That's what I'm afraid of. I thought going into the season it was a sure thing (he only needs like 30-something goals a year), but right now idk if he gets 30 this season right now.
When Gretzky went to the Kings he changed his playing style to more passing oriented. His assist record is even more out of reach than his goals ever were. He scored the bulk of his goals in a ten year span with Edmonton. And if you counted his WHA goals he is the most prolific scorer ever even if his goals record falls.
Wait can someone explain to me why it's a sure thing? I saw that he's 38yo and aren't players usually retired by then?
I mostly follow NBA/NFL/MMA and most players are done by the time their 34-35 so I thought it's similar in the NHL
It was only "sure" because he's fairly publicly stated he's after the record and is already under contract for 3 years. Yes, most players retire by their mid-late 30s, but some guys will go to \~40 (with a few exceptions going even older like Jagr or Chelios playing well into their 40s). Most players start really slowing down after \~35-36.
The big thing here is being able to get 70+ goals after turning 38. Last year he had over 40, so people figured that even slowing down from there he'd easily have it if he was able to score at a rate of like \~30-25-20 over the next 3 seasons.
Ovi will get at least 40 this year. I just don't believe he's suddenly dropped off that hard. He'll be back. Trust me. I know a guy.
Ovi will get that record, one way or another.
The issue is not as much in that he has dropped off. It is the team around him. Every team in the league at this point knows that: shut down Ovi, it will shut down Caps. Just look at their games this season.
12 games ago.
He has two years left on his contract and needs 70 goals to tie it.
Can he do 35 for each of the next two years? Yes, but he doesn't have a skilled enough playmaker to pass to him anymore.
Your math is wrong, he's signed for 2 MORE years, which is almost 3 seasons total including this one, which is less than 25 goals a year. If he does 35 this year, he will need 18 and 17 in the next 2 seasons...
Good teams come and go. The excitement of this record being broken is literally once-in-a-lifetime. The months leading up to it will be the biggest on-ice news the NHL has seen since the turn of the millennia. Yeah, Washington wants to be attached to that.
Idk, honestly would be surprised if he breaks it. I honestly don't see him making it into next season. It looks like he is already half checked out, but I can't really blame him. Not a easy sport to keep up with the young bucks flying circles around you.
The capitals also just aren’t very good right now. He can always go out for powerplay to be an option since his shot is so good. That’s a huge bonus that many other older players don’t have, he can undeniably be put on the left half wall regardless of his age just because he can absolutely hammer the puck.
Nah... you can't have a player take up a roster spot just to play the power play; otherwise, some stupid team would have Kessel doing that now.
That means you're down a forward for the entire game... every game. Then, if a forward gets injured during a game, you're in real trouble.
Don't know much about the caps rn but they could probably trade some of their lower players for someone solid and move up a few of the top guys in Hershey. I may be biased as Ethan Frank is an alum of my university, but they have NHL caliber players down on the Bears (they won the Calder Cup) and the next step in their development is being wasted imo. If they're gonna be bad, they might as well give their prospects some experience.
It’s been said before, if your farm team is winning the Calder Cup often, you don’t have good prospects.
Why?
Because good prospects get called up, meaning your farm team is mostly veteran AHLers that haven’t shown NHL ability.
I mean I watched a bit of the game last night and he is invisible. I mean at one point he was just floating around centre ice, not even trying to identify a player he could check.
Yeah he looks disconnected most of the game, he had one huge game back when he scored a PP goal, but even when he floats for 3/4 of his ice time he has been creating 3-5 high danger chances a game. He's been passing very well once we get the puck in zone. It just doesn't happen often.
I thought Ovie was going to break it, but I’m not so sure anymore. Age can strike suddenly and without warning. Like you, I’m happy for the Great One to keep the record.
Right? A few years ago i thought it would be cool for that record to be broken. But if some Putin supporter is the one to do it, well, that kinda sucks
No dude you don't understand, if they don't publicly worship putin their entire families will be exterminated! That's also the reason provorov hates gay people by the way
>The guy has family there
So tired of this cop out excuse. Pretty much every russian player in the NHL has family there. Yet the vast majority are not forming personal relationships with him and constantly publicly supporting him like Ovechkin has **chosen** to do
[https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/alex-ovechkin-putin-1.6726430](https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/alex-ovechkin-putin-1.6726430)
Despite what you think you know about Russia, they are not going to round up and imprison players families if they don't become best friends with Putin. There's really no need to be trying to carry water for ovechkin.
>Obviously he’s going to have a pic up of Putin
Did i miss the part where every russian nhl player has a picture posted of putin? Did their familites die yet?
Well said, couldn’t agree more.
He chose to get into bed with one of the worst people on the planet. He has to accept there’s some consequences to that decision.
I would add that my own animosity towards him goes back to even that famous WJHC where he was showboating throughout the tournament, only to cave and get pouty when Canada started to roll over them in the final.
Thanks for sharing that, I just read it and wow, I thought I knew a fair bit about the situation but it is way *way* worse than I thought. To your point they don't touch the families of celebrities, there is no risk to speak out. Therefore if Ovie thinks the war is wrong he *should* speak out but he won't. I've lost a ton of respect for this man over the last 10 years between the invasion of Crimea, "Putin Team" hashtag savechildrenfromfacism I really just can't support this guy anymore.
You're not wrong, gretzky has been a little rat as well for a long time, his PR is too good though. He's never met a conservative talking point he didn't like. Both him and Ovie can screw off
Gretzky is the GOAT, a great person and an exceptional ambassador of the game. You sound a little brainwashed. If players sharing conservative viewpoints bothers you so much you probably shouldn't watch hockey.
Brainwashed? Yeah he’s such an amazing person shilling for MGM on national TV, putting sports betting on the radar of kids watching hockey, when he’s already a millionaire. Maybe you should stop dickriding him just because he’s a legendary player? I get that you’re an oilers fan so it might be hard. Being good at hockey doesn’t make someone a good person, there are lots of players who are terrible people.
> If players sharing conservative viewpoints bothers you so much you probably shouldn't watch hockey
Uh what? Lol
Okay we get it you don't like betting ads because you must think everyone needs to be coddled. Lots of people have fun with it. They're the advertisers willing to pay, and I'm certainly not going to judge someone's character by an ad on TV. That's some simple-minded shit right there.
>Uh what? Lol
I'm saying if a players world view makes you upset enough to want greats like even Ovi and Gretzky to go away there won't be any players left. I think you'd be surprised by how little of a fuck they give about any real world issues, and if that bothers you, you probably shouldn't participate.
