OT: Russia/Ukraine and the Washington Capitals thread (mod warning post #1)

[Corby78]

We would be lucky if they kicked Sammy out of the country

 

[BiPolar Caps]

What?

Strange response.

You wrote "I really don't get the logic of going after citizens with no power". Russian military have been responsible for the deaths of Ukrainian citizens, some who are children. I don't know why you believe that's a strange response.

 

[EstesSquare]

I really don't get the logic of going after citizens with no power. What the hell did Ilya Samsonov do wrong?

Its to suppress the citizens as much as possible so it turns negative for everyone in Russia which would force the Kremlin to take over form Putin.

 

[Albatros]

Time for the Caps to move on from Ovechkin, at the very least appoint a new captain immediately.

 

[needforspeed]

Time for the Caps to move on from Ovechkin, at the very least appoint a new captain immediately.

Would be an interesting image seeing Ovechkin lifting the cup as captain at these circumstances

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Why are all these non-Caps fans telling us what the organization should or shouldn’t do with its Russian players?

 

[OV Rocks]

Isn't Ovi's first son a dual citizen by the way of being born in Florida?

 

[Eco]

Isn't Ovi's first son a dual citizen by the way of being born in Florida?

Yes.

My step-mom is Russian, and her and my father had a daughter here, and she is automatically an American citizen. I don't think it matters if one or none of the parents are actually from America, although I'm not 100% certain.

 

[Eco]

Ovy himself has promoted Putinism for years Has done nothing wrong? Don't make me laugh. Ovechkin himself would deserve to get sanctioned. Hope he will and all his assets in the western world would be given to the ukrainians. Glad that he will never be able to play for Russian national team again.

I don't get this stand point. This is easily the most egregious act Putin has done, and while the west may not agree, he has done good things for Russia during this tenure. Over the past 5-7 years his gone way downhill has has become this tyrant, but just because he used to vocally support him and help him get votes, doesn't mean he did anything illegal, and if believe he didn't do anything illegal, then why would we seize his asesets?

He is not Putin, he did not decide to invade Ukraine.

 

[pelderhostiga]

I'm against punishing regular people who have done nothing wrong, or at least those who have not been proven to have done something. Unfortunately, there is pretty strong evidence that at least Alexander Ovechkin doesn't fall into that category. The NHL (and hfboards for some reason) suppressed speech about an ongoing war for a better part of a week. Now that it's no longer invisible, everyone knows that Ovechkin has chosen his side years ago.

Mod edit: the board rules are very clear on no politics -- not sure why this is difficult to understand.

mod delete

 

[Ms Maggie]

Ovechkin was stupid for publicly cozying up to Putin. That said, punishing individual NHL players makes no sense. The point of various sanctions is to hurt Russia/Putin which this wouldn't do. Hurts the players, teams and fans.

 

[HurricaneFanatic]

That goal record looks bleaker and bleaker for Ovi.

 

[Shwag33]

I'm going to need to see some reputable, non-conspiracy theory links to believe this one....

He has not supported the invasion of ukraine, but he has trashed ukraine in 2014. Look at slava malamud's twitter posts today. While I realize he does have and always had an agenda against ovechkin... he does offer some pretty damaging statements made by ovechkin in the past.

Not exactly sure how to feel he could have changed his opinion since then, but in the past he has parroted putin's stance.

 

[Foots]

That goal record looks bleaker and bleaker for Ovi.

You can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

 

[g00n]

He has not supported the invasion of ukraine, but he has trashed ukraine in 2014. Look at slava malamud's twitter posts today. While I realize he does have and always had an agenda against ovechkin... he does offer some pretty damaging statements made by ovechkin in the past.

Not exactly sure how to feel he could have changed his opinion since then, but in the past he has parroted putin's stance.

From 2014:

Ovechkin takes Putin's side in the Ukraine war

What Ovie did in 2014 was similar to what many US citizens and celebrities did as a result of bad intel on Iraq WMDs, or the idiotic Qanon conspiracy theories about "save the children", which is repeat hashtags or slogans designed to manipulate you via the easiest points of access: government oppression and children.

It was the dominant opinion among Russians at the time because it was pushed so heavily.

This is a recurring theme in Kremlin propaganda. Russian disinformation has been pervasive online for years and it often hits these marks. It would not surprise me to learn a pro athlete is being fooled by it, especially since so many others have fallen prey to such trickery.

The question is whether Ovie knew it was deceptive propaganda at the time, or if he was being duped by it. The follow up question is if he realizes NOW that it was fake, and that similar disinfo is being pushed to support the current invasion.


