"Alex Ovechkin's latest on-ice indiscretion netted him a two-game suspension, a sore right knee and a new level of concern from his coach about his "pretty reckless" ways. The league's reigning two-time MVP was suspended for two games without pay by the NHL on Tuesday for a knee-to-knee hit on defenseman Tim Gleason in the Washington Capitals' 3-2 win Monday night over the Carolina Hurricanes. Ovechkin's first NHL suspension will cost him $98,844.16 in salary. He'll sit out Thursday against Florida and Saturday at Philadelphia, although his sore knee might have kept him out of one of the games anyway.
"I regret that this has happened," Ovechkin said in a statement released by the team. "I'm glad that Tim wasn't injured because I never ever want to see anyone get hurt (CBSSports)."
The NHL had to do this. Ovechkin got away with one of these hits in the playoffs last year, and if they let him go again there would be hell to pay from other players and fans. Ovechkin plays at such a speed that sometimes I wonder if he means to even do this, but in the end it doesn't matter it is illegal for a reason (ended Neely's career) and everyone has to play by the rules. This won't hurt the Capitals much as he was most likely go to sit out one of these games anyways, and the NHL season (like the NBA) is so damn long...
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