Washington Capitals goaltender Michal Neuvirth said there was a misunderstanding about comments he made about his teammates, including star forward Alex Ovechkin.
In an interview with a Czech website that was translated to English, it appeared Neuvirth was quoted as saying Ovechkin “isn’t what he used to be” and called netminder Braden Holtby “the weakest competition.”
But in a video posted on the Capitals’ website Friday, Neuvirth said those comments aren’t true.
“I just want to say there was some misunderstanding, they changed my meaning a lot,” Neuvirth said. “I was talking about the boys in a good way and they didn’t translate to the way they wanted. I feel like they got nothing to write about right now.”
Neuvirth said he received several calls about the media reports and was shocked when he went online to read them.
“I couldn’t believe that, I was in a big shock,” Neuvirth said. “I felt very bad, I had to talk to (Holtby) and I had to talk to (Ovechkin) and I had to explain to them what they saw wasn’t what I said.”
Neuvirth said his teammates supported him and knew the reports weren’t accurate.
“(Holtby) told me he didn’t believe that for one second, because he’s known me for four or five years and he knows I’m not like that,” Neuvirth said. “So, he made me very happy. … It’s crazy, I’m glad that it’s getting back to normal.”
