The Washington Post - USA (2022-05-02)

D2 EZ SU THE WASHINGTON POST.MONDAY, MAY 2 , 2022

BOXING

Stevenson easily wins

decision over Valdez

World Boxing Organization
champion Shakur Stevenson
handed Oscar Valdez the first
loss of his career late Saturday
night in a junior lightweight
championship bout.
What some thought could be
a fight of the year candidate
turned into a one-sided boxing
clinic.
Stevenson (18-0, nine KOs)
won by unanimous decision and
took Valdez’s World Boxing
Council belt.
Stevenson displayed faster
hands, exquisite footwork and
overall better boxing skills than
Valdez. Stevenson outpunched
his opponent 189 -110 and landed
53 percent of his power
punches.
Judge Tim Cheatham had the
fight scored 117-110, while Dave
Moretti and David Sutherland
had it 118-109.

AUTO RACING
Rain stopped the action only
78 laps into the 400 -mile
NASCAR Cup Series race at

Dover (Del.) Motor Speedway. With a green flag start just after 3 p.m., and no lights at the concrete mile track, NASCAR faced a tight window to reach the halfway mark needed for an official race. So it will fire the engines again at noon Monday with Hendrick Motorsports teammates Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott starting 1-2.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL Jay Heath, Arizona State’s No. 2 scorer last season and a D.C. native, is transferring to Georgetown, the schools announced Saturday. A 6-foot-3 guard who scored 10.6 points per game, Heath played one season for the Sun Devils after spending his first two years at Boston College. Heath played the last two years of his high school career at Woodrow Wilson (which has been renamed Jackson-Reed High). — Cindy Boren Brinae Alexander is joining the Maryland women’s basketball team as a graduate transfer, the program announced. The 6-footer was Vanderbilt’s

top scorer last season, averaging 15.2 points per game and shooting 36 percent from three- point range.

HOCKEY The Pittsburgh Penguins will begin their first-round playoff matchup with the New York Rangers without Tristan Jarry, though they haven’t ruled out the all-star’s return before the end of the series. Coach Mike Sullivan characterized Jarry as “day-to- day” but indicated Jarry would not be available when the best- of-seven series opens in New York on Tuesday.... Kyle Connor scored his 47 th goal of the season at 9:05 of the third period to rally the Winnipeg Jets to a season- ending 4-3 win over the visiting Seattle Kraken.

TENNIS Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic criticized Wimbledon’s decision to exclude Russian and Belarus players from this year’s tournament following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The two tennis greats said Wimbledon acted unfairly.

“I think it’s very unfair [on] my Russian tennis mates, my colleagues.... It’s not their fault what’s happening in this moment with the war,” Nadal, a 21-time Grand Slam winner, said in Spain, where both he and Djokovic are preparing to play in the Madrid Open. “I’m sorry for them,” Nadal said. “Wimbledon just took their decision.... The government didn’t force them to do it.”... Naomi Osaka and Garbiñe Muguruza were among leading players to be knocked out of the Madrid Open on a day of upsets. Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo beat Osaka, 6-3, 6-1, in the second round on the Spanish capital’s outdoor clay courts. Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam winner, enjoyed six aces but had her serve broken five times by Sorribes Tormo. Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina brushed aside Muguruza, 6-3, 6 -0.... Sebastián Báez enjoyed a straight-set victory over American Frances Tiafoe to win the Estoril Open in Portugal. Báez won, 6-3, 6-2, on the outdoor clay court for the 2 1-year-old Argentine’s first

DIGEST

career title.

MISC. Cassidy Weeks scored six goals as second-seeded Boston College eliminated Virginia from the ACC women’s lacrosse tournament in South Bend, Ind. The Cavaliers dropped to 9-9.... Katie Ledecky and Caeleb Dressel highlight a 41-member U. S. swimming team that will compete at this summer’s world

championships in Budapest. The squad was selected at a meet in Greensboro, N.C., that ended Saturday night. Ledecky claimed victories in four freestyle events ranging from 200 to 1,500 meters. She will look to add to the 15 gold medals and three silvers she won at the last four world championships. — From news services and staff reports

