Oh, that Ovie! He's a lovable scamp. He sure pulled one over on us again.
That interview he gave in Russian over the weekend? Ya know, the one where he said that he'd be out about five weeks? Yeah, it was all a joke.
He's only going to be out a week now, he says. Completely serious. This time!
HAHAHAHAH! He's such a prankster.
Puck Daddy's Dmitry Chesnokov interviewed Ovie, and here's that exchange:
Q. You're in good mood. Are you getting better?
OVECHKIN: I am better. But I will miss 4-5 weeks.
Q: Are you serious?
AO: I actually plan on starting practice on the ice next week.
Q: I know that you did skate already.
AO: Yes, but after I did that the doctors told me not to do that yet. And not to have a stick in my hands.
Q: How do you feel about this all?
AO: I think that it shouldn't be rushed. November has just begun. I need to heal up 100 percent and then play. There is no need to risk right now.
See that? See what he did there? Gold, Jerry, that's comedy gold! He's done it again!
The Caps almost immediately disputed the report, which is to say they disputed Ovie's own words.
Comcast's Russ Thaler has the right perspective, writing:
"In actuality, the “report” the team is disputing isn’t a report at all! It’s an interview Ovechkin gave DmitryChesnokov after Saturday night’s win over the Florida Panthers. It was an interview witnessed by others. It was conducted in Russian, the native tongue of both men, and it was recorded so that it could be transcribed and printed on yahoo.com.
"I called Dmitry after I read the transcribed interview to ask if Ovechkin was joking at any time when he said that he would be out four to five weeks (the team has him listed as “week to week”) because Ovie is known to play around from time to time in interviews. I was told that Alex said those words with a straight face, and when Dmitry first responded with “are you serious?” Ovechkin’s demeanor did not change."
See! He's a perfect straight man with a perfect deadpan delivery! If deadbeats like Jeff Dunham and George Lopez can get TV shows, certainly Ovie deserves a half-hour sitcom! Or maybe he'd be better at an old-time variety show, with singing and dancing and live animals?
