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

[Midnight Judges]

Didn’t say he was the best.

But he was certainly better than Ovechkin has ever been.

If that were true, there would be ample stats to back it up.

As it stands, Ovie has the stats. Lemieux doesn't.

 

[TheStatican]

"He just doesn't have the stats..." -Midnight 2023

That big enough for ya?

 

[authentic]

"He just doesn't have the stats..." -Midnight 2023
View attachment 782934

That big enough for ya?

But Ovechkin’s single season of 65 goals adjusts .002 better than any of Lemieux’s so Lemieux has no case at all. Plus Lemieux quit before he could reach Gretzky’s 92 goal record!

 

[TheStatican]

But Ovechkin’s single season of 65 goals adjusts .002 better than any of Lemieux’s so Lemieux has no case at all. Plus Lemieux quit before he could reach Gretzky’s 92 goal record!

Not sure how Mario can live with himself, doing selfish stuff like quitting on his team right in the middle of the '93 season, just downright shameful behavior!!

 

[Saitama]

There's not an option on this poll for me. I don't "want" Ovie to break the record. I'll be happy for him if he does and it'd be very cool, but it's not like I'm going to be upset if he doesn't.

 

[Wolfpuck]

Yes. He’s on my fantasy team and I need the goals.

 

[snag]

What about how Gretzky himself got to 894?
Gretzky only scored 91 goals in his final 6 season (11, 15, 8, 25, 23, 9).

Ovechkin scored 92 goals in the past 2 seasons combined. Even if he just limps across the finish line, he will have done the same as Gretzky.

If you add to that the fact that he lost many games due to 2 lockouts early in his career and a pandemic in the middle, we’re seeing a record that normally would already be broken.

Firstly, the 11 goals was the lockout season of 94-95. Only fair to recognize Gretzky had one of those.
Secondly the 15 and 8 were a single season as those are the split for each team as he was traded to the Blues.
Thirdly, in 98-99 (the 9 goals) he was diagnosed with arthritis prior to retirement.


OV lost time due to lockouts and covid, Gretzky lost time due to injury that ultimately plagued him in addition to the 94-95 lockout. What is is what is.

While I hope OV doesn't break it, I also hope he never experiences a herniated thoracic disc (or arthritis for that matter) either.

 

[tarheelhockey]

 

[FissionFire]

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

Same was said about Gordie Howe for decades. Times change and records get broken.

 

[The Kingslayer]

Yes

 

[BlueSeal]

I'd like to see records change hands on an as-it-happens basis. Just shows me that the game is growing and that makes me happy.

 

[snag]

Same was said about Gordie Howe for decades. Times change and records get broken.

Decades? Howe retired for good in 1980.

 

[24 others]

I have Ovechkin as a piece of trash whether he breaks the record or not. But if were to choose, I'd prefer he doesn't do it.

 

[The S5]

Ovi shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence as Gretzky. Did people forget he spent the better part of his career disregarding the defensive end completely?

 

[WingsFan95]

Gretzky's career overlapped the highest scoring era and he "only" lead the league in goals in 5 occasions compared to Ovechkin's 9 (and Bobby Hull's 7).

Ovechkin was already robbed of over 2 whole seasons by an entire lost season for his rookie year, half a season due to disputes and then another roughly half season between 2 due to Covid. So he would have likely already got the record by Gretzky's age of retirement to be fair.

So now to make up for that I don't care if he needs to play until 42 to break it. Or are we forgetting this? Nevermind Gretzky being on more stacked teams in higher scoring era.

 

[McPoyle]

Decades? Howe retired for good in 1980.

Howe owned the goal record from 1964-1994. So yes, decades.

 

[TopShelfWaterBottle]

Yes anytime someone can break what was called an unbreakable, in my lifetime, is a no brainer

 

[mr figgles]

No, and I want to see him tarnish his reputation with single digit goal totals for years.

 

[snag]

Howe owned the goal record from 1964-1994. So yes, decades.