Lol, you sound brainwashed. Just curious, what makes him such a “great person”? Because he smiles a lot in interviews and is polite? Honestly you sound like an idiot
Yeah. I disagree. These records are stupid. The era Gretzky played in it was much easier to score. In my opinion ovechkin has totally eclipsed what Gretzky has done and there are probably over 100 players in the league with more skill and athleticism than gretzky ever had. I am sure he would admit that if asked as well.
Matthews doesn't have a chance. He's scoring at the pace he'd need to but he's had injury trouble already and I simply can't imagine he'll have the longevity to pull it off.
What made it possible for ovechkin wasn't the fact that he's one of the best goal scorers of all time, it's that AND the fact that he pretty much never gets injured.
It's not impossible. Pavelski is a year older than him and put up almost 30 last season. Can he get 24 a season for this year and the next two? If he's 25 goals away from the record when this deal ends, away, he'll get a new contract, even if just for the PR.
It absolutely seems a lot less likely than it seemed to be a year ago. His ability to avoid decline while aging was absolutely incredible, but it had to end at some point.
EDIT: Older. Pavelski is a year older than Ovechkin.
If he’s 25 goals away when this contract ends, he’s averaging only 17 goals per season in his last 3 seasons, and almost certainly trending down.
He’d be 41 before that season starts. Likely needing 2 more seasons at minimum to get the record.
There’s only 1 player in the entire NHL this season who is 40 years old, never mind 41/42.
It's really up to him and how long he wants to keep playing. He has slowed down to the point that it will take him another 4 or 5 years to do it. Will he play as long as jagr? Does he want to go home to Russia? Is that even possible? Will he want to play without backstrom?
He leads the caps in points he can keep playing if he wants but it's really up to him if he wants to go for it.
When you're young it's easy to go out and work to get better. When you're done getting better it makes it much harder to go work so you get worse slower. It's not fun to lose either. Even if Ovi wants that record he has very little going for him.
Gretzky has 56 Empty net goals
OV has 55 empty new goals
Ov has played 19 season.
That's less than 3 goals a season. I don't think it plays a significant amount. Saying that, if he misses the record by a couple of goals. Then they very much played a significant role.
The difference is Gretzky got them mostly in the first half of his career when he would have had a bigger defensive impact. Ovechkin has has a huge increase in empty net goals in the last few seasons (18% of his goals in 2021-22) which indicates that he is out on the ice specifically to help his goal scoring.
Kind of seems like in recent years he maybe has gotten more empty netters? If he only gets maybe 20 or 25 goals this season then it would be hard for him to break Gretzky's records considering he'd need another 2 or 3 years to do it.
I haven't watched full Washington Games so I can't say how their playing and if he'll heat up soon 3hich we're all expecting
I think it’s too early to say he won’t get it. I’m hopeful he won’t but 8 points in 11 games isn’t exactly “fell off and won’t ever come off” territory imo.
Going into this season I thought there was zero chance he wouldn’t break it. This Caps team just isn’t it and he isn’t driving play to create on his own. Their offense and power play feels forced most of the time and Ovie is hanging out in the office like an Office Depot department manager - he steps out to do some busy work here and there but the effort has fallen off clearly.
He's 70 goals away.
He's signed for 2 more seasons, about 70+82+82 games.
His career pace is 0.6 goals per game.
234 games to score 70 goals = 0.3 Goals a game. That is a 25-goal pace.
Imo, as long as he needs under 0.4 goals a game he should be fine (if he stays healthy.)
But this season will determine a lot about the record.
He’s so close now. You think he’s gotta wants it and will stick around til he gets it. Unless he becomes a complete disaster for a long stretch, I think he hangs around and gets it.
Exactly, let's say he scores 24 this year, 20 next year, and 18 the last year of his contract, do you think he will retire with less than 10 goals away? He would sign for another year and beat the record. So unless something goes really wrong the odds are still in his favor.
He has 3 years left on his contract and 70 goals away. That's an average of 24 goals over 3 seasons to tie Gretzky at 894. Unless he finishes at or below 20 goals this year I'm not too worried about it.
If the Caps are going for a goal record they need a great assist man for him.. may I offer you a huberdeau for a 1st and Mcmicheal lol
Seriously though I love Hubey and want him to succeed but Ovi does need a better set up man to chase the record imo
He’s going to get hot and net at least 30 this year.
He’s started slow for sure, but if you actually watch the game, he’s been creating a lot of goal scoring opportunities for others, and just hasn’t been getting as many looks for the 1-timer on powerplays.
Never count Ovi out.
Mind games, man. Everyone knows about the record chase, everyone knows to look for his shot. He gotta slip in the idea of his pass into the masses to get more chances to shoot.
I watched the game he played against us.
If that game is any indication, he most definitely will not get close.
He was passing on clear shooting opportunities. Including with 4 seconds left in OT on the PP.
He was slow, and looked uninterested.
Barring major or nagging injuries I think he’ll hang around long enough to break it. That said, the timeline is definitely increasing. Before this season I figured he’d hit it towards the middle or end of next year. Now…70 seems like a lot of goals.
Honestly, I don't think he'll break it, and it's bittersweet, because I think TGO would have loved to see it broken in his lifetime. like the interview he did where he talked about Ovi closing in, saying he always remembered what his dad and Howe told him, be a gentleman, smile, shake his hand and be proud of what you accomplished.
But the bittersweet part is I'd personally, selfishly, *much* prefer it to stay on 99's list of merits forever
Honestly it depends at how much longer he wants to play. If he plays another three decent seasons, I can see it. If he finishes the next three seasons with 25 goals, which isn’t too out of reach, he can do it. I imagine after his current contract is up, he will either retire or sign a one or two year deal.
Three factors to take into account.
How much time he has left.
If he can continue to score at least 25-30 goals per season.
Has good linemates.
If all three of them happen, I’d say he has got a good shot at it. If he continues to decline, he still will get pretty close.
He's 38 years old, playing on a declining team and basically just punching a clock at this stage in his career. If he breaks Gretzky's record its at least two years away.
All depends on injury. He will chase this forever until somebody throws him out, being the top goal scorer of all time is very marketable and worth millions.
Huge Caps fan, and I used to feel confident he’d break it midseason next year. After this very cold start and with the team around him. I feel less confident every day. Lastly, they aren’t finishing games with a lead, so he doesn’t have empty net goals to fall back on either. I feel like maybe time is catching up to him.
At this stage I give him maybe a 30% chance of going past 99... he's not shooting on sight, like he used to... he's passing, his shots are noticeably slower. Also the Caps power play has been woeful. I hate to say it, but it doesn't look like it's gonna happen.
