Records are meant to be broken, right?
The answer to this depends on whom you ask, but nobody thought Alexander Ovechkin would come close to Wayne Gretzky’s goal record. The Russian Machine is not your average hockey player. In his age 36-38 seasons, he has scored a ridiculous 123 goals. While most players are retired at this age, Ovechkin still makes it look easy in the twilight of his career.
This season, he has compiled 30 goals in 42 games and maintained a point per game despite breaking his leg in November. With his hat-trick on Feb. 23 and another goal on Feb. 25, Ovechkin is just 12 away from breaking Gretzky’s “unbreakable” goal record.
“The Great One” has held the record since he broke Gordie Howe’s record of 801 goals in 1994. After suffering that broken leg in November, Ovi has returned better than ever. He is slated to break the record on April 4 at home against the Chicago Blackhawks. As for my prediction of the goal that breaks the record, I’d say, Washington Capitals on the power play, Ovi in his office by the left faceoff circle, and he blasts a slapshot right past Blackhawks goalie Arvid Soderblom.
To illustrate how impossible and great someone would have to be even to come close to the goal record, here are some records that Ovi holds himself. He has the most 30 and 40-goal seasons, tied for the most 50-goal seasons, most consecutive 30-goal seasons, most power-play goals, most overtime goals and most goals by a left winger.
The biggest knock on Ovechkin and this chase are his empty-net goals, as he is the all-time leader in empty netters. Some may think he scores too many with an empty net but over the last 10 seasons, only 9.6 percent of his goals have come from empty nets.
Ovi is the greatest goal scorer of our generation, maybe ever, and when he breaks the goal record, that will solidify his greatness as a pure scorer. He has redefined the game of hockey with his scoring and like him or not, he will go down as one of the best to ever lace up the skates.
