Alex Ovechkin is healthy enough for Friday, and that was the part he cared about. Speaking after Wednesday's practice, the Capitals captain addressed missing the preseason with a lower-body injury and framed it as the right call ahead of his 22nd NHL season.
“I feel okay, but it sucks that I miss games,” Ovechkin told reporters. “I'd rather feel healthy during the new year than get some more injury in preseason.”
Washington opens Friday at Lenovo Center against the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes, then travels immediately to Tampa the following night. Ovechkin welcomed the difficulty.
“I think we're all excited that our first game is going to be against the Stanley Cup champs, and it's going to be a good battle for us,” he said. “The start is very important for us mentally. We're not going to have an easy schedule at the beginning. We're going to play back-to-back against Carolina and then Tampa. It's going to be a good challenge.”
The shortened training camp added another wrinkle. “Usually we still have a week or 10 days before the game starts, and you have more time to prepare yourself, more workouts and more ice time,” Ovechkin said. “But that is what it is. Nothing we can do. It's a rule.”
Saturday in Tampa brings something else entirely. John Carlson, Ovechkin's teammate and alternate captain for more than a decade, now plays for the Lightning. Asked whether he had thought about facing him, Ovechkin did not pretend otherwise. “It will be weird,” he said. “Obviously I miss him a lot, but nothing I can do.”
Washington arrives with a reshaped roster after adding Alex Tuch and Jordan Kyrou, and Ovechkin said the depth gives Spencer Carbery options. He also brushed aside preseason power play questions, noting that none of it counts once the games are real.
The season carries historical weight. Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby will become just the fifth and sixth players to spend 22 seasons with one franchise, and Ovechkin will pass Walter Johnson as the longest-tenured athlete in Washington sports history.