Canadian Sports Network Idiots Shamefully Spin Ovechkin's Quest For NHL Goal Record Into Political Narrative

Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin is on the cusp of rewriting the NHL history books. But some people are trying to sabotage his pursuit of greatness because of his nationality.

If "The Great Eight" scores three more goals in the next seven regular-season games (which is doable for him), he will pass Wayne Gretzky and become the all-time leading goalscorer in NHL history. For all sports fans - hockey ones especially - this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see a man break a record many thought was untouchable.

However, the idiots at the Canadian sports network SportsNet are all of a sudden making a big stink about the fact that Ovechkin is Russian.

Daniel Rubenson, a political science professor at Toronto Metropolitan University, told SportsNet that he believes Ovechkin’s pursuit of hockey immortality is tainted by his nationality. Drawing on the fact that Russia is in a war with Ukraine and that Ovechkin has openly supported Putin in the past, Rubenson thinks Ovechkin’s eventual record loses a lot of value as a result.

"Considering the current political situation with Canada and the United States, and Russia, it’s all just beyond hockey, I think," Rubenson said. "I don’t think it’s possible to separate these things." 

Bruce Kidd, ombudsperson and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, says he also has a hard time looking past Ovechkin’s nationality when assessing his record pursuit.

"Recognizing that politics and sports are completely intertwined doesn’t mean that you lose sight of those moments in sport when you forget about everything else, because the drama is so exciting, or the skills are," Kidd said. "But you don’t park your brains either, that’s the thing. It’s hard. It’s really hard."

You know what all of this is? Nonsense of the highest order and an attempt to ruin the moment for one of the game’s best players.

No one can fault Ovechkin for being born in Russia, or for supporting Putin. Yes, the Russian president is a terrible man, but there are real consequences for Russian nationals - even hockey superstars - who speak out against Putin. 

I’m not talking about receiving angry tweets either. The consequences are more like your family starts getting harassed by the government, or they just flat-out disappear. Ovechkin regularly goes back to Russia and has family there; why risk his family’s safety to appease a couple of low-life Canadian college professors and a mediocre-at-best sports network?

WASHINGTON, DC - Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals skates on the ice against the Buffalo Sabres during the second period of the game at Capital One Arena on March 30, 2025. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

As for separating what Ovechkin’s country is doing on the geopolitical landscape from his work on the ice, that’s incredibly easy. Neither Ovechkin nor any Russian NHL player asked their homeland to start a war. None of those players voiced their support for the conflict. When Ovechkin's longtime teammate Nicklas Backstrom played with him back when the war started, they decided not to talk about the Russia-Ukraine war and simply focus on hockey and friendship (the article begins by talking about this relational dynamic, which squashes the point made later in the article). 

It's the academics and reporters, however, who think this is an issue that needs to be addressed. When the war began in 2022, Russian players and their families were mistreated and harassed for something they were not involved in. That’s the real tragedy, not Ovechkin’s largely determined-for-him political views.

Ostracizing and demonizing Russian players was a trend that took place three years ago. Why are we trying to bring it back en vogue? Especially when Ovechkin is so close to setting the goal-scoring record?

Because the idiots at SportsNet wanted to get attention by tearing someone down. It worked, but they should be ashamed of themselves for what they did.