Do you want Ovechkin to break Gretzky's goal record?

[CokenoPepsi]

I'm curious what our esteemed community thinks? I find earlier on in his career many wanted to see him do it when it seemed unlikely... But now that he is getting pretty close attitudes sort of shifting.

What is your opinion?

Click to read more...

 

[Run the Gauntlet]

Gretzky at the top feels better than Ovechkin at the top.
Gretz should always be number one.

 

[Voight]

Records are meant to be broken, and Gretzky's points/assist totals will likely not be touched so.

 

[jigglysquishy]

Records are meant to be broken. More fun that way.

 

[Coffey]

Conflicting title and poll options.

Just because I want him to break it, doesn’t mean he will.

 

[SquidNasty]

I'd rather not because Gretzky is one of the most iconic Canadians of all time and it'd make me sad to see such a meaningful record fall.

There's also the political stuff with Ovi but that's a very minor factor. It's more that Gretz is such a hero for my country, 99% national pride. The US has caught up to Canada and would arguably have the better team in a best on best right now. It's just kind of sad to see them fade from dominance/glory and this would be another blow.

 

[CokenoPepsi]

Conflicting title and poll options.

Just because I want him to break it, doesn’t mean he will.

So you select no.

 

[Killer Orcas]

Honestly I don't care either or. Both have earned their place wherever they finish.

 

[King'sPawn]

Gretzky got his record as a Kings player. I'd rather have another King beat it.

 

[TheStatican]

I didn't at first largely due to the Pens/Caps rivalry and because of that which shall not be spoken about on here. But that rivalry has mostly faded, neither the Pens nor the Caps are legitimate contenders now nor have they been for a while. And Malkin is one of my favorite players all time after all, it's largely just that one guy that's the problem but that's neither here nor there. As nice as it is to see a Canadian on top most of Gretzky's career took place when I was very young and before I started following hockey or any sports for that matter hence why I don't have any particular endearment to him. Plus records are always meant to be broke, it would actually be kinda cool to see one fall, even if Ovi is the one doing it... never thought I'd be saying that

 

[McFlash97]

If Ovechkin doesn't hit at least 25 this year, he can kiss this record goodbye.

 

[Xspyrit]

Of course... Gretzky is not the best goal scorer in history so at least someone breaking the record will re-establish the fact.

There's about 8-9 players who were/are better at goal scoring than Gretzky was.

Ovechkin, Lemieux, Brett Hull, Maurice Richard, Bobby Hull, Gordie Howe, Phil Esposito, Jagr... IIRC (would have to look in my posting history)

Some guys on the fence because they unfortunately had to retire early so we don't know how they would have aged out (Bure and Bossy notably)

So once Ovechkin breaks the record, the false belief that Gretzky was the best at everything will start to change

 

[Voight]

I'd rather not because Gretzky is one of the most iconic Canadians of all time and it'd make me sad to see such a meaningful record fall.

There's also the political stuff with Ovi but that's a very minor factor. It's more that Gretz is such a hero for my country, 99% national pride. The US has caught up to Canada and would arguably have the better team in a best on best right now. It's just kind of sad to see them fade from dominance/glory and this would be another blow.

He'd still have the points and assist record (among many others) and those two are near unbreakable.

 

[dire wolf]

Of course... Gretzky is not the best goal scorer in history so at least someone breaking the record will re-establish the fact.

There's about 8-9 players who were/are better at goal scoring than Gretzky was.

Ovechkin, Lemieux, Brett Hull, Maurice Richard, Bobby Hull, Gordie Howe, Phil Esposito, Jagr... IIRC (would have to look in my posting history)

Some guys on the fence because they unfortunately had to retire early so we don't know how they would have aged out (Bure and Bossy notably)

So once Ovechkin breaks the record, the false belief that Gretzky was the best at everything will start to change

I'm amused how you proclaim that Gretzky is only the 9th or 10th best goal scorer in history. He has the most career goals AND the 2 best single seasons for goal scoring -- so both longevity and peak.

