Report: Malkin joins Ovechkin in partnership with Putin

When Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin announced that he was starting a social movement in support of his President Vladimir Putin, it raised the eyebrows of many in the hockey community. Now that his friend, Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Evgeni Malkin, is joining him in this movement… things have gotten even weirder.

The social movement is part of a reelection campaign for the controversial Russian President, whom Ovechkin describes as a close friend. 

"Personal achievements and medals - all of this great, but in hockey, like with everything, to win it's important to have a team," Ovechkin said of the Putin Team campaign.

With suspected collusion in the American election last fall and a population that’s undoubtedly been stifled under Putin, this is a bizarre and seemingly controversial stance for the two Russian superstars to be making.