Ovechkin Milestone Thread 2.0 - Passed some guy named Wayne, now NHL goalscoring leader (895)

Matthews is extremely injury prone, he won't do it unless he remains extremely healthy for the rest of his career and still be productive in his 30s

He was pretty healthy for quite a few years actually. And he found other ways to score even with what I think everyone thinks is a lingering wrist issue and scored 69 goals last year.
 
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Now how motivated is Ovy to get to 1000? If it wasn't for Covid or the shortened seasons I think he would be coming up to 1000 goals right now.
 
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Not only did he break the record, but he did it while scoring at a pace consistent with his overall career. On a team he's leading to a President's Trophy*!

Anyone who threw dirt for even a moment claiming he was just compiling, or just ENGs, or just getting special treatment at the expense of the team winning, or any other bogus thing like that needs to fess up. Ovie deserves credit, and there's no leg to stand on trying to take it away anymore. Goalscoring GOAT.

*not saying the trophy is important, but it shows the team isn't just going through the motions while trying to get him the record.
 
Congrats to Ovechkin! We just witnessed hockey history. This record could stand a very long time. There's a good chance it won't be broken in my lifetime. I'll quote myself from 2022:

1. If Ovechkin gets the all-time record for goals, regardless of how he gets there (see point #3), absolutely it will influence his legacy among casual fans. Most hockey fans don't do deep analysis, so holding a significant all-time record will boost his legacy. (In fifty years, Ovechkin's one-sentence summary could be something like "all-time leader in goals scored, won three Hart trophies, won an Art Ross and Conn Smythe, big hitter, greatest or 2nd greatest LW in NHL history").

2. Regardless of whether Ovechkin gets to #895, I don't think it changes much about his career (beyond superficial bullet points). Career totals have always been a poor way to evaluate a player. Besides, Ovechkin has already surpassed Gretzky by any reasonable measure of era-adjusted goals.

Weztex and bobholly39 cover this well in their posts. If you don't already have Ovechkin ranked as the greatest goal-scorer all-time when he's at 880-something goals, whether he gets another ten goals beyond that is superficial and arbitrary. To make an analogy - I've seen people say that Peter Bondra didn't deserve to be in the Hall of Fame after 2006 (when he was at 498 goals), but he magically became a HOF'er in 2007 (when he was terrible but scored five more goals). This "line in the sand" type of thinking is completely arbitrary and emphasizes numbers for the sake of numbers. (Stats can be the byproduct of playing well, but they're not the end goal in and of themselves).

3. That being said, it would also depend on how Ovechkin reaches #895. If he scores, say, 45, 40 and 35 goals in consecutive seasons (always playing at a high level), that would make his career more impressive because instead of having a 17 year prime, that means that he'd have a 20 year prime. Very few players have performed as well as Ovechkin in his mid 30's, and if he plays at an all-star level for three more years, he's getting into Gordie Howe and Ray Bourque territory.

On the other hand, if Ovechkin suddenly begins struggling and hangs on for six years as a powerplay specialist (otherwise relegated to the third-line ), and gets 20 goals per year this way, that adds nothing to his legacy. (This is how Dave Andreychuk reached 600 goals). If Ovechkin scores 40-45 goals for two years and retires with ~860 goals, I'd find that more impressive than if he reaches 895 goals, playing six years as a geriatric Dave Andreychuk clone. What counts is the level of performance.

4. I don't think much changes for Gretzky if Ovechkin reaches #895. For the superficial fans (who are looking for bullet points, rather than any deep analysis) - Gretzky still has another 60 records, so he'll be fine. For those doing a deeper dive - a lot of regulars on the History forum (myself included) already don't consider Gretzky the greatest goal-scorer in NHL history (so it's not like he's losing the top spot in this category). Ovechkin will continue to climb the all-time rankings if he continues to play at an all-star level, of course, but what counts is his level of performance (rather than the career totals for the sake of career totals).
 
