This morning, Igor Eronko, a Sport-Express hockey writer in Russia, relayed information from Alexei Shevchenko, a prominent Russian sports journalist, that said Alex Ovechkin had a lower body injury that may force him out of the upcoming World Cup of Hockey. Shevchenko claims that Ovechkin suffered the injury in an “out of profile” sporting activity not related to hockey, and that the “treatment of the injury could take at least three weeks”.
According to @Boogaard_2 Alexander Ovechkin has a lower body injury and he may miss the #WCH2016
— Igor Eronko (@IgorEronko) August 9, 2016
For any Caps fans that were up at 3 in the morning (me), this was not a fun tweet to see pop up on your feed.
However, Eronko reported barely half an hour later that Ovechkin was disputing the injury claim.
Ovechkin just told Hockey Russia he's OK, no injuries #Caps #WCH2016
— Igor Eronko (@IgorEronko) August 9, 2016
The Capitals captain then responded to these rumors himself by posting the following Instagram video with the caption “Do not believe the rumors am getting ready !!!” with accompanying emojis signifying that he is indeed okay.
“Right now I am continuing to get ready for the season, especially that we will have an early start because of the World Cup of Hockey,” Ovechkin said as well in a statement released Tuesday by the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia. “I am doing my usual volume of work in the gym and on the ice. No idea how rumors about some type of an injury surfaced. I am completely healthy.”
All of this coming one day after Ovechkin posted this video on Instagram of him roller-blading like only Alex Ovechkin can.
Update: Capitals spokesman Sergey Kocharov weighed in on the matter.
Spoke to Alex today. No truth to this rumor. Alex is in Moscow, continues to train for WC and upcoming NHL season. https://t.co/z3MXRfNEe4
— Sergey Kocharov (@SergeyKocharov) August 9, 2016
2:50 PM Update: On his vlog, Alexei Shevchenko has clarified his original comments and doubled down on his claims, which have been refuted by a Caps team spokesman.
“Alexander Ovechkin was injured while playing basketball,” Shevchenko says. “[Ovi] was very unlucky to fall down. There immediately was a suspicion of a serious problem, but further assessment showed there is no serious damage. Nevertheless, the video from Novogorsk is not very convincing. According to my information, he did sprain a ligament, and recovery should take three weeks.”
Translation and additional reporting by Igor Kleyner