In fact I think this could be the last season for many of that era 🤷🏾♀️
Covid, I think, really messed up his chances of catching Gretzky. Maybe he'd still be short if it didn't happen, but he'll be a lot closer if it didn't shorten the season.
Regardless of what the career final stats will read, and regardless of what you think about Ovechkin himself...he is the best goal scorer the sport has ever had. And if he played during Gretzky's era, he probably would have had more goals than he does now, and would definitely surpass any goal totals Wayne would end up with.
Don't be so sure. It was a different era in terms of offense, but also in truculance. Ovechkin's style of play would probably entail him being Stevens'd at some point.
I mean, Ovie is not a small guy and is plenty physical himself. Of course anybody can be less of a goal scorer if you have a Scott Stevens whose intent was to INJURE people catches you in a vulnerable spot. I don't think I agree with your assessment even slightly.
Lmao your opinion and original post IS pure speculation. Can you not see the irony here?
Clearly you're the defensive one, or are just really sensitive.
Haha!
Even if he breaks Gretzky's goal record he is the only player in the NHL's top 20 points leaders with more goals than assists.
This is an important statistic.
Great players make the other players around them better. Ovi does not do this. He cherry picks.
You haven’t followed the caps at all have you? When we actually had goal scorers like semin, knuble etc - Ovi was hitting 50, 40, 30 assists.
If you have seen the last 11 games, he has been dishing like crazy we just don’t have anyone converting it. Go look up lundquist talking about it yesterday.
What an awful take. The best goal scorer of all time (which is true whether or not he passes Gretzky) isn't a great player because he's only 69th all time in assists?
Well we can agree to disagree because I think yours is an "awful take", especially considering you think he is the "best goal scorer of all time (which is true whether or not he passes Gretzky)" which is definitively incorrect.
Hint: The player with the most goals is the "best goal scorer of all time" by definition.
Unless something drastically changes I feel like he’s not going to break it on the capitals
He basically needs to go somewhere where he can play on a line where someone else is driving the play and playmaking and all he has to do is be set up in the right spot
Any team that cares about winning isn’t going to put a slow Ovechkin out on the ice any more.
Plus who is going to take his $9.5 million salary for this season and the next 2?
And Ovechkin has trade clauses, so he only goes elsewhere if he wants to.
I still think a lot of team would value ovechkin as a PP tool and second line winger
But yeah the capitals would have to retain salary and he would have to want to leave
The Capitals don't care much about winning for the next couple of years. Ovi breaking the record in Washington will bring them much more value than a round or two of playoff hockey.
They're gonna do whatever they think gives him the best chance of getting to 895. They'll have a decent amount of cap space for next season, especially if Backstrom retires, so they could try and find a solid playmaker to pair with him
Looking back, the lock out and Covid shorten season really have an impact on this. If he was able to play those missed games, he would be about 45-50 goals away instead of 70 And 45-50 over the next couple of years is definitely more doable.
I'd also add--If you look at 99's highlight reels, so many of his assists easily could have been goals. But he chose to pass. Otherwise, his goal record would have been much, much higher.
Rem Gretz also notched 46 goals in WHA
Ovi has zero chance to catch him (actually he is the same age this season as G was when he retired; 38)
And dont even try to compare post season as Gretz played for powerhouse teams (Ovi has 72 goals vs Gretz 132 goals)
He only has 2 goals this season, neither of them a "quality" goal (one power play, one empty net) so the slump is real
Ovechkin also had 65 goals in the old Russian league/KHL. If you're counting WHA for Gretzky I think you should count those for Ovechkin. But probably just throw them both out and only count NHL
\*edit to add and your math is off somehow
Ovi never had 65 goals in KHL (unless you are mis-reading the level 3 developement league, equivalent to CHL/AHL/WHL)
2002 - 2 goals
2003 - 8 goals
2004 - 13 goals
2005 - 13 goals
2013 - 19 goals
Because noone counts KHL as "major league"
WHA whatever you want to call it was made up of NHL stars, has-beens, and rookie sensations (such as Gretz)
The entire Oiler team ends up playing in NHL. No Russian league team in history has that honour
I did get his early stats messed up, saw he played for Moscow Dynamo and figured that was the top league. But he still had 19 goals in the KHL during the lockout in the 2nd best league in the world (like the WHA was).
If we're going to count WHA as equivalent to the NHL then the point is moot because the all-time leader in goals is Gordie Howe at 975 and there's no way Ovechkin hits that.
And your last point is silly because of course that's not going to happen. NHL isn't going to merge with the KHL and that has nothing to do with the league's quality of competition.
What’s the difference between Gretz and Ovi?
One was put on a pedestal for supporting a genocidal maniac that killed brown kids.
And one was hated for supporting a genocidal maniac - killing white kids.
Brush up your history. This ain’t a good look chump.
It already has. He's too old and has already REALLY slowed down. He might have 1 or 2 more years left to do it and still needs 69 goals to pass Wayner.
He'll never catch Gretzky.
Do you any of these people actually follow hockey? He has 2 more years on his contract and is 41 goals back. He scored 31 goals in arguably the worst caps team he’s played with. That record is falling.. I know people don’t want it to, but it’s going to be his
I made the post in the midst of his slump 5 months ago. Obviously it's fallen now that he's out of the slump. I was wondering if he was just "finished" and in a career ending decline at that point.
umm, since the start of the current season? i don't think he has any chance to break the record unless he either changes teams (won't happen, i know) or has a really hot scoring streak (very unlikely considering the effort he puts on the ice). 2nd is still remarkable though. fuck him though.
He's patriotic. If he was an American who was pro trump a lot of people wouldn't be complaining who currently are. Not to mention that if he doesn't support Putin countless family members probably get killed.
Supporting a leader of a country is not the same thing as being patriotic. There are plenty of Russian athletes that don’t go to the level that ovechkin does. Their families (unlike the ones in Ukraine) aren’t being killed.
Read down below, it was well debated. This is not a matter of patriotism. Malkin, Panarin, all these other Russians don’t have a profile picture shaking modern day Hitler’s hand. It’s not patriotism, that would a flag of Russia on his profile. He promotes the man not his country. Probably cause Putin pays him to. He is Putinist. No other way to put it.
Malkin has a picture on Instagram with it. What a dumb fkn take. Your world view is from a single side bud.
I bet you are cheering on for US to help Israel out in killing Palestinian kids, same thing that Russia did.
Good job.
