Ovechkin to Skip All-Star Game for Extra Rest

[The Comish]

https://www.msn.com/en-ca/sports/new...cid=spartanntp

Sucks that he has to miss a regular season game though.

[Canucks_fan18]

Meh. I get it, Caps are looking like a contender again this year.

[lucafen4]

gives him an extra long rest with that 1gm suspension.

[audiopile]

worked for him last year.

[Moses]

When the players and the owners split the pot 50/50 it is criminal that star players skip this event. Shut up, show up, and smile.

[MZac]

I'd prefer he be there personally but I get it how it's better for Ovi personally and the caps. And I won't hold that against him, I get it.

[Grapes]

I get it. I’m going to take tomorrow off, my body needs a rest. Need to be ready for the stretch drive the end of the year.
Oh wait, it’s January 2nd, never mind.

[MZac]

It could be as simple as:

This is what we did last year and we won a Stanley cup. Hockey players can be funny that way.

[ericdaoust]

There's rules in place and Ovechkin went with option B

[FrozenInferno]

He's showed up to so many All-stars over the years, who cares if he skips? He's getting older and there are other young deserving players who should be in the game. As a fan he doesn't owe me sh*t.

[2014olympicgold]

After your 5th ASG you should be exempt from the suspension rule. There's so many talented young players, why does Ovi need more media attention?

[bondon]

This is one of those situations where I definitely understand both sides of the story. Players are human too and just like any person needs a mental health break from the work place every once and awhile, I'm sure Ovechkin (and other Caps players) could probably use a real mid-season break where they can just kind of re-focus after last season's grind.

On the other side of it, the players also play for the fans and it sucks for the fans that care about these kind of festivities and look forward to seeing their favourite players at this event.

The unfortunate side effect is that people that bought tickets to the regular season game that Ovechkin will ultimately have to sit out because of this rule will also lose out too. Note to self and all others - if you're looking forward to seeing your favourite player play, don't buy tickets to a game around the ASG for risk that they might end up having to sit it out. If that's the only time that team comes to your hometown, then you're shit outta luck.