Ovechkin's goal record could be a problem for the NHL

Ice hockey has become a recurring theme in American politics. A surprising scenario, consequence of the international policy decisions made by President Donald Trump. For example, statements about the annexation of Canada to the United States as the 51st state, along with threats to impose 25% tariffs, created such a high level of tension that the final between the United States and Canada at the 4 Nations Face Off – the tournament where the National Hockey League replaced the All Star Game this year – descended into three fights within the first nine seconds of play. Ice hockey then made headlines again in the context of U.S.-Russia talks for a possible truce in the military confrontation involving Ukraine. In an attempt to further strengthen diplomatic relations between the two nations, Trump reportedly presented Russian President Vladimir Putin with the possibility of organizing a series of friendly hockey games involving NHL and KHL players (the Kontinental Hockey League, the interconfederation league which includes Russian teams) to be played in both the United States and Russia. A proposal that, of course, was well-received by Putin, a great hockey fan who has one of his favorite players in the United States: Alex Ovechkin.

The Friendship Between Putin and Ovechkin

For Putin, Ovechkin is much more than just a player. In fact, we are talking about his biggest supporter among all Russian athletes. The peak of this political support came in 2017 with the creation of PutinTeam, a movement founded by Ovechkin himself to support the presidential campaign that led to Putin's re-election as President of Russia in 2018. The relationship between Putin and Ovechkin goes beyond a mere political-sporting bond. It is a true friendship based on mutual respect, culminating in an episode widely reported in Ovechkin's biography, when Putin called him on the day of his wedding to congratulate him and his wife Anastasia Shubskaya.

However, this closeness between the two has created several problems for Ovechkin in recent years, as never before. For example, in 2008, after winning the NHL regular season MVP title, the Washington administration decided to symbolically hand the keys to the city to Ovechkin. Today, it would be impossible to imagine the mayor of the United States capital handing the keys to the city to a supporter of Putin. Not to mention that the Capitals' number 8 jersey had made its way into the White House in 2011, worn by the cameraman who was filming Barack Obama during his national address announcing the killing of Osama bin Laden.

Ovechkin's Career

The first overall pick of the 2004 Draft for the Washington Capitals, Ovechkin has worn only the jersey of the American capital franchise throughout his career. His arrival in the league, due to a lockout that canceled the 2004/05 NHL season, coincided with the arrival of another young superstar: Sydney Crosby, the most famous Canadian ice hockey player since Wayne Gretzky. Ovechkin and Crosby’s careers have had several points of contact, but it was always Crosby, with his Pittsburgh Penguins, who came out on top, lifting the Stanley Cup three times (2009, 2016, 2017) as the symbol of NHL championship victory. Even Ovechkin and his Washington Capitals ultimately found glory, winning the Stanley Cup in 2018, a happy ending to what had been a disappointing journey.

A decisive step to celebrate Ovechkin as one of the league's greatest players, despite his extraordinary scoring ability, thanks to his one-timer, a shot that he can deliver with unmatched power. But it is precisely Ovechkin's goals that are becoming a problem for him and the entire NHL. Yes, because Ovechkin is very close to breaking Wayne Gretzky's NHL goal record for the regular season (894). It seemed like a record that would last forever, much like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s NBA points record before LeBron James came along, and yet it will be erased. An extraordinary sporting achievement, born of consistent scoring with very few precedents, as in January 2025, Ovechkin became only the second player in league history to score at least 20 goals in 20 consecutive seasons.

Off-the-Field Problems for Ovechkin

However, Ovechkin’s problems arise off the field, particularly due to the fact that he has never distanced himself from Putin since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, nor has he ever condemned the conflict. "Please, no more war. It doesn't matter who is in the war -- Russia, Ukraine, different countries -- we have to live in peace", Ovechkin declared on the topic in February 2022, during a press conference that remains his only official statement on the matter. For the NHL, it therefore becomes a significant image problem if one of Putin's biggest supporters enters the history books as the all-time top scorer in the league. A problem that, however, in reality doesn't seem to exist for the NHL, as stated by commissioner Gary Bettman: "He plays for the Washington Capitals, that's what matters to us. He doesn't play for Russia. It's his legacy and the Capitals'. That's all that counts".