Alex Ovechkin has zero interest in watching the ongoing 4 Nations Face-Off.
The Washington Capitals captain is currently on vacation in Miami, Florida, and enjoying his time away from the rink with his family and former Capitals teammate Dmitry Orlov. Ovechkin was ineligible to play in the NHL’s first best-on-best tournament since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey due to Russia not being invited to participate.
“I won’t be watching the Four Nations Tournament,” Ovechkin told Match TV’s Pavel Lysenkov, as translated by Google Translate. “What’s the point of watching something where the Russian team isn’t participating?”
The NHL’s decision to bar Russia from the midseason international action follows what the IIHF has done with both Russian and Belorussian national teams since 2022. Neither country has been allowed to participate in international events due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The IIHF recently extended the ban through the 2025-26 season.
Instead, Ovechkin is using the break to rest and recuperate after breaking his leg earlier this season and recording 43 points (26 goals, 17 assists) in 39 games for Washington. The 39-year-old winger is still getting his workouts in, training with former Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Darius Kasparaitis at a North Miami gym on Friday.
Ovechkin has not played for the Russian national team since winning a bronze medal at the 2019 World Championship.
The Great Eight is joined in full vacation mode by the rest of the Capitals’ roster. Washington, the Eastern Conference leaders, are joined by the last-place San Jose Sharks as the only two teams without a player on any of the four nations.