And before anyone argues high goal scoring era, check out how he fared against his peers in his best years: In '81-'82, he scored 92 goals. Second place was Bossy with 64 goals.
In '83-'84, he scored 87 goals. Next best was Michel Goulet with 56. He was roughly 50% ahead of #2.

Ovi's best season was 2007-98, when he scored 65 goals (which is incredible - but only 24th best all time). Kovalchuk was second best that year with 52.

Gretzky may be better known for his vision and passing, but you're comically under-rating his goal scoring.

 

[Hanji]

As someone said, records are meant to be broken. It's good for the league. It's good for the game.

 

[deleted user]

Definitely. It would be really cool.

 

[CanadienShark]

Yes it would be great to see.

 

[McFlash97]

Of course... Gretzky is not the best goal scorer in history so at least someone breaking the record will re-establish the fact.

There's about 8-9 players who were/are better at goal scoring than Gretzky was.

Ovechkin, Lemieux, Brett Hull, Maurice Richard, Bobby Hull, Gordie Howe, Phil Esposito, Jagr... IIRC (would have to look in my posting history)

Some guys on the fence because they unfortunately had to retire early so we don't know how they would have aged out (Bure and Bossy notably)

So once Ovechkin breaks the record, the false belief that Gretzky was the best at everything will start to change

Lol

Gretzky scores nearly 900 goals in 1400 odd games.

Then you get gems like this


8th ? 9th ?

 

[hamzarocks]

I'm amused how you proclaim that Gretzky is only the 9th or 10th best goal scorer in history. He has the most career goals AND the 2 best single seasons for goal scoring -- so both longevity and peak.

And before anyone argues high goal scoring era, check out how he fared against his peers in his best years: In '81-'82, he scored 92 goals. Second place was Bossy with 64 goals.
In '83-'84, he scored 87 goals. Next best was Michel Goulet with 56. He was roughly 50% ahead of #2.

Ovi's best season was 2007-98, when he scored 65 goals (which is incredible - but only 24th best all time). Kovalchuk was second best that year with 52.

Gretzky may be better known for his vision and passing, but you're comically under-rating his goal scoring.

OV is already the greatest goal scorer to play in the NHL

Most Rockets in history gets him that honour

Gretzky would not be putting 70 goals in current NHL era. Hed be a 50-60 goal and 120 assist guy

 

[Toby91ca]

For me the answer is clearly “it depends”….but that wasn’t available so didn’t vote. Would like to see him break it, always fun to see records broken, but do not want to see him hanging on year after year scoring 10 goals to do it

 

[TheStatican]

I'm amused how you proclaim that Gretzky is only the 9th or 10th best goal scorer in history.

Yeah, 9th or 10th is clearly ridiculous. No way players like Espo or Jagr rank ahead of him.

He has the most career goals AND the 2 best single seasons for goal scoring -- so both longevity and peak.

And before anyone argues high goal scoring era, check out how he fared against his peers in his best years: In '81-'82, he scored 92 goals. Second place was Bossy with 64 goals.
In '83-'84, he scored 87 goals. Next best was Michel Goulet with 56. He was roughly 50% ahead of #2.

Ovi's best season was 2007-98, when he scored 65 goals (which is incredible - but only 24th best all time). Kovalchuk was second best that year with 52.

But it's as simple as that either. There were 620 players in the NHL in 83-84 with virtually no Russians or Americans, there were 973 in 07-08. Point being the talent pool Ovi competed against was much larger. Gretzky also doesn't have the record for greatest margin, that's Hull 90-91 when he scored 86 and the next best had 51.

 

[Nadal On Clay]

Yes, but seeing him get it as a compiler like he is today removes some of the prestige for me.

 

[Laveuglette]

Seeing him beat it with a very strong season at 40 despite the age, sure.

Seeing him beating it at 43 with a 6-goals season just to beat the record... meh.

Really depends on how he does it.

 

[La Bamba]

I don't really care for it but I do like seeing Gretzky as #1 in goals, assists, points

 

[Video Nasty]

I’m fine with Ovechkin falling short and Gretzky keeping it. It’s simply more interesting to me to have Gretzky continue to sit at first in goals, assists, and points. Maybe someone falling short after chasing it for so long will even give it that extra sizzle in the future.