Hockey World Blog

Alex Ovechkin Bauer Endorsement?

Big rumors (news?) are circulating that the poster boy of CCM hockey, Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals, will no longer be on the companies roster for the upcoming 2011-2012 NHL season.

Nothing is confirmed currently, nothing that I could dig up at least, but rumors are Ovechkin will be sporting Bauer products. Ovechkin was seen a few years back playing with a Bauer stick. Some felt the move was due to his unhappiness with the inconsistency and durability issues of CCM sticks, while others thought CCM had asked him to use other sticks and then provide feedback to make their products better. Still though, nothing was confirmed why he used the Bauer products.

Perhaps being a little skeptical, and maybe using a little business logic, it seems unlikely that Ovechkin will use anything other than CCM products. Well, at least for this year. With huge ad campaigns and a whole product line following the superstar, I just do not see the change being pulled off so quickly. To me, Ovechkin would have to have a contract set in place by CCM hockey that would not allow him to jump ship right now, or perhaps pay a large penalty for negating the contract. Sure Ovechkin is one of the top paid NHL players in the league, but I don’t see him paying up to use another brand. But then again, crazier things have happened.

It is unclear right now what is fact and what is rumor, but if Ovechkin was to play with another brand this upcoming NHL season, what brand do you think he would be sporting and why?

Update:

Alexander Ovechkin, the Washington Capitals superstar, has left CCM and joined the Nike team with an apparel and product endorsement.

Ovechkin has scheduled a press conference for Tuesday, September 6th, where he is expected to announce his endorsement deal with Bauer Hockey. If you visit Bauer.com, you will notice a brand new intro and header which shows the Bauer APX skates, with Ovechkin’s signature yellow laces. The text reads “This year will be different.” You can expect Ovechkin will now be wearing the APX skates this season when he suits up rather than the CCM U+ CL skates.

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Comments

25 responses to “Alex Ovechkin Bauer Endorsement?”

  1. Craig Avatar
    Craig

    yah i know for sure it’s true. I work at a hockey store and we got an e-mail from ccm themselves warning us of the news. Most of our banners, and posters for ccm have ovechkin in them, and we will need to take them down. It’s for sure though. Whethere or not Bauer will sign him, still remains a mystery.

    Reply
  2. EB Avatar
    EB

    Thanks Craig for the heads up. I think it is crazy that he is splitting CCM. I wonder what the reasons are.

    It will be interesting to see if he flys solo and uses what he wants, joins sister company Reebok, or joins another gear provider.

    Reply
  3. Anna Avatar
    Anna

    @EB – no way does Ovi go to Reebok. They’ve got Crosby already and it just seems stupid to switch to RBK since CCM is their sister company. If he wasn’t happy with CCM and wanted to go RBK, they could easily get him RBK twigs painted as CCM or vice versa. My guess is he goes to Bauer. Backstrom is sponsored by them already so it makes sense to try and get the best duos in the league sponsored by the same company. I.e. Toews and Kane.

    Reply
    1. howie Avatar
      howie

      ^Anna^ yes it would make sense for Ovechkin to go with Bauer to make the Ovie Backstrom duo, but your wrong in saying the second part. Toews is with CCM, Kane is with Bauer. They’re a duo on the ice not with companies. You also can’t paint over twigs, it’s stealing Bauer’s item and making it CCM’s. Good try, but you don’t really know what you’re talking about. Just throwing that out there.

      Reply
      1. EB Avatar
        EB

        I see where Anna is going with this though and could see a point.

        It would be cool if both Backstrom and Ovi were with the same supplier. Could make a pretty neat marketing campaign.

        Also, there definitely is copyrights and such with painting over another stick, however I wonder if Reebok and CCM could work something out since they are sister companies. This would not work with like Bauer or Warrior of course.

