At the same time, Matthews can see the other side of the all-star argument as well. Ovechkin, the superstar captain of the Washington Capitals, announced on Wednesday that he will skip the National Hockey League all-star game on Jan. 26 in San Jose despite being voted by fans as captain of the Metropolitan Division. NHL fans who were looking forward to watching Ovechkin — who has participated in the all-star game seven times, including in each of the past two years — in the event now won’t have that luxury. “It cuts into the bye week, which I guess is unfortunate,” said Matthews, voted captain of the Atlantic Division. “He is going to score a goal and the weight of the world is going to be off his shoulders,” Matthews said.

Source: National Post January 02, 2019 23:48 UTC