Tuesday night, the Washington Capitals hosted the team’s yearly alumni game and held an equipment sale for season-ticket holders at Kettler Capitals Iceplex.
One of the most expensive and interesting pieces of hockey gear at the equipment sale was a customized Alex Ovechkin stick.
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin is on the equipment market and looking for a brand to commit to.
According to NBC Sports Washington’s Tarik El-Bashir, the six-year deal that Ovechkin signed with equipment manufacturer Bauer in 2011 has expired. Since arriving back in Washington from Russia, Ovechkin has been experimenting with CCM gear. Beyond his previous contract with Bauer, Ovechkin has only used CCM equipment since first breaking into the league during the 2005-06 season.
We’re accustomed to seeing superstar players decked out in equipment from their sponsor’s line. For Bauer, the likes of Alex Ovechkin and other elite players have become the face of the company. But it seems nefarious actions are going on behind the scenes of one of the most popular hockey brands.
According to TSN, a fraud lawsuit has been filed against Performance Sports Group, which owns Bauer and Easton, another top hockey (and baseball) equipment manufacturer. On Wednesday morning, the company revealed that it is under investigation by securities regulators in the United States and Canada. Just two days earlier, the company said it was in default with its creditors.
By Chris Gordon 3 years ago
Photo: @capivan8
During Wednesday’s practice, the Capitals welcomed a fourth Russian onto the ice. Four-year-old Maxim Goloschapov was flown from Moscow to Kettler Capitals Iceplex because he won a promotional campaign held by Bauer Russia.
A few months ago, Bauer asked their followers to “show us your hardest shot by putting it on Instagram with the hashtag #MX3Russia. The winner gets to go to Washington to meet Alex Ovechkin.” Teeny tiny Maxim won with these two videos.
Photo: Bruce Bennett
Alex Ovechkin‘s skates aren’t the only things looking more patriotic for the Sochi Olympics. During Monday’s practice at the Bolshoy Ice Dome, the Russian machine debuted brand new sticks, specially designed by Bauer to match his skates and uniform. The bottom half of the stick is boring: a simple black with Ovechkin’s number eight and the Bauer logo. The top half is where the design gets fancy.
There’s a stripe of blue, as seen in the country’s flag. Then there’s Россия, Russia written in the mother tongue, over a white background. Then the stick concludes with a bright red and the Russian coat of arms overlaid in white.
Photo credit: AllHockey.ru
After his tennis superstar girlfriend Maria Kirilenko won a bronze medal at the Olympics on August 5th, Alex Ovechkin tweeted to the world,”we take [the medal] to Moscow and make party!!” But that wasn’t the only reason Ovechkin returned to his home country.
A few days later, on August 10th, Ovechkin hosted a master class for children at the Yantar hockey rink in downtown Moscow (which coincidentally is only four miles away from Fedor’s house).
Photo credit: Bruce Bennett
Concussions have become the topic du jour around the NHL in the last few years, and for very good reason. Nearly a hundred cases of head trauma have been recorded just this season, and with Caps star Nicklas Backstrom missing forty games with concussion the issue has now hit DC fans closer to home. Despite his highly physical style of play, Alex Ovechkin has managed to avoid concussion so far in his career. Still, he hasn’t been ignoring the epidemic, and for several months Ovechkin has been testing Bauer’s new trauma-preventative RE-AKT helmet. It’s now being worn by several other Bauer-sponsored NHL stars, but Ovechkin was the first to agree to test the RE-AKT — even before Backstrom’s incident with Rene Bourque.
We spoke to C.J. Ficek, Bauer’s Product Manager for Helmets to find out more about the helmet and Ovi’s decision to wear it.
By 8 years ago
Ovi sports his new gear. Click to enlarge. (Photo credit: Bauer)
Photo credit: Chris Gordon
The world’s most famous hockey player has got some new gear. After dropping CCM over the summer, Alex Ovechkin unveiled a new six-year sponsorship with rival manufacturer Bauer, whose equipment Ovi used for the first three years of his career. This is Ovechkin’s second new sponsorship of the week after news of his long-term deal with superpower Nike for “lifestyle” and “performance” products surfaced on Thursday night.
“I think that CCM treat me well,” Ovechkin told reporters Tuesday afternoon. “They help me a lot and without that project I can’t score 65 goals. But in that kind of moment and that kind of situation right now, I feel that Bauer is company who I’m looking forward to work with. I played with this stick a couple years ago and I like it.”
The move doesn’t exactly come as a surprise. With Ovi’s ditching CCM — and therefore their parent company Reebok — that left Bauer as the only company with the cash to pickup a superstar endorsement.
The move was also teased on Bauer’s Web site over the holiday weekend, with their home page sporting a picture of skates with the Great Eight’s trademark yellow laces and the banner “This year will be different.”
By Chris Gordon 8 years ago