        Reply
      2. Matt Avatar
        Matt

        Toews is definitely not a CCM athlete. Anna is correct, both are currently with Bauer.

        http://www.bauer.com/athlete/index
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVlQOLPsGeA

        Reply
      3. Danny Avatar
        Danny

        Toews is with bauer and Anna was refering to CCM painting over a Reebok stick only because they are sister companies. Stick complanies constantly repaint older model sticks within their OWN product lines to promote new stick models. It would appear that Anna does know what she is talking about. Just throwing it out there.

        Reply
  4. tyler Avatar
    tyler

    he wore bauer in 03, 04-05. the 8000 helmet and vapor 20 gloves during team russia… no surprise.

    Reply
  5. EB Avatar
    EB

    I don’t know, I think it be cool if he went with Warrior. That would still allow him to wear some Bauer products, but also land a stick and gear contract. Due time will tell.

    Reply
    1. Rink Rat Avatar
      Rink Rat

      He already has a pro curve with them (the Kremlin)

      Reply
  6. Jack Avatar
    Jack

    Ovie’s contract with CCM runs out at the end of August according to his agent at IMG. Most of the Caps use Bauer and I expect him to also. They do make the best sticks and skates after all. All the other gear doesn’t matter as much.

    Reply
  7. Rollie Avatar
    Rollie

    @ eb i agree with eb the 2nd comment. it would be cool if he went with warrior! warrior is my fav company all hail!

    Reply
  8. cap kid Avatar
    cap kid

    how about graf???

    Reply
    1. Rink Rat Avatar
      Rink Rat

      Graf doesnt pay there players to wear there gear and a guy like Ovi would get big $ from another company.

      Reply
    2. Danny Avatar
      Danny

      garbage!

      Reply
  9. bruin97 Avatar
    bruin97

    would he have to pay for his gear if he went solo or would the capitals organization pay for it?

    Reply
  10. chris Avatar
    chris

    he will be with bauer in the fall. bauer plans to release an ova curve with a new le stick and the apx line

    Reply
  11. jesper Avatar
    jesper

    What if Ovi starts an own company (he already have clothing) Skates, Gloves, Sticks and more. That would be a-MAZE-ing! 😀

    Reply
  12. EB Avatar
    EB

    That would be pretty sweet Jesper, if he picked an up and coming company and put his name on their product. That would be an instant sell for them. If you were the marketing agent, what would you call his sticks?

    Reply
  13. AndyH Avatar
    AndyH

    ive heard from top bauer guys in the company that Ovi will sign with bauer

    Reply
  14. Erik Avatar
    Erik

    Warrior already makes a pro curve for him (the kremlin) I dont see why he wouldnt go with them? He would also still be able to use Bauer skates if he wanted to.

    Reply
  15. Rink Rat Avatar
    Rink Rat

    Another thing allot of people dont realize is it doesnt matter what company you go with they will custom make all your gear for you to your specs. The stuff we buy in stores is nothing like what they use, pro stock gloves are the closest thing and even there some what custom to each player. so in the end it has to do with money or something along those lines because im sure CCM wouldnt let him go because of stick issues they would just fix it.

    Reply
  16. EB Avatar
    EB

    A couple interesting points. Warrior already has a curve for Ovi, which would also allow him to still use other products if he so wishes, such as skates.

    Still though Rink Rat, a company does custom make the equipment to the employee, Ovechkin for sure, but each company has different technologies. To say that a CCM skate can be tailored just like a Bauer I do not believe so. I think CCM dropped the ball if he goes to anyone else except Reebok.

    Reply
  17. Alex Ovechkin Signs Deal with Nike « Hockey World Blog

    […] Once news hit that Ovechkin was to leave CCM, many opinions came about to who his next big deal would be with. Bauer, Reebok, Warrior, heck, even Jofa was thrown out as an option. The front for many was Bauer. […]

    Reply
  18. Alex Ovechkin Signs Long Term Global Partnership With Bauer Hockey « Hockey World Blog

    […] expected, Alexander Ovechkin has joined the Bauer Hockey team of athletes, signing a long term global partnership with the company. This announcement comes on the heels of […]

    Reply

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