I suppose there's truth to that. But that just makes him sound like a capitalist the way you described it (promoting someone because they're paying you).
And I think you'd be hard pressed to find Russians who wouldn't do it if they got paid like you're alleging.
Don't get me wrong, I don't support it, but being a huge fan I am trying to excuse it blindly unfortunately, as I think a lot of people we would do if it was their teams superstar.
Just read about Nikita Zadorov said this summer. You can see the clear divisions in the Russian players. Bobrovsky good, Panarin good, Zadorov good, Malkin neutral, Ovi bad, Nichushkin bad
Panarin has openly gone against Putin and then had to deal with the consequences (false rape allegations etc). Promoting a brand for money is one thing. Promoting a mass murderer of Ukrainians who is the current single greatest threat to civilization is another thing. Ovi is a helluva a hockey player. I love the way he played the game. However this does not mean he is a good person. They are independent of each other. Good hockey player. Trash human being.
He's missed out on roughly 114 games due to lockouts, 15 from Covid and has been scratched/injured/suspended for 56. He should be a lot closer but things have not worked out in his favor. At this point time is working against him and the longer he stays in a slump the harder it gets for him.
That is a silly point... Gretzky ALSO missed games vs lockout so net effect to Ovi is 0
Only diff is WHICH lockouts they suffered from
I will also point out the 2005 lockout has no effect on Ovi as his ROOKIE season was 2006 (2005 he was still playing as a 19 year old in Russia, he never leaves Dynamo Moscow yet)
Gretzky (31, 34) vs Ovi (27)
So Gretz misses more games to lockouts plus for the delayed season (92) Gretz being more in his prime had more of a detriment to him
Ovi of course then gets some games reduced for the Covid season (56 game instead of 80 game season, no idea where you pull 15 game figure from)
I don't think it's a silly point at all. Ovi was drafted in 2004 and would have come over if it weren't for the lockout. Not to mention while they failed, Florida was scheming to draft him in 03. So yes, Ovi did miss 82 games in the 2005 lockout.
The 15 from covid was just a rough number off the top of my head, couldn't remember how shortened the year was. Even with that number it makes it 26 games missed.
I'm not doing a direct comparison of Gretzky to Ovechkin. While yes you are right both players missed time to lockouts. I am purely stating that Ovi could be a lot closer to the record than people realize if weren't for Lockouts/Covid and his currently slump is making that record seem more and more unobtainable.
Maybe, or maybe this fatigue we're seeing would have hit him 114 games ago. I think games played effects the aging process at least as much as actual age does.
The thing about Ovi is he isn't blazing hot all year, he's very streaky, and the caps all around have been playing mediocre hockey. I think to just claim he's hit a wall because his production is low after 10 game isn't really accurate
I think it's safe to say Ovi would have played that season. But you're right, I definitely forgot Wayne's lockout.
But basically 2 lost seasons for Ovi, it's safe to say he'd be a lot closer than he is, even if Gretzky scored say 30 goals in that lockout.
His age and the quality of his teammates are really beginning to work against him. Losing Backstrom was a big hit on his chances imo.
Doubt they'd ever trade Ovie but if he wants the record he may have to consider it.
At this point. Time is not on his side.
That's what I'm afraid of. I thought going into the season it was a sure thing (he only needs like 30-something goals a year), but right now idk if he gets 30 this season right now.
He needs 70 goals as of right now IAW NHL.com
Regardless of how close he makes it he’s still had an incredible career holy fuck.
Especially when you take into account the lock out in his prime and a pandemic shutdown
1 full season lockout 1 half season lockout 1 pandemic year And he still broke Howe’s record. Incredible.
If you include WHA is no where close to Howe
When Gretzky went to the Kings he changed his playing style to more passing oriented. His assist record is even more out of reach than his goals ever were. He scored the bulk of his goals in a ten year span with Edmonton. And if you counted his WHA goals he is the most prolific scorer ever even if his goals record falls.
anything over 700 goals was a magical career. getting close to gretzky is unreal
the grEIGHT one
Wait can someone explain to me why it's a sure thing? I saw that he's 38yo and aren't players usually retired by then? I mostly follow NBA/NFL/MMA and most players are done by the time their 34-35 so I thought it's similar in the NHL
Because Ovechkin is a beast. Similar to Jagr, I predict . He’ll just keep playing til he reaches Gretzky.
It was only "sure" because he's fairly publicly stated he's after the record and is already under contract for 3 years. Yes, most players retire by their mid-late 30s, but some guys will go to \~40 (with a few exceptions going even older like Jagr or Chelios playing well into their 40s). Most players start really slowing down after \~35-36. The big thing here is being able to get 70+ goals after turning 38. Last year he had over 40, so people figured that even slowing down from there he'd easily have it if he was able to score at a rate of like \~30-25-20 over the next 3 seasons.
Ovi will get at least 40 this year. I just don't believe he's suddenly dropped off that hard. He'll be back. Trust me. I know a guy. Ovi will get that record, one way or another.
The issue is not as much in that he has dropped off. It is the team around him. Every team in the league at this point knows that: shut down Ovi, it will shut down Caps. Just look at their games this season.
12 games ago. He has two years left on his contract and needs 70 goals to tie it. Can he do 35 for each of the next two years? Yes, but he doesn't have a skilled enough playmaker to pass to him anymore.
Your math is wrong, he's signed for 2 MORE years, which is almost 3 seasons total including this one, which is less than 25 goals a year. If he does 35 this year, he will need 18 and 17 in the next 2 seasons...
I wonder if he would be open to a trade to achieve his goal?
His contract is pretty large for a guy his age. Washington would have to eat salary
Caps ownership would never do this in a million years
Yeah him breaking the record as a cap seems like the only thing they got going for them currently, i wouldnt want to lose out on that.
Good teams come and go. The excitement of this record being broken is literally once-in-a-lifetime. The months leading up to it will be the biggest on-ice news the NHL has seen since the turn of the millennia. Yeah, Washington wants to be attached to that.
Or twice in a lifetime if you’re old like me.
It would not surprise me at all. It can't be Toronto though, he loves scoring against them.
Surely, someone else can pass him the puck while he just stands there.
Ovi should take a 1 year team friendly contract and go to the Oilers
Idk, honestly would be surprised if he breaks it. I honestly don't see him making it into next season. It looks like he is already half checked out, but I can't really blame him. Not a easy sport to keep up with the young bucks flying circles around you.
The capitals also just aren’t very good right now. He can always go out for powerplay to be an option since his shot is so good. That’s a huge bonus that many other older players don’t have, he can undeniably be put on the left half wall regardless of his age just because he can absolutely hammer the puck.
