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Arlington, Va. • Alex Ovechkin is skipping the NHL All-Star Game, a decision he announced a day after getting a three-game suspension from the league for a hit on an opponent.
"My heart is not there. I got suspended, so why [do] I have to go there?" the Washington Capitals' captain and a two-time league MVP said Tuesday. "I love the [All-Star] game. It's a great event. I love to be there."
But Ovechkin added: "I feel I'm not deserving to be there right now. If I'm suspended, I have to be suspended."
Capitals general manager George McPhee said he supported Ovechkin's decision to back out.
"Because he's a suspended player, he doesn't feel like he deserves to be there, doesn't want to be a distraction," McPhee said.
NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said in a statement emailed by a league spokesman: "In light of yesterday's suspension, we informed the Capitals that, while Alex Ovechkin was still welcome to participate in this weekend's All Star festivities in Ottawa, we would not be insisting that he do so."