Putin congratulates ice hockey icon Ovechkin on NHL goal record

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday congratulated star hockey player Alexander Ovechkin on his 895th NHL career goal, marking an all-time record.

“This achievement has become not only your personal success, but also a real celebration for fans in Russia and abroad,” he said in a statement released by Kremlin.

“I wish you health, good luck and a fighting spirit to conquer new heights in life and sport,” Putin added.

The 39-year old Washington Capitals ace was cheered by deafening chants of “Ovi, Ovi” by a thousands-strong crowd at a New York arena on Sunday after breaking a record previously held by Wayne Gretzky for 26 years.

Gretzky, known in ice hockey as the “Great One”, was also present at the UBS arena to witness Ovechkin’s history-making strike and spoke in tribute of the record.

This comes despite criticism the Russian has received off the ice over his apparent support for Putin, especially since Moscow launched its military offensive on Ukraine.

Ovechkin founded the “PutinTeam” campaign group to support the Russian president’s re-election bid in 2018 and the profile picture on his Instagram account shows him standing alongside the Russian leader.

When asked about the Ukraine conflict at a press conference in 2022, Ovechkin called for “no more war”, but gave a muted response when questioned about his prior support for Putin.

“Well, he is my president. But how I said, I am not in politics. I am an athlete and I hope everything is going to be done soon,” Ovechkin said at the time.

“I’m Russian. It’s something I can’t control. It’s not in my hands. I hope it’s going to end soon.”

Ovechkin, who spends all his summers back home in Russia, has never made a public statement in support of Moscow’s offensive, despite knowing that such a move would be lauded by Putin and his backers.

After he spoke to Trump on March 18, in a phone call focused on Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy sites, the Kremlin made a point of saying Trump had “supported” an idea from Putin “to organise hockey matches in the US and Russia between Russian and American” players.