Russian NHL star Alexander Ovechkin is making his way across Western Canada this week as his team, the Washington Capitals, take on the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks.

Ovechkin doesn’t find a lot of fans in these provinces, typically, due to the fact he arrived on the ice as a natural enemy, playing for an opposing team. But his reception in Calgary and Edmonton has been a bit frostier than usual and it boils down to Ovechkin’s historically strong ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

At both games earlier this week, his mere presence on the ice resulted in a chorus of boos from Prairie-dwelling crowds.

It’s likely he’ll be met with similar hostility on Friday night, when the Capitals face off against the Canucks in Vancouver.

The Western Canadian provinces are home to some of Canada’s largest concentrations of the Ukrainian diaspora. In fact, Canada is home to the third-largest population of Ukrainians in the world.

Edmonton is home to 160,000 people of Ukrainian descent, and there are 370,000 in Alberta, according to the 2016 Canadian census. There are roughly 1.4 million people of Ukrainian background living in Canada, more than anywhere outside Ukraine and Russia.

So, Ovechkin’s unwavering friendship with Putin has caused quite a bit of frustration and outrage for hockey fans and former players.

Putin has long been passionate about ice hockey and has nurtured his relationship with Ovechkin over the years. It’s no secret that Ovechkin holds a special place in the president’s heart.

The relationship is reciprocated on Ovechkin’s end, too. He started an online social movement in 2017 to support Putin winning Russia’s 2018 election, and was also supportive of Putin when the Russian leader invaded and annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, reports The New York Times.