Russian President Vladimir V. Putin congratulated Alex Ovechkin, Alex Ovechkin, Monday to break the NHL goal record.
Mr Ovechkin, 39, captain of Washington capitals, Hitting the 895th career goal Sunday evening in a game against New York Islanders. It broke a record by Wayne Gretzky He stood for 26 years.
In a statement on Monday, Mr. Putin Mr. Ovekkin, Since he started as a professional hockey player in Moscow, called “a remarkable achievement “A genuine reason for fans in Russia and beyond.”
Sports feat – and Kremlin's comments drew a fresh attention to Mr Oveckin Former support for Mr Putin and the position of the hockey star in the war in Ukraine.
Mr Ovechkin, who has been playing for Washington capitals since 2005, is living in the United States for the last two decades. But his instagram profile photo shows him with Mr. Putin and started in 2017 Social media movement called #putinteamMonths from Russia's election.
The hockey star increased the eyebrows in 2022 when Russia could not give an open injury to Ukraine's full-time. When asked at a press conference, Mr Ovechkin said, “I ask, there is no more war.” Mr Ovechkin, who was still supporting Mr Putin, said: “He is my President” But he added: “I'm not in politics. I'm athlete.”
On Sunday, Mr. Ovechkin's achievement in his postyrame recorded with a throbbing flicker for his compatriots and said, “Russia, I did it!”
On Monday, Russian state television was “admiration on both sides of the Atlantic” as a “pride, a historical Russian hockey player who created a historic player.”
Putin Pundits hurried to capture Mr. Ovechkin's achievements after a record set.
“Ovechkin, because the Russians were insulted to be Russian, Russia did not be ashamed to not be ashamed to be Russian, and not ashamed to not be Russian, and it was not ashamed to not be Russian,” he said. He wrote on social media. “This is not only grateful for all of everyone in Russia, as well as for the world, but not only for hockey.”
Mr Ovechkin has not competed for Russia since 2019, and Russia has been banned from global competitions of the International Ice Hockey Federation since the full-scale occupation of Ukraine.
The war was a controversial issue in the field of international sports, Russian athletes are under pressure on condemning the war.