Ovechkin Speaks
By: Brian McNally
Examiner Staff Writer
11/03/09 2:33 PM EST
The Caps held their first practice without injured star forward Alex Ovechkin on Tuesday morning. Bit of a media circus here in Arlington - at least by Caps standards. Losing your best player for a stretch will do that. Not much new to report on the injury - officially an "upper-body strain". Ovechkin is still listed as week-to-week. So...uh....what does that mean exactly?
"I don’t have a clue," Caps coach Bruce Boudreau admitted. "I know it’s an upper-body strain. But I don’t know what that means. So I just know [Ovechkin] is very tolerant of pain and he wants to play so badly. Given those two equations is why I’m saying if anybody can be back sooner it’s him."
Fair enough. Ovechkin is out for sure tomorrow when the Caps play at New Jersey. And he certainly won't return until he passes a battery of medical tests on what's believed to be a shoulder strain and then gets a practice or two in. Knowing Ovechkin, not playing will absolutely kill him. This is a guy who lives for his sport, after all.
"Nobody is safe from that," said teammate Alex Semin via goalie coach/translator Arturs Irbe. "Nobody is insured from these things to happen. And [Ovechkin] will deal with it. He’s a pro. Once it’s over he will be as strong as ever."
Make no mistake - Ovechkin will travel with the team on its two-game trip to New Jersey and Florida. He insisted he wants no part of sitting home watching on TV his teammates play without him. And Ovechkin at least seemed in good spirits, even joking he was looking forward to downing a coke and nachos while watching Wednesday's game from the press box at Prudential Center. So was he at least feeling better with a few days of rest?
"No, it’s still the same," Ovechkin said without revealing exactly what was hurting. "No better no worse. Still the same...We’ll see how it goes. But I hope it’s going to be a quick heal."
Later, Ovechkin added: "You never want to get injured – especially right now when you’re in good shape and you feel really good about yourself. Then you get hurt and take some days off. Don’t skate, don’t practice. It’s hard. But it is what it is and different guys will step up and play good for us right now...Sometimes players got injuries. Every player gets hurt. Every player gets something. I’m one of them. But I’m lucky I don’t have anything broken."
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