Ovechkin

In a failure of institutional responsibility, the NHL somehow acquiesces in Ovechkin sharing his Instagram profile photo with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Yale historian Timothy Snyder teaches that Putin is waging a genocidal campaign that has led to the deaths of about 100,000 civilians in Mariupol alone. It is well-known how Putin uses sport to project national strength and during the last few months Ovechkin was projecting “business as usual” in Moscow through very public appearances with the city’s hockey and soccer team. Photos from these appearances were posted on his Instagram page — that one with Putin on the front page. In a failure of institutional responsibility, the NHL somehow acquiesces in Ovechkin sharing his Instagram profile photo with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Bettman must stop promoting Ovechkin as a non-political scoring machine when he is one of Putin’s most effective soldiers. These aspirations should be considered in tandem with the obvious reason Russia is exiled from international events, as well as Ovechkin’s previous political statements.