Capitals Announcer Joe Beninati Recaps Ovechkin's Record Goal

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00:00I always love hooking up with Joe Beninati, the legendary voice of the Capitals.

00:05And I got to tell you, Joe, like, I think I've talked to you about this before.

00:10Like when I was I was living in L.A. when Gretzky did it.

00:13And and I was just such a fan of Bob Miller's.

00:18And like, you know, I got to call the thrashers for a season.

00:22It meant the world to me to be able to do it.

00:24And I'd never called a game before in my life.

00:26But I love hockey so much that I was like, I walked away from a lot of money to do it.

00:31And people said I was crazy.

00:32I was stupid.

00:33What are you doing?

00:34You're walking away from national syndicate.

00:35I said, I like hockey more than I like money.

00:37I said, I just I like hockey more than money.

00:40So you can take whatever you want.

00:42Everyone said I was crazy and I was wild and I was over the top and everything.

00:47I heard everything.

00:48But all I know was I told you about Mike Lang, what he meant to me, Bob Miller, what he meant

00:53to me, what you mean to me.

00:55I'm a huge fan of yours.

00:57It couldn't happen to greater guys than you and Bob Miller and Alex Ovechkin, guys like

01:05that and Gretzky.

01:06Now, I didn't know Wayne at the time.

01:09You know, at the time, I was just doing a national show and I was a fan.

01:15So when I heard Bob Miller say, there it is, I was like, and he was running on his skates.

01:22I thought it was the greatest thing I'd ever seen.

01:24And then yesterday, when I saw him diving on the ice and sliding, I just thought it

01:29was like, it was like reminiscing all over again, just the greatest moments of my life

01:35watching it.

01:36Even a guy that's been an arch rival of mine with the Penguins my entire life.

01:40Scotty, you honor me when you put me in the same sentence with Mike Lang and Bob Miller.

01:47And there's a reason why I love visiting with you on this show, and it's because I know

01:52about your passion for the sport and for the play-by-play craft.

01:57And to have everything fall just the way it did in the last three, four days, it's a sign

02:05that the hockey gods wanted it to be that way, that it was meant to be, that it landed

02:11on Monumental Sports Network and the live show, that Craig Laughlin was back from significant

02:17heart surgery to be there in the booth with us.

02:20It all lined up so perfectly, and the goals that he scored and that he has scored throughout

02:25the last 20 years have been so breathtaking.

02:29And so many of them are similar, one-time slapshots from the left circle.

02:34So many of them are overpowering the way that 895 went in, that you pray for those moments

02:43Selfishly, as an announcer, if this is going to be the one, let it be clean and clear.

02:50Let me see the net bulge, let there be no doubt, let there be no goalie interference

02:54or potential offside challenge.

02:57And it lined up perfectly for us, and it was a magical environment.

03:01I can't explain to you how good Friday night was when he tied the great one in D.C.

03:07That was pretty much close to Stanley Cup final fever pitch, only happy.

03:13There was no anxiety there.

03:15There was no, are we going to win this, lose this?

03:18It was all about an individual player's moment.

03:20He scores in the first five minutes of the game and everybody is buzzing.

03:24There were chances for him to get the record that night with a hat trick, which really

03:28would have been storybook.

03:30But the way it turned out there today, droves, and I mean, Capitals fans by the thousands

03:35inside of the arena at UBS.

03:38It was it was magical and it's something obviously that's once in a lifetime for me and and could

03:43very well last a lifetime.

03:45Well, you know, we were we were doing the show Friday night and we were predicting that

03:52he would have a hattie.

03:54I was I said he's going to have three tonight playing that team.

03:57And then Carver Hodge said, no, he's going to do it at the horse track on Sunday.

04:01He had said that all along.

04:05I got to tell you, when he did it, I got I got choked up.

04:12What was it like for you?

04:14I don't even like I respect him so much as an enemy of my team.

04:21But I respect I hated the Islanders, but I respected Mike Bossy so much.

04:26And I respect this guy so much that I got all I got all flustered and my daughter was

04:32like, are you crying?

04:33I was like, get out, get out of the route.

