Around the League Thread | Post Purge

We saw Edmonton turn it on last season in the playoffs and I think they can do it again if they're reasonably healthy, but I'm not sure they are. McDavid and Draisaitl both look really banged up. But let's be honest, if they have enough left to play at a high level we know from experience this team has as many gears as they need to win any series.

They didn't really turn it on in the playoffs, they were just playing great hockey onwards as soon as they hired Knoblauch. The only part of their game that really ascended was their special teams play going crazy, the rest of it was as expected given their regular season play.
 
Is it safe to say no current player will reach Ovechkins record, whatever it ends up being?

If not, and I dont think any current player can, will Ovechkins record be beat in our lifetimes?

Matthews maybe. He already has nearly 400 goals and he's only 27. But he has history of injuries.

He would have to put up 10 years of an average of 50 goals a season just to get close to Ovi, which is unlikely given his injury history.

A long time ago I thought Stamkos had a chance to break Gretzky's record but injuries and age caught up to him really quickly.
 
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It is. Had Mario had good health he would have broken it like 20 years or so ago.

690 goals in 915 games.

If he was capable of getting to 1,400 games like Wayne and Ovy, safe to bet he gets 200 more in those 500 games. Likely pushing to the 1,000 mark. But, he was not blessed with both hockey (back) and life (cancer) health.

It is remarkable though that ovie stayed relatively healthy during his career considering that he played a very heavy game. He used to literally hunt guys down and hammer them into the boards like a traditional 4th line energy guy, and i think he's quite high up in the all time hits list too.

The guy had a major injury this year and still scores 40 plus goals. His durability is almost as admirable as the goals record itself.
 
Matthews maybe. He already has nearly 400 goals and he's only 27. But he has history of injuries.

He would have to put up 10 years of an average of 50 goals a season just to get close to Ovi, which is unlikely given his injury history.

A long time ago I thought Stamkos had a chance to break Gretzky's record but injuries and age caught up to him really quickly.
Pace will drop off as he gets into his 30's.
Wayne had something like 580 goals while in EDM which he was dealt after he was 27. Retired in 1999 at age 38. He put up about 310 goals afterwards for LA/STL/NYR.

Matthews is in year 9. And should hit 400 goals before the end of this season. Would leave him like 500 and change behind whatever Ovy ends up at over 900 after the end of next season. So, say Ovy ends at something like 930-940 range. Matthews has had 2 massive years at 69 and 60 goals. Next highest is 47 and some 30 plus goal years too.

So, that would be like 530-540 behind. If he can get 11 more seasons in, that's a 48 or something per year pace.

Can't rule anything out, but that's the kind of pace we are talking about. Will need a couple more monster years over the next 3-4 years to bring down what he needs in the final 6-7 of his career.
 
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Here's the thing, Gretzky is a) not even from the country of the deranged leader he's sucking up to, b) that very deranged leader is threatening the country (for literally zero reason) he is from that he was previously almost universally regarded as a hero for, and c) he essentially came out against Canada with the whole garbage during the Four Nations.

There's a traitor element that makes what Gretzky is doing worse than Ovechkin, not to mention the whole thing about Ovechkin potentially getting his family in real danger should he speak out against Putin. This is not to say that I think what Ovechkin is doing is right, but these aren't quite the same IMO.
Gretzky is an American from Canada. You do realize that Janet and the rest of his entire family are American's and he's lived in LA since 1988?
I mean it would have been nice to see him make a stand but he's not really a Canadian anymore except for somewhere in his heart and as an advocate when he's not asked to choose his life today and family vs his past. Nobody has done more for the NHL and he has handled the Ovechkin record with class and i say this as someone who has never been a fan. Looking to hockey players to be your political advocates is weird he doesn't owe anyone that BS

What is the threats? Deranged Leader because of tariffs? What is wrong with the US wanting to balance it's economy?

The US is now 2:1 Imports vs Exports. Most of the Worlds power nations are roughly 1:1. China is well over that. Should he be concerned that in 10yrs time the US has gone from 3:2 (66%) to 2:1 (50%) and at that rate if they continue moving out business to foreign countries to produce and supply jobs that the US economy could collapse? That more and more working middle class will be destroyed?

Should he or any US President be concerned that they could be at the mercy of BRICS or any foreign leaders policies when they have been the worlds top economy and have a bullseye on them? That from a military strength position they are becoming weak when they become dependant?
 
Oh wow Congrats Ovy

Just a mind boggling accomplishment especially given the era of systems and goaltenders

Little lost in the amazing record is Crosby and his 20 seasons of PPG or better and that he almost leads the NHL in 5v5 pts.....is third 3pts back of Kucherov now but a week ago was leading.

2 all time greats
 
tbh waiting around for ovechkin to score is pretty boring to watch

although i have to say, that was a really nice goal

when they got the PP i called the kiddo to come back to watch (he got bored and went off to organize his pokémon cards a few minutes earlier). 30 seconds he came back just after having missed the goal haha
 
It won't, nobody else will produce at this rate while being as historically durable as Ovechkin has been. The league has changed too drastically over the years and now expansion has diluted the talent per team.
Plus off-season recovery. Pushing the finals into late June and if you are in the PO, you play through stuff you would normally sit out with in the regular season. Need time to both heal and get a mental break before training to improve yourself and get back into game shape. Gets harder with a family as you hit your 30's.

I thought the way Ovy started last season with like 10 goals to close 2023, he'd just get past the record. Now, he's likely to beat it by 30-40 goals if he stays committed to doing so. Think he got a wake up call after last season, realizing that he didn't want another half season like the first half of last year. He looked out of shape or as someone who wasn't invested in the game. Just going along.
 

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