Photo: R-Sport
Two days after suffering a right knee injury against Team Germany, Alex Ovechkin resurfaced at Minsk Arena today to watch Team Russia play Belarus in their final preliminary game of the World Championships.
Ovechkin, looking steely, I guess, sat with team officials and some guy wearing an Ovi Caps jersey as a scarf. Europeans.
Since Sunday, not much new information has come out about Ovechkin’s injury. Vladislav Tretiak told Slava Malamud that the “diagnosis didn’t reveal a serious ligament damage.” So that kind of confirms it is a ligament injury. On Monday night, the Capitals sent out an email saying Ovechkin had a “leg injury,” which required “rest.” The team said they are “confident that Alex will be completely healthy prior to the start of training camp.”
Tuesday, Sportbox.ru’s Denis Petrov reported that the Team Russia medical staff has ordered a custom-made knee brace for Ovechkin. That seems to indicate that the Russian machine will try to play this week. Russia’s first playoff game is Thursday. The World Championships end on Sunday.
“Sasha is undergoing medical rehabilitation,” Team Russia GM Andrei Safronov said on TV Tuesday during the Belarus game. “I think everything’s going to be fine. We’ll see him again at this tournament.”
4:50 PM Update: Ovechkin will play on Thursday.
Ovechkin will be playing in Worlds quarterfinal, according to Znarok RT @Boogaard_2 Овечкин сыграет в четвертьфинале. Знарок.
— Igor Kleyner (@IgorKleyner) May 20, 2014
Translation by Fedor Fedin.
