New Jersey man mistakenly receives package for Washington Capitals star

Feb. 3 (UPI) -- A New Jersey man expecting a shipment of accessories for his clothing company instead opened a box to find a bundle of hockey sticks intended for Washington Capitals star Zdeno Chara.

Ariel Ben-Abraham, owner of clothing company Create Supply, said he receives FedEx packages every day for his business, so it wasn't unusual for him to have received a package Monday morning -- but the size of the box did give him pause.

Ben-Abraham said he was even more confused when he opened the box and discovered more than a dozen jumbo-sized hockey sticks.

The sticks were sent from a company called True Hockey and were intended for Washington Capitals star Zdeno Chara.

"This has to take the cake as the strangest thing I've gotten by mistake," Ben-Abraham told ESPN. "Future Hall of Famer's sticks, for the tallest player in NHL history? That's crazy. Those odds don't even make sense."

Ben-Abraham tweeted photos of the hockey sticks, and the post went viral and caught the attention of True Hockey officials.

"We got the first notice around 5 p.m. It was a little bit confusing," said Corey Gregory, True Hockey's trade marketing manager for North America.

"How is there a young man posting in New Jersey that he had sticks? Then I looked at the box and saw that it was intended for the Washington Capitals and just thought, 'Oh my god, they're Chara's.'"

The shipping label for the Capitals' practice facility address was listed on the package's label, so True Hockey went to FedEx for answers. The shipping company told Gregory that the tracking information for the package indicated it was at a facility in Memphis.

"They said they couldn't do anything until they knew they were missing. So we took it into our own hands," Gregory said.

Gregory said the company is now making plans to have the sticks picked up from Ben-Abraham and hopefully have them delivered to the Capitals while they are in New York this week for a game against the Rangers.

He said the company is hoping to find a way to thank Ben-Abraham for his assistance.