Controversial Ovechkin makes history in times of war

With his goal on Tuesday evening (local time), the 36-year-old Russian is now alone in third place on the NHL's all-time top scorer list. Only Gordie Howe with 801 and Wayne Gretzky with 894 hits are ahead of him. This was cause for loud cheers for his teammates and the spectators in the Capital One Arena in Washington. For Canadian ice hockey fans, however, it would have been more of an opportunity for even more boos and whistles for the friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Since Russia attacked Ukraine more than two weeks ago and the numerous sanctions have also hit teams and athletes from the country, those who are still allowed to play have been under particular focus. That's what happened to Daniil Medvedev at the Tennis Masters in Indian Wells and it's the same for Ovechkin. The NHL relatively quickly cut off all business relations with Russia and stopped its Russian-language appearances on the Internet, but at the same time it also clearly stood behind the professionals from Russia playing in the best ice hockey league in the world. Ovechkin is still an unpopular person in the eyes of many fans outside Washington - after all, he has been friends with Putin for years and did not distance himself from him in 2014 after the annexation of Crimea. On the contrary, he allowed himself to be harnessed to Putin's propaganda and campaigned for elections. The fact that his 1,6 million followers still see a photo of him with Putin when they visit his Instagram profile also disturbs and angers many people these days. Particularly in Canada, where the 1,4 million people with a migrant background from Ukraine make up the largest such group outside of Ukraine and Russia, according to the New York Times. “We just play ice hockey and enjoy our moment” Alexander Ovechkin So it was no surprise that Ovechkin was a fixture on the ice at last week's games in Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. His awkward-looking press conference shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine didn't help him in public perception either. He said he wanted peace and not war. He also said “Please, stop the war” - but he had no concrete answer to all the direct questions about what he thought of the invasion or whether he still supported Putin. However, that's probably the case - that's what she reported New York Times last week - that even these unconvincing comments in the US and Canada were enough to attract ugly comments on his social media profiles from Russian supporters of the war. Apparently it was also planned to replace the profile photo with Putin after the press conference with a peace symbol - but this did not happen due to concerns about the safety of the Ovechkin family in Russia. His family had to watch at home Even after his goal to make it 3-2 in a 4-3 draw after a penalty shootout against the New York Islanders, Ovechkin did not express any criticism of Putin or the war; rather, he once again resorted to the phrase “we are athletes and not”. Politician construction kit. “We’re just playing hockey and enjoying our moment,” he said. He expressly regretted that his family could not be in the hall for this milestone in his career. “It obviously sucks that my kids haven't seen it, my wife hasn't seen it, my parents, but they're watching at home. They are happy and that is the most important thing,” he said. You could also clearly hear the cheers of the Capital fans on videos.

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Controversial Ovechkin makes history in times of war

Alexander Ovechkin was lucky that he didn't score the 767th goal of his NHL career a few days earlier - because instead of thunderous applause he would have heard shrill whistles.

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