Alex Ovechkin and Jason Arnott both skated before practice, seperate from the rest of the team. Arnott took to the ice in a warmup suit, without pads, and skated around to test his supposedly strained groin. Ovechkin took to the ice in full pads and doodled around for a bit, but did not do much other than skate a bit and shoot a few pucks as he works his way back from "general soreness." Both he and Arnott left when the rest of the team hit the ice for practice. After he left the ice, Ovechkin told reporters that what he is out with has been bothering him for about two months, and the thought of him taking a seat had been kicking around for about two weeks. He also said that he feels better now, and that this is a good time to rest. Arnott said that he is out with something that has been building "since he got traded," but that he wants to play in a couple of games before the playoffs, and is progressing every day. Bruce Boudreau said that they "might" travel to Ottawa and Montreal this weekend.
As today was an optional practice, a few of the Caps' top players who are presumably healthy took the day off: Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin, and Mike Knuble were all absent. The rest of the team was on ice, however, including both goaltenders and Scott Hannan, who took a slapshot off the foot last night. Neither Mike Green, who is still on the sidelines indefinitely with a concussion, nor Tom Poti, who's groin is still not feeling too hot, skated at all, and no updates on their conditions were given. Sigh.
Today is Michal Neuvirth's birthday. Click here for a look at his birthday cake!
That's all for now. Check back later.
Information from Sky Kerstein and Mike Vogel was used in this post.
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