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ESPN+ is planning five exclusive alternate telecasts known as “the OviCast” as viewers track the Alex Ovechkin’s chase of Wayne Gretzky’s all-time NHL goals record.
The first special stream is Thursday night as Ovechkin’s Washington Capitals face the Minnesota Wild. Additional games with the extra telecast will be on April 10, 12, 15 and 17, as the regular season winds to a close.
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Traditional broadcasts of those same games will be available across Disney platforms, with the April 12 matchup between the Capitals and the Columbus Blue Jackets slated to air on ABC.
Ovechkin, whose nicknames include “Ovi” (thus the name of the stream), entered Thursday with 889 career goals, needing five to tie Gretzky and six to become the all-time leader.
While alternate telecasts are increasingly standard (and ESPN has led the way, with its “Mannigcast” presentations of Monday Night Football) the “OviCast” is a significant step toward a more specialized viewing experience. They will feature an isolated camera on Ovechkin in one box with information about his pursuit of the record below. The traditional game feed will appear in a second box, along with Ovechkin’s game stats.
Ovechkin, 39, has led the Capitals on many deep playoff runs, delivering long-suffering fans the team’s first Stanley Cup in 2018. His pursuit of Gretzky has captured the attention of many casual hockey fans, helping with tune-in for the NHL. The star has proven remarkably durable. In this, his 20th season, he is among the league’s leading goal scorers.
When Gretzky retired in 1999, his career total of 894 was 93 more than any other player in history. It long seemed to many in the sport like the mark would never be equaled.
ESPN+ had 24.9 million subscribers as of the end of Disney’s most recent quarter. Its future as a stand-alone service is uncertain given ESPN’s high-profile initiative to launch a flagship streaming service, which will include linear network programming, by the fall.
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