Ovechkin commented on the protest action against him in Ottawa

Alexander Ovechkin, the captain of the Washington Capitals hockey club, commented on the protest action that took place before the NHL regular season away match against the Ottawa Senators. The meeting, held in Ottawa, ended with the victory of the American team with a score of 3:2 in overtime.

According to CBC News, the action was organized by the Congress of Ukrainians of Canada (UCC). The rally was held on November 10 before the start of the game at the Canadian Tire Centre arena. The participants of the event, which involved about ten people, held placards with the words "Ban Ovechkin" ("Ban Ovechkin") and spoke under the slogan "No war crimes in hockey."

The protesters demanded to impose personal sanctions against the Russian attacker and to block his entry into Canada. According to the TSN portal, these demands have already become official: two relevant petitions have been submitted to the House of Commons of Canada. The initiatives were supported by deputies from the Liberal Party Ivan Baker and Bardish Chagger.

The hockey player himself calmly reacted to what was happening outside the stadium. "I only found out about it this morning. I don't know what to say. There are various protests all over the world," the Russian Machine Never Breaks portal quotes Ovechkin as saying.

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Ovechkin later spoke about the continued suspension of the Russian national team from international tournaments through visa bans. Canada has announced that it will not issue visas to Russian hockey players to participate in the World Youth Championship, which is scheduled to take place in Edmonton at the end of December. The forward noted that the players cannot influence the situation, but expressed confidence that the fans want to see the best players, in particular— the younger generation.

"I do not know how everything will turn out, but I am sure that if you ask the fans, they want to see the best players. Fans want to see a younger generation of players who will become future stars, future NHL hockey players. But, you know, it doesn't depend on us," The Canadian Press quoted him as saying.

Ovechkin also explained the athletes' desire to compete for national teams. "As an athlete, you want to represent your country. It doesn't matter where — at the World Cup, the Olympic Games or the European Championship. You just want to go out, play and represent your country," the striker said.

The wave of criticism against the Russian forward in North America increased markedly in September 2026. According to TSN, the reason was the participation of the captain of the Washington in the filming of an election video in Russia. This activity caused a reaction in the United States. According to InoProSport, Congressman Joe Wilson sent an official letter to NHL Commissioner Gary Batman, calling the athlete's involvement in political advertising an "extremely disturbing" fact.

Despite the external pressure, Alexander Ovechkin made a decisive contribution to the success of his team. In the match against Ottawa, he scored an assist for the winning goal in overtime. Thanks to this action, on November 11, the Russian repeated Washington's record for the number of assists in the history of the franchise. Previously, this achievement belonged to Ovechkin's former teammate, Swede Niklas Backstrom.