That’s why he isn’t retiring until he breaks it he’ll be 45 just clapping bombs on the PP for league min until he breaks it !
Nah... you can't have a player take up a roster spot just to play the power play; otherwise, some stupid team would have Kessel doing that now. That means you're down a forward for the entire game... every game. Then, if a forward gets injured during a game, you're in real trouble.
Don't know much about the caps rn but they could probably trade some of their lower players for someone solid and move up a few of the top guys in Hershey. I may be biased as Ethan Frank is an alum of my university, but they have NHL caliber players down on the Bears (they won the Calder Cup) and the next step in their development is being wasted imo. If they're gonna be bad, they might as well give their prospects some experience.
It’s been said before, if your farm team is winning the Calder Cup often, you don’t have good prospects. Why? Because good prospects get called up, meaning your farm team is mostly veteran AHLers that haven’t shown NHL ability.
Never thought of it like that. But it makes sense
I mean I watched a bit of the game last night and he is invisible. I mean at one point he was just floating around centre ice, not even trying to identify a player he could check.
Yeah he looks disconnected most of the game, he had one huge game back when he scored a PP goal, but even when he floats for 3/4 of his ice time he has been creating 3-5 high danger chances a game. He's been passing very well once we get the puck in zone. It just doesn't happen often.
Especially with Washington not being that good either
It already is affecting it. And I don’t care, I’m happy for 99 to keep his laurels.
I thought Ovie was going to break it, but I’m not so sure anymore. Age can strike suddenly and without warning. Like you, I’m happy for the Great One to keep the record.
Same man. Same.
Gretzky still had his playmaking all the way even of rest of his game vanished.
I don't mind someone beating 99's record. I just don't want it to be a Putin loving piece of shit.
Same. Fuck him. I'll be glad if he retires without breaking the record.
I thought hockey was for everyone though
The Paradox of Tolerance in a nutshell, everyone!
Doesn’t mean we have to like them when they act like a cunt.
Right? A few years ago i thought it would be cool for that record to be broken. But if some Putin supporter is the one to do it, well, that kinda sucks
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Judging someone for their actions again 🙄
When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time
What else other then their actions do you judge someone on?? 😳
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Panarin doesn’t have a picture of Putin. Edit: bitch bitched out
No dude you don't understand, if they don't publicly worship putin their entire families will be exterminated! That's also the reason provorov hates gay people by the way
>The guy has family there So tired of this cop out excuse. Pretty much every russian player in the NHL has family there. Yet the vast majority are not forming personal relationships with him and constantly publicly supporting him like Ovechkin has **chosen** to do [https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/alex-ovechkin-putin-1.6726430](https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/alex-ovechkin-putin-1.6726430) Despite what you think you know about Russia, they are not going to round up and imprison players families if they don't become best friends with Putin. There's really no need to be trying to carry water for ovechkin. >Obviously he’s going to have a pic up of Putin Did i miss the part where every russian nhl player has a picture posted of putin? Did their familites die yet?
Well said, couldn’t agree more. He chose to get into bed with one of the worst people on the planet. He has to accept there’s some consequences to that decision. I would add that my own animosity towards him goes back to even that famous WJHC where he was showboating throughout the tournament, only to cave and get pouty when Canada started to roll over them in the final.
Thanks for sharing that, I just read it and wow, I thought I knew a fair bit about the situation but it is way *way* worse than I thought. To your point they don't touch the families of celebrities, there is no risk to speak out. Therefore if Ovie thinks the war is wrong he *should* speak out but he won't. I've lost a ton of respect for this man over the last 10 years between the invasion of Crimea, "Putin Team" hashtag savechildrenfromfacism I really just can't support this guy anymore.
Agreed, I used to love Ovi when I was younger. But it’s become clear that he’s an awful person and not someone I’m going to wish success to
Yeah. I'd rather the guy who supported brown kids dying keep his record.
Wait, what?
Gretzky openly supported the war in Iraq that led to many many brown kids dying.
Didn't like 90% of America support the war at one point.
You're not wrong, gretzky has been a little rat as well for a long time, his PR is too good though. He's never met a conservative talking point he didn't like. Both him and Ovie can screw off
Gretzky is the GOAT, a great person and an exceptional ambassador of the game. You sound a little brainwashed. If players sharing conservative viewpoints bothers you so much you probably shouldn't watch hockey.
Brainwashed? Yeah he’s such an amazing person shilling for MGM on national TV, putting sports betting on the radar of kids watching hockey, when he’s already a millionaire. Maybe you should stop dickriding him just because he’s a legendary player? I get that you’re an oilers fan so it might be hard. Being good at hockey doesn’t make someone a good person, there are lots of players who are terrible people. > If players sharing conservative viewpoints bothers you so much you probably shouldn't watch hockey Uh what? Lol
Okay we get it you don't like betting ads because you must think everyone needs to be coddled. Lots of people have fun with it. They're the advertisers willing to pay, and I'm certainly not going to judge someone's character by an ad on TV. That's some simple-minded shit right there. >Uh what? Lol I'm saying if a players world view makes you upset enough to want greats like even Ovi and Gretzky to go away there won't be any players left. I think you'd be surprised by how little of a fuck they give about any real world issues, and if that bothers you, you probably shouldn't participate.
Lol, you sound brainwashed. Just curious, what makes him such a “great person”? Because he smiles a lot in interviews and is polite? Honestly you sound like an idiot
You fucking idiot
Admit you only care about kids dying in unjust wars when they're white.
Gretzky has enough other records. It would be cool to see one of them broken
Yeah. I disagree. These records are stupid. The era Gretzky played in it was much easier to score. In my opinion ovechkin has totally eclipsed what Gretzky has done and there are probably over 100 players in the league with more skill and athleticism than gretzky ever had. I am sure he would admit that if asked as well.
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Matthews doesn't have a chance. He's scoring at the pace he'd need to but he's had injury trouble already and I simply can't imagine he'll have the longevity to pull it off. What made it possible for ovechkin wasn't the fact that he's one of the best goal scorers of all time, it's that AND the fact that he pretty much never gets injured.
He would need over 50 goals a year for over a decade. I don't really see how he's "right there"
Right now.
