Capitals’ Captain Causes A Stir In Canada Supporting President Putin

Alex Ovechkin is one of the top players in the National Hockey League (NHL) and the captain of the Washington Capitals. His experience and skills have made him a top asset for Washington and even though he is Russian, he has a vast fan following in Canada.

Ovechkin was in the news in September when he expressed his disappointment after the NHL decided not to allow its players to be a part of the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. He made it very clear that he wanted to be a part of Team Russia and help his country win a gold medal at the Olympics and said nothing would stop him from representing Russia.

He eventually dropped the idea after the NHL made it firm that no players would be given permission as the Olympics was taking place mid-season.

Now Ovechkin has once again made headlines in the NHL after he announced on Instagram that he was starting a social media campaign to support Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ovechkin has always been a supporter of President Putin and has not hid the fact that he has a close relationship with the Russian President. However he has now gone a step further in not just supporting President Putin but starting a social movement to get support for Putin.

Личные награды и призы – все это здорово, но в хоккее, как и в любом деле, для победы важнее команда. Только команда способна переломить ход игры, сделать невозможное. В последнее время в западной прессе я встречаю сочетание Putin’s team, то есть команда Путина. И знаете, мне очень понравилось это определение. Лично я готов быть частью такой команды. Я никогда не скрывал своего отношения к нашему Президенту, всегда открыто его поддерживая. Я уверен, что нас, поддерживающих Владимира Путина, много! Так давайте объединимся и покажем всем сильную и сплоченную Россию! Сегодня я хочу объявить о том, что создаю общественное движение под названием Putin Team. Быть частью такой команды – для меня гордость, это похоже на ощущение, когда ты надеваешь майку сборной России, зная, что за тебя болеет вся страна. #putinteam

A post shared by Alexander Ovechkin (@aleksandrovechkinofficial) on Nov 2, 2017 at 9:07am PDT

In a statement, Ovechkin said

I’m certain that there are many of us that support Vladimir Putin. Let’s unite and show everyone a strong and united Russia. Today, I want to announce a social movement in the name of Putin Team. Be a part of this team – to me it’s a privilege, it’s like the feeling of when you put on the jersey of the Russian team, knowing that the whole country is rooting for you

His social movement to support President Putin has not gone down well with many of his Canadian fans who do not support or endorse Putin’s ideologies and policies. While fans of the Washington Capitals support and have a lot of respect for Ovechkin, they are now in a delicate position because thousands of them disagree with President Putin. The relationship between Russia and Canada has also been strained in recent times and many Canadians will now rethink as to whether they want to continue to support Alex Ovechkin.

Ovechkin did try to clear the air and state that since he was from Russia, he wanted to support his President but did not want to really get involved with President Putin’s political views and policies.