It’s complicated with Ovechkin. Always has been. Right now, he’s navigating a course between being a successful professional athlete making millions of dollars living in the U.S., a loyal Russian national boosting the political aspirations of an authoritarian Russian leader with international interests diametrically opposed to the U.S., and burnishing his image as an upstanding, charitable member of the NHL community.

Each story line highlights a different side of Ovechkin. But you cannot pretend the others don’t exist.

-Damien Cox of the Toronto Star where you can read more on Ovechkin.