Breaking: Major rumors of a major injury to one of the NHL's top stars.

We don't have the full story right now as the initial reports surfacing on this story are entirely in Russian but we have been able to ascertain the basic details.

There are major rumors flying around suggesting that Washington Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin has suffered some form of significant injury, so significant in fact that he is being ruled out of the upcoming World Cup of Hockey. For anyone who is familiar with Ovechkin, the injury would have to be very serious to prevent him from representing his country, something he takes very seriously.

It's unclear at this time how much validity there is to the rumors, but they are serious enough that the Russian Hockey Federation felt the need to respond. According to reporter Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber of Agence France-Presse the Federation's initial statement has denied the rumors, although their credibility has been called into question several times as of late.

We will continue to monitor this story and provide more updates as they become available.

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