UPDATED BELOW
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin suffered a lower-body injury in a World Championship game against Germany. In the middle of the third period, Ovechkin, who was breaking out of Team Russia’s zone, collided knee-on-knee with Marcus Kink in what looked like a failed hip check. There was no penalty on the play.
After staying down for more than a minute, Ovi was helped off the ice to Russia’s locker room by his teammates without putting weight on his right leg.
GFY by Freedoooom
Ovechkin was taken to the hospital to get an MRI.
Alex Ovechkin has been taken off in an ambulance. Evaluation still pending, but according to inside info, "it's pretty bad". #Caps
— Slava Malamud 🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@SlavaMalamud) May 18, 2014
https://twitter.com/Boogaard_2/statuses/468123264305598464
According to the tweets of Alexei Shevchenko of Sportbox.ru, Ovechkin did not need a stretcher, though it was brought out of an ambulance initially. Serious security measures were taken, and no photographs were allowed while he was placed in the car. Ovechkin was “heavily limping” and was having a hard time walking down the stairs.
At 11:29 PM local time (4:29 PM Eastern), Shevchenko tweeted a photo of Ovechkin’s ambulance.
https://twitter.com/Boogaard_2/statuses/468126339464441856
“It’s an unfortunate incident”, said the coach for Team Germany, Pat Cortina, after the game to Slava Malamud. “It’s not what my team is about. Hopefully, he is alright.”
His opponent, Russian coach Oleg Znarok, confirmed the reports: “Ovi has been taken off (to the hospital). No further comment. Dirty or not, I don’t care. Won’t make me feel better.”
According to Pavel Lysenkov, German forward Markus Kink had little to say about the hit that hurt Ovechkin:
When asked what he thinks about the collision, Kink said “Nothing,” and went to the locker room.
Kink has racked up 665 penalty minutes in 555 games in the DEL, the German national league.
Ovechkin had just one shot in the game. Russia went on to win 3-0 thanks to third period goals by Vadim Shipachyov, Sergei Shirokov, and Viktor Tikhonov. Philipp Grubauer made 27 saves on 29 shots. Ovechkin was named player of the game for Team Russia, as chosen by his teammates, while Grubauer received the same honor from his team.
The Capitals have released a statement:
We are aware that Alex Ovechkin sustained an injury during today’s game versus Germany. Our medical staff is working with Ovechkin and Team Russia to gather additional information at this time.
We do not expect any updates on Ovechkin’s status until Monday at the earliest.
Updates
Per Slava:
Ovechkin underwent MRI in a local hospital. I was there when an ambulance brought him back. He said "It's so very serious", but with a smile
— Slava Malamud 🇺🇦🇮🇱 (@SlavaMalamud) May 18, 2014
Russia’s Team Doctor issues an update, translated by Igor Kleyner:
“He [Ovechkin] is staying in Minsk for the tournament but will definitely miss next game v Belarus”
He added, “It’s better than we thought.”
And here’s a very mobile Ovechkin walking around, somewhat hindered.
And from the man himself:
He says, “Everything is okay, [congratulate] everybody with victory.”
File under #neverbreaks.
This post will be updated as more information becomes available.
