Ovechkin: I play every game like it's my last game
cbc.ca, Inside Hockey, Dec. 12, 2009:
The Washington Capitals continue to stand behind their superstar Alexander Ovechkin, saying they don't want him to alter his game in the slightest.
"We don't want him to change the way he plays," head coach Bruce Boudreau told CBC's Hockey Night in Canada during Saturday's Inside Hockey segment.
"He's different from most superstars. He's a physical guy who loves hitting."
"We search the world for a player that plays with this kind of intensity," Washington GM George McPhee said. "To start telling them to pace themselves, doesn't make a lot of sense."
Boudreau said it would be like telling Bobby Orr to stop rushing the puck because he had a history of knee injuries.
If Ovechkin's physical, and sometimes chippy, play forces him to miss more games due to suspension or injury, the Capitals could be in trouble.
"[Our players] know who the straw that stirs the drink is on this team, and when he's on the ice we're vastly better," Boudreau said.
Like most players, Ovechkin hates to be out of the lineup. But he felt particularly bad about the latest incident because something within his control caused his injury and suspension.
He thought he let the team down, captain Chris Clark said.
"The easiest way to get him over that is to come out and win the games."
That kind of support is giving Ovechkin carte blanche to continue playing the game the only way he knows how.
"I play every game like it's my last game," he said. "You never know what's going to happen."
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