Celebrations over Alexander Ovechkin’s NHL goals record despite his pro-Kremlin politics

It was the moment Alexander Ovechkin’s fans had been waiting for.

When Ovechkin’s puck hit the net on Sunday, it made him the top goal scorer in NHL history.

Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky’s record by scoring his 895th career goal in the Washington Capitals’ game against the New York Islanders, beating fellow Russian Ilya Sorokin on a power play with 12:34 left in the second period. 

Capitals coach Spencer Carbery called it “the ultimate goal-scorer’s goal for the greatest of all time.”

Tens of thousands of fans cheered and chanted, “Ovi! Ovi!” as his teammates mobbed him in celebration.

On the other side of the world, hockey fans in Russia were also paying close attention. Russian President Vladimir Putin himself also extended his appreciation. Over the years, Ovechkin has aligned himself with Putin and with various pro-Kremlin campaigns. Although the 39-year-old has been criticized for his politics through the years, many are celebrating the athlete’s superstar success — especially in Russia.

“There is no bigger star in Russian sports than Alex Ovechkin, that’s for sure,” said Oleg Rabiner, a sportswriter with Sport-Express, a Russian sports daily, and the author of a new Ovechkin biography.

Rabiner said that Ovechkin grew up in Moscow in an athletic family and was destined to be a great athlete.

“His parents’ influence on him was, and is, huge,” Rabiner said. “His mom is a two-time Olympic champion in basketball. I think she was a big boss when he was growing up, and his father, he is a soccer player, but his career [ended] very early because of an injury.”

Rabiner said that Ovechkin’s father channeled his unachieved sports aspirations through his son, which worked out beyond his imagination. Ovechkin has attained the greatest heights a hockey player can achieve, including reaching the goal record and winning the Stanley Cup in 2018, making hockey fans in Russia proud.

Ovechkin’s achievement was the top story on Russian state TV Monday. On Channel One, one of Russia’s top state TV channels, a news anchor said, “Our pride, Alexander Ovechkin, Alexander the great!” 

Rabiner added that Ovechkin “always positions himself as Russian, it’s national pride because, if his country becomes best in the world, it’s a reason to be proud.”

Slava Malamud, a former sports reporter, and an Ovechkin critic, said that in Russia, in particular, big-time sports have always been viewed as an extension of the country’s foreign policy. Especially hockey, he said, has always had a big propaganda value.

“They say keep politics and sports separate, but it just doesn’t work that way in Russia,” Malamud said. “Any major athlete is going to be seen as somebody who defends the honor of the motherland. It is always a high-profile athlete co-opted by the politicians, by the leaders, and will basically be asked to serve a political function, as well. And with Ovechkin, that’s particularly true.”

Malamud said that there are a few especially controversial examples, starting with Russia’s 2014 invasion of the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.

“He took part in a media campaign that promoted the war in Donbas. It was called #SaveChildrenFromFascism,” Malamud said. “Russia was trying to represent its invasion of Donbas as this righteous crusade to save Ukraine from Nazis or something.”

That remains a Kremlin propaganda narrative today. 

Ovechkin even got a call from Putin congratulating him on his marriage in 2016. Toward the end of the phone conversation, Ovechkin told Putin, “We love you and respect you.”

Later, in 2017, Ovechkin founded “Putin Team,” a campaign that supported Putin’s reelection, recruiting other high-profile Russian athletes to support him.

Ovechkin’s pro-Putin stance came under scrutiny in February 2022 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At a press conference, he was asked whether he still supported Putin in light of the war.

“Well, he’s my president,” Ovechkin said. “I’m not in politics. I’m an athlete. I hope everything [the war] is going to be done soon. It’s a hard situation right now for both sides.”

He went on to say, “please no more war” and “we have to live in peace,” but he didn’t go beyond that.

Since then, Ovechkin has said very little about the war in Ukraine, or about Russian politics. But there’s also no indication that Ovechkin has changed his views on Putin, even since the full-scale invasion.

“There is all that complicated past, I mean he has something to answer for,” Malamud said. “I mean, he has supported Putin; he has repeatedly said that he supports every single one of Putin’s decisions, and it’s not unfair to ask him to answer for these statements.”

The Capitals did not respond to questions via email about Ovechkin’s political positions.

Fans and critics alike acknowledge that athletes in Russia often have to walk a fine line when it comes to politics. There’s even been speculation that Ovechkin has continued to support Putin because he has family in Russia who could face repercussions if he were to change course.

And for now, Ovechkin’s Instagram profile photo remains an image of him posing with Putin at the Kremlin.