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Alex Ovechkin out of NHL All-Star Game with injury
The Washington Capitals announced that Alex Ovechkin, who was voted in as Metropolitan Division captain by the fans, will miss this weekend’s NHL All-Star Game festivities with a “lower body injury.”
From the Caps, late Wednesday night:
Alex Ovechkin will miss the 2016 NHL All-Star Game due to a lower-body injury that would be better served by rest, the Washington Capitals announced today. The decision was made in consultation with Ovechkin and the Capitals front office, coaching and athletic training staffs.
“We made this difficult decision after taking into consideration what we felt was best for Alex and our organization,” said Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan. “Alex has been an incredible ambassador for our team and the league, but we believe it is better if he uses this time to heal and ideally be completely healthy for the duration of the season.”
Ovechkin’s playing status is day-to-day, but by NHL rule, he will be required to sit out the Capitals Feb. 2 game against Florida.
Ovechkin has been named to seven NHL All-Star Games, and has played in five. He played in last season’s, but he pulled out of the 2012 All-Star Game in Ottawa after he was suspended three games by the NHL on Monday for a "launching head shot" on Zybnek Michalek of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
That led to a comedic collection of justifications from GM George McPhee, who said Ovechkin didn’t want to be a “distraction” at the game, and Ovechkin himself, who said he loved the game by “my heart is not there. I [got] suspended, so why I have to go there?"
This is a tough one to swallow, too. Ovechkin hasn’t missed any action with this lower-body injury. The wording of the release clearly indicates the team is taking the bullet here, keeping him out of Nashville for the sake of getting a hefty break from the action to rest up.
As Barry Trotz said: "He's been dealing with it for quite a while. ... We made a long-term decision."
But if we’re going to kill Sidney Crosby for choosing not to appear at the All-Star Game – and we have – it’s only right then to call this what it is: The Capitals, in a season where they’re Cup favorites, putting themselves ahead of the best interests of the League by pulling Ovechkin. Assuming it was their call.
Cue the “the All-Star Game is a joke and his health is more important” harangues ...
(In Ovechkin's defense, he's certainly put in the time at the All-Star Game. And the skills competition. And the fantasy draft ...)
Hopefully this isn’t the first of many players suddenly dropping out of the NHL All-Star weekend. And hopefully this means we get Evgeny Kuznetsov as Ovechkin’s replacement, because that would be just fine by us.
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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
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