One of the most iconic records in professional sports was broken this week when NHL superstar Alex Ovechkin scored his 895th career goal. That milestone put him atop the league’s all-time scoring list, surpassing the once-believed unbreakable record set by Wayne Gretzky. To commemorate Ovechkin’s achievement, Budweiser Canada honored the few NHL goalies who bested him.
The beer giant sent specialty cans to the 28 goalies who did not allow any of Alex Ovechkin’s 895 goals. For those who may not follow the sport, it’s incredible that the Washington Capitals captain has scored on so many goalies over his 20 years that only 28 have never been scored on.
As for the specialty cans, they’re labeled “Zero of 895” with a tagline, “The greatest goal scorer of all time couldn’t score on these kings of zero.”
It’s honestly one of the best marketing tactics I’ve ever seen in the space, because as I’m sure you’re already piecing together, the beer Budweiser used is its 0.0% ABV non-alcoholic brew. Talk about a match made in heaven. Each label is specific to the respective goaltender, too, featuring the number of shots they stopped against Ovechkin.
There’s no minimum number of saves, either. For example, Curtis Joseph, one of the best goalies of his time, only faced Ovi one time, so his specialty Budweiser can reads that he saved two of his career shots.
This is a genius move by Budweiser to get in on the buzz around one of the most recognized NHL records being broken. They’re even getting other players who weren’t involved in the 28-can rollout to comment on it. Eddie Lack, who did allow some goals on him from Ovechkin, joked on X that, “If [he] knew there was beers involved [he] would’ve tried harder.”
It doesn’t sound like any of these cans will be publicly available. As the cans gain more and more attention, though, I wouldn’t be shocked if the company does a small rollout of a mixed 24-pack with different labels for each goalie as a quick money grab for collectors.
The post NHL Goalies Gifted Specialty Budweiser Cans for Shutting Out Alex Ovechkin appeared first on VICE.
