winning goal against Canada in the World Junior Championship. I flung a puck to Green, and I thought about the defenseman’s record-breaking eight-game scoring streak last season. And then there’s getting passes from the Great 8. I thought about all those goals I’ve seen him score, whether from a seat in the 400′s or the sofa in my basement. I thought about all the hat tricks and “the goal” scored from his back in Phoenix.

We filmed the same sequence roughly a dozen times, and each time Ovi would do something different so I never knew which way he was going. One of the directors huddled all of us up on the ice, took out his laptop and showed us the goal Ovi scored against Montreal. Everyone has seen that goal – the one where he throws a pass to himself off the boards, spins around one defender, gathers the puck, and then lifts a shot over Carey Price as he gets hauled down by another defender. He asks Ovi if he can do something like that again. Before the next take Alex told me to just back into the zone and he was going to chip the puck up over my stick and go to my right. When the cameras started rolling, he burst up the left side, chipped the puck into the air, batted it up over my head (I’m 6’4″, no easy task) and roofed a shot into the top corner. It was a thrill I’ll never forget.

Wes Johnson and extras, which included many RMNB readers, pose after a take. (Photo credit: Wes Johnson)

Once the crew got what they needed, we were asked to change into St. Louis Blues gear. The next sequence was a power play setup in the zone where Ovi was to make a move around me from the half-wall and score once again. We did this sequence seven or eight times with a staged celebration at the end of each. The assistant director told me to play Ovechkin a little closer each time, ultimately telling me to just go ahead and put a little shoulder into him. I was hesitant at first; I didn’t want to cause some accidental injury, and I certainly didn’t want to end up laying on the ice. But each time he got the puck and blew past me, I got to put a little hit into him.

In between takes we started an impromptu shinny game with the four Capitals players against us “actors”. At first we kind of let them dangle around and shoot but then we decided to play back at them a little. At one point Ovechkin decided to curl-and-drag through my legs, but I closed my skates and snared the puck from him. How many chances do you get like that in life? Even though these guys are the best in the game, it started to feel like a bunch of kids playing in the backyard. It was lots of fun, and I didn’t want to take my skates off when it was over.

After the crew got enough footage filmed, the players retired to the locker room while Ovi stayed on the ice for one additional shot. We met Nate Ewell and Brett “Stretch” Leonhardt from the Caps PR team, and they actually interviewed us for the Caps website. It was comical to answer questions in character like “how is it playing for St. Louis?” and “do you miss D.J. King?” Soon after, our fun was up and we retired to change back into our everyday clothes. We filled out our paperwork and had to return all of our gear (unfortunately) to the wardrobe department. I headed out with Suzanne and a few other people from the shoot and we re-lived the day’s events over dinner and drinks in Chinatown.

We were told not to talk about the details of the shoot until the commercial aired. I’d be lying if I said I kept my lips sealed 100%. Opportunities like this don’t come around too often, and I wanted to share stories with the people closest to me. I’ll continue to play as long as my body will allow. I know I’ll never play beyond beer-league hockey, but I can always say that for one day I got to skate with the best!

The final version of the Ovechtrick Commercial which debuted during the Winter Classic

Prepare to have your heart-strings tugged at. The Washington Capitals participated in a public skate at the D.C. Sculpture Garden this morning. Our hero Suzanne K. was on the scene and snapped some superb pictures. If you’ve been waiting for photos of Nicky Backstrom skating hand-in-hand with adorable little girls, your wait is now over.

Photos (Click on them to enlarge)

Videos

Meg, a staff member of the National Gallery of Art and a hockey player, races with Peter Bondra around the rink. Bonzai had a rough start.

Craig Laughlin asks the crowd what they want to see Peter do. They asked for him to skate on one leg, backwards. He gives us a little extra at the end.

Capitals Official Video of the Event

John Carlson Gets Behind the Camera