HERSHEY, PA — The Hershey Bears got an unexpected boost in the crowd on Thursday night.
Alex Ovechkin, the NHL’s greatest goal scorer, attended the Bears’ first home game of the playoffs with Aliaksei Protas, sitting in a Giant Center suite above section 107.
Alex Ovechkin announced to the crowd in Hershey
After squeaking out only one five-on-five goal in Game 1’s 2-0 victory, Hershey noticeably had more jump in Game 2, scoring three times at even strength before piling on two empty-netters. The 5-2 victory swept the Bridgeport Islanders out of the first round of the playoffs and out of existence, as they will relocate to Hamilton, Ontario, next season.
“1-0 with Ovi in the building 🐐,” the Bears tweeted.
After the game, the Bears were openly grateful for Ovi’s presence, admitting it gave them more energy.
“Yeah, definitely,” Andrew Cristall said, after scoring twice in the game. “It’s pretty cool. It’s the greatest goal scorer of all time, watching [you] play. I was joking with Pro (Ilya Protas), I think he knew before (that he was going to be at the game), so I was like, ‘Now I know why [you] had so much energy to go right from the start.’ So it was a lot of fun, and it’s pretty cool that he was here.”
“A few guys pointed it out before,” Sam Bitten, who tallied for the first time in the playoffs with the Bears, said. “We saw him waving the towels and stuff. As I got the ‘Player of the Game,’ I mentioned that Big O, he needs to come back every game now. So, yeah, we’ll see. It was nice to see him and meet him (for the) first time.”
Bitten, who followed up a Grant Cruikshank drive to the net with a rebound goal, received the team’s firefighter outfit and helmet as the Players’ MVP of the night, getting the gear from Game 1’s winner, Clay Stevenson.
“This is an unbelievable time of the year, guys,” Bitten said. “We came out swinging. Those games are quick, but let’s enjoy the time off. Happy to get the one for The Big Man here.”
Ovechkin, who was sitting beside Ivan Miroshnichenko, clapped and put his fist in the air.
Sam Bitten shouts out Alex Ovechkin in the Hershey Bears locker room
While the superstitious players hoped Ovi would come back for good luck, Bears head coach Derek King had something else totally different in mind.
“I was hoping we were signing him to a PTO or something like that, and get him in the lineup or at least take warm-up,” King quipped. “But that was great. Good on him.”
The game marked the first time Ovechkin had been back in Hershey since 2005, when the Washington Capitals played the Pittsburgh Penguins in a preseason game ahead of his rookie season.
“I mean, that’s what they call him, the GOAT, right?” King said. “For a guy of his stature to come down here and root us on and be a part of it, be in the locker room after the win. That just says a lot about the guy.”
