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Coronavirus pandemic

Private 30-minute ice hockey lesson with NHL star Ovechkin goes for $38,000

The unnamed winner of the auction received the Washington Capitals captain’s ice hockey stick and four tickets to the team’s matches

Alexander Ovechkin AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes

Alexander Ovechkin

© AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes

MOSCOW, May 6. /TASS/. A 30-minute private ice hockey lesson with Russia’s NHL star and Captain of the Washington Capitals Alexander Ovechkin has been auctioned off for $38,000, the US-based sports web portal BleacherReport.com reported.

The charity auction, the All-In Challenge, was launched on April 14 with the aim of donating all proceeds from the auction to socially and economically disadvantaged groups in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The All-In Challenge has ballooned to include more than 100 athlete and celebrity auctions, with all funds going toward Meals on Wheels, No Kid Hungry, America's Food Fund, World Central Kitchen and Feeding America," according to the sports web portal.

Russia’s NHL Stanley Cup winner and three-time World Champion Ovechkin joined the All-In Challenge on April 20, having Tweeted at that time "I have accepted the All-In Challenge. I hope we can help lots of people!!!"

I have accepted the @allinchallenge I hope we can help lots of people!!!Go to https://t.co/uEGxqcZLJ9 and see what you can do!! I also want to challenge my boy Ryan Zimmerman from the @nationals the @capitals organization and @snoopdogg to
go ALL IN to help!!! #allinchallange pic.twitter.com/OlrIrlzHWI
— Alex Ovechkin (@ovi8) April 19, 2020

The 34-year-old Russian hockey star offered up "private hockey lessons, an exclusive game-day experience with the Caps, his game-worn gloves and a game-used stick," BleacherReport wrote.

The unnamed winner of the auction, who shelled out $38,000, is entitled to a 30-minute training session with Ovechkin and the lucky individual also received the Washington Capitals captain’s ice hockey stick and four tickets to the team’s matches.

Ovechkin currently ranks eighth on the NHL All-Time Goals Leaders list boasting 1,278 points (706 goals, 572 assists) in 1,152 matches. He is also the 2018 Stanley Cup winner and the 2008, 2012, 2014 IIHF World Championships gold medalist, in addition to his two silver and four bronze medals from world championships.

Read also

Russia’s NHL star Ovechkin thanks all doctors for their fight against COVID-19 pandemic

In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus — named COVID-19 by the WHO — have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 3,700,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 258,800 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 1,240,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.

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