Chasing Greatness: Alex Ovechkin

By Matt Quinn

Wayne Gretsky. The legendary Canadian was introduced to the hockey world in 1978, after winning the World Junior Championships. He was then traded from the WHA (World Hockey Association) team Indianapolis Racers to the big leagues and the Edmonton Oilers. It was from there that he began to craft the greatest hockey career of all time. By the time it was all said and done and the sun set on his career, he had set tons of records, including arguably the most impressive, top goal scorer in NHL History. He ended his career with a total of 894 regular season goals, 1,963 assists, 2,857 total points and 50 hat tricks on top of winning four Stanley Cups. Those numbers are astonishing and are almost insurmountable, except for one.

When Gretsky was putting the finishing touches on a Hall of Fame career, a young Alex Ovechkin was a few years away from making his professional debut, as a 16 year old in the Russian Super League. He would spend 3 years with Dynamo Moscow before being drafted in the 2004 NHL Draft by the Washington Capitals. Fast forward twenty years, and Alexander Ovechkin is on the precipice of doing something nobody thought would ever be done. He currently as of writing this article, is now less than thirty goals away from catching the Great One with 868 goals. In mid-October, in a win against the Utah Hockey Club he collided with another players’ knee and has been out with a lower body injury since then. That injury sure does complicate his chase for greatness but the future Hall of Famer still has a legitimate opportunity to break the record. Whether he does it this year or not, if he continues on the pace he was on before he got injured, he should hit that record either this year but most likely next year. 

The question for most of Ovechkin’s career was, “Can he win the big one?” and for a while it seemed like he was destined to have a Dan Marino of hockey type of career, having been great but not winning a championship, but that all changed in 2018. Exorcising some demons along the way, the Washington Capitals bested the Vegas Golden Knights in 5 games to lift that precious Lord Stanley’s Cup.

Now the question is, can he possibly overtake Gretsky? It’s important to understand the gravity of this incredible accomplishment. Just for context, Gretsky sits at 894 total goals, Ovechkin is at 868. The next player closest to him is Mr. Hockey himself, Gordie Howe, at 801 goals. That’s quite a big drop off from second place and Gordie Howe was long thought of as the greatest player of all time before Gretsky showed up. If Ovechkin plays say two or three more years, he could potentially flirt with 1,000 career regular season goals. Now that is admittedly a long shot and would take some MVP level play from the 36 year old Ovechkin to accomplish, but he was technically leading the NHL in goals scored this season before his injury, so he is still capable of breaking some records.

Ultimately, nobody knows if he will actually break the record. A lot can happen in a long 82 game NHL season. But there’s no question that Ovie is a first ballot Hall of Famer and will go down as one of the greatest players to ever play the game.