Caps Movember Donations Down; Liam O’Brien Wins in Team Donations

Ben SumnerDecember 1, 2014

571 2 minutes read

Andre Burakovsky gets a participation award. (photo via Washington Capitals)

Movember 2014 has come to an end. Unfortunately, the total donations for the Caps was the lowest since we began keeping track, aside from the lockout-shortened season. As midnight struck on the east coast and the calendar turned to December, the Caps raised $4,230, though that number is subject to change since the Movember folks will keep accepting donations.

Anyway, here’s a visual representation of what people donated to the Caps this year:

url

Here’s what they raised in prior years, according to what we wrote at the time:

2013: $7,392
2012: $1,670 (Lockout season – Caps players weren’t involved)
2011: $10,095

Why the drop in donations? Perhaps Movember has lost its whiskered luster. Perhaps 2014’s fund-raising fad, the Ice Bucket Challenge, had already snatched the hearts and wallets from fans. My theory is that the athletes themselves didn’t take to Twitter enough to ask their legions of followers for donations. Tom Wilson and Liam O’Brien did, as they went down to the wire for the team lead in donations. Here’s how it turned out (again, subject to change with Dec. donations):

(Note that other people, including Caps employees and random fans, joined the effort and raised money for this team, which contributed to the total). Kudos to Mike Vogel who raised $565, and athletic trainer Greg Smith who raised $560.

Recently, the Caps tweeted their Movember Trophy, which we’re assuming goes to O’Brien.

Final night to get your #Movember donations in and see who wins the #CapsMo trophy! Join in. http://t.co/FZAtRZ6tYp pic.twitter.com/6pol56yHxm

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 29, 2014

UPDATE: It’s official. Movember team captain gave O’Brien the award for most funds raised.

WATCH: #CapsMo captain @KarlAlzner gives out trophies for "Most Funds Raised" & "Best #CapsMo" http://t.co/bcccEoKR25 pic.twitter.com/TKH3z00x9a

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) December 1, 2014

Now, for Caps Outsider’s Movember Awards.

The “Best Mustache-to-Worst Donation Total Ratio” award goes to Alex Ovechkin, who raised $114.88, roughly what he makes per second. The NHL even made this video for him.

The Hit the Ground Running award goes to Liam O’Brien, who made a point to accentuate his ‘orange caterpillar’ (his words) in the penalty box. Also, he’s a rookie, and is one of the few young Caps players who hasn’t suffered from BMS – Bad Mustache Syndrome.

Day 30 of November! Please help through donation to http://t.co/0W9k4C9Xys pic.twitter.com/Pbw7lnl5ap

— Liam O'Brien (@OfficialBigTuna) December 1, 2014

The ‘He’s Just Can’t Grow One So He Did This’ award goes to Andre Burakovsky.

Burakovsky and the boys are ready for #CapsIsles. The game starts at 7 p.m. on CSN+. #Movember pic.twitter.com/L8ceuIXWvT

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 26, 2014

Alan May and Slapshot don’t get an award but we’ll show it anyway:

My man @MayHockeyCSN is here to celebrate #Movember with me but my stache is better #CapsDownUnder pic.twitter.com/RrnBcvfWaa

— Slapshot (@Caps_Slapshot) November 22, 2014

The ‘He Really Tried and Here’s Proof’ award goes to Tom Wilson. Wilson briefly took the team lead for donations on the final day before O’Brien passed him again.

So it's almost the end of Movember, and my mustache finally decided show up. Please donate https://t.co/6IA10FQSYn pic.twitter.com/vJ3HQrMgGn

— Tom Wilson (@tom_wilso) November 28, 2014

Other folks who participated:

Chris Brown

http://instagram.com/p/wBx3ZOSdYc/

Michael Latta