TELEVISION AND RADIO MLB 7 p.m. Minnesota at Baltimore » MASN, WIYY (97.9 FM) 7 p.m. Atlanta at New York Mets » MLB Network NBA PLAYOFFS 7:30 p.m. Eastern Conference semifinal, Game 1: Philadelphia at Miami » TNT 10 p.m. Western Conference semifinal, Game 1: Dallas at Phoenix » TNT STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS 7 p.m. Eastern Conference first round, Game 1: Boston at Carolina » ESPN 7:30 p.m. Eastern Conference first round, Game 1: Tampa Bay at Toronto » ESPN2 9:30 p.m. Western Conference first round, Game 1: St. Louis at Minnesota » ESPN 10 p.m. Western Conference first round, Game 1: Los Angeles at Edmonton » ESPN2 AUTO RACING Noon NASCAR Cup Series: Duramax Drydene 400 » Fox Sports 1 SOCCER 3 p.m. English Premier League: Brentford at Manchester United » USA Network TENNIS 5 a.m. ATP/WTA: Madrid Open, early rounds » Tennis Channel COLLEGE SOFTBALL 7 p.m. Tennessee at Mississippi » SEC Network

Capitals vs. Panthers Best-of-seven series Tomorrow: at Florida, 7:30 (ESPN2) Thursday: at Florida, 7:30 (TBS) Saturday: at Washington, 1 (ESPN) May 9: at Washington, 7 (TBS) May 11*: at Florida, TBA May 13*: at Washington, TBA May 15*: at Florida, TBA * if necessary; all games also on NBC Sports Washington

ent games than the regular season,” Ovechkin said. “Obvi- ously, they have a very solid group of guys, best team in the regular season. But in the playoffs. It’s going to be different. It’s going to be a different mind-set. It’s going to be different speed. It’s going to be a different battle level.”

combined score of 9-2 before a 3-2 defeat at the New York Rang- ers on Friday. Despite t hat poor showing, t he Capitals are confident they can bounce back. Washington was 1-1-1 against Florida this season, but the teams have not met since November. “It’s going to be totally differ-

“Obviously he is the best goal scorer in the league,” defense- man Dmitry Orlov said. “You can see in the last three games we didn’t score a lot. For sure, we need him as a captain, as a leader, as our goal scorer.” Washington was 0-3 in i ts final three games — back-to-back loss- es to the New York Islanders by a

thing is changing. It’s a totally different game... so I think we’re all excited. We a ll can’t w ait for Game 1.” Ovechkin, who had 50 goals in 77 regular season games, has not missed a playoff game in his 17-year NHL career. He has accu- mulated 71 goals and 64 assists in 141 postseason games.

postseason on the road was in
20 12.
“We just have to play the same
way on the road like we play in
the regular season,” said Ovech-
kin, whose Capitals were an
NHL-best 25-10-6 away from
home this season. “... Every-

CAPITALS FROM D1

Caps’ leading scorer appears set to make his return against Florida

of the regular season (he was injured in the contest), some of the area’s Ukrainian hockey en- thusiasts gathered on Orthodox Easter Sunday in Baltimore to celebrate their own NHL stars, filing into a theater on the east end of the city. They ate pierogies and drank Ukrainian beer before settling in their seats to view the documentary “UKE,” which depicts the stories of NHL players from Ukrainian immigrant families — including Ken Daneyko, Johnny Bucyk and Wayne Gretz- ky, who in his analyst role with TNT publicly commented on the war and the criticism Ovechkin faced in the days after the invasion. “We all agree that this is a senseless war.... Alex isn’t driving this bus. It’s this one guy that is driving this bus,” Gretzky said on the telecast, referring to Putin. “And it’s not good.” Volodymyr Mula, the director of “UKE,” lives in Kyiv but trav- eled to Baltimore for the viewing. The 32 -year-old began working on the film in 20 17; it took him more than two years to secure an interview with Gretzky, he said, and the pandemic interrupted the release date. But he also found it difficult to broach the subject of Russia and Ovechkin during de- velopment of the film. “I saw that a lot of people doesn’t want to talk about politi- cal [issues]. I started to talk about Russian aggression, what they think about Ovechkin trying to support Putin,” Mula said. “And a lot of people told me, ‘Don’t ask about it.’ And that’s a big problem. I think politics and sports is not a different field.” After showing his film, Mula received a $10,000 check from the Dnipro Ukrainian Club, which promotes Ukrainian heritage in the Mid-Atlantic, and he planned to return home and give the mon- ey to the war effort. Back in D.C., as Ovechkin and the Capitals prepare to begin their eighth consecutive postseason appearance Tuesday, Bay- dyuk will be helping manage her nonprofit, which has raised more than $22 million for Ukraine. Suvorova will be attending upcoming fundraisers that bring more awareness of the war. “There’s other things — they’re more important than just the Caps,” Suvorova said. “We just have to do what we can.” This is the most exciting time of the year to be a hockey fan, but instead Kessler feels a sense of void. She has fond memories of rooting for her favorite Capitals in the playoffs over the years — Scott Stevens, Peter Bondra and Tom Wilson among them — but she doesn’t k now when she might add more. “It’s difficult. It s tinks because I love the Caps. But I just feel like I can’t support them right now in this situation,” she said. “Which makes me sad because I still love a lot of the players on the team and I want them to do well. But I just can’t.”

