Wednesday, October 5, 2005, forever in history

6 years ago today, Captain Ovechkin showed the NHL his play... :-)

Here are some quotes and video:

Kukla's Korner:

Ovechkin Stars by Paul on 10/05/05 at 08:54 PM Comments (0) The Washington Capitals’ top young prospect brought hockey back to the nation’s capital with a pair of goals — and a monster check so fierce it dislodged a support beam. Alexander Ovechkin became the first Capitals player to score twice in his NHL debut, and Washington beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 on Wednesday night in the league’s first game at the MCI Center in 550 days. Dainius Zubrus also scored for the Capitals, and new captain Jeff Halpern had three assists in a game that included 18 penalties.

Dispatch Blue Jackets beat reporter Aaron Portzline, Feb. 3, 2008:

His first NHL game was against the Blue Jackets, and his goal all along was to make his first NHL shift memorable. He was on the ice for about 40 seconds, and it became clear he wasn't going to score a goal. But the shift was still going to be memorable.

Ovechkin lined up Blue Jackets defensemen Radoslav Suchy and knocked him halfway back to the Czech Republic.

Ovechkin's hit was so hard, a metal divider between the glass partitions fell to the ice. So did Suchy, who went wobbly kneed to the bench.

Dump'n'Chase, Oct. 5, 2011 "Six Years Ago Tonight":

“It might just be from highlights I’ve seen,” says Halpern, “but I just remember Ovi’s first shift, laying that guy out in the corner. I don’t know who the defenseman was. I don’t know if he played many pre-season games that year, but that was the first time he kind of ran over a guy.”

“You were told he could score,” says Halpern of Ovechkin, “but when he comes out and scores two goals, obviously you start to make sense of it.”

Ovechkin became the first Capital ever to net two goals in his first NHL game.

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