He pushed shopping carts filled with cereal boxes into a second grade-classroom, into the pediatric cancer ward of a hospital, and then he stocked the cereal aisle of a D.C. grocery store. Stanley Cup champion on aisle eight!

Alex Ovechkin’s “Ovi O’s” cereal goes on sale at Giant Food stores throughout the region next week. On Tuesday, he took several reporters and a lot of boxes of cereal on a promotional tour.

He began the trip at the Arlington Traditional School not far from the team’s practice facility in Ballston.

As some-second graders were finishing lunch, Ovechkin came in with a shopping cart full of cereal boxes. “Hi kids! Do you want some Ovi O’s?”

While not everyone recognized him, Ovechkin sat down and started eating cereal with the kids at their desks.

He talked about super heroes and did some math problems for a young girl sitting next to him. And he showed that sharing is caring when he said that he would share his cereal with playground rival Sidney Crosby.

“If he wants it. Yeah, I can sign a box for him.”

At the Giant supermarket in Cathedral Heights in Northwest D.C., he signed a lot of cereal boxes. He also stocked a few boxes on the shelves of aisle 8 (no accident). Then, he walked over to register three and started scanning boxes of cereal that started flying off the shelf.

His time as a cashier and grocery bagger was brief, and made even more complicated when his wife showed up in line.

She did not purchase any cereal because there were already some at home. But she had other items, such as produce, which did not have any bar codes Ovechkin could easily scan.

“I’m mad at her,” he said jokingly. “We tried to do one thing, and she’s bringing lots of different stuff. It’s not good.”

The Washington Capitals captain said that he was nervous when he started his cashier experience.

“It was tough,” he said. “First couple of things, I was nervous,” but when he figured it out, “It was easy.”

In between trips to the school and the grocery store, Ovechkin visited the pediatric cancer wing of MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.

He was greeted there by a table full of kids who were excited to meet the biggest icon in D.C. sports and have a bowl of cereal with him.

Some of the kids were particularly excited that the cereal is safe for kids with nut allergies.

“They were happy; they were smiling,” Ovechkin said. “Everybody had fun. So it’s all good. That’s why we’re here.”

Proceeds from each box of Ovi O’s, which sells for $2.69 at Giant starting Sept. 17 (his birthday), will help support The Children’s Cancer Foundation.

“I think it was a pretty cool idea,” Ovechkin said. “I think it works well, and I hope we’re going to help out some kids in our community.”

[custom_gallery]

When he arrived in the U.S. as a fresh-faced 20-year-old many years ago, cereal was one of the few things he could recognize at a time when he didn’t know much English.

Back then he never imagined he would end up on the box of his own cereal.

“Not even close,” he said. “But we’re here right now, and we’re going to help kids and help some people. And that’s a good thing.”

So is the cereal that Ovechkin made sure would taste good.

“I had a couple times of tasting and I took the best one,” he said.

The final product will remind a lot of people of Honey Nut Cheerios.

“I don’t like the regular ones,” he said. “I like when it stays good, when you feel the flavor and that’s the most important thing for me.”

Source

The sports bar has accepted an early lease buyout from Capital One Arena owner Monumental Sports and Entertainment and will close the 12-year-old arena location at the end of the Washington Wizards’ regular season on April 9, with a pop-up lounge remaining open through postseason Wizards and Capitals home games.

Monumental wants the space for construction of what it calls a proprietary business concept, without elaborating on what it plans.

Terms of the lease buyout weren’t disclosed, but The Greene Turtle called the buyout “generous.”

The Greene Turtle said it will use the buyout payment to expand its own business and marketing, and will open a new location in the District.

After April 9, The Greene Turtle will set up “The Shell Raiser Lounge,” what it calls an open gathering space serving game-style food and drinks for all postseason Wizards and Caps home games.

The sports bar will continue to be featured at the arena through sponsorships and advertising.

“We’re excited to have reached an agreement with Monumental Sports & Entertainment that will let us finish out the current NBA and NHL seasons, give fans a lively, block party-style setting at which to cheer on our teams through the postseason, and remain a presence in the arena going forward,” said Greene Turtle President and CEO Bob Barry.

The Greene Turtle opened its Capital One Arena location in 2007. It had three years remaining on its current lease. Since opening, it said it has served more than 250,000 patrons every year.

Monumental will invest $15 million in Capital One Arena this summer, adding more concessions and mega-video displays. It spent $40 million on updates to the arena last year.

[custom_gallery]

As for what Monumental plans to do with The Greene Turtle space when it leaves, president of business operations Jim Van Stone called it a cornerstone tenant of the arena.

“As we look to the future, an opportunity to expand our footprint has prompted us to explore new developments in all of the space in the arena,” Van Stone said.

It is a prime street-front arena location at 601 F St. NW.

The Greene Turtle has 44 other company-owned and franchised locations.

Barry said the sports bar is looking for other locations in the District, without naming specific locations. “We look forward to opening another restaurant in D.C. when the right opportunity presents itself,” Barry said.

Capital One Greene Turtle employees will be offered jobs at other locations, or access to other restaurants and concessions at the arena.

The Greene Turtle opened its first location in Ocean City, Maryland, in 1976. It now has locations in Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District.