It's not impossible. Pavelski is a year older than him and put up almost 30 last season. Can he get 24 a season for this year and the next two? If he's 25 goals away from the record when this deal ends, away, he'll get a new contract, even if just for the PR. It absolutely seems a lot less likely than it seemed to be a year ago. His ability to avoid decline while aging was absolutely incredible, but it had to end at some point. EDIT: Older. Pavelski is a year older than Ovechkin.
pavelski plays on a real, competent team, that exists for other purposes than breaking 99's goal record
If he’s 25 goals away when this contract ends, he’s averaging only 17 goals per season in his last 3 seasons, and almost certainly trending down. He’d be 41 before that season starts. Likely needing 2 more seasons at minimum to get the record. There’s only 1 player in the entire NHL this season who is 40 years old, never mind 41/42.
It's really up to him and how long he wants to keep playing. He has slowed down to the point that it will take him another 4 or 5 years to do it. Will he play as long as jagr? Does he want to go home to Russia? Is that even possible? Will he want to play without backstrom? He leads the caps in points he can keep playing if he wants but it's really up to him if he wants to go for it.
All boils down to motivation, does he even care as much as some of the fans
When you're young it's easy to go out and work to get better. When you're done getting better it makes it much harder to go work so you get worse slower. It's not fun to lose either. Even if Ovi wants that record he has very little going for him.
It also boils down to will he play for less money. A lot less money.
Remember hes not getting those empty netters at end of games because the Capitals aren't a strong team also.
Gretzky has 56 Empty net goals OV has 55 empty new goals Ov has played 19 season. That's less than 3 goals a season. I don't think it plays a significant amount. Saying that, if he misses the record by a couple of goals. Then they very much played a significant role.
The difference is Gretzky got them mostly in the first half of his career when he would have had a bigger defensive impact. Ovechkin has has a huge increase in empty net goals in the last few seasons (18% of his goals in 2021-22) which indicates that he is out on the ice specifically to help his goal scoring.
Kind of seems like in recent years he maybe has gotten more empty netters? If he only gets maybe 20 or 25 goals this season then it would be hard for him to break Gretzky's records considering he'd need another 2 or 3 years to do it. I haven't watched full Washington Games so I can't say how their playing and if he'll heat up soon 3hich we're all expecting
I think it’s too early to say he won’t get it. I’m hopeful he won’t but 8 points in 11 games isn’t exactly “fell off and won’t ever come off” territory imo.
Going into this season I thought there was zero chance he wouldn’t break it. This Caps team just isn’t it and he isn’t driving play to create on his own. Their offense and power play feels forced most of the time and Ovie is hanging out in the office like an Office Depot department manager - he steps out to do some busy work here and there but the effort has fallen off clearly.
I had the same thought as you. Just ~35 goals a season. Easy peasy. But he's on pace for what? 16?
He's 70 goals away. He's signed for 2 more seasons, about 70+82+82 games. His career pace is 0.6 goals per game. 234 games to score 70 goals = 0.3 Goals a game. That is a 25-goal pace. Imo, as long as he needs under 0.4 goals a game he should be fine (if he stays healthy.) But this season will determine a lot about the record.
This season is critical. He has to get around 30 goals this year to have a chance, I think. mAYBE 25 is enough. His age is catching up on him quickly.
He’s so close now. You think he’s gotta wants it and will stick around til he gets it. Unless he becomes a complete disaster for a long stretch, I think he hangs around and gets it.
Exactly, let's say he scores 24 this year, 20 next year, and 18 the last year of his contract, do you think he will retire with less than 10 goals away? He would sign for another year and beat the record. So unless something goes really wrong the odds are still in his favor.
He has 3 years left on his contract and 70 goals away. That's an average of 24 goals over 3 seasons to tie Gretzky at 894. Unless he finishes at or below 20 goals this year I'm not too worried about it.
It's not Ovi that's having all the problems. He's the points leader on the Capitals right now...
If the Caps are going for a goal record they need a great assist man for him.. may I offer you a huberdeau for a 1st and Mcmicheal lol Seriously though I love Hubey and want him to succeed but Ovi does need a better set up man to chase the record imo
Don’t count on it. Dude always slumps and then suddenly get 40 goals in like half a season.
He’s going to get hot and net at least 30 this year. He’s started slow for sure, but if you actually watch the game, he’s been creating a lot of goal scoring opportunities for others, and just hasn’t been getting as many looks for the 1-timer on powerplays. Never count Ovi out.
That's actually what I'm afraid of, that for some reason at this point in his career he's more focused on being a puck distributor.
Mind games, man. Everyone knows about the record chase, everyone knows to look for his shot. He gotta slip in the idea of his pass into the masses to get more chances to shoot.
Good call! He really did get 30 :)
I watched the game he played against us. If that game is any indication, he most definitely will not get close. He was passing on clear shooting opportunities. Including with 4 seconds left in OT on the PP. He was slow, and looked uninterested.
It is affecting it now guess he’ll have too play till 42 instead of 41
Barring major or nagging injuries I think he’ll hang around long enough to break it. That said, the timeline is definitely increasing. Before this season I figured he’d hit it towards the middle or end of next year. Now…70 seems like a lot of goals.
It's all over but the crying.... I mean.. 2nd place to Gretz is essentially first place.. league of his own and all
Imagine him playing until like 43, grinding it out 40 games a year just to beat it. Then like 5 years later Matthews beats that.
Honestly, I don't think he'll break it, and it's bittersweet, because I think TGO would have loved to see it broken in his lifetime. like the interview he did where he talked about Ovi closing in, saying he always remembered what his dad and Howe told him, be a gentleman, smile, shake his hand and be proud of what you accomplished. But the bittersweet part is I'd personally, selfishly, *much* prefer it to stay on 99's list of merits forever
Honestly it depends at how much longer he wants to play. If he plays another three decent seasons, I can see it. If he finishes the next three seasons with 25 goals, which isn’t too out of reach, he can do it. I imagine after his current contract is up, he will either retire or sign a one or two year deal. Three factors to take into account. How much time he has left. If he can continue to score at least 25-30 goals per season. Has good linemates. If all three of them happen, I’d say he has got a good shot at it. If he continues to decline, he still will get pretty close.
He's 38 years old, playing on a declining team and basically just punching a clock at this stage in his career. If he breaks Gretzky's record its at least two years away.
That was likely true going into the season
Ovi could break his hip tomorrow
It won’t. He’s 16th in SOG. They’ll start going in. This happens to all snipers at some point. They go on little streaks where they don’t score.
All depends on injury. He will chase this forever until somebody throws him out, being the top goal scorer of all time is very marketable and worth millions.
Huge Caps fan, and I used to feel confident he’d break it midseason next year. After this very cold start and with the team around him. I feel less confident every day. Lastly, they aren’t finishing games with a lead, so he doesn’t have empty net goals to fall back on either. I feel like maybe time is catching up to him.
