Protesters rally outside NHL game in Canada to make wild case for banning Alex Ovechkin from the country

Russian sports teams are already banned from most athletic competitions around the world, but for some Ukrainian protesters, that isn't enough.Looking to hone in on individual athletes, protesters in Ottawa, Canada's capital, called for banning the greatest goal-scorer in NHL history, Alexander Ovechkin.'Ovechkin is promoting Russia’s genocide against Ukraine.'Ovechkin and his Washington Capitals visited the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, and drew a crowd of Ukrainian supporters outside the arena. The picketers were part of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress and held signs like "Ban Ovechkin" outside the Canadian Tire Centre arena.One of its members, Mike Ryndzak, told the Canadian state broadcaster that it was "absolutely not acceptable" for Ovechkin, a native Russian, to support his country during the Russia-Ukraine war."It's a war. Destruction and devastation is going on as we speak and for them it's business as usual," Ryndzak said.The UCC's website indeed calls for Ovechkin to be denied entry to Canada entirely, claiming he is breaking Canadian law by supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin and "promoting Russia's genocide against Ukraine.""Under Canada’s Criminal Code (Sec. 318 (1)), promoting or advocating genocide is an indictable offence," the organization's website says. "By explicitly, continually and publicly endorsing Russian president Putin and his political party, Ovechkin is promoting Russia's genocide against Ukraine." RELATED: ESPN reporter asks Alex Ovechkin if he would 'support the genocide' of Ukraine — Ovechkin doesn't budge The protest comes off the back of Prime Minister Mark Carney saying Russian and Belarusian junior hockey players will not be allowed into the country to play in the World Junior Ice Hockey Championship in Western Canada at the end of the year."There will be none of those athletes competing for their countries in Canada," Carney said, per CBC, referring to the teenage players.In a media scrum on Tuesday, Ovechkin advocated for the young players to be allowed in and said the fans wanted to see them."The fans want to see best players out there, and the fans want to see young generation players who [are] gonna be future stars, future NHLers. But, you know, it's not up to us," Ovechkin remarked.When asked about the protesters rallying against him outside the arena, the 41-year-old shrugged off the question, saying: "I just heard about it this morning, and I don't know what to say. Lots of protests going on around the world so, yeah."RELATED: Alex Ovechkin and most of Washington Capitals players skip Pride Night ritual Photo by DAVE CHAN/AFP via Getty Images Ukraine-supporting sports journalists have gone after Ovechkin for some time over the matter, but none went after the athlete as hard as ESPN reporter Robert Klemko did in September.Klemko attempted to pin down Ovechkin after he appeared in a pro-Putin ad, saying it "feels to people like a pro-war stance."He also asked the hockey player if he would support a "genocide" committed by Russia."Oh. I would say, like, I'm, I hope it's not gonna, it's not gonna be like that," Ovechkin replied.There are 58 active Russian players in the NHL, including Ottawa Senators defenseman Artem Zub, who played significant minutes in Tuesday night's 3-2 Capitals win.The Senators will host the Capitals once more in April.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!