Hašek accuses Ovechkin and NHL of promoting Putin’s war

Former Czech goaltender Dominik Hašek accused Washington Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin of promoting Russia’s war against Ukraine and said the NHL was complicit by continuing to feature him, in a commentary published by The Washington Post on Sept 30. His intervention followed Ovechkin’s appearance alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in a campaign video for United Russia, the party supporting President Vladimir Putin.¹²³⁴

A political appearance renews scrutiny

Ovechkin appeared behind Lavrov in the United Russia election video. Reports published on Oct 1 and Oct 2 described the recording as a campaign appearance connected to Putin’s party. According to SME, United Russia subsequently won the State Duma election and secured a constitutional majority.¹³⁴⁵

According to SME and Blesk, Ovechkin said he had been asked to take part in the recording, saw no problem with doing so and supported his country. He also said he favoured peace and love. Hašek rejected that distinction, arguing that public support for those responsible for starting and continuing the war made Ovechkin’s statements about peace meaningless.¹³⁴

Hašek’s case rests on his view that prominent athletes also represent their countries in public. He argued that Ovechkin’s political appearance made him a more consequential advocate for Russia’s war than Russian NHL players who have remained silent. FORUM 24 reported Hašek’s further contention that Ovechkin’s popularity enlarges the audience for messages supporting Putin’s government.¹⁴

Pressure on the league and the Capitals

Hašek extended his criticism beyond Ovechkin, saying the Capitals and the NHL provide the player with a large public platform and therefore help advertise Russia’s war. In The Washington Post, he challenged league executives, lawmakers and Capitals supporters to act. Other reports quoted him arguing that continued exposure for Ovechkin makes the club and league partly responsible for the effects of the propaganda he alleges.¹²³⁴

SME reported on Oct 1 that the NHL had not directly commented on Ovechkin’s campaign appearance. The Capitals said, according to the same outlet, that Ovechkin is a Russian citizen, spends summers with his family in Moscow and plans to return there after his playing career.¹

The dispute follows earlier contact between Hašek and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman. According to Blesk, Hašek wrote to Bettman in 2022 with a proposal concerning Russian players in the league. Bettman replied that he viewed the issue differently and that the NHL followed the laws of the countries in which it operated. Latvian Radio reported that Hašek later sent an open letter to Bettman and said the commissioner and the owners of all 32 NHL clubs were responsible for what happened in the league.³⁵

A broader demand concerning Russian players

Hašek has argued that the NHL, the United States and Canada should give Russian players a formal opportunity to condemn Russia’s war against Ukraine. Latvian Radio reported his position that Russian players who do not publicly reject the war should not be permitted to play in the NHL. He also said sport and politics could not be separated and that he had stopped watching NHL games after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.³⁵

Ovechkin’s status intensifies the dispute. SME reported that he had surpassed Wayne Gretzky’s career goals record, while Blesk described him as the NHL’s record scorer entering his 22nd season. Blesk also reported that Ovechkin signed a new one-year Capitals contract worth $4.25 million, although those contract details were not independently confirmed in the dossier.¹³

Hašek’s central assertion remains an argument rather than an established causal finding: he says promotion of an aggressive war can prolong it and contribute to further deaths, injuries and suffering. He therefore contends that an athlete’s appearances, a club’s publicity and a league’s decisions cannot be considered separately from the political message he believes they amplify.¹²⁴