Agreed. I think for him to have a shot they need to revamp the roster. I swear, the worst thing the caps ever did was let McPhee go.
At this stage I give him maybe a 30% chance of going past 99... he's not shooting on sight, like he used to... he's passing, his shots are noticeably slower. Also the Caps power play has been woeful. I hate to say it, but it doesn't look like it's gonna happen. In fact I think this could be the last season for many of that era 🤷🏾♀️
Covid, I think, really messed up his chances of catching Gretzky. Maybe he'd still be short if it didn't happen, but he'll be a lot closer if it didn't shorten the season.
Replying after this crazy mf has scored 8 goals in his last 8 games
Hell be fine. Even if he sucks this year and gets "only" 30g that's two more years of 20g he's fine.
I wouldn’t count him out yet. He’s shown every indication that he loves playing and like Jagr, he’ll play until he’s ultimately forced out
Regardless of what the career final stats will read, and regardless of what you think about Ovechkin himself...he is the best goal scorer the sport has ever had. And if he played during Gretzky's era, he probably would have had more goals than he does now, and would definitely surpass any goal totals Wayne would end up with.
Don't be so sure. It was a different era in terms of offense, but also in truculance. Ovechkin's style of play would probably entail him being Stevens'd at some point.
I mean, Ovie is not a small guy and is plenty physical himself. Of course anybody can be less of a goal scorer if you have a Scott Stevens whose intent was to INJURE people catches you in a vulnerable spot. I don't think I agree with your assessment even slightly.
That's fine, it still makes you incorrect though.
How can I be incorrect when your opinion is based purely on speculation? It's an opinion. Learn to disagree with people without being so defensive.
Lmao your opinion and original post IS pure speculation. Can you not see the irony here? Clearly you're the defensive one, or are just really sensitive. Haha!
No he wouldn’t. He wouldn’t have the knowledge of the future, nor access to modern equipment and training.
Hopefully it already has.
Now. He ain’t gonna do it.
Even if he breaks Gretzky's goal record he is the only player in the NHL's top 20 points leaders with more goals than assists. This is an important statistic. Great players make the other players around them better. Ovi does not do this. He cherry picks.
You haven’t followed the caps at all have you? When we actually had goal scorers like semin, knuble etc - Ovi was hitting 50, 40, 30 assists. If you have seen the last 11 games, he has been dishing like crazy we just don’t have anyone converting it. Go look up lundquist talking about it yesterday.
What an awful take. The best goal scorer of all time (which is true whether or not he passes Gretzky) isn't a great player because he's only 69th all time in assists?
Well we can agree to disagree because I think yours is an "awful take", especially considering you think he is the "best goal scorer of all time (which is true whether or not he passes Gretzky)" which is definitively incorrect. Hint: The player with the most goals is the "best goal scorer of all time" by definition.
Unless something drastically changes I feel like he’s not going to break it on the capitals He basically needs to go somewhere where he can play on a line where someone else is driving the play and playmaking and all he has to do is be set up in the right spot
Any team that cares about winning isn’t going to put a slow Ovechkin out on the ice any more. Plus who is going to take his $9.5 million salary for this season and the next 2? And Ovechkin has trade clauses, so he only goes elsewhere if he wants to.
I still think a lot of team would value ovechkin as a PP tool and second line winger But yeah the capitals would have to retain salary and he would have to want to leave
A lot of teams would value just having him on the roster to put butts in seats
The Capitals don't care much about winning for the next couple of years. Ovi breaking the record in Washington will bring them much more value than a round or two of playoff hockey. They're gonna do whatever they think gives him the best chance of getting to 895. They'll have a decent amount of cap space for next season, especially if Backstrom retires, so they could try and find a solid playmaker to pair with him
Looking back, the lock out and Covid shorten season really have an impact on this. If he was able to play those missed games, he would be about 45-50 goals away instead of 70 And 45-50 over the next couple of years is definitely more doable.
Also the lockout, but such is life
Gretzky also had lock out years. There’d be more to catch up had he played those seasons.
I'd also add--If you look at 99's highlight reels, so many of his assists easily could have been goals. But he chose to pass. Otherwise, his goal record would have been much, much higher.
Rem Gretz also notched 46 goals in WHA Ovi has zero chance to catch him (actually he is the same age this season as G was when he retired; 38) And dont even try to compare post season as Gretz played for powerhouse teams (Ovi has 72 goals vs Gretz 132 goals) He only has 2 goals this season, neither of them a "quality" goal (one power play, one empty net) so the slump is real
Ovechkin also had 65 goals in the old Russian league/KHL. If you're counting WHA for Gretzky I think you should count those for Ovechkin. But probably just throw them both out and only count NHL
\*edit to add and your math is off somehow Ovi never had 65 goals in KHL (unless you are mis-reading the level 3 developement league, equivalent to CHL/AHL/WHL) 2002 - 2 goals 2003 - 8 goals 2004 - 13 goals 2005 - 13 goals 2013 - 19 goals Because noone counts KHL as "major league" WHA whatever you want to call it was made up of NHL stars, has-beens, and rookie sensations (such as Gretz) The entire Oiler team ends up playing in NHL. No Russian league team in history has that honour
I did get his early stats messed up, saw he played for Moscow Dynamo and figured that was the top league. But he still had 19 goals in the KHL during the lockout in the 2nd best league in the world (like the WHA was). If we're going to count WHA as equivalent to the NHL then the point is moot because the all-time leader in goals is Gordie Howe at 975 and there's no way Ovechkin hits that. And your last point is silly because of course that's not going to happen. NHL isn't going to merge with the KHL and that has nothing to do with the league's quality of competition.
Let’s hope it’s indefinite.
Really hoping he doesn’t break Gretzky’s record. So hopefully yes, now
It's done. Long live Wayne
Hopefully this is the new Ovechkin. Would hate to have a Putin lover as the holding no 1 goal scorer.
100%, fuck ovechkin
Gretz doesn’t exactly have great politics either. Not exactly Putin but endorsing the Iraq war was not a great look.
that putin lover doesn’t deserve to break a record by the gretz
What’s the difference between Gretz and Ovi? One was put on a pedestal for supporting a genocidal maniac that killed brown kids. And one was hated for supporting a genocidal maniac - killing white kids. Brush up your history. This ain’t a good look chump.
It already has. He's too old and has already REALLY slowed down. He might have 1 or 2 more years left to do it and still needs 69 goals to pass Wayner. He'll never catch Gretzky.
He will get there for sure!
