About an hour after a three-judge federal appeals panel unanimously refused to reinstate President Trump’s travel ban, UAE hockey player and media sensation Fatima Al Ali dropped the puck during a ceremonial faceoff between Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin and Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg. The Verizon Center is 1.2 miles away from The White House.
Fatima was given a free trip to Washington DC after impressing Peter Bondra with her unbelievable stickhandling skills. Thursday night, Fatima concluded her dream trip in style by dropping the puck in front of approximately 18,000 fans.
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Ceremonial puck drop from tonight at #CapsWings with @FatimaAl_Ali where she took the selfie of a lifetime. #HockeyIsForEveryone #CapsHIFE pic.twitter.com/cn5fJ3nUvj
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 10, 2017
Before the ceremony, Fatima watched warmups from the Capitals bench. She took a selfie with Nicklas Backstrom during a lull in drills.
Later she made her way over to the penalty box area to go out on the ice. She made sure to take an intense photo with PA Announcer Wes Johnson.
GAMEFACE!! w/ @joekurnos & #HockeyIsForEveryone Ambassador @FatimaAl_Ali!! Fatima you rock! #CapsWings pic.twitter.com/JSXrKosYcl
— Wes Johnson (@WesJohnsonVoice) February 10, 2017
A few minutes later, the Capitals played an emotional video introducing Fatima. As she walked out to the faceoff circle, players from both teams slammed their sticks against the boards to salute Fatima. A humbled Fatima could be seen nervously smiling and doing breathing exercises to keep her composure.
She waved to the crowd and received a loud ovation from the Verizon Center crowd.
Finally, it was finally time to drop the puck. After she did so, Fatima asked Zetterberg if she could take a selfie. Zetterberg told Ovechkin. Ovechkin shrugged like ok, sure. And the two posed behind her.
What a moment.
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