should do more,” said Suvorova, whose brother and grandparents are still living in Ukraine. “[Ovechkin] has millions of fol- lowers.... People, especially young people, they look up to Ovechkin. They look up to these stars. You’re in this position, you have this power to be an example, and what example does he show right now to people? He’s just not only silent.... [The Capitals] just don’t want to do anything.” After reading about fans not being allowed into the arena, Kessler wrote to Leonsis. As a fan over the years, she had frequently written the owner to congratulate him on the team’s success or to inquire about a player, and he would often respond, she said. This letter was different. She wrote that she hoped fans would not be limited in expressing their support of Ukraine. She did not receive a response, she said. “I don’t wish anything bad on the Caps. I love the Caps. I truly do,” Kessler said. “The fact that Ovechkin’s profile photo on his Instagram is himself with Vladi- mir Putin, it sickens me. It really does.” There were no protests outside Capital One Arena before the team’s final regular season home game, when scores of fans in red and blue Ovechkin jerseys lined up outside. The majority of fans still support the team, and near- capacity crowds are expected when the Capitals’ first-round playoff series moves to Washing- ton. Baydyuk, who is an assistant research professor at George- town, has taken part in protests at the White House nearly every weekend since the war began, and in March she rallied support to hold a demonstration against Ovechkin and the Capitals in front of Capital One Arena. But she and other supporters of Ukraine faced backlash online from Capitals fans, and she didn’t feel a protest before a home game would be safe. She instead launched an online petition call- ing on the Capitals to part ways with Ovechkin, and more than 200 people have signed it. The organization did not publicly respond to the petition. Baydyuk has felt a sense of loss for not being able to root for her local team. She remembers the joy she felt when she and her family would attend games and how they cheered the Capitals’ Stanley Cup victory in 20 18. “All the big games, we always watched.... We’ve been Caps fans — up until now,” she said. “It just completely ruins the camara- derie of the sport, the feeling that you are excited about your team, that you cherish every player, that you support the team fully. It’s no longer there. For all of us, we lost this great feeling about having this wonderful team in our capital that we all support. It’s gone.”

Hockey not priority As Ovechkin was preparing to play what would be his last game

alongside Putin. In Ovechkin’s only public comments on the invasion in Febru- ary, h e pleaded for “no more war.” When asked whether he still sup- ported Putin, Ovechkin replied, “Well, he is my president. “But... I am not in politics,” the 36 -year-old continued. “I am an athlete, and, you know, how I said, I hope everything is going to be done soon. It’s hard situation right now for both sides and everything, like how I said, everything I hope is going to be end. I’m not in control of this situation.”

Protests and petition The Capitals faced backlash in early March after a fan, Margary- ta Suvorova, reported on social media that she was not allowed into the arena for a home game because she was carrying a Ukrai- nian flag. “I wasn’t even wearing the flag; I was just holding it like a scarf. T he security people told me I couldn’t bring the flag into the stadium,” said Suvorova, a Ukrai- nian who lives and works in D.C. and has attended several Capitals games over the past few years. “And then I went to Ovechkin’s [Instagram] profile and saw that he still has a profile picture with Putin. So I was like, ‘Okay, it makes sense.’... He s till supports Putin, so they don’t want all this conflict, and they don’t want to see Ukrainian and Russian flags.” Capital One Arena reiterated its policy the following day — the stadium allows national flags as long as they don’t obstruct views or hinder fans’ experience but doesn’t a llow signs that are politi- cal in nature. When Suvorova and a friend went to another game less than two weeks later, they were allowed into the arena with Ukrainian flags draped over their shoulders. One of the flags had a printout of Ovechkin’s Instagram page pinned to it, with a red box outlining his picture with the Russian leader and text below that read, “Ovechkin condemn Putin’s war.” “They can do more, and they

