RED ALERT: It's Ovechkin Time

Mark ButerbaughNov 17, 2009

Of course, the big news of last night and today is the return of the greatest hockey player in the world, Alexander Ovechkin. Ovechkin is set to make his return to the ice tonight against the New York Rangers, in New York City, Madison Square Garden.

Ovechkin has been sidelined for six games, following an altercation and subsequent hit in the Caps loss to Columbus. If donning the red jersey was not sign enough, then the words of HC Bruce Boudreau are . . .

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“As of today he is,” Boudreau said when asked if Ovechkin would play Tuesday at Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers. “I think he’s fine. “He practiced today [so] there’s a good probability of it happening.”
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Ovechkin explains he feels pretty well.

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Ovechkin was similarly noncommittal when asked about his playing status, saying: “I feel pretty good, excited. Again, we’ll see how I feel tomorrow.”
Asked if he felt 100 percent from the left shoulder strain he suffered on Nov. 1, Ovechkin said, “Probably 100 percent.”
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That is the closest we will get to a sure sign that Ovechkin will take the ice tonight. My bet is, Alex the Great makes his return in the Big Apple.

More Alex return reads: Wash Times, DC Examiner

Irbe feels the pressure . . . First year goalie coach Arturs Irbe is feeling the pressure, this time as an NHL coach, and not a goalie.

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“I can deal with that. I’m not new to pressure,” said Irbe.
The Capitals hired Irbe last August to primarily tutor 21-year-old Russian netminder Semyon Varlamov.
“My motto is very simple: If I’m not good enough as a coach and my players don’t feel that I’m giving them enough, then why extend my stay?” Irbe said.
“I want to be appreciated and feel valuable. You can’t be a hero like a player who scores a hat trick … With goal tending you have to be consistent every game.”
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Good things to come for Semin? . . . Good article from MVN partner On Frozen Blog. Former Caps great Peter Bondra is convinced that good things are to come from Semin.