Could Ovechkin hit 60 this year?

[crazy8888]

I don't think he hits 60 but a lot depends on whether Laviolette is dumb enough to break up Washington's top line when Backstrom is back.

That line is cruising right now.

Which top line? With Strome or with Kuzy? Both options have been good lately. Who is to say Becky cant step in once he gets his groove back

 

[Video Nasty]

Never forget people were writing his obituary in 2016/2017.

It was a reasonable and sensible take at the time. Well, maybe not the obituary for his career, but it seemed to mark the beginning of the expected decline.

Luckily, he proved to alter what we thought we knew about traditional goal scorers. It also helps that league wide scoring began its ascent to help dull some of the decline of aging, as well as to help offset some of the leaner scoring years while he was younger.

All we can do is enjoy it now. Until I see another player score pretty much the same number of goals each season regardless of age, a long career, different scoring levels, and so on, it would be foolish to expect this again within at least the next 20-30 years.

 

[AhosDatsyukian]

He definitely could hit 60, I don't expect that he will but it's absolutely within reach. Somewhere between 52 and 58 is my guess. Which is still incredible.

 

[Zalos]

I want it to happen, so it gets less and less possible for haters to denigrate what he's accomplishing.

 

[crowi]

He's going to score 50+ this year as well. 60? Probably not. Basically as a mortal ie. NOT-MCDAVID, if you score 50 you're crazy.

 

[SwedishFire]

I don't think he hits 60 but a lot depends on whether Laviolette is dumb enough to break up Washington's top line when Backstrom is back.

That line is cruising right now.

Well, I think Ovies record is also on the agenda. The owner probably hss a veto on it.

But about playoffs, thats kind of important too...

And if he scorws 50, he has 830 goals. Thats anyway 65 goals up to the record. He needs two more years after this year.

 

[Calderon]

WSH and LAK lead the league in games played. That Ovi has managed to get 29 goals in a hectic first half is a good sign for the latter half. I'd still rule 60 out like 99,5 percent. Wouldn't mind being wrong though. Most feathers in Ovi's cap relate to longevity and doing something (ie. winning the Rocket and scoring 50 goals) over and over again. Another 60 goal season would be a great "peak feather" (provided that he doesn't end, like, fourth in the race).

 

[JianYang]

I don't know if this is exactly true, but it feels like scoring gets harder the further we go into the season.

Since he isn't even pacing for 60 to date, I'd bet he won't hit that mark at all this year.

 

[Fantomas]

People keep giving "rational" explanations for why Ovechkin wont do it (his age, etc). But nothing about Ovechkin is rational. He keeps defying rational expectations.

I think he might hit 60 because he's extremely motivated/fired up right now. But this is also a rational way of thinking.

 

[xc2215x]

I could see him doing it since how good his goal scoring has been recently.

 

[Voight]

Thank you! There have been a couple times in his career in which people have said he was ready to hit the wall, but instead he got better. Can he get 60 goals this season? Odds are he won't, but never bet against Ovi. Greatest goal scorer of all time gonna keep scoring goals. Russian machine doesn't break.

Winning the cup took a great deal of pressure off him IMO. That was the only thing he had left to win and after crossing that off his list, he could put all his effort into chasing the goals record.

 

[Voight]

People keep giving "rational" explanations for why Ovechkin wont do it (his age, etc). But nothing about Ovechkin is rational. He keeps defying rational expectations.

I think he might hit 60 because he's extremely motivated/fired up right now. But this is also a rational way of thinking.

Seriously. Its not like hes some health freak who spends all summer working out nor does he follow some super strict diet. 18 years in, still playing at a high level and has yet to spend a significant amount of time on the IR.

 

[SI90]

Don’t know but he’s gonna be the first and only 900 career goal scorer and that’s pretty insane.

 

[paragon]

Unlikely. I think even last year they made him rest the last three games before playoffs.

 

[RageQuit77]

"But nothing about Ovechkin is rational. He keeps defying rational expectations."

- Fantomas

 

[thekernel]

I jinxed it lads, my bad

 

[AlexBrovechkin8]

I jinxed it lads, my bad

He’s 37. Even mutants age eventually. He’s still projected to hit 50 even with his recent slump. He and the Caps need this break in the worst way.

 

[jaywills1020]

No. He is on a hot streak right now so extrapolating his pace to 82 games is a bit misleading. He can easily hit a cold patch and he may not even hit 50.

He could easily hit another hot patch and hit 60.

 

[severian]

A goal per game the rest of the way…highly unlikely. The fact that he’s still pacing 50 is incredible enough. He’s a machine.

 

[Aaaaaaaaaaaaa]

He only played 16 minutes tonight. What's up? Is he playing hurt, or just showing a little age going into the all-star break?

 

[jcs0218]

View attachment 631326

That cat looks like it has been hanging out with Pat Maroon too often.

 

[Calderon]

For anybody who's been watching Caps games, did Backstrom's (et al.) comeback just ruin the team and Ovi as well? They're doing awful. Sure, they're likely to get better but this stretch had been bad.

 

[centipede2233]

Ovechkin never hitting 60 again, he did it once in 2008, hockey is a young man’s game. You have your best goal scoring season in your first 5-7 yrs

 

[beowulf]

Not likely.

 

[gtrower]

Ovechkin never hitting 60 again, he did it once in 2008, hockey is a young man’s game. You have your best goal scoring season in your first 5-7 yrs

Ovi this season (.615 gpg) currently above his career scoring rate (.612 gpg) and the 3rd highest scoring rate of his career was his 15th season when was on pace for 58 before COVID shut things down at 68 games.

But yeah, 60 not likely for any player entering a season - even Ovi (especially a 37 year old Ovi).