NHL News: Ovechkin and Hextall on Del Zotto
  • Dmitry Chesnokov of Yahoo! Sports: Alex Ovechkin in an interview:

    His injury at the World Championship, “A knee ligaments tear.”

    He continued playing in the tournament: “We did some X-rays, sent them to Washington. At first I thought: ‘That’s it. My cruciate ligaments are done.’ But thank God, nothing serious. It was just a tear. I was lucky. That’s why I decided to keep playing. Because I could.”

  • Hope Smoke: Flyers GM Ron Hextall: “We looked at him right from the start. We were, quite honestly, surprised someone didn’t step up sooner” … “I talked to him yesterday. He seems to understand that last year wasn’t a good year for him & he needs to bounce back” … “Del Zotto’s played some good hockey in this game & I think we all forget sometimes just how young a kid is” …. “For Michael everything came pretty easy for him. He was living in NYC, playing in the NHL & making $” … “I think somehow Del Zotto did what the rest of us did (or would) in his situation and he got a little bit distracted” … “I think this summer was a shocking experience for him & we look forward to big things from him.”