By Tarik El-Bashir
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 1, 2007

When talking about the physical sacrifice required to succeed in the NHL, players and coaches often use the words "pay the price." It's a cliche Washington Capitals captain Chris Clark has heard over and again through his seven-year career. It's also something he's embodied the past 11 months.

Yesterday, the rugged right wing returned to practice, five days after being struck on the left ear by an Alex Ovechkin slap shot. Earlier on the same shift, Clark had a tooth chipped by a high stick. Last November, he lost three teeth and suffered a crushed palate bone after taking a puck in the mouth.

"Everyone always talks about hockey players not having any teeth," Clark said with a chuckle. "But before that, I had all of my teeth. Now it's been two pucks in the span of a year. It's just bad luck. Hopefully, I'm done with it."

His latest injury happened with just under a minute remaining in the Capitals' 3-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Friday night. As Clark and his teammates frantically pressed for the equalizer, he skated behind the net, where Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa accidentally hit him in the mouth with his stick. Undeterred, Clark gathered himself and circled back in front.

As he jostled for position, Ovechkin wound up and unleashed a slap shot from the top of the circle. Capitals forward Viktor Kozlov straightened up to avoid the puck, which was knuckling slightly because of the sloppy ice at Verizon Center. Clark never saw it.

The impact knocked him off his skates. The puck pinched his ear against his helmet, nearly severing it. Two hours later, doctors were still stitching it back together. Clark said about 80 stitches were required.

"I thought it was a stick, or that I had been cross-checked," Clark said. "I didn't know it was a puck that hit me."

He also doesn't know when he'll return to the lineup, although he said it probably won't be against the New York Rangers tonight at Madison Square Garden. The Capitals also might be without winger Alexander Semin (sprained right ankle) and defenseman Tom Poti (strained groin muscle) as they attempt to win back-to-back games after Monday's 7-1 rout of the Maple Leafs in Toronto.

Clark practiced for about 20 minutes yesterday but wasn't assigned to a line.

"I didn't feel myself, so I had to get off," Clark said. "I'm not right on. It's tough to describe. Some of my equilibrium is a little bit off because I was hit right on the ear."

Asked whether he might have suffered a concussion, he said: "I don't think so. That's what we're trying to figure out."

Clark said the recent string of facial injuries has forced him to consider attaching a visor to his helmet in addition to the mouth guard he wears. Most helmets come with a plastic tab designed to protect the ear, but more often than not, NHL players remove them, Clark said. He said he plans to wear one on the left side upon returning.

"I've heard some stories about coaches frowning upon guys playing [with visors]," Capitals Coach Glen Hanlon said. "I encourage players to wear them. I feel it gives them even more confidence out there because they have more protection.

"If you play the game the way Clarkie does, you're more apt to have something like that happen, if you're around the puck all of the time and you play physical," he added. "That's kind of the price these guys pay. But saying that, there's a hundred shots a game, and they aren't wiping everybody out. So it's a little bit of luck -- or bad luck, in his case."

Ovechkin has apologized to Clark for the high shot, Clark said.

"It was just unlucky," Clark said. "The puck rolled. We don't have the best ice in the league, especially at the end of games. Ovie had to get the shot off; he couldn't worry about where it was going. But he felt really bad. There's no hard feelings at all. We were trying to win the game. It's my job to be in front of the net and to get out of the way."

If there was any consolation for Clark, it was that he able to be at home and watch his beloved Boston Red Sox win their second World Series title in four years over the weekend.

"I was flipping back and forth on [television] the whole time," Clark said, referring to Saturday, when the Capitals and Red Sox played simultaneously. "It was good to see the Sox win it. I guess it made things a little better. But then again, I would have rather been playing than at home watching something else."