The hockey star Alex Ovechkin, center among Russian professional athletes in the public’s anger over the war in Ukraine, played before the most unsympathetic crowd yet.
Ovechkin, President Vladimir V. Putin’s high-profile supporter, and his Washington Capitals teammates faced the Oilers on Wednesday night in Edmonton, Alberta, home to one of Canada’s largest concentrations of the Ukrainian diaspora.
Andriy Tovstiuk of Edmonton works with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress organizing fund-raising, rallies, demonstrations and humanitarian relief efforts in Alberta for Ukraine. He was at Wednesday’s game at Rogers Place.
“I think we’re going to be loud, we’re going to be fired up,” said Tovstiuk, whose organization is working with both the Oilers and the Calgary Flames, who lost to the Capitals, 5-4, on Tuesday, to raise money for Ukraine through its 50-50 draws, which frequently hit more than $1 million.