The Washington Capitals were fined $100,000 this week for COVID-19 protocol violations, and the wife of superstar Alexander Ovechkin has taken issue with the punishment.
The NHL levied the $100K fine after it was learned that Ovechkin, goalie Ilya Samsonov, forward Evgeny Kuznetsov and defenseman Dmitry Orlov — incidentally the four Russian players on the team — for socializing in a hotel room.
The league determined the Capitals were in violation of protocols due to “social interactions among team members who were in close contact and who were not wearing face coverings.”
The Capitals subsequently issued an official statement on the situation Thursday as well shared one from Oveckhin.
“I regret my choice to spend time together with my teammates in our hotel room and away from the locker room areas,” Ovechkin said. “I will learn from this experience.”
All four players are now on the COVID Protocol Related Absences list due to the infraction. Capitals head coach Peter Laviolette indicated Thursday that the players are expected to miss the team’s next four games while in quarantine.
In the aftermath of the fine and the COVID-19 designation for the four players, Nastya Ovechkin sounded off on the situation in an Instagram story over the arguable hypocrisy of the NHL’s protocols.
The tangent about Ovi and Orlov having antibodies aside, Nastya Ovechkin makes some salient points about how players can engage on the ice and in the locker room yet are banned from interacting with their teammates away from the rink.
That being said, rules are rules, which the Capitals have learned — and will continue to learn as the four players quarantine — the hard way.
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