Alex Ovechkin spent his 41st birthday at the official on-ice opening of the Washington Capitals, with a sizeable media contingent waiting for his first words since returning from Russia, and a political video that had surfaced in the last week.
Ovechkin was in the background of a United Russia video, the nation’s dominant political party and the party of President Vladimir Putin. Naturally, around the American capital, this got picked up by the local pundits and earned airtime on CNN among other outlets. The Capitals captain opened his first press conference of the season talking about the video.
”I’m Russian,” he explained. “As soon as I’m done playing hockey will probably stay there …. I’m going to live over there with my family. I’m for peace and love, so hope everything will be OK.” Ovechkin said. ”My home is Russia, and this is my second home. I grew up here as a person.”
Ovechkin also took questions on the video, saying they asked him to do the video, and said he hadn’t seen any blowback from it. It wasn’t the first time Ovechkin faced the media about politics in his homeland, as he was put under the microscope in February 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Hockey-wise, Ovechkin discussed this year’s Capitals club and why he returned for another season – in part thanks to the team’s makeover in the offseason. He mentioned a key factor in coming back to North America was a “chance to fight for a Cup.” He also joked he wasn’t going to talk about another season until he made the roster.
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