Ovechkin : MK-Sport presents a brief overview of all the most interesting things that have happened in the world of sports while you were sleeping.
I would like to start the morning with a pleasant one, and for this we always have Alexander Ovechkin, who scored 757 career goals against Winnipeg and is one step closer to Wayne Gretzky’s record (894 goals). Ovi is still ranked fourth on the list of the best snipers, but has already become a “wonder of nature.” That’s what the Winnipeg Free Press called it, despite the fact that the local team lost to Washington (3: 4), and the Jets became the first club in Ovechkin’s career to which he scored 50 goals in his career.
“Wayne Gretzky sits on top of a hockey mountain and his 894-goal career was considered an unbeatable record. It certainly has been that way for a long time as the number of goaltenders (and their gear) has exploded as advanced analytics and scouting, as well as defense structure in the area and shot blocking, have become key elements of the sport, and fun thrillers that end 7-6 , gave way to a boring slumber with a score of 3:2.
But Ovechkin apparently missed the notice. Despite turning 36 last fall, he shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. In fact, the numbers suggest that he is just getting stronger in his mature athletic years, which really makes him a wonder of nature,” wrote Winnipeg Free Press journalist Mike McIntyre .
Such a miracle, of course, will be missed by the Russian team in Beijing. The team, meanwhile, is going to Novogorsk for training, but not yet at full strength. Head coach Aleksey Zhamnov was diagnosed with COVID-19 , and Andrey Kuzmenko , Kirill Marchenko, Alexander Samonov ( all SKA), Shakir Mukhamadullin (Salavat Yulaev) and Vladimir Tkachev did not reach the training camp for “medical reasons” (” Tractor”).
FHR President Vladislav Tretyak said that “at the moment, after taking tests for COVID-19, the players and staff of the national team with fully confirmed negative tests call in Novogorsk.” The same players, representatives of the coaching staff and staff, whose test results require additional verification, remain in temporary quarantine. At the same time, all of them do not have any symptoms of SARS, or the symptoms are mild. However, “everyone is isolated, they do not contact anyone and undergo additional monitoring.”
But the NHL, it seems, is tired of the constant positive tests of players for the coronavirus and the cancellation and postponement of matches, so they decided to make changes to the covid regulations. Now PCR tests, according to Twitter journalist Frank Seravalli, will be taken only by players who have symptoms of SARS. Well, or when they need to cross the border between the US and Canada. These new rules will come into effect after the NHL All-Star Game on February 5 in Las Vegas.
Coronavirus continues to bring problems not only in hockey. The Russian national handball team, which had not performed so well for a long time, lost one of its leaders at the European Championship – the left welterweight of the national team passed a positive test Sergey Mark Kosorotov . Earlier, for the same reason , Evgeny Dzemin , Andrey Vereshchagin and Daniil Shishkarev dropped out.
The Russian team took first place in the group in the preliminary round, defeating the favorite, the Norwegians, as well. And now in the main round he will meet with Germany, Poland, Spain and Sweden.
But the Russian women’s basketball team was not allowed into the United States at all. Russian girls were supposed to play qualification matches for the 2022 World Cup with Belgium, Puerto Rico and the USA. But the match with the Americans will not take place at all, and the other two were moved to the Dominican Republic. The thing is that the entry into the United States unvaccinated or vaccinated with vaccines unrecognized in America is prohibited. Russian athletes have already faced similar problems more than once due to the fact that most of them are vaccinated with Russian drugs. Now the basketball players have got it too.
“Negotiations were very long,” the official website of the federation quotes Andrei Kirilenko , President of the RFB. – The guys who work in the American Basketball Federation did everything possible to let our team as an exception. But these are the times that no one is ready to take additional risks due to the coronavirus pandemic. Many different options have been considered. As a result, they came, if not to the ideal, then to the most more or less acceptable. We chose the place where a visa is not needed and our vaccine is recognized.
Unfortunately, the tight schedule does not allow for a long tournament, and we will only be able to play two games. This decision was made because the US team has already qualified for the World Cup as an Olympic champion. And in fact, the two remaining participants in the final tournament will be determined among the teams of Belgium, Puerto Rico and Russia. We can’t increase the number of matches to three – we can’t do it every day.”
What to watch today:
The Australian Open tennis championship continues, and Russian players will start their second-round matches in the near future.
Karen Khachanov will face the Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi (the match starts at approximately 8:50), and Aslan Karatsev will face the American Mackenzie McDonald (at approximately 10:30).
Read Also : Alexander Ovechkin overtakes Modano as all-time leading scorer in NHL history