There is no way anyone should be supporting Putin in 2022 unless they exist totally in the Russian media bubble.


Ovie has spoken out against the war and that's nice, but he really needs to step up and denounce Putin himself so long as his family is safe from reprisal. If his wife and parents are not allowed here for more than a few months at a time it's probably an ongoing concern.

It's easy for us to judge him from afar but it's probably more complicated than we know.

 

[HurricaneFanatic]

You can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Shew haha.
But seriously, I'm not sure what to think of him right now on a personal level.

 

[pman25]

I get the Ovi-Putin stuff is uncomfortable but man, Larry Brooks probably thinks the Ovi-Varly ESPN Russian Spy commercial is real

 

[Montag DP]

Ovie has spoken out against the war and that's nice, but he really needs to step up and denounce Putin himself so long as his family is safe from reprisal. If his wife and parents are not allowed here for more than a few months at a time it's probably an ongoing concern.

It's definitely not safe to assume they would be. Russians protesting the war are being arrested and who knows what else. Putin has set up a bonafide dictatorship there. The best thing Russian celebrities abroad right now can do is stay out of the spotlight if they still have family there.

 

[g00n]

For reference re: Brooks' comment:

Not a good look, Ovie. Not good at all.

Don't be that guy.

 

[g00n]

It's definitely not safe to assume they would be. Russians protesting the war are being arrested and who knows what else. Putin has set up a bonafide dictatorship there.

Agreed. It's an unknown for us and possibly very volatile.

But he can at least remove the obvious signs of support that don't cost anything, like that insta profile pic.

 

[Montag DP]

Agreed. It's an unknown for us and possibly very volatile.

But he can at least remove the obvious signs of support that don't cost anything, like that insta profile pic.

Agreed. I've always been a fan of Ovie even though he always owns my team, but I definitely can't root for any Putin supporters from now on. As far as him making a public statement condemning the invasion, I think that's too much to expect, though.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Agreed. It's an unknown for us and possibly very volatile.

But he can at least remove the obvious signs of support that don't cost anything, like that insta profile pic.

Putin might just take issue with anything public like that…hard to say. Petty man…

Hopefully Ovy’s being cautious, not defiant.

 

[IafrateOvie34]

Regardless of Ovechkin's citizenship status, the US spent decades breaking down the Iron Curtain, I can't imagine that they would send home and antagonize all Russian citizens who have done nothing wrong.

Indeed and it would be stupid to do it.

 

[pelderhostiga]

From 2014:

Ovechkin takes Putin's side in the Ukraine war

What Ovie did in 2014 was similar to what many US citizens and celebrities did as a result of bad intel on Iraq WMDs, or the idiotic Qanon conspiracy theories about "save the children", which is repeat hashtags or slogans designed to manipulate you via the easiest points of access: government oppression and children.

It was the dominant opinion among Russians at the time because it was pushed so heavily.

This is a recurring theme in Kremlin propaganda. Russian disinformation has been pervasive online for years and it often hits these marks. It would not surprise me to learn a pro athlete is being fooled by it, especially since so many others have fallen prey to such trickery.

The question is whether Ovie knew it was deceptive propaganda at the time, or if he was being duped by it. The follow up question is if he realizes NOW that it was fake, and that similar disinfo is being pushed to support the current invasion.

I don't think it really matters if Ovechkin knew it was propaganda or not. He has been actively supporting Putin for decades and posed for the campaign to smear Ukraine while Russia was actively annexing parts of it against international law. It is clear to me that Ovechkin is an active member in all this - not a victim nor even neutral - so playing the dumb card or claiming ignorance doesn't really work when shit hits the fan with full force. No matter how dumb or ignorant you might actually be.

I don't know what Kuznetsov or Samsonov make of all this, but my opinion is that those people who took a neutral and non-political stance before shouldn't be punished. At the very least those people who have denounced Putin before (and got harassed for it) shouldn't be touched in any way or form (e.g. Panarin). Ovechkin fits neither of those categories.

 

[RedRocking]

Putin might just take issue with anything public like that…hard to say. Petty man…

Hopefully Ovy’s being cautious, not defiant.

I look for Ovi to score goals, not for his politics or worldview.

Plus, being (arguably) the the most prominent Russian athlete in the world puts him in a very awkward position. I imagine Putin has kept him close throughout his career. And has been said, Ovi’s family and friends are back in Russia. He may be losing money from the sanctions, etc…

Point being - I don’t think it’s a simple thing for Ovi to now come out against Putin and get rid of photos, etc… I would imagine he just wants to play hockey and be left out of all this. Of course, there’s no way to know what’s in his heart.