Caps' Alex Ovechkin remains by ailing father's side; no time set for return to U.S.

Alex Ovechkin gave everything he had to his country and his Russian teammates, playing as if he didn't know his father was in the hospital undergoing surgery - because he didn't know.

Mikhail Ovechkin suffered what is reported to be a heart attack on Sunday evening and underwent surgery almost immediately, but the family decided to keep the news from the Washington Capitals' star winger until after Ovechkin and his Russian team were finished with the Olympic tournament...

...which happened far too early for the team and for the country, but all of that took a distant back seat in importance once Ovechkin's family informed him of his father's condition.

Ovechkin and his father, Mikhail, before the Olympics began

“I’m sure his parents didn’t want him distracted, but family means everything,” Capitals' General Manager George McPhee said on Friday “So that’s where he stays until he’s ready to come back.”

McPhee is unaware of any time table for Ovechkin's return, not will he pressure the league's leading goal scorer to return to the United States, understanding the fragile emotional state that Ovechkin must be in and also aware of how he slumped coming out of the 2010 Olympics - so he says the team will take a wait-and-see approach.

“It’s certainly going to be a most difficult time in his life,” McPhee said. “The Olympics meant a great deal to him and his father’s sick, so this is not going to be easy for him. But when he comes back we expect he’ll give us everything he’s got as he always has.”

As for Mikhail, 62, he has been removed from Intensive care and is doing well, according to a tweet from Ovechkin:

Thanks to all for support. My dad going to be good and he see you all again !!!
— Alex Ovechkin (@ovi8) February 21, 2014

The Capitals will need an Ovechkin unfettered by distraction is they are to realize the playoffs when the NHL resumes it's schedule in the middle of next week, though McPhee is not expecting him to be back by that time. “We’ve told him to stay as long as necessary with your dad,” McPhee said.

The Capitals figure to be right in the thick of the playoff race as they stand a point back of the Detroit Red Wings for the eighth and final seed in the Eastern Conference, but face an absolutely brutal stretch run in which they will face 17 playoff teams in their final 23 games...

...including the Penguins, Flyers and Maple Leafs twice and the Bruins three times - not to mention the dreaded three-game roadie through California's "Murderer's Row" where they will face The Ducks, Kings and Sharks in a four-day span.

http://www.sportsinjuryalert.com/2014/02/caps-alex-ovechkin-remains-by-ailing.html#.UweytIUcq58