Beninati, Laughlin talk cars with Ovechkin in first podcast originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin have been calling Capitals games together for 25 years, more than half the entire history of the franchise. The broadcasting duo joined hockey fans in their living rooms as the franchise went through several eras of success as well as periods of futility as well.
Those down years have been hard to find ever since the NHL debut of Alex Ovechkin. The greatest goal scorer of his generation has played his entire career with Joe B. and Locker in the booth, allowing them to forge strong relationships with the Great 8 over the years.
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So when they decided to celebrate a quarter-century of working together by dropping the limited-edition “Told It Here!” podcast, their first guest was a no-brainer.
Ovechkin sat down with Beninati and Laughlin for their first episode, which dropped Thursday, and they looked back on key moments of his career together. One of those moments came during the left winger’s rookie year, when he proudly drove his BMW M6 out of the Capitals’ parking lot only to see Beninati driving the same one. Ovechkin was furious.“Yeah, and you still have a BMW,” Ovechkin told Beninati. “I’m kind of growing up and I have a Mercedes. M6 was one of my favorite cars. I sent it to Moscow and I enjoyed it [but] obviously I didn’t spend lots of time in Moscow so I have to sell it.”
Grow up, Ovechkin has. The 36-year-old became the oldest player in NHL history to record a 50-goal campaign this season, moving up to No. 3 on the all-time scoring list behind only Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky and Gordie Howe. He’s led the Capitals to 13 playoff appearances and hopes to help them make another run next week despite suffering an upper-body injury Sunday.
Ovechkin has also swapped out his M6 for a couple Mercedes AMG G-Class SUVs, also known as the G-Wagon. While he earned a reputation for his car collection early in his career, the Capitals’ star has since become a family man with two children. The G-Wagon, though still as luxurious as they come, is certainly more practical. A reporter for ABC captured a picture of one of them at an airport back in 2018.
“I used to have lots of cars but right now I’m kind of Mercedes guy,” Ovechkin said. “I love [the] G-Wagon. What I have, I bought it in 2014 and I still have it, a black one. In Moscow I have a G-Wagon as well.”
Beninati and Laughlin released the first two episodes of their podcast Thursday and they plan to host four more. Twenty-five years together has provided plenty of stories to tell and the “Told It Here!” podcast will allow them to give Capitals fans a unique insight into both their relationship and the team’s development into one of the NHL’s premiere franchises.
Listen to more episodes of Told It Here:
