Ovechkin calls out the Habs for complaining about his hit on Jonathan Drouin.

Ovechkin will not be suspended.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Ovechkin calls out the Habs for complaining about his hit on Jonathan Drouin.

There was a ton of controversy last night following a devastating hit by Washington Capitals superstar Alexander Ovechkin, one that was delivered to Montreal Canadiens star forward Jonathan Drouin. There was plenty of discussion surrounding the hit itself with some arguing that it was a perfectly legal check on the part of the Russian superstar while others claimed that Ovechkin had left his feet prior to making contract with Drouin. Unsurprisingly the two opinions seemed to be divided almost perfectly between fans of the Washington Capitals and fans on the Montreal Canadiens and as a result everyone was waiting to hear from the National Hockey League itself on the matter.

Although there has been no official announcement from the league at this time, we now have a report from Washington Capitals beat reporter Samantha Pell that suggests that no such announcement will be forthcoming. According to Pell the National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety will not be issuing any additional discipline to Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin as a result of his hit on Drouin, presumably judging that the hit did not rise to the level of a suspendable play. 

No doubt this will not sit well with fans in Montreal who have been quick to cry foul while pointing to the fact that Ovechkin's feet appeared to be in the air just prior to contact, however it is quite clear that not everyone agrees with this take. Even veteran NHL insider Pierre LeBrun of TSN called this one a "clean, thunderous" hit from his perspective. 

Ovechkin himself seemed to revel in the controversy last night and made some rather inflammatory comments following the game that really twisted the knife for those who were upset about the hit. Reporters were quick to ask Ovechkin about the play following the game and when told that members of the Canadiens were not pleased about it Ovechkin provided a rather hilarious response.

"It's hockey... it's not a ballet," said Ovechkin following the game.


As for Jonathan Drouin it was obvious that the Habs forward was at least a little shaken up on the play. Montreal Canadiens head coach Claude Julien did confirm after the game that Drouin had gone through the league's concussion protocol, and added that he would provide an additional update after seeing how Drouin felt the following day.

If you missed the hit last night you can check it out in the short clip provided below


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