Alex Ovechkin is one of the greatest hockey players of all time and along the way he’s made some very famous friends. That includes both the President of the United States, Donald Trump, and Russian President Vladimir Putin who once exchanged an Ovechkin jersey during the Helsinki Summit.

Thursday, in a Russian-language interview with RTVI’s Tina Kandelaki, Ovechkin was asked to compare and contrast both.

President Trump is “a person enjoying life. That’s what I would say. He simply lives and enjoys,” Ovechkin said as translated by RMNB’s Igor Kleyner.

Ovechkin was asked what’s the difference between both men since he’s talked to both and could tell any differences.

“They are both simple and friendly,” Ovechkin said diplomatically. “That’s it.”

Ovechkin has met the 45th president of the United States on two different occasions. After winning the Stanley Cup in 2018, the Capitals (minus a protesting Braden Holtby, Devante Smith-Pelly, and Brett Connolly) chose to celebrate their championship in March 2019 at the White House and met with the president in the Oval Office. Ovechkin, as well as Russian teammates Evgeny Kuznetsov and Dmitry Orlov, stood beside Trump at the Resolute desk.

“Thank you very much for having us,” Ovechkin told Trump. “It’s a huge honor for us to be here, to meet you personally.”

Trump in response called Ovechkin “a very special athlete, a great player, captain, team captain” and said the 64 goals he scored that year in both the regular season and playoffs were Babe Ruth-esque.

Months later, Ovechkin met with Trump again in December 2019 during a Christmas Eve Party at Mar A Lago. The Great 8 presented the president with one of his signed jerseys.

“What did Trump ask you about? Does he actually like hockey?” asked the interviewer Tina Kandelaki.

“Yes. He told me, first of all, he respects Vladimir Vladimirovich,” Ovechkin said.

“He told you that?”

“Yes. He loves our country, Russia,” Ovechkin said. “Basically, that’s it.”

Headline photo courtesy of @charstribs