Mycampusplug
He Needs More Rest: Ted Leonsis Reveals Alex Ovechkin’s Shocking Return Time line….
Ted Leonsis spoke to NHL.com while attending the NHL’s Board of Governors meeting in Florida.
During the chat about the team’s early season success, Leonsis shared praise for Alex Ovechkin, who is out of the lineup due to a fractured fibula in his left leg. Ovechkin scored 15 goals in his first 18 games and noticeably, at least to Leonsis, showed more pep in his step as he tried to track down Wayne Gretzky’s goals record of 894. The 39-year-old forward currently has 868 career goals, 26 away from a share of the top spot.
“He was flying, but he’s always said to us, ‘I don’t want to just break the record; I want to have a good team around and then I can break the record,’” Leonsis said. “You could see that he was just really passionate about going for it because the team was playing so well.”
Since Ovechkin has left the lineup, the Capitals have continued winning, going 6-2-1 in their last nine games. Ovechkin recently has been taking the ice solo before the Capitals’ full-team practices in a non-contact jersey and has noticeably begun ramping up his skating the last few days.
“It’ll be interesting getting him back,” Leonsis said. “He’s probably still got two or three weeks. I don’t want him to rush it.”
Leonsis’s timeline would put Ovechkin returning anytime around the Christmas holiday between December 23 and December 30.
“We have a really good team and Alex could break the record this year. So, there’s a heightened set of expectations and ‘Mac’ and Chris really did a good job. The players fit. The coach from Day 1 told them what was expected of them and there’s a super buy-in right now.”
