Washington Capitols superstar Alexander Ovechkin has been suspended by the NHL for a knee-on-knee collision with Carolina Hurricane Tim Gleason that left the two time Hart Memorial Trophy winner limping off the ice Monday night. He was given a five minute major penalty for kneeing and a game misconduct by the referees.
Ovechkin, the Capitols goals and points leader, will miss the next two games against the Florida Panthers on Thursday night and the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night. He is listed as day to day with a knee injury but is expected to be back for the December 7th game versus the Tampa Bay Lightning.
While this is the first suspension of his career it's Ovechkin's second game misconduct in the last three games. He recieved a five minute major and was ejected from last weeks game against the Buffalo Sabres for a boarding call on Patrick Kaleta. He also missed six games earlier this season with an upper body strain. In his first four seasons he had only missed two games due to injury.
Ovechkin has stated that there was no malicious intent behind the hit and that he's glad Gleason was not hurt too badly. However, controversy visited him during the playoffs last year following a knee-on-knee collision with Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar for which he suspiciously recieved no supplemental discipline by the league.
Capitols coach, Bruce Boudreau, concerned about the players health, has said "He plays pretty reckless...I don't want to see him getting hurt. Maybe he has to pick his spots a little bit better. It's something that will have to be addressed by us, I guess." Ovechkin has stated that he will not change the way he plays.
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