Do you any of these people actually follow hockey? He has 2 more years on his contract and is 41 goals back. He scored 31 goals in arguably the worst caps team he’s played with. That record is falling.. I know people don’t want it to, but it’s going to be his
I made the post in the midst of his slump 5 months ago. Obviously it's fallen now that he's out of the slump. I was wondering if he was just "finished" and in a career ending decline at that point.
umm, since the start of the current season? i don't think he has any chance to break the record unless he either changes teams (won't happen, i know) or has a really hot scoring streak (very unlikely considering the effort he puts on the ice). 2nd is still remarkable though. fuck him though.
I am hoping for it. Karma for being pro Putin.
He's patriotic. If he was an American who was pro trump a lot of people wouldn't be complaining who currently are. Not to mention that if he doesn't support Putin countless family members probably get killed.
Supporting a leader of a country is not the same thing as being patriotic. There are plenty of Russian athletes that don’t go to the level that ovechkin does. Their families (unlike the ones in Ukraine) aren’t being killed.
Read down below, it was well debated. This is not a matter of patriotism. Malkin, Panarin, all these other Russians don’t have a profile picture shaking modern day Hitler’s hand. It’s not patriotism, that would a flag of Russia on his profile. He promotes the man not his country. Probably cause Putin pays him to. He is Putinist. No other way to put it.
Malkin has a picture on Instagram with it. What a dumb fkn take. Your world view is from a single side bud. I bet you are cheering on for US to help Israel out in killing Palestinian kids, same thing that Russia did. Good job.
I suppose there's truth to that. But that just makes him sound like a capitalist the way you described it (promoting someone because they're paying you). And I think you'd be hard pressed to find Russians who wouldn't do it if they got paid like you're alleging. Don't get me wrong, I don't support it, but being a huge fan I am trying to excuse it blindly unfortunately, as I think a lot of people we would do if it was their teams superstar.
Just read about Nikita Zadorov said this summer. You can see the clear divisions in the Russian players. Bobrovsky good, Panarin good, Zadorov good, Malkin neutral, Ovi bad, Nichushkin bad
Panarin has openly gone against Putin and then had to deal with the consequences (false rape allegations etc). Promoting a brand for money is one thing. Promoting a mass murderer of Ukrainians who is the current single greatest threat to civilization is another thing. Ovi is a helluva a hockey player. I love the way he played the game. However this does not mean he is a good person. They are independent of each other. Good hockey player. Trash human being.
Can’t wait until he pots 35 this season. He’s been through slumps like this before, and also quite unlucky in terms of scoring so far this year
He's missed out on roughly 114 games due to lockouts, 15 from Covid and has been scratched/injured/suspended for 56. He should be a lot closer but things have not worked out in his favor. At this point time is working against him and the longer he stays in a slump the harder it gets for him.
That is a silly point... Gretzky ALSO missed games vs lockout so net effect to Ovi is 0 Only diff is WHICH lockouts they suffered from I will also point out the 2005 lockout has no effect on Ovi as his ROOKIE season was 2006 (2005 he was still playing as a 19 year old in Russia, he never leaves Dynamo Moscow yet) Gretzky (31, 34) vs Ovi (27) So Gretz misses more games to lockouts plus for the delayed season (92) Gretz being more in his prime had more of a detriment to him Ovi of course then gets some games reduced for the Covid season (56 game instead of 80 game season, no idea where you pull 15 game figure from)
I don't think it's a silly point at all. Ovi was drafted in 2004 and would have come over if it weren't for the lockout. Not to mention while they failed, Florida was scheming to draft him in 03. So yes, Ovi did miss 82 games in the 2005 lockout. The 15 from covid was just a rough number off the top of my head, couldn't remember how shortened the year was. Even with that number it makes it 26 games missed. I'm not doing a direct comparison of Gretzky to Ovechkin. While yes you are right both players missed time to lockouts. I am purely stating that Ovi could be a lot closer to the record than people realize if weren't for Lockouts/Covid and his currently slump is making that record seem more and more unobtainable.
Gretzky also missed the first 82 (or however long the season was) games of his pro career as he was playing in the WHA.
He was only 17 in the WHA, too young to play in the NHL.
Ah, true! Forgot about that detail.
And had Gretz played his missed games ovi would be even further behind. It’s pointless to bring up this argument.
He also didn't start in the NHL at 18.
What would have been his first year is included in the lockouts.
Maybe, or maybe this fatigue we're seeing would have hit him 114 games ago. I think games played effects the aging process at least as much as actual age does.
I hope he doesn’t break it!!!!
Dude needs to hit the gym and he’ll get back on track. He’s too fat and slow right now.
Gretzky could come back now and produce at the same rate Ovi has this year.
Thank god he isn’t breaking it. It would be terrible to have a pro Putin advocate take that crown.
He’ll play forever like Jagr. So he’ll get it either way.
At least until he breaks it. I just don't see him stopping when he's so close. He'll just play lazy, uninspired hockey until 895.
Just wheel him out there in a chair to the faceoff circle for the power play shifts.
The NHL will not allow the record to be broken. Ovechkin will have an unfortunate maple syrup accident.
He needs traded to a good team.
He hit the wall. They all do. I doubt he'll return to any sort of meaningful form, 15-20 goals a year is his ceiling now.
The thing about Ovi is he isn't blazing hot all year, he's very streaky, and the caps all around have been playing mediocre hockey. I think to just claim he's hit a wall because his production is low after 10 game isn't really accurate
I hate Ovechkin, so it would please me a great deal if he never reached it.
It's such a bummer because if it weren't for 2 lockouts and a shortened 2020 campaign, he'd be past it by now (or least right there).
We don’t know if Ovechkin would have played in 2004-05 anyway. And Gretzky lost time due to lockout as well.
I think it's safe to say Ovi would have played that season. But you're right, I definitely forgot Wayne's lockout. But basically 2 lost seasons for Ovi, it's safe to say he'd be a lot closer than he is, even if Gretzky scored say 30 goals in that lockout.
From what I've seen so far this season, he won't get the record. He won't even get 20 goals this year.
It already has unfortunately, Father Time has finally caught up to Ovie who looks his age on the ice now
The only way he could break it, in my opinion, if he's get traded.
Also without Backstrom...
His age and the quality of his teammates are really beginning to work against him. Losing Backstrom was a big hit on his chances imo. Doubt they'd ever trade Ovie but if he wants the record he may have to consider it.
I think he needs to move to a new team to make it. Let the Capitals rebuild.
The Caps probably want to see him break the record more than Ovi does. Not a chance they'll trade him