Thursday night, the Florida Panthers played their first game since the Stoneman Douglas High School tragedy. 17 students and teachers died on Valentine’s Day as a 19-year-old, expelled former student opened fire inside the school.
The Panthers did their best to turn the hockey game into an opportunity to support and console Parkland, Florida – the city of the mass shooting. The team took down their advertisements on the dasher boards and put up the Stoneman Douglas High School logo and the MSDStrong hashtag. The Panthers held a blood drive and an emotional ceremony before puck drop, which included a speech from goaltender Roberto Luongo. Unbeknownst to us, the Panthers also held an auction at BB&T Center during the game.
Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin contributed two items.
RMNB crasher and Capitals fan Michael Eagan was at the game last night and told us more.
“I have been bypassing most auctions this year, but with the tragedy, I felt compelled to jump into this one,” Michael said. “The money raised is going to support the victims specifically through the Stoneman Douglas Victims Fund.”
The Caps fan won two items. The first was a signed Ovechkin puck. Before the game, Ovechkin autographed a Caps puck and added #MSDSTRONG.
Ovechkin also autographed a Capitals jersey. That item sold for $600.
Michael also won the auction the goal puck from the Capitals’ first goal scored by Lars Eller.
Ovechkin was the only Caps player to contribute to the auction. Other items included the Panthers’ second goal puck, a signed Roberto Luongo stick, the first puck used in the game, a Miracle on Ice signed photo, and four tickets to a future Panthers game located in the Owners Suite.
“Luongos stick went for the most. It was bid up from $600 to $1,500 by a guy who wanted to donate more money,” Michael said. “The owners box went for 625.”
The auction was run by Fanatics, the NHL’s official seller of merchandise. Ovechkin has an exclusive memorabilia deal with Fanatics.
RMNB is not associated with the Washington Capitals; Monumental Sports, the NHL, or its properties. Not even a little bit.
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