Couple of caps players get love from the...Philly media

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

Alex Ovechkin broke a stick Saturday night. Nothing newsworthy there, as you know if you’ve been following the Caps of late.

He also scored a goal. Again, you can keep those presses running.

With his 18th of the season in the bag, Ovechkin exited the ice at the end of the first and went on the headset for an interview with Comcast SportsNet’s Craig Laughlin. With the tough questions answered, he headed back to the locker room, only to have his progress stopped by the mites on ice leaving the playing surface.

Ovechkin slipped past the last of the kids as if he were a flat-footed defenseman (folks in Philly can recognize those, it seems). He darted, not to the locker room, but to the stick rack, where he retrieved the better half of his broken stick. It was about as long as the twig in the hand of the last mite, and Alex ran back down the hallway and tugged at the last player’s jersey with the blade of the stick. Once he had his attention, he handed over the stick.

“Wow,†said the cameraman who had just finished the interview. “That’s cool. That’s going to be a family heirloom.â€

You'd think that given how awful the Flyers have been, the players would understand the significance of public relations. Saturday was a disgrace. Kids representing the High Five Club stood at the tunnel exit to greet the team upon its entrance onto the ice. Most of the Flyers ignored them. The only player who actually high-fived every kid was goalie Antero Niittymaki. After the game, Washington's Alex Ovechkin skated over to a young fan wearing a Flyers sweater and gave him his stick. Donald Brashear also gave sticks to fans. The Caps get it; the Flyers don't. If the players weren't told the kids were there in advance, then shame on the marketing department. If they were told, then shame on the players. This team needs to cultivate good will, not ill will.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/16221031.htm

[Hooah4 12]

Seems like Ovie's giving away alot of those new Vector sticks. Must be a bad bunch. Either that or he's a great guy who's doing the right things to promote himself, the league, and the game.

[dietzie27 0]

Reminds me of a few bad times with players.

1. Steve Mckenna of all people wouldnt sign a 6 year old kids jersey. Just walked right past him and didnt acknowledge him.

2. Outside of mellon arena, the dallas stars were getting on the team bus to go back to the hotel, a little kid was standing there with a modano jersey and modano wouldnt come off the bus and sign it. Derian Hatcher and Jere Lehtinen came off and signed about 50 autos each and walked back to the hotel in 20 degree weather.

[Karly14 21]

The NHL is lucky to have Ovechkin

[kobcc 0]

Allsmokenopancake Posted Dec 12 2006, 05:54 PM

QUOTE

You'd think that given how awful the Flyers have been, the players would understand the significance of public relations. Saturday was a disgrace. Kids representing the High Five Club stood at the tunnel exit to greet the team upon its entrance onto the ice. Most of the Flyers ignored them. The only player who actually high-fived every kid was goalie Antero Niittymaki. After the game, Washington's Alex Ovechkin skated over to a young fan wearing a Flyers sweater and gave him his stick. Donald Brashear also gave sticks to fans. The Caps get it; the Flyers don't. If the players weren't told the kids were there in advance, then shame on the marketing department. If they were told, then shame on the players. This team needs to cultivate good will, not ill will.

Same thing happened in Toronto when NJ was there. A kid made his way down to where players exited the ice and held his hand out. Only two to high five him were Brodeur and Gionta.

It's poor how some players treat the fans today, especially the young ones who are the fans of tomorrow.

[flyguy1697 0]

Being from philly I think it is awesome to see other teams show how some flyers are assholes. Although donald brasher was a tough guy, in philly he was one of the most kind hearted people around. Good to see players give back to the community when there not being forced to. Sometimes these guys should stop and look around to realize how lucky they are.

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

Being from philly I think it is awesome to see other teams show how some flyers are assholes. Although donald brasher was a tough guy, in philly he was one of the most kind hearted people around. Good to see players give back to the community when there not being forced to. Sometimes these guys should stop and look around to realize how lucky they are.

I always knew brashear was big, but when I went out to training camp this year, he was at the top of the stairs in a pair of shorts and an under armour top, he is a massive massive man, the pads make him look smaller if thats to be believed. He is pure muscle, and a nice guy to boot (which I was not expecting after learning to hate him as a flyer for the last few seasons)