Ovechkin's farewell tour hits Canada, and Canada isn't clapping

Ottawa gets the first Canadian look at Alex Ovechkin's farewell season tonight, and the welcome party is outside the building. If the Senators had a tribute video in the can, I'd leave it there.

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress is holding a demonstration called "No War Crimes in Hockey" outside the Canadian Tire Centre before the Capitals and Senators drop the puck at 7 p.m. ET.

A petition is asking the federal government to put sanctions on him. It's his first trip to Canada since he told his teammates in October that this season, his 22nd, is his last.

Why Canada is different

Every NHL building has been ready to stand and clap for the all-time goal leader this winter. A Canadian building was always going to be the exception.

Ovechkin helped launch the Putin Team movement in 2017 and said in its campaign video, "I am for Putin and I am not hiding it." For years his Instagram profile picture was a photo of him with Putin at the Kremlin from 2014.

The day after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 he said, "Please, no more war." Asked in the same session if he still supported Putin, he said, "Well, he's my president."

That's the record. Canada has a large Ukrainian community. The prime minister just said Russian players won't suit up for Russia at the world juniors in Alberta next month. A ceremony in Ottawa would have been tone-deaf. The protest is the market telling you how it feels, and the market gets to do that.

What the numbers say

Here's the part nobody in the farewell-tour business wants to say out loud.

Ovechkin has one goal and four points through 15 games, by our count, and he's pointless in seven straight. He's averaging 13.8 minutes a night, per NHL data.

In his last six games he hasn't cracked 17 and a half minutes, and two of those nights he played under 12.

Washington is 3-2 in its last five, so the Capitals aren't sinking with him. They're just not leaning on him anymore. A goodbye tour usually needs a few goals to hang the applause on. This one is running short.

The read

The rest of the Canadian swing is coming: Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver in early December, then Toronto and Montreal, and Ottawa again on April 8. Tonight sets the tone for all of it.

My call: the league says nothing, the Capitals keep him to hockey questions, and if he's asked about the rally his answer sounds a lot like "I am not in politics." The crowd inside will be split. The boos will be the story on Wednesday morning, not the score.

File under: Board room.