Ok...I see what you are saying. I came at it from the other direction

Just think, in 2025, Gretzky will have held it just as long. Time is a crazy thing.

 

[ArGarBarGar]

Nah, screw him.

 

[Cup or Bust]

I only want to see him do it if it is done while he is a productive player that is still hungry to play and motivated to help his team win games. If he just clings on to his career just to break the record it will definitely tarnish it. Guys like Howe and Gretzky never hung on to their careers just to break and set records. Breaking records is exciting when it happens during the course of a player playing well and trying to help his team win games. If Ovechkin is on the 4th line at age 41 and scoring 10 goals a season by being fed powerplay time and the Capitals are at the bottom of the league just trying to sell tickets, it's not going to be that impressive for me at least. I would be more impressed if a player has respect for his performance and accomplishments and walks away with pride for his career and playing for the right motivation. If the main reason for playing is no longer because they feel they can help their team win hockey games or they feel they can no longer play at a level they take pride in, a player should walk away.

I am not saying Ovechkin is clinging on to his career right now to try and break it, He scored 42 goals last season. He could just be in a scoring slump and the Capitals are certainly not an offensive force. I just hope that it does not get to that point. I thought when Marleau broke the games played record it was embarrassing the way he did it, not impressive. Playing just for the sake of breaking a record is lame.

I am sure Messier could have dragged his corpse back for 1 more season in 05-06 to get to 1800 games played, 700 goals, 1200 assists, and 1900 points but he quit while still being a pretty good player and I respect him for not playing just for the sake of achieving numbers or breaking a record. I feel the same about all players like that. I would have more respect for Ovechkin's career if he retires taking pride in his performance rather then just breaking the goal record for the sake of breaking the record while becoming an ineffective player. Hopefully Ovechkin starts firing those one timers into the back of the net again like he has his entire career so far.

 

[Video Nasty]

Gretzky's career overlapped the highest scoring era and he "only" lead the league in goals in 5 occasions compared to Ovechkin's 9 (and Bobby Hull's 7).

Ovechkin was already robbed of over 2 whole seasons by an entire lost season for his rookie year, half a season due to disputes and then another roughly half season between 2 due to Covid. So he would have likely already got the record by Gretzky's age of retirement to be fair.

So now to make up for that I don't care if he needs to play until 42 to break it. Or are we forgetting this? Nevermind Gretzky being on more stacked teams in higher scoring era.

He wasn’t robbed of anything.

Due to the 2004 lockout, he entered a league where there was a hellbent effort to increase scoring that had been spiraling lower for years, to help attract the fans back to the game. If he enters with the 2.57 GPG or lower level of the season prior to the lockout, he’s not scoring 50 goals and neither him or Crosby are crossing 100 points. We have no way of knowing just how long the league lets scoring dwindle before doing something radical. Either way, it’s a new timeline and absolutely everything is affected, including the 2012 lockout. Maybe it happens sooner or doesn’t happen at all.

He had the worst season of his career prior to the 2012 lockout. It seems the late start helped him bounce back if anything.

I’m sure his 34-35 year old body actually appreciated the schedule being affected by COVID. It’s not a coincidence that he had his best half of any season in about a dozen years directly after the shortened inter-division 56 game season of 2020-2021.

Ovechkin is going through the most horrific slump of his career, and it may even be his new normal. He’s still second with 827 goals and has only missed 56 possible games, most due to suspensions and sitting out All-Star games. It doesn’t look like it right now, but he still may turn it around and break the record.

All things considered, this has to be one of the most positive simulations out there. Never going to understand people who think it could be more and state it as fact.

 

[RiverbottomChuck]

Yes, if he breaks the record it means eventually there can be a player that breaks his and you want the game to be comprised of the best players possible.

 

[loadie]

I don’t want to see a Putin loving player breaking any of the all time records. I know it’s not one thing that is normally used in any discussion about a sport, but in this case OV was part of the “Putin Team” who didn’t say Jack shit about what Putin did regarding Ukraine and still supports Putin as of 2022. f*** him

 

[D Wakaluk]

No.

Screw him