families overseas. We realize they are being put in a difficult situation and stand by to offer our assistance to them and their families.” Ovechkin took a pro-Kremlin stance following the invasion and annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 20 14, and he received a wedding gift from Putin in 20 17. That year, the Capitals star launched an online social media movement called PutinTeam to support the Russian leader. Though he hasn’t p osted since the invasion, Ovechkin’s Instagram profile picture still depicts him

The Capitals declined to make Ovechkin or owner Ted Leonsis available for interviews and declined to comment for this story. The team condemned the war in Ukraine in a March statement. “Monumental Sports & Enter- tainment and the Washington Capitals join the National Hockey League in condemning the Rus- sian invasion of Ukraine and the loss of innocent life,” the Capitals said in the statement. “We urge and hope for a peaceful resolu- tion as quickly as possible. The Capitals also stand in full support of our Russian players and their

fans appear to still support
Ovechkin and seem to be empa-
thetic to the position the war has
placed him and his family in. As
the face of the franchise for more
than a decade, Ovechkin still
brings undeniable star power to
every game — there are far more
No. 8 jerseys worn by fans at
home games than those of any
other Capitals player, and fans
frequently chant his name after
he scores. At the Capitals’ regular
season home finale last week, the
crowd gave him a standing ova-
tion to celebrate a historic season
in which he rose to No. 3 on the
NHL’s all-time goal list. The cer-
emony included messages from
his parents, wife and children,
who appeared via video from
Russia.
But some Ukrainians living in
the D.C. area have felt their voices
drowned out by the organization
they once rooted for. Some have
used Capital One Arena as a place
of protest, waving Ukrainian
flags. Others have signed an on-
line petition demanding the Capi-
tals cut ties with Ovechkin. Some,
such as Kessler, have boycotted
the team, believing Ovechkin and
the Capitals have not gone far
enough to condemn the war.
Ovechkin was booed during
games in March at Calgary and
Edmonton, which have large
Ukrainian populations. Ovechkin
has made the most extensive pub-
lic comments on the war of the
roughly 40 Russian players in the
NHL, many of whom have been
kept away from the media by
their teams. Russian athletes in
other sports largely have been
considered pariahs, including at
major events — Wimbledon will
prohibit players from Russia and
Belarus from its upcoming tour-
nament, and FIFA banned Russia
from international competition,
which kept it out of this year’s
World Cup.
But perhaps no player has
faced as much scrutiny as Ovech-
kin, one of Russia’s most promi-
nent athletes who has fallen into
the crosshairs of public outrage
because of his close relationship
with Putin.

Divided fan base

“I was a Caps fan for a long
time,” said Maryna Baydyuk, a
Ukrainian who is president of
United Help Ukraine, a Washing-
ton nonprofit. “In sports especial-
ly, and in this case with Alex
Ovechkin being a supporter of
Putin, it just really ruins the sense
of community that really wants to
support a team, a local team here
that is doing well. We’ve seen the
Caps fail, and we’ve seen them
win... and we’re always rooting
for them. It takes away from the
entire community because now
we’re divided. We have fans that
say that Ovechkin needs to leave
the team. We have fans that are
now saying, ‘We don’t know.’ We
have fans that are saying we
support Ovechkin and the team.
Now you have this division.”

UKRAINE FROM D1

Some f ind it impossible to support Ovechkin’s Capitals amid Russia’s invasion

COURTESY OF MARGARYTA SUVOROVA TOP: Volodymyr Mula, director of “UKE,” said a $10,000 check from the Dnipro Ukrainian Club w ould go to Ukraine’s war effort. ABOVE: M argaryta Suvorova, right, and a friend wore Ukrainian flags to a C apitals game. “ We just have to do what we can,” she said.

JULIA NIKHINSON FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

The Washington Post - USA (2022-05-02)

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