Ovechkin over the summer expressed interest to the Caps front office in playing an NHL game in RussiaGETTY IMAGES
Capitals Owner Ted Leonsis said that the franchise is "'all in' on playing a regular season game in Russia, perhaps as soon as next year,” according to Samantha Pell of the WASHINGTON POST. After Capitals LW Alex Ovechkin traveled to China this summer to "serve as an international ambassador for the league, he expressed interest to the Capitals’ front office in playing an NHL game in Russia." Leonsis said that Ovechkin “saw the impact he had in reaching young players and teaching them about the NHL in China and wanted to replicate it in his home country.” Leonsis: “We will wait to see if the league can handle the scheduling and how it will work with the U.S. and Russia, but we would like to do it, and we think it would be good for the game.” He added, “[Ovechkin] has been perfect in how he has handled everything, and so it is a small way we can say thank you, and he deserves that.” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said that the league is “having ‘preliminary discussions to explore the possibilities’ of a game in Russia either next season or the following one.” Bettman had said that if the league “were to do games in Russia, it would be ‘regular season games with two NHL teams.’” The league already announced two overseas games next season as part of its ‘20 Global Series in the Czech Republic and Finland (WASHINGTON POST, 12/14).
