President Donald Trump is never someone who is going to be confused with getting basic facts right. And that extends to the hockey world in a bizarre statement seeming to suggest that Washington Capitals superstar Alexander Ovechkin was from Canada.
Trump has had a fascination with annexing Canada as the 51st state ever since taking office for the second time earlier this year. In fact, his boisterous rhetoric towards neighbors north of the border totally flipped Canada’s recent election where the Liberal party of departing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau were heavy underdogs in polling to Conservatives until Trump became the decisive factor.
That rhetoric has certainly impacted the hockey world as well with the recent 4 Nations Face-Off captivating the continent with the political feud between the countries hovering over the event. And the American president has ties to the hockey world as well with a close relationship with Wayne Gretzky, who has drawn criticism from his fellow Canadians over his connection to Donald Trump.
But Alexander Ovechkin? The man who just broke Gretzky’s all time NHL scoring record? He’s definitely from Russia. Not Canada.
In meandering, wandering comments in the White House around meeting with newly elected Canadian Prime Ministry Mark Carney, Trump seemed to not only think that Alexander Ovechkin was from Canada, but he seemed to totally forget his name as well.
Trump says “I have a lot of respect for the Canadians…Wayne Gretzky.”
Then he references Alex Ovechkin—who is Russian. pic.twitter.com/bFevtCs5Hm
— Sawyer Hackett (@SawyerHackett) May 6, 2025
“I love Canada. I have a lot of respect for the Canadians. Wayne Gretzky. How good, The Great One. You happen to have a very, very good hockey player right here on the Capitals who I have a lot, he is a big, tough cookie too. Just broke the record. And he’s a great guy, you know we had the team here, I got to know a lot of the players, but no Canada is a very special place.” Trump said.
It’s ironic given that the country Alexander Ovechkin actually hails from has been the one most synonymous with the Donald Trump era in Russia. And Ovechkin has been used by Russian President Vladimir Putin as something of a global ambassador throughout his career.
In case you’re wondering, Trump did welcome the Capitals and Ovechkin to the White House, but that was all the way back in 2019 after they won the Stanley Cup. It’s far from Trump’s first memory lapse, but the fact that it came up in a debate on whether or not the entire country of Canada is for sale is just one more sign of the times.
