A protest is planned for outside the Canadian Tire Centre when Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin visits Ottawa this week, as a petition calls on the federal government to impose sanctions on the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer. The Capitals face the Ottawa Senators Tuesday night at Canadian Tire Centre. The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) is planning a rally called “Rally: No War Crimes in Ottawa” outside the arena in Ottawa’s west end to protest Ovechkin’s support for the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin. It will begin at 5:30 p.m. before the game starts. Last month, the Ukrainian Canadian Congress called on the federal government to deny Ovechkin entry into Canada after he appeared in a commercial for a party aligned with Putin. “That the National Hockey League celebrates Ovechkin and ignores his support of a genocidal regime is a moral stain on the NHL. But the NHL’s cravenness in no way absolves the Government of Canada from its responsibility to enforce the law and protect the security of Canadians,” Alexandra Chyczij, National President of the UCC, said in a statement on Oct. 8. “The Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship has the authority to bar supporters of genocide from entry into Canada. The UCC calls on Canada to act today and bar entry to Ovechkin and other supporters of Russia’s genocide against Ukraine.” The UCC previously called on Canada to ban Ovechkin in 2022. “Ovechkin is campaigning for United Russia,” the UCC said in a social media post on Sept. 15. Two online petitions on the House of Commons website have called on the federal government to consider imposing sanctions against Ovechkin. A petition from a British Columbia resident, sponsored by Liberal MP Yvan Baker, has 2,815 signatures since it launched on Sept. 29. The petition says, “In September 2026, Alexander Ovechkin appeared in an election campaign video promoting United Russia, Russia’s governing political party, ahead of the September 2026 State Duma elections.” The petition adds, “Canada has imposed sanctions on individuals who support the Russian regime in response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, and individuals sanctioned by Canada may be rendered inadmissible to Canada under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.” A petition from a Waterloo resident, sponsored by Liberal MP Bardish Chagger, closed on Nov. 5 with 649 signatures. The petition called on the federal government to add Ovechkin to Schedule 1 under the Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations, ensure that Ovechkin is subject to restrictions on Canadian financial transactions and ownership, and work with all ministries and agencies to ensure he is denied entry into Canada “indefinitely.” Ovechkin announced in October he will be retiring at the end of the season after a 22-year career. He broke Wayne Gretzky’s goals record in April 2025 and his 930 goals in his career. With files from the Canadian Press
