Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin will not get the chance to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan, as Russia will not be allowed to participate in the games amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. IIHF president Luc Tardif announced the decision, which ultimately came from the International Olympic Committee and is pending an official statement. “The IOC is the organizer – we only deal with the competition (the hockey tournaments) itself,” Tardif said, per hockeynews.se [https://hockeynews.se/nyheter/beskedet-ryssland-stoppas-fran-os-2026]. “We have been pressuring them to make a decision, one way or another, because we’re getting closer to the Olympics and we need to know. “Recently, they asked us to send them a schedule without Russia, so that’s where we are. The official statement is pending but the IOC has told us that they are informing the Russian Olympic Committee that they are not participating in the Olympics.” Ovechkin will be 40 when the Games get underway in Italy, and this could be the last year he'd be able to participate as an active NHL player. The Russian winger broke the NHL's all-time gaols record this past season, netting his 895th career goal on April 6 against the New York Islanders and scoring two more to set the new record at 897 and counting. In 65 games in 2024-25, Ovechkin scored 44 goals, the third-most in the NHL this season, and still managed over a point-per-game season despite missing 16 games with a broken leg. In the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he led the Capitals with five goals. Ovechkin has one year left on his NHL contract, and is expected to decide on his future after that. However, he has made it clear that he intends to finish his playing days wtih his original team, the KHL's Dynamo Moscow.
