Photo: @WashingtonCaps

At 7 PM on Tuesday, the NHL Awards will be held live in Las Vegas, Nevada. Everybody’s favorite Russian machine, Alex Ovechkin, will be in attendance. Ovi, who led the NHL in goals this season, is in town to accept the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy for the fourth time in his career. He’s also there to party.

But we at RMNB are concerned about something else much more important: the seating chart.

Earlier this evening, the Capitals instagrammed a photo of Ovechkin’s seat. He’s in the ballpark of Ryan Getzlaf, which is not at all compelling unless you’re interested in balding centers you wish the Capitals had. Sitting directly to Ovechkin’s left (and his guest’s) however, will be Rich Peverley. Now that’s a bit more interesting.

Peverley, a depth forward for the Dallas Stars, is at the NHL Awards to present the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy to either Jaromir Jagr, Manny Malohotra, or Dominic Moore. Peverley was one of 30 players to be nominated for the award this season and will likely get a roaring ovation when he comes out on stage.

On March 10th, Peverley collapsed on the bench during a Dallas Stars home game. After being revived by medical personnel, he was rushed to a Dallas hospital where he had corrective surgery for an irregular heartbeat nine days later. Peverley has not returned to hockey and may never do so.

“I like the award and what it stands for, and I think that knowing the stories of the nominees and presenting the trophy to the winner, that could be motivation for me to come back, if coming back is possible,” Peverley said to Puck Daddy. “I’m trying to take the steps one at a time and just see what happens. If I can play, that will be great. If I can’t, then I’ll deal with that at that time.”

A great story, one which I hope ends with Peverley out on the ice again.

And, oh yeah: here’s one more angle to Peverley sitting next to the Capitals captain. He gave the Caps maybe their best GIF ever.

So will Ovechkin’s date be Braden Holtby? Please say yes. I’m a big fan of the icy deathstare.