04:36But you have no idea what it means to someone that loves the game as much as you and I do.

04:42What did it what did it do to your soul, to your body?

04:46Did you get did you get weird or funky, Joe?

04:50It's nerve wracking and teary eyed for sure.

04:55Teary eyed for sure on Friday, without a doubt.

04:59And every time the cameras landed on Alex's boys, Sergei and Ilya.

05:05Every time the camera landed on Alex's mom, Tatiana, wife Nastia.

05:11You can't help but think of Mikhail, Alex's dad, who gave me more than a few big bear

05:19hugs over the last two decades while his son was doing such incredible work on the ice

05:25and who loved the game the way we all do.

05:30This is a crowning achievement.

05:32It's an individual achievement.

05:33Alex is all about team.

05:35I think at the end, it's so humbling and you want to there's there's a 23 minute, 24 minute

05:41ceremony and and all the while I know the the competitor and Ovechkin is saying, can

05:46we please get back to the game?

05:48He appreciated what the Islanders did for him yesterday.

05:52I heard Sidney Crosby's comments, a good 90 second to two minute rip of comments.

05:59The mutual respect that he shared with the grade eight and those two kids, those two

06:03guys who are soon to be pushing 40 years old.

06:06They came in at a rough time in 2005 and six.

06:10They had a lot of responsibilities put on their shoulders and they've overachieved.

06:14They've been world class ambassadors, Sid and Alex, and they they know what each other

06:20has gone through and to see and listen to Sidney react and Marvel at what Alex has done.

06:26It's truly it's close to superhuman 895 goals.

06:31It's crazy.

06:32So let me ask you twofold because he's going to keep going and they have a shot to win

06:37the Stanley Cup again.

06:39I know you think they're good enough and I can't even believe the similarities between

06:43your boy Laughlin and I, we both had open heart surgery.

06:47I had both of my valves explode off of my heart.

06:50I saw him in his cardiac unit and I know what he's been through.

06:55What was it like for you to have him out of the booth going through that as your friend?

07:01And I certainly hope you'll send my regards and tell him I know what it's like to be in

07:06that bed and to be in that situation is very scary.

07:09I went through it.

07:11I promise you I'll give him those words and and bless you both.

07:14I mean the last well he had the surgery locker did on February 4th and Alan May did a fabulous

07:22job jumping in.

07:24We throw him into the deep end.

07:26He did more than just swim.

07:28He survived and really thrived in it.

07:30And all the while Alan will be the first to tell you he wanted Craig to be back by the

07:35time Ovi accomplished this achievement and it's amazing.

07:42There were so many moments from yesterday that will be burned into these retinas for

07:46the rest of my life.

07:47But the one that stood out the most was the big bear hug Alex gave Locker after the game

07:53outside of the team dressing room.

07:56Locker said wait for me wait for me.

07:58Alex waited for him to do it and then did it when he was back on his watch.

08:03Again there are so many things that are fairy tales and storybooks about this but that to

08:08me meant the world because I know what Locker has been through.

08:12You do personally.

08:13Yeah.

08:14And there are people out there who know how much goes into coming back from those types

08:19of surgeries.

08:20And nowadays whatever it is that the doctors and the cardiac care teams do they do it so

08:25very very well.

08:26You wouldn't know you wouldn't know Locker had an issue beforehand and you wouldn't know

08:31in the five to six games that we've done since he's himself.

08:37I couldn't be more happy.

08:38Yeah.

08:39It's just crazy.

08:40God bless him.

08:41I'm so happy that he made it through it.

08:44They saved my life.

08:45I know I wear a heart monitor on my wrist that says 30 minutes more.

08:50That's my nickname.

08:51And that guy saved my life and I'll never forget it.

08:53He acted like he was making a ham sandwich but he cut my chest and saved my life.

09:00Tell a lock.

09:01I love him.

09:02Congrats.

09:03Great job on the call Joe.

09:04You're the best.

09:05I'm super proud of you.

09:06Go win another Stanley Cup.

09:07All right.

09:08That'd be fun.

09:09Thank you Scotty for sharing time today.

09:10I appreciate it.

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