The 19 Best Photos of the Nicklas Backstrom Garden Gnome Giveaway

Photo credit: RMNB’s Chris Gordon

At Monday night’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Washington Capitals held their most bizarre giveaway yet: the Nicklas Backstrom Garden Gnome. The plaster figurine measures eight inches tall, sporting a striped cone hat and long, flowing blonde locks. Caps players were unimpressed.

“It looks like Phil Kessel,” Troy Brouwer told the DC Sports Bog’s Sarah Kogod. “It’s funny though. That’s gonna freak my dogs out.”

“What’s a garden gnome?” a confused Brooks Laich asked The Washington Examiner’s Brian McNally. “Are there a lot of Caps fans that are gardeners?”

“What a beautiful gift,” Washington Capitals head coach Adam Oates sarcastically remarked to Sky Kerstein. “What a compliment. A gnome.”

Regardless, the gnome was a hit with the 18,000 fans who were lucky enough to get their hands on one. “F@$* yeah got my Backstrom gnome,” Twitter user @MRubin35 said on twitter. “So pumped to be back at Verizon.”

“Got my Nicklas Backstrom gnome,” exclaimed ESPN hockey writer Craig Custance on assignment in the nation’s capital. “Think I can leave DC now, nothing left to accomplish here.”

Caps fans were so excited about their new item, they posted a bunch of creepy photos (and one David Lynch-y video) of the gnome. Below, in honor of Nick Backstrom, I share the 19 best.