Alex Ovechkin Fights…Almost

January 13, 2010 – Adam Steevens

Steve Downie was inviting Alexander Ovechkin to drop the gloves, and Alex obliged him.

Until Matt Bradley flew off the bench to lay a beatdown on Downie.

It’s completely awesome when finesse players like Ovechkin fight – but I stand by Bradley’s choice to take the responsibility for the fight. Ovechkin is not only the captain, but the most valuable player in the organization. You can’t replace a 65-goal scorer that easily. An injury to A.O would be devastating to the Capitals, and Bradley was looking out for the entire team by throwing down.

You can’t say that Alex turtled, because once you look at the video, it’s clear he was ready to take care of his own business – he wasn’t standing around waiting for another teammate to deal with his dirty work. Ovechkin was ready to fight Downie, and all the criticism about him being a ‘prima donna’ is weak at best.

{Video from TSN.ca}