Alex Ovechkin put to rest speculation of what could have possibly kept him from playing in last nights game against the San Jose Sharks.
Simply - he overslept.
“I just messed up with my alarm clock,” Ovechkin said. “I put 8:30 p.m. instead of a.m. I fall asleep. I make mistake and that’s why.”
Head Coach Barry Trotz told reporters he didn't want to make a big deal about it and that Ovechkin handled the situation as a Captain should:
“It’s an accountability factor that we put in with our team rules,” Trotz said. “We always talk about the honesty part. Ovie showed up and he recognized it.
It was an honest mistake, but we have certain accountability rules and everybody is accountable in the room. I think that’s just good leadership.”
As silly as this sounds, kudos for Ovechkin for handling it the way only Ovechkin can, with humility and a little humor.
"It was suck," Ovechkin said.
“I think it should be that way. Coaching is not about equality but there are certain foundational things," Trotz added. "We’ve done a lot of things from a cultural standpoint that makes this team very accountable to each other. It’s very important that certain things apply to everybody."
“It’s the team rules,” Ovechkin said. “We talked. We had a conversation and we understand each other.”
Ovie was back on the ice today playing alongside Kuznetsov and Oshie, and, barring any traffic jams or power outages, the trio should be good-to-go tomorrow night against the Blackhawks.
More to come...
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