On Sunday, Alexander Ovechkin became the greatest goal scorer of all time when he recorded his 895th snipe. Where were you, and who were you with when you heard the news? These moments really are once-in-a-lifetime. Like Shohei Ohtani’s 50-50 feat on September 19, 2024, Ovechkin’s record is history, and we got to see it.
Fewer than 20,000 people were actually in the arena. But someday, 200,000 or maybe two million will tell the story like they were there. Forgive them now. One of them might be us.
The thing that makes Ovechkin’s feat so special is that he did it at the same seasonal rate as Wayne Gretzky did. This is Ovie’s 20th season in the NHL — that’s the same number that the Great One took to score 894. Gretz set the record in 1,487 games. Amazingly, Ovie broke it in the exact same number of 1,487 games.
However, they did it in two different ways. Gretzky front-loaded his snipes — he had a four-year run with 92, 71, 87 and 73 goals early in his career. He overwhelmed fantasy hockey in its earliest days, but when he hit about 32 years of age, his pace dropped dramatically, and Gretzky ended his career averaging 20 goals across his last seven seasons. He also put up just nine snipes in his final season (1998-99).
Fantasy-wise, Gretzky’s peak may never be repeated, not even by Connor McDavid. However, Gretzky’s later years were basic at best.
Ovechkin has never scored more than 65 goals in a single season. He’s had a pair of three-season runs with 50 or more, and remarkably, there’s been no real drop-off in average goals scored. Ovechkin’s most recent 50-goal season came at age 36. It took 42 goals this season to break the record. He did that at 39 years of age.
That’s bussin’. Or fire, maybe even wicked, depending on your age. His fantasy impact continues to be elite. After all, pure snipers are the rarest of beasts. Ones that pound out hits, too? Those are counted on one hand. Wait, make that one finger.
Gretzky was slim at six feet tall and 185 pounds. His shoulder pads were about as thick as paper towels, and he had a bodyguard named Marty McSorley. His office was behind the net. Ovechkin? He’s built like a tank at six-foot-three and 238 pounds. He remains his own bodyguard — he’s approaching 3,000 hits in his career. And we all know “Ovie’s Office.”
So does every opposing goalie and fan. Still, nobody can stop him. That puck is off his tape and past netminders before you can blink. I finally saw him in person in Toronto on December 28, 2024 — his first game back from a busted fibula. Honestly, pay the price to see him if you can find it. I sat 16 rows up from his office, right on the goal line.
I heard his blades crush the ice. I never caught the puck coming off his stick, even when iso-ing on him. Seriously. I am still blown away by that.
Ovechkin’s power-play ...
