Washington Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin continues to deal with backlash from his relative soft stance against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. On Tuesday, it was announced that Ovechkin's MassMutual commercial has been pulled and will no longer air on television, as ESPN's Greg Wyshynski noted. However, the commercial can still be viewed on Mass Mutual's YouTube channel.

The commercial featured Ovechkin alongside teammate Nicklas Backstrom explaining to Ovechkin's wife why they are such an exceptional team, while eating cereal. The commercial was released as this NHL season began back in October and mostly received raving reviews. Most people found it quite funny.

However, Ovechkin has come under fire after his press conference where he talked about the current war in Ukraine. Ovechkin did denounce the war, saying “Please, no more war… It doesn't matter who is in the war, Russia, Ukraine, different countries, I think we live in a world, like, we have to live in peace and a great world.” However, he prefaced the statement with “Well, he is my president… I am not in politics. Like, I’m an athlete.”

Ovechkin has openly been a longtime supporter of Russian President Putin. He publicly endorsed Putin and went so far as to help the campaign in 2017, forming a social media movement “Putin Team.”

This news comes as the NHL has suspended business activities in Russia. FIFA, the IOC and many other bodies and organizations are also increasing pressure on Russia as more video is released of the atrocities happening in Ukraine.