REPORT: Teammate defends Ovechkin after reports of intentionally injuring opponent

This rivalry just keeps growing and growing.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 6 years ago
REPORT: Teammate defends Ovechkin after reports of intentionally injuring opponent
Keystone Press

Late in the third period of the Washington Capitals 6-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday evening, Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin launched a laser of a wrist shot that struck Penguins defenseman Ron Hainsey in the side of the head. It was a heart-stopping incident and anyone watching the play live likely gasped while waiting anxiously for Hainsey to rise to his feet. Fortunately, Hainsey did just that. While he didn’t play the remainder of the game, he’s expected to be fully ready to go for game 3.

The play looked to be nothing more than an accident, but still Penguins fans and players insinuated that Ovechkin may have aimed the shot at Hainsey’s head on purpose. It’s a claim that OV’s teammate, Brooks Orpik, just can’t stomach. When asked about it, Orpik replied, “Half the time he’s just trying to hit the net as hard as he can. He doesn’t know where it’s going.” 

While there may be some hyperbole in Orpik’s statement, his message is clear: OV didn’t mean to hurt anyone. We’re inclined to believe both Orpik and Ovechkin because a video replay clearly shows the shot ramp up Hainsey’s stick before striking him in the ear. If Ovechkin could plan a shot to do that, we’d be pretty flabbergasted. In any case, Ovechkin did reach out to Hainsey afterwards to apologize and said, "I apologized to him. You never want to hurt someone. It’s an accident. The puck flipped off my stick. It goes high."


Source: Jason Mackey