Nic Dowd was given the nickname “Judge Judy” by Alex Ovechkin last season.
On Friday, he received a signed photo from Judge Judy as a surprise from the Capitals organization. In response, Dowd had one of the best games of his NHL career against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Coincidence? Well, in the words of the judge, if it doesn’t make sense, it’s not true.
(So, no, I guess?)
“It happened while we were playing sewer ball last year,” Dowd said of his nickname while speaking to The Athletic’s Tarik El-Bashir in November. “Quite frequently, Ovi (Ovechkin) will plead his case as to why he should not be out. Then it usually comes down to rock-paper-scissors, and whoever wins stays and whoever loses is out. Frequently it comes down to that, even though maybe Ovi should be out most of the time. But he’s the big man so, you know…
“One game I said something right away. I was like, ‘No, you should be out. You should be out.’ Ovi looked at me – and he had said this before to other guys, it’s just kinda one of his ‘Ovi Sayings’ – he looked at me and said, ‘Whatever, Judge Judy.’[Tom Wilson] was there and had never heard it. Willie just loved it. He looovvveeed it. It was one of those things, like it didn’t even cross my mind because Ovi had said it so many times to other guys. ‘Whatever, Judge Judy.’ But Willie loved it. And it stuck.”
In the latest episode of Between Two Blue Lines, Garnet Hathaway presented Dowd with the photo as they ended their latest podcast.
“OH MY GOD. WOW. THIS IS INCREDIBLE! WOW!. THIS IS GREAT GUYS,” an excited Dowd screamed. “I see a resemblance. That’s the first thing I see. What a beautiful smile, too. This is incredible.”
Then he described what he got because this is audio and there is no video.
“I got a Judge Judy signed photo. It’s a headshot (?) doing her thing,” he said. “It says, ‘Nic, good luck this year, Judge Judy.'”
Just wrapped up episode 8 of Between Two Blue Lines… @JimmyDowder26 and the real @JudgeJudy pic.twitter.com/fMH9qF2mvT
— Garnet Hathaway (@GarnetHathaway) March 6, 2020
There was one last surprise.
“On the envelope, it says, ‘If Nic and guest would like to visit in the future, please call me,” Hathaway said. It also included Judge Judy Sheindlin’s personal number.
“Don’t be jealous, Paige,” Nic retorted.
“The only thing better would be To Judy From Judge Judy,” Hathaway said as the two lineys laughed.
A week ago, Judge Judy announced that she would end her show after her 25th season. Sheindlin is the highest-paid personality on TV raking in $47 million a year. In comparison, Nic makes $750,000 in the NHL.
Headline photo courtesy of @JimmyDowder26
