Alex Ovechkin Slips into Canada’s Dense Ukraine Region


Hockey star Alex Ovechkin is at the center of public outrage among Russian professional athletes. war in ukraineabout to play in front of the most unsympathetic crowd ever.

Ovechkin, a high-profile supporter of President Vladimir V. Putin, and his Washington Capitals teammates will play with the Oilers Wednesday night in Edmonton, Alberta, home to one of Canada’s largest concentrations of the Ukrainian diaspora.

Andriy Tovstiuk of Edmonton works with the Canadian Congress of Ukraine, which organizes fundraising, rallies, demonstrations and humanitarian work for Ukraine in Alberta. He’ll be at the Rogers Place game on Wednesday.

“I think we’re going to be loud, we’re going to fire up,” said Tovstiuk, who worked with the Oilers and Calgary Flames, who lost 5-4 to the Capitals on Tuesday. To raise money for Ukraine in a 50-50 lottery, which often exceeded $ 1 million. “But we all really want to focus on supporting Ukraine and stand behind everything that’s going on right now.

“But who knows what will happen? It’s an emotional time for everyone and we really encourage everyone to use this as a rallying point for Ukraine.”

Ovechkin is one of Russia’s most famous athletes and his friendship with PutinWho is there unmatched passion for ice hockey, is widely known. Friendship was unshakable after Putin invaded and Crimea annexed from Ukraine In 2014, Ovechkin started an online social movement in 2017 to support Putin, who won the 2018 Russian election.

160,000 people of Ukrainian descent live in Edmonton, and according to the 2016 Canadian census, there are 370,000 in Alberta. About 1.4 million people of Ukrainian descent live in Canada, which is more than anywhere else outside of Ukraine and Russia.

Capitals officials, who have four Russian players on their roster, including Ovechkin, have discussed safety precautions with their Oilers colleagues, but no one expects anything beyond booing from fans at Rogers Place. The Oilers did not respond to requests for comment. The Capitals declined to talk about the enrollment.

Tim Shipton, vice president of Oilers Entertainment Group, issued a statement Monday: “The Edmonton Oilers stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine. As we saw in Saturday’s home game, Oilers fans were very respectful in showing their support for Ukraine.”

Viter, a Ukrainian folk choir, will sing the Ukrainian national anthem before the game. Tovstiuk and other UCC representatives encourage fans to wear the blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag for the match. Flags, national colors and markings that are screened for bad taste are allowed in the arena.

On Tuesday, ahead of the first game of the season in Alberta, the Capitals released a statement saying they “joined the National Hockey League to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the loss of innocent lives.” The statement continued: “We call for and hope for a peaceful solution as soon as possible. The capitals also give full support to our Russian players abroad and their families. We realize that they are in a difficult situation and we are ready to offer our help to them and their families.”

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, Ovechkin, one of the biggest stars in the NHL – his two goals against the Flames on Tuesday, placed third on the list of career goals with Jaromir Jagr in 766 – was booed in road matches and booed. . Even his image was belittled when he appeared in a tribute video for former Blue Jackets star Rick Nash in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday.

Ovechkin held a press conference on February 25 to distance himself from Putin and support the Russian occupation. “I’m not into politics. For example, I’m an athlete,” he said. Without mentioning Putin, he added, “Please, no more wars.”

Rather than calm his critics, Ovechkin found himself under the criticism of supporters of the war in his home country and dissidents in the rest of the world. This resulted in a severe backlash from Russian supporters on Ovechkin’s social media accounts, and he was advised not to change his Instagram profile picture as it would not do well in Russia.

So the profile picture of Ovechkin showing him with Putin, verified Instagram accountWith 1.6 million followers, he remained as of Wednesday afternoon. There was a plan after the press conference to turn the painting into a symbol of world peace, but since Ovechkin’s wife, two children, and parents are currently in Russia, it was decided to keep the photo of Putin and him.

So far, Ovechkin and Flames defender Nikita Zadorov are the only Russian players to talk about the war publicly. Zadorov with a Ukrainian flag emoji and “No war” and “STOP!!!” published his words. on Instagram the day after the invasion.

According to player manager Dan Milstein, who represents dozens of Russian and Belarusian players under NHL contracts, his clients and families are facing a barrage of abuse and profanity on platforms like Instagram and Twitter.

“I have received very disturbing messages from the wives of my players,” Milstein said. “Comments under children’s pictures Nazi baby, go back to Russia, we don’t need you here, go home, among other things.”

Milstein, a native of Ukraine’s capital city of Kiev, was the only NHL-connected person on record for this article to agree to speak, and others cited fears of repercussions for partners or clients who are family members in Russia.

An NHL spokesperson did not respond to Commissioner Gary Bettman’s requests for comment. However, the league is working with police services in some of the 32 team cities to provide extra patrols around players’ arenas and homes.

Milstein said his Russian clients in NHL squads had nothing to do with the war in Ukraine, but feared the consequences of the conversation.

“Of course they are extremely concerned not only for their families, but also for what is going on in Russia,” he said. “My clients don’t want war, my clients want world peace. My clients are worried about everyone in Ukraine and Russia.”

Russian and Belarusian players and teams have been banned from all international competitions by the International Ice Hockey Federation. They also face sanctions demands from fans, some governments, and even Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky.

Gretzky, 61, one of the most influential people in hockey, called for Russia to be banned from the rescheduled 2022 men’s world junior tournament, shortly before the IIHF banned the country. Later, on Toronto radio station Sportsnet 590, he announced that he was considering the large number of Ukrainians living in Canada, particularly Edmonton, where the tournament will be played in August.

“I just couldn’t understand how to welcome a country at war to a city with tons of Ukrainian family members still living in Ukraine,” said Gretzky, who has spent most of his NHL career in Ukraine. Edmonton “And people were like, ‘Why are you punishing Russian children?’ I got some responses saying.

“This is not about punishing Russian children. What about the Ukrainian children who are killed every day? Ukrainian children aged 12-14 go to war. I don’t want anyone to be punished. I just think we shouldn’t be competing against an innocent country right now when we’re at war.”

Last week, the NHL in an official statement condemned the Russian invasion and said it was immediately suspending business relations in Russia. The league suspended ties with the largely Russia-based Continental Hockey League this week. NHL teams have been told to stop communication with KHL teams and Russia-based agents.

this NHL statement He also clarified the league’s position regarding Russian players, saying, “They play for NHL clubs in the NHL, not for Russia.”

Milstein and other player agents said blocking Russian NHL players didn’t make sense and would benefit Putin, who continues the Russian government’s tradition of using elite athletes as propaganda.

Player managers have also criticized the Canadian Hockey League, the umbrella group that governs the three major junior leagues. CHL recently announced that it is canceling this year’s Russia-Canada series. It is also considering banning Russian and Belarusian prospects from the import draft that distributes young players from countries outside of North America to CHL teams. Milstein said that doing so would essentially help Russia, which has been reluctant towards athletes playing elsewhere.

Some observers critical of Ovechkin, such as Hall of Fame goalkeeper Dominik Hasek, want his support for Putin blocked, while others think suspending him and other Russians won’t help the situation.

Slava Malamud, who teaches in Baltimore and has worked as a journalist for many years in Russia, has a strong social media following as a devoted critic of Ovechkin. While Malamud said he would have no problem with Ovechkin being banned from the NHL for his support of Putin, he didn’t think it would be fair to punish all Russian players.

“We don’t punish Russians for being Russians,” he said. “You can’t help where you were born. However, this is on the conscience of players who openly support Putin, especially Ovechkin. It is tainted with it. He did it very willingly.”





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