Patrick Johnston: Ovechkin says he has no control over events around him. That excuse is not enough.
Alex Ovechkin can present himself as politically innocent, but appearing in a political advertisement—whether for Russia’s president or anyone else—invites scrutiny.
For someone who professes a belief in peace and in people’s right to live freely, it is troubling that he appears unable to recognize the harm being done by the country he calls home to its neighbour.
Even more troubling is Ovechkin’s effort to distance himself from the politics of the video. He wants people to see him as a pawn—a passive participant in Russia’s actions with no meaningful agency of his own.
That argument is difficult to accept. His appearance in a campaign-style video for Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party was a public political choice, and it is unsurprising that he is now facing questions about it. Ovechkin is entitled to his views about the world, and he can express them privately. But once he makes a public choice in these circumstances, he should expect to be challenged—especially as captain of the Washington Capitals.
“I’m not in politics,” he told ESPN in Washington this week when asked about the video and his position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But lining up with a political party is politics.
It is equally difficult to accept his refusal to say who is responsible for the war.
“I can’t say who’s right and who’s wrong,” he said, in response to a question from ESPN’s Robert Klimko about Putin’s claims regarding responsibility for the invasion of Ukraine.
He can answer. He already has, in effect.
As captain of a team representing the capital of the United States, Ovechkin will inevitably attract heightened scrutiny. His appearance in images supporting the Russian president was plainly political.
The video includes Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov speaking sharply about Russia’s defense, saying the country would defend itself “with a sword” and that its enemies should “expect no mercy: we will rise together, as we do today.”
Those words carry a clear message. Lavrov has repeatedly argued that Ukraine, rather than Russia, is responsible for the conflict. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014 and again in 2022, Putin and his allies have maintained that Moscow was provoked and that Ukraine has no legitimate claim to historical independence. That ignores Ukraine’s long and distinct history, as well as generations of repression by its Russian neighbour.
Klimko pressed Ovechkin effectively, noting that Lavrov’s language was consistent with his previous statements blaming Ukraine for Russia’s invasion. Ovechkin disputed the comparison and said he did not believe the video glorified the war.
He again presented himself as a man committed to peace. “I think it’s just support what’s happening in Russia,” Ovechkin told Klimko. “I want the peace and love for everybody. It doesn’t matter who you are, American, Russian, or Ukrainian. Like, I have lots of friends who are Ukrainians, and I hope everything’s gonna be good, and everything’s gonna be done soon.”
Lavrov and Putin have, however, defined “peace” for Ukraine in a very particular way: Russian domination. In their framing, peace can come only when Russia is in control.
Ovechkin is being disingenuous if he claims to have neither insight nor agency. He chose to appear in the commercial. He did not tell the Capitals beforehand, and the team has said it would have preferred him to speak with them first. The organization understands why the appearance was problematic. Given a decade of developments in Russia, the United States, Ukraine and the wider world, it is hard to believe he did not recognize the significance himself.
Why wasn’t he playing at the Olympics, Alex? The people he says he supports are why he was not there.
Capitals general manager Chris Patrick told ESPN that the team would have worked to avoid “the situation” had Ovechkin consulted them first.
“And I doubt we’d be standing where we’re standing right now if he had run it by us,” Patrick said.
A Republican congressman criticized Ovechkin this week for the appearance and called on the NHL to sanction the Russian star, who has been a league standout for two decades. His status gives him considerable influence, and it is difficult to accept that he is unaware of it. Ovechkin says he appeared in the commercial because he hopes to live in Russia after his playing career, but his participation also lends credibility to the Russian government. Putin needs figures like Ovechkin, just as Ovechkin benefits from association with him.
His response to Klimko about Representative Joe Wilson’s criticism was therefore especially unconvincing.
“Well, everybody has their own opinion, right? I’m not a politician, I’m an athlete,” he said. “I support my country. Like, I’m Russian.”
He wants to benefit from a political appearance without accepting responsibility for what that appearance communicates.
There is one figure in the video whom he should at least recognize: Maria Lvova-Belova, who has been charged by the International Criminal Court in connection with the alleged abduction of Ukrainian children. Ovechkin told Klimko that he did not know who she was. That is precisely why he should not claim ignorance on matters of this magnitude. Lack of knowledge is not an excuse for public support.
Fortunately, the NHL has players who understand the political stakes and are willing to speak for what they believe is right. Former Canuck Nikita Zadorov is one of them. Unlike Ovechkin, he has not tried to evade the consequences of his choices. A vocal critic of Putin and his regime, Zadorov has repeatedly said—including to Postmedia—that the invasion was wrong and that he understood what speaking out could cost him.
“They call it an invasion but it’s not an invasion. That’s bulls–t. It’s a war,” Zadorov told Ben Kuzma in December 2023, soon after joining the Canucks. “They’re sending rockets and killing people and when you cross the border first, that’s a war. They make up cool words so it doesn’t look so bad, but that’s part of propaganda.”
“They’re literally killing people who we have lived beside,” he added. “I don’t know what (Putin) is trying to do or the U.S. (financial and arms support). There’s a lot of stuff that goes into politics and I’m trying to educate myself.”
Zadorov knew what he believed and did not hide from it.
Ovechkin is, of course, entitled to agree with Putin. I do not like that view, and neither does the free world, but it is his right to hold it.
What is shameful is the way he tries to escape responsibility for his own choices.
He wants us to see him as merely a stooge. That is not enough. He took a stand. He should stand by it.
He is a captain. He should act like one.
pjohnston@postmedia.com