Not only did he break the record, but he did it while scoring at a pace consistent with his overall career. On a team he's leading to a President's Trophy*!

Anyone who threw dirt for even a moment claiming he was just compiling, or just ENGs, or just getting special treatment at the expense of the team winning, or any other bogus thing like that needs to fess up. Ovie deserves credit, and there's no leg to stand on trying to take it away anymore. Goalscoring GOAT.

*not saying the trophy is important, but it shows the team isn't just going through the motions while trying to get him the record.

Well they've currently lost 5 of 7. Their worst stretch of the entire season and it's hard to believe trying to get Ovi the record isn't part of the reason.
 
Kinda sad it’s over, it was so fun watching him work up the ranks and pass people. He’s officially a hockey god now
Now we get to see how high he pushes the bar with each goal he scores, and wondering how monumental a feat it will be for someone to surpass again, or if it'll be one of those unattainable records like we thought Gretzky's prior goal record was.

Having had a chance to sit down and fully absorb the goal and ceremony last night, I'm thrilled the goal was on an absolute laser of a shot, practically from his office in which he has scored many PP goals. On a countryman no less who he has never scored on prior to. Nothing chintzy about it whatsoever. And his celebration was as organic as it could get.

Seeing Gretzky out there passing the torch onto Ovi the same way Howe did to Gretzky was beautifully done, and as much as I am as big a Gretzky fan as it comes, to be able to see the record broken twice in a lifetime, three decades apart, is damn special.

Great moment for Ovi, Gretzky, and the league. Full marks too to the Islanders fanbase for the reaction they provided and giving everyone their due upon realizing they just witnessed rare hockey history right in front of their faces even if it was against their team.
 
Now how motivated is Ovy to get to 1000? If it wasn't for Covid or the shortened seasons I think he would be coming up to 1000 goals right now.
My best guess is 1000 is not even on his mind. And im not sure why it should be? Its just a arbitrary number with no real meaning behind it. Getting to top 10 in points is a more realistic and understandable goal to strive for.
 
The goat!!! Ovi is just amazing watche the game last night got tears in my eyes he got to be the biggest star of the the NHL the whole world is talking about him even a tiny newspaper where i live in Scandinavia wrote about him this is so great also for the NHL :)
 
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Well they've currently lost 5 of 7. Their worst stretch of the entire season and it's hard to believe trying to get Ovi the record isn't part of the reason.
So they're the best team in the east, but because they lost a few games at the end it must be because of Ovechkin selfishly trying to score goals. Goals being the reason they win games. Which they have done a lot of because they are 1st in the east....
 
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I just blows my mind even more how Gretzky also only scored 9 goals at 39, and Ovi is on pace for a 50 goal season at the same age.
Gretzky also had 3 goals in his final 40 games that last season before he retired.

He had 23 goals the season before and only needed 15 goals in his final season to hit 900 for his career.

He truly had nothing left in the tank by then.
 
I'm a new fan of the sport and its surreal I got to see a record like this be broken in my lifetime. The only one comparable is Cristiano Ronaldo's internal goal scorer record but European qualifiers are filled with small countries like Andorra and Lichtenstein where he can pad his stats.
 
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Gretzky also had 3 goals in his final 40 games that last season before he retired.

He had 23 goals the season before and only needed 15 goals in his final season to hit 900 for his career.

He truly had nothing left in the tank by then.
As a goal scorer yes he was cooked

As a player his age 36 and 37 seasons he was 15th and 5th in hart led the league in assists and made the NHL second team 2X so still a top 10 player in the league.

His age 38 year he had 62 in 70 in the DPE so again not terrible production considering he had all of 9 goals in 70 games.

Grerzky was done as a goal scorer in 1994. After that his playmaking and offense generation kept him an elite player as he scored 91 goals in 362 games or a ~21 goal pace from ages 34 to 38 in his final 4 years in the league.

