Regardless of what NHL commish Gary Bettman and everyone else agrees on, Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis said he’ll definitely let his Russian star, Alex Ovechkin, compete in Sochi next year.
“I’m going to let him go,” Leonsis told the Washington Post. “I just think it’s kind of a once-in-a-lifetime thing for him to have something played in Russia. He’s going to be a torchbearer and it’s very important to him and his family. Who am I to get in the way of him wanting to fulfill that?”
However, Leonsis admitted it was a “slippery slope” since he has a team of top players from around the world who want to compete for their home nations.
“We’ll have to cross that bridge when we get to it,” added Leonsis, who considers the NHL a player’s league. “But I think that I’m going to lean to the side of the players in that one.”
Let’s hope the rest of the owners follow suit.