Don Cherry Makes a Bold Statement About Alexander Ovechkin

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Sam Walker
February 2, 2023 (1:34 PM)

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"The great 8", arguably one of the best goal scorers of todays generation has gained the honour of being one of the best to ever lace the skates up, with 812 goals and 1464 points since being drafted in 2005, Ovechkin shows zero signs of slowing down.

As of late Ovechkin has been criticized due to his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Ovechkin faced the NHL media when Ukraine was invaded by Russia and the war broke loose. Why? Well, Ovechkin is a big "fan" and has a huge relationship with Vladimir Putin, despite all of the reports of Putin's rough actions, Ovechkin did not remove any photos of Putin throughout his social media.

Russian players across the country of Canada and USA have been banned from re-entering the US or Canada due to what is currently going on in Ukraine, the CHL has even banned Russians from taking part in the draft, and much more. Fans have even called out the NHL, in hopes for Ovechkin to be banned, but former hot take specialist Don Cherry defended Ovechkin in a recent article with the Toronto Sun:

He's a hockey player, he has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine. None of this is his fault. He's not involved in it.

It's the same crowd that went after me, they don't care about hockey, and it's not about hockey. Alex is a great player and great person, and he deserves better than to be treated like this.

It's all about how he is playing and this guy, as he goes for Wayne Gretzky's goal scoring record of 894, is playing hard.

As cited by Houseofhockey.net, Ovechkin and Cherry did not always have the best relationship, but Cherry still stands by his strong opinions.