Monumental Sports Network, NHL reach agreement over Ovechkin record

Washington Capitals left winger Alex Ovechkin is on the verge of history.

Ovie stands just nine goals shy of Wayne Gretzky’s career goals record, and naturally, the NHL wants as many eyeballs as possible on the chase for No. 895. As such, the NHL put the Capitals in a number of nationally televised windows as the regular season comes to a close. Four of the Caps’ 18 remaining games are slated for exclusive national broadcasts.

However, that means the longtime Capitals broadcast team of Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin (or Alan May, pending Laughlin’s recovery from heart surgery), may not be on the call for Ovechkin’s record-tying and record-setting goals. That feels wrong for a duo that has called Caps games for nearly 30 years.

Luckily, the NHL and Monumental Sports Network, the television home for the Capitals, have reached an agreement that should appease everybody involved, per a report in the Washington Post on Tuesday.

The NHL will still be broadcasting those four Capitals games exclusively, so they won’t be available to watch live on Monumental. However, the league is allowing Beninati and Laughlin or May to call the games separate from the national telecast, with the Monumental broadcast able to be clipped for social media purposes. That means, if Ovechkin does tie or set the record during a national telecast, Beninati’s call will still be available for fans to hear. Additionally, the NHL is allowing Monumental to re-air its full version of the broadcast 24 hours following the game’s original airtime.

Beninati was appreciative of the efforts.

“We don’t know when Alex is going to do it. Hopefully sooner than later. And at the same time, as a company, as a network, all of us want to be involved to the fullest,” Beninati told the Post. “To have a normal, in-game, live game experience with that historic moment would be wonderful for all of us. For the longest of times, for the 20 years that we’ve covered him, it’s been leading up to this momentous occasion.

“We want to be there, but I understand the business side of sports, too. For the folks at Monumental and the Caps to have made this arrangement for us, it feels incredible.”

Another piece of good news from this arrangement is that, not only will Beninati’s call be shared on social media, but it will be available for archival purposes. So when years from now, Caps fans look back on Ovie’s record-setting achievement, it’ll be a familiar voice on the call.