If Howe had scored 908 goals (didnt leave for the WHA), Gretzky likely wouldn't have broken it for another 100 games (would need around 100 to score 14/15 goals as a 39/40 year old) and I don't think he would be able to play another 100 games as his body was done and his motivation was shot
 
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He ain't shutting anyone, he only just shooted really more on the net than anyone else!! regardless of other option. Not a fan of his game, but a record is a record and he made it.

I feel so bad for the haters. Theyve had to go to such absurd, nonsensical unfun lengths to maintain their hate. What a miserable week and miserable 20 years they’ve had.

Oh well, they brought it on themselves. The rest of us have been watching one hell of a show.
 
Congrats to Ovechkin! We just witnessed hockey history. This record could stand a very long time. There's a good chance it won't be broken in my lifetime. I'll quote myself from 2022:

1. If Ovechkin gets the all-time record for goals, regardless of how he gets there (see point #3), absolutely it will influence his legacy among casual fans. Most hockey fans don't do deep analysis, so holding a significant all-time record will boost his legacy. (In fifty years, Ovechkin's one-sentence summary could be something like "all-time leader in goals scored, won three Hart trophies, won an Art Ross and Conn Smythe, big hitter, greatest or 2nd greatest LW in NHL history").

2. Regardless of whether Ovechkin gets to #895, I don't think it changes much about his career (beyond superficial bullet points). Career totals have always been a poor way to evaluate a player. Besides, Ovechkin has already surpassed Gretzky by any reasonable measure of era-adjusted goals.

Weztex and bobholly39 cover this well in their posts. If you don't already have Ovechkin ranked as the greatest goal-scorer all-time when he's at 880-something goals, whether he gets another ten goals beyond that is superficial and arbitrary. To make an analogy - I've seen people say that Peter Bondra didn't deserve to be in the Hall of Fame after 2006 (when he was at 498 goals), but he magically became a HOF'er in 2007 (when he was terrible but scored five more goals). This "line in the sand" type of thinking is completely arbitrary and emphasizes numbers for the sake of numbers. (Stats can be the byproduct of playing well, but they're not the end goal in and of themselves).

3. That being said, it would also depend on how Ovechkin reaches #895. If he scores, say, 45, 40 and 35 goals in consecutive seasons (always playing at a high level), that would make his career more impressive because instead of having a 17 year prime, that means that he'd have a 20 year prime. Very few players have performed as well as Ovechkin in his mid 30's, and if he plays at an all-star level for three more years, he's getting into Gordie Howe and Ray Bourque territory.

On the other hand, if Ovechkin suddenly begins struggling and hangs on for six years as a powerplay specialist (otherwise relegated to the third-line ), and gets 20 goals per year this way, that adds nothing to his legacy. (This is how Dave Andreychuk reached 600 goals). If Ovechkin scores 40-45 goals for two years and retires with ~860 goals, I'd find that more impressive than if he reaches 895 goals, playing six years as a geriatric Dave Andreychuk clone. What counts is the level of performance.

4. I don't think much changes for Gretzky if Ovechkin reaches #895. For the superficial fans (who are looking for bullet points, rather than any deep analysis) - Gretzky still has another 60 records, so he'll be fine. For those doing a deeper dive - a lot of regulars on the History forum (myself included) already don't consider Gretzky the greatest goal-scorer in NHL history (so it's not like he's losing the top spot in this category). Ovechkin will continue to climb the all-time rankings if he continues to play at an all-star level, of course, but what counts is his level of performance (rather than the career totals for the sake of career totals).
Great post - and amazing to see how Ovechkin reached 895:

Age 36: 4th in the league in goals. Most goals ever by a 36-year-old player.

Age 37: 9th in the league in goals. Most goals ever by a 37-year-old player

Age 38: 36th in the league in goals. 2nd most goals ever by a 38-year-old player

Age 39: 4th in the league in goals (2nd per/gp). Most goals ever by a 39-year-old
 

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