Source

Radio station WRNR says it is booting music by Imagine Dragons from its playlists after the band performed a pregame show for the Las Vegas team before Game 2 of the finals.

“The band’s blatant and disgusting embrace of the Vegas Golden Knights will not be tolerated,” Bob Waugh, said Thursday in a tongue-in-cheek statement released by the radio station.

During the performance, Imagine Dragons lead singer Dan Reynolds was shown decked out in a jersey for Knights’ goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, which the radio station called “not only offensive, but representative of the kind of artistic choice that reveals a true lack of talent and vision”.

The ban will last through the duration of the Stanely Cup finals, the station said, “and quite possibly, the foreseeable future.”

The station said it was “instrumental in establishing Imagine Dragons’ current state of popularity.”

WRNR broadcasts in the Anne Arundel County area on 103.1 FM.

The Capitals won Tuesday’s game against the Knights 3-2, tying the series. The next games takes place Saturday at 8 p.m. in D.C.

Source

In the meantime, outside of the serious business, we wanted to take a moment here for a lighter story down memory lane.

Six years ago today (April 14, 2012 for those keeping score), the Washington Capitals and Boston Bruins met in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

It was the Saturday afternoon NBC Game of the Week with a scheduled start time of 3:20 p.m. ET. The author of this post was planning on proposing that evening, figuring the hockey game would finish at a reasonable hour. It didn’t.

Hear the full story below as described on the Capitals Radio Network.

Source

Ovechkin had 49 goals and 87 points in 82 games, leading the Capitals to a third consecutive Metropolitan Division title. His 49 goals accounted for 19.1 percent of Washington’s total scoring this season, the highest percentage share by any player in the league.

This marks Ovechkin’s seventh career goal-scoring title, which is tied for the most in NHL history. Bobby Hull was the NHL’s goal-scoring leader seven times from 1959-60 through 1968-69.

Ovechkin, 32, is the oldest player to lead the league in goal scoring since Phil Esposito, then 33, led the NHL in goals in 1974-75.

He is also the second player in NHL history with at least 1,000 career games to finish tops in goal scoring, joining Gordie Howe (1962-63) in that exclusive club.

Ovechkin was limited to 33 goals in 2016-17, including a career-low 16 goals at even-strength, but challenged in the offseason to produce more at five-on-five, Ovechkin responded. His 32 even-strength goals this season were the fourth most in his 13-year career.

“He’s had an outstanding year,” Caps General Manager Brian MacLellan said before the regular-season finale. “He played at a high level for most of the year, probably carried our team in the beginning of the year — or he did carry our team the beginning of the year. I think he’s evolved to where he’s scoring goals differently, some more tips, screens, rebounds…His use of fake shots, making plays, drawing goalies, drawing defense. Five-on-five his production is outstanding this year.”

Source

While Bensten Schone did not play, he threw out the first pitch on opening day at the McLean Little League baseball complex Saturday, with Washington National’s outfielder Jayson Werth, one of the boy’s sports idols, catching at home plate, according to .

“The way the league has supported us is beyond a beautiful thing,” mother Heather Bensten Schone told the paper. “This community is a phenomenal place to live.”

Bensten was struck by a passing car driven by a  65-year-old McLean woman on Jan. 28, as he was sledding down a driveway onto his street. As he lay in a medically-induced coma, his family rallied around him, enlisting support from the boy’s favorite sports team, the Washington Capitals, which took up the boy’s banner, , spreading the word with the hashtag  #Pray4Bman on Twitter, and enjoining the support of the greater Washington, D.C. community and beyond.

His family had initially reached out to the Caps in hopes of generating prayers, and the team ran with it, documenting  much of the family’s efforts on the hockey team’s unofficial blog, , and on Twitter at @RussianMachine. The smiling six-year-old has since met his hockey heroes during a surprise visit to his McLean home, and even has his own official hockey card (shown below).

The Schone’s gratitude was shared with the team in a thank you video created by Bensten’s uncles, and is now displayed on the blog, along with a statement by Heather and Lance Schone, Bensten’s dad:

As we have said over and over again, there are no words to thank you for supporting us through these past few months. The night we arrived at INOVA, the trauma doctors told us we were in for a roller coaster ride. No truer words have ever been spoken. But thanks to YOU, we are still standing.

Heather would not go into details about Bensten’s current progress, but told The Post he was undergoing robust occupational and physical therapy, as well as tutoring for school. “He has just a fighter’s mentality,” she told the paper. “He attacks his therapy every day … We’re just enjoying every day with him.”

Now Bensten is featured on his very own hockey card

— RMNB (@russianmachine)

From earlier: The surprised Bensten at his McLean, Virginia home today

— RMNB (@russianmachine)

Source

Games 1, 2 and 4 will be televised exclusively on Comcast SportsNet in the Washington/Baltimore region, while Game 3 will air nationally on NBC. Games 1 (USA), 2 (NBCSN) and 4 (USA) will also be televised to a national audience outside of the Washington/Baltimore region. Television information for Games 5, 6 and 7 will be announced at a later time, the Caps announced in a statement.

Comcast SportsNet will present Capitals Postgame Live immediately following all seven potential first-round games.  Washington will host Game 1, Game 2 and, if necessary Game 5 and 7 in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series.

Click for the complete Capitals playoff television schedule in the Washington/Baltimore area.

Source