Caps head coach Bruce Boudreau said he wasn't particularly shocked by the announcement, nor was he particularly happy about it.
"You knew the possibility was there, obviously," Boudreau said. "I think sometimes it's the problem of having the most popular player in the world on your team. It gets also the most publicity.
"I'm really disappointed for Alex. You try to look at this from an objective view and I can see where, if you're not a Washington fan or a part of Washington, you're sitting there, 'Yeah suspend him, suspend him'," said Boudreau. "If you're looking at it from our point of view, people keep calling it a reckless hit and to me it was a push from behind that, if he had have gone straight, he would have gone on the ice.
"I didn't think it was the right call but I've been wrong almost every time on these and I know how tough a job it is for (Colin Campbell)," Boudreau added. "Holy smokes, I wouldn't want to have his job when he wakes up and sees that hit."
Boudreau added he didn't think it was necessarily a great move for the game of hockey.
"If this was Sidney Crosby doing it, everybody outside of Pittsburgh would have cried foul. 'Suspned him for the year!'," said Boudreau. "I don't think it does the game any good to have Alex suspended, but that's just me, that's just my opinion. He's so much fun to watch that I think the game is hurting when he's not playing."
So wait, because it's your player, Alexander Ovechkin, he shouldn't be suspended? He's too good for the sport to suspend? The best part of having a blog is the chance to do stuff like this:
PS: I'm actually a HUGE Ovechkin fan, and didn't think he should be suspended, especially with incidents like this going on with no penalty. Consistency, ain't it a bitch? Sure is for the NHL.
I understand his point. It's bad for the sport to suspend Ovechkin. Just like it would be bad for the NBA to suspend LeBron James. But to offer a superstar a halo of immunity is a stupid proposition, I agree.
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