Female UAE ice hockey player gets surprise from the NHL’s Washington Capitals and Etihad

Emirati ice hockey player Fatima Al Ali is surprised with a free flight on Etihad Airways to Washington DC to see her favourite hockey team play.

Ice hockey may not be as popular in the UAE as in some other parts of the world, but there’s no doubt the sport is on the rise.

Just last month, former NHL player Peter Bondra made his way to the capital to coach a programme at the Pavlikovsky Hockey School at Zayed Sports Ice Rink and met with some of the country’s youth hockey players to help with their skills.

While there, Bondra met a young woman named Fatima Al Ali, who surprised him with her skills. He even uploaded a few clips onto his Twitter account showcasing her impressive skill set from stick-handling (as seen below) to gliding down the ice to score a goal.

In another clip, Fatima shows off her stunning puck-handling skills with a trick shot on goal.

Teaming up with Etihad Airways and Monumental Sports & Entertainment’s Monumental Global Academies, the Washington Capitals hockey team decided to surprise Fatima during a Skype call with Bondra.

Unbeknownst to her, she was about to rewarded with a gift of a lifetime: two business class tickets from Abu Dhabi to Washington DC, tickets to a Capitals game as well as a jersey of her favourite player, Alex Ovechkin, and the chance to meet some of her favourite players.

Watch the video on The Capitals' Facebook page.

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