Even for the greatest athletes in the world, family has to come before plying their trades.
Alex Ovechkin will not play for the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night against the Nashville Predators at Verizon Center because he returned home to Russia to spend time with his ailing grandfather. Ovechkin called general manager George McPhee on Sunday night and was not at practice Monday.
There is no timetable for his return, but the Caps do not play again until Saturday in Buffalo.
“He called and was basically looking for permission to go,” McPhee said. “I said, ’Of course. Family is more important than anything. You go and come back when you are ready.’”
This will be just the second game Ovechkin has missed in his NHL career. He sat out Jan. 30, 2006, during his rookie season against the New York Islanders. Ovechkin’s streak of 203 consecutive contests was the longest on the team.
The reigning league MVP, Ovechkin has not produced to the standard he set in his first three seasons. He has two goals and three secondary assists in eight games for the Caps, and he has no tallies in the past six contests.
When asked whether he thought the health of Ovechkin’s grandfather had been on his mind, Caps coach Bruce Boudreau said, “That I don’t know because I haven’t asked him. Who knows? I didn’t ask him that question. I just told him he had to get going home because it is important for him to be with his family.”
Added Alexander Semin, one of Ovechkin’s closest friends on the team, through a translator: “All I know is that he is not feeling well right now. Alex didn’t go into many details. It is his decision. You never know what might happen. This could be the last chance he has to see him. The team is not in the best position right now, but that is what he decided to do.”
Brooks Laich will take Ovechkin’s place on the top line with Nicklas Backstrom and Viktor Kozlov. Either David Steckel or Eric Fehr will move into Laich’s spot with the second unit.
Considering that Laich, Semin and Sergei Fedorov have combined for 27 points this season - 17 more than Ovechkin, Backstrom and Kozlov (who did miss four games with a knee injury) - maybe it isn’t a promotion.
“I haven’t played a whole lot with [Kozlov], but I’ve played with [Backstrom], so there isn’t going to be a big adjustment there,” Laich said. “I am just going to keep doing the same things. I’m not going to try and change my game and become Alex Ovechkin.”
Ovechkin’s absence likely will mean more attention from the Predators directed toward Semin, who entered Monday night’s games tied with countryman Evgeni Malkin for the league lead with 14 points. Semin has been considered one of the most talented players in the NHL for several seasons, but whether he would translate that into stardom has been in question.
Semin had 38 goals two seasons ago but only 26 in 63 games last year because of an ankle injury that slowed him for most of the first half of the season. Now healthy and enjoying his time next to Fedorov, it is possible that a healthy Semin could challenge his buddy Ovechkin for the team, and ostensibly the league, lead in goals.
“I always want to score as many goals as possible, but it is really bad luck to set numerical goals,” Semin said. “Remember last year I got injured, and where the hell were my goals after that? I don’t want to do that.”
Added McPhee: “He’s playing like he did the second half of last year. He probably could have done this last year if he didn’t have the injury. It helps when you have two players like this that play on different lines because it makes them tough to defend.”
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