The National Hockey League rebuked Russia’s invasion of democratic Ukraine on Monday. The league is suspending all business with its Russian partners moving forward.
The NHL also announced that it is pausing its Russian language website, NHL.RU, and is ending any consideration of playing games in Russia.
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin spoke to the media today following the team’s practice in Philadelphia. Ovechkin answered questions about Russia’s recent invasion of Ukraine and whether or not he supports Russian President Vladimir Putin.
By Peter Hassett 3 months ago
The Washington Post reported in November that the Washington Capitals were interested in playing an NHL regular-season game in Russia as soon as next year.
“We’ve talked about different things overseas, and we’ve talked about some in Russia or some in Sweden,” Capitals President Dick Patrick said to The Washington Post then. “We’re not sure; it’s a league decision. They’ve talked about China, too, which would be like an exhibition game. I personally wasn’t too intrigued with that. I think it is just too hard on players during training camp. It could happen next year or the year after. If we are going to do it, it would probably be one of those years.”
Tuesday, Elliotte Friedman reported that the Capitals will not play a game in Russia next season, but the NHL is still exploring the possibility of having the Capitals and Blues play there during the 2021-22 season
By Ian Oland and Donya Abramo 2 years ago
Sport-Express’ Igor Eronko reported on Monday evening that the Washington Capitals have a week to come to an agreement to play a regular season NHL game in Russia next season. According to Eronko, NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly has confirmed that the Global Series calendar already announced by the league can still have additions made to it.
Told that #ALLCAPS have around a week to settle a regular season game in Russia for next year. Bill Daly confirmed that the nex season's international games calendar the NHL announced still can have some additions
— Igor Eronko (@IgorEronko) November 25, 2019
By Donya Abramo 2 years ago
Debate raged for months about the NHL’s seemingly small decision to forbid its players from participating in next year’s Winter Olympics games. One of the league’s biggest opponents was Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin, but ultimately the Russian machine would not have been able to represent his country anyway.
Tuesday afternoon, the International Olympic Committee banned Russia from the PyeongChang Olympics due to rampant doping in the Sochi games. Individual athletes from Russia, who are deemed “clean” by a panel, will be allowed to compete under the name “Olympic Athlete from Russia (OAR).”
The athletes will compete with a uniform bearing the OAR name and under the Olympic Flag. The Olympic Anthem will be played instead of the Russian national anthem.
Photo: Leonid Elenin’s Facebook
On March 31, 2009, Russian astronomer Leonid Elenin discovered an asteroid. Some five years later, Elenin has chosen the perfect name for it: Alex Ovechkin.
By 8 years ago
For those of you whose lives literally stop until we post about that thing Ovechkin just did on social media, I would like to apologize on behalf of the entire blog for being more than 48 hours late on this article. Please forgive us.
You see, on Saturday, Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin was hanging out with Evgeni Malkin after the “From Pure Heart” charity hockey game. In a dark room, with the superstars face-to-face, Ovi started filming.
Editor’s note: There is news and reporting in here, but it’s also an opinion piece. My opinions are my own. I won’t speak for anyone else at RMNB. I also encourage everyone to do their own research on this and not just take me- or anyone else– at face value. Frankly, I’d rather not write about this at all, but it seems inappropriate for a site named “Russian Machine Never Breaks” not to address this somehow.
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin shared the above photo on Instagram this morning.
In the photo, Ovechkin, wearing a t-shirt that reads “No War,” holds up a sheet of paper pasted to posterboard, reading “#SAVE CHILDREN FROM FASCISM” [sic].
It sounds like an implicit message of support for the rebels of Ukrainian. Those rebels, allegedly funded and armed by the Kremlin, have been fighting against the Ukranian government in an ever-escalating war. As of this morning, there are reports that as many as a thousand Russian soldiers have now joined that war. That, it seems, is how Russia intends to save children from fascism.
In short, this is chauvinistic Russian propaganda.
By Peter Hassett 8 years ago
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin let Evgeny Kuznetsov (whom I’m praying has a license) drive the $500,000 Ovi Mobile to Verizon Center today. The Russian machine blasted Finnebassen’s electronica hit What You Do and then shot an Instagram video while driving.
Kids, don’t try this at home. Actually, Ovi, you probably shouldn’t do this either.
After long negotiations, the Russian National Broadcasting Company (VGTRK) has secured the rights to broadcast the NHL on their sports channels (free SD Russia 2 and cable HD Sport 1).
Back when RMNB was in its infancy, I described what it was like to be a fan of the Washington Capitals in Moscow. Staying up until 6am and searching the internet for feeds of Caps games (where there’s no guarantee I will hear Joe B. and Locker), is neither convenient or healthy.
Understanding this shortfall, the NHL started offering a Russian version of their website this season, and they allowed Europeans to watch games on NHL GameCenter Live. The VGTRK deal — which was completed in November — is another step towards globalizing the NHL.
By 10 years ago
