Ovechkin pulls out of All-Star Game with injury
All-Star antics will have to come from someone else.
The Washington Capitals have announced that Alex Ovechkin, the voted-in Metropolitan Division All-Star captain and the NHL's most prolific goal-scorer, will miss the All-Star Game with a lower-body injury.
"We made this difficult decision after taking into consideration what we felt was best for Alex and our organization," Capitals GM Brian MacLellan wrote in a press release. "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."
By rule, Ovechkin must miss the first game back from the All-Star break - Feb. 2 versus the Florida Panthers. Last season, Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins made a similar decision and suffered the same penalty.
It'll be just the second man-game lost this season for Ovechkin, who's one of the league's more durable superstars. The absence came in early October when he was scratched for arriving late to the arena.
There's no word on who will replace Ovechkin on the roster, or as captain.