Plenty of news from Kettler Iceplex this morning. No official word from the team on star forward Alex Ovechkin’s right knee injury, other than that he is day-to-day. He met with team doctors early in the morning – but would not confirm if he underwent an MRI – and then skated for five minutes at about 10:30 a.m. – roughly a half-hour before his teammates began practice. Just a few easy laps and he wasn’t in uniform. But that’s a hopeful sign that the injury is not a devestating one.
“Well, it’s day-to-day. See how they take care of it,” Ovechkin said. “Not that big sore. But I thought it was going to be worse. So thank God it’s OK.”
How “OK” is up for debate. The team won’t likely have any more to say on Ovechkin’s status today. A better bet is tomorrow at practice. We also have to wait to see what – if any – discipline the NHL hands down for Ovechkin’s knee-to-knee collision with Carolina defenseman Tim Gleason. Remember, he earned a kneeing major and a game misconduct and it was his second ejection in three games. Ovechkin was also fined $2,500 for a slew-foot incident against Atlanta last month.
Caps coach Bruce Boudreau had some interesting comments on Ovechkin’s style of play. He wasn’t being overly critical. But his words were still a little stronger than what he’s said in the past.
“He’s pretty reckless,” Boudreau said. “But boy it’s hard telling a guy that scores 60 goals a year to change the way he plays.”
