The Washington Capitals star spoke to reporters ahead of Tuesday night's away game against the Ottawa Senators in Canada.
Ovechkin - who has actively supported Russian President Vladimir Putin and recently appeared in a commercial with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov - said that "nobody" was being used as a propaganda tool by Russia, the Canadian Press reported.
You want to represent your country. It doesn't matter which one - the World Championships, the Olympics, the European Championships. You just want to go out and play, represent your country, said Ovechkin, who has said that the current NHL season will be the last of his career.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decided on October 30 to lift Russia's suspension from international ice hockey. As a first consequence, Norway was kicked out of the Junior World Championship in Canada in December and January in favour of Russia. However, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has said that Russian players will not be allowed to take part.
It's his thoughts, his decision, and I don't know how it's going to go, Ovechkin said of Carney's statement.
I'm pretty sure if you ask the fans, the fans want to see the best players out there, and the fans want to see the young generation of players who are going to be future stars. But it's not up to us, Ovechkin continued.
What do you think?