Ovechkin milestone thread - 850 and Beyond!

[Calderon]

Assuming Ovi maintains his current scoring pace this year, the 3/11 game at Anaheim has the highest chance right now of being the record breaking game. The game on 3/15 is highlighted because I'm going to that game.

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At Pittsburgh would be pretty cool.

 

[Sol]

One of the reasons I’m extremely at peace with him breaking the record is that if we’re completely and totally honest, a lot of Gretzky’s record had to do with context. He played on the most firewagon offensive powerhouse of all time, at the absolute peak era of offense in league history. Whereas Ovechkin played on a pretty ordinary group of teams in a mostly quite low scoring era.

Statistically speaking it was flat-out harder for Ovechkin to do this than it was for Gretzky, even if you hold a high level of respect for 80s hockey. And the possibility of Ovechkin doing it in fewer games is absolutely mind-boggling. Like I never would have thought that would have been a remote possibility, it seemed that someone would have to Marleau their way to this record someday. For a modern era great to not just outscore but also outpace a guy who played from 79-99 is just absolutely astonishing.

Exactly. That’s why I think it’s absolutely perplexing people don’t want to call Ovechkin the greatest goal scorer of all time.

I can say confidently that if you dropped McDavid in Gretzkys shoes that he’d likely outgrow them

 

[Randyne]

I can say confidently that if you dropped McDavid in Gretzkys shoes that he’d likely outgrow them

Any of superstars could camper 2K assists behind the net if all of them would have a cheatcode to not being kicked out from that spot.

 

[DitchMarner]

I bet some people unironically think when Gretzky and Lemieux put up big totals it was solely in pursuit of helping the team win and when Ovechkin puts up big totals it’s because he’s selfish and greedy, and that if Gretzky and Lemieux were selfish and greedy like Ovechkin they’d 1.5X their stats but have zero Stanley Cups.

Like I think that’s an actual thing that a not insignificant number of otherwise well functioning adults genuinely believe in their hearts.

I would hope that most of the people who actually watched, followed and liked those players are aware that they were offensively-oriented players. Not that there's anything wrong with being that way when you're a superstar forward, especially in a wide-open era.

I believe most of the types of people you described in your post are hardcore Zoomer era Penguin/Crosby fanboys who are grasping at straws to make Ovechkin's impending accomplishment seem less impressive and they believe everything you wrote about Gretzky and Lemieux applies to Crosby.

 

[Video Nasty]

I checked his first twenty games for every season of his career.

His 17 in 20 this year is tied for the second most of his career. He had 18 in the first 20 in 2009-2010 and 17 in 20 in 2013-2014. He was 24 and 28 years old in those seasons. Scoring being up 10-14% this year compared to those two seasons is not the answer.

It took him 56 games to score his 17th goal last season. He’s still more than double ahead of where he was (17 to 8) last season at this point of the Caps schedule. The difference is he has missed 16 games this year.

I have always preferred to not see him break the record, but he’s certainly doing it in style.

 

[Eskobar]

He said it multiple times in the interviews that he finds it harder and harder to prepare for new seasons and the goal record on the current contract is his main motivation

I'm pretty sure he has never said that the goal record is his main motivation.

 

[Randyne]

It took him 56 games to score his 17th goal last season. He’s still more than double ahead of where he was (17 to 8) last season at this point of the Caps schedule.

NHL robbed his 4-5 goals in the beginning. It brought him down, and he recovered only after the break.

 

[Greatzsky 99]

Gretzkys era wasn’t as impressive as you old heads think it is.

But Gretzky is and always will be, if you cut out the last 50 procent of Waynes playoff games, and only count his assists he would have more points then Ovi had in his career.

Not a knock on Ovi at all from me, hes incredible.

I think the new question(hoping ovi stays healthy) can he break Waynes record of 1016 goals in Regular and postseason?

Ovi has now 942 in totals

 

[Fantomas]

Ovi needs to explain himself on his hard off-season preparation:

View attachment 953223

f***, he looks like me

 

[Martin Skoula]

I would hope that most of the people who actually watched, followed and liked those players are aware that they were offensively-oriented players. Not that there's anything wrong with being that way when you're a superstar forward, especially in a wide-open era.

I believe most of the types of people you described in your post are hardcore Zoomer era Penguin/Crosby fanboys who are grasping at straws to make Ovechkin's impending accomplishment seem less impressive and they believe everything you wrote about Gretzky and Lemieux applies to Crosby.

I don’t think it’s the two-way issue as much as it is the degree they run their respective offences. Ovi’s ideal game, the puck is on his stick for a total of 3 seconds blasting a hat trick in and the rest of the time he’s either making defensemen scared to go in the corner or drawing 2 penalty killers to the circle. If anything this probably hurt his point totals compared to a Kucherov where the offense runs completely through him and he turns 2 solo effort goals into a 5 point where he got 3 touches on the transition and cycle.

 

[Demandedace]

Maybe, but Gretzky is still a better player. Somebody will past Ove record and then Ove will be the second best. And still Gretzky will be best ever. That´s funny?

Are you making up things to argue against? Absolutely no one would say Ovi is a better player than Gretzky - Ovi himself wouldn’t say that. He’s a better goal scorer though

 

[ovikovy817]

Ovi gave 6 weeks to the haters to relax.

 

[Fallschirmyager]

One of the reasons I’m extremely at peace with him breaking the record is that if we’re completely and totally honest, a lot of Gretzky’s record had to do with context. He played on the most firewagon offensive powerhouse of all time, at the absolute peak era of offense in league history. Whereas Ovechkin played on a pretty ordinary group of teams in a mostly quite low scoring era.

Statistically speaking it was flat-out harder for Ovechkin to do this than it was for Gretzky, even if you hold a high level of respect for 80s hockey. And the possibility of Ovechkin doing it in fewer games is absolutely mind-boggling. Like I never would have thought that would have been a remote possibility, it seemed that someone would have to Marleau their way to this record someday. For a modern era great to not just outscore but also outpace a guy who played from 79-99 is just absolutely astonishing.

I agree with you completely but the one thing you didn't consider is how much more Gretzky scored than everyone else. No one else was close across the board.

On the other side of that is people never consider the average player difference. The average player in the Ovy era is significantly better than the Gretzky era.

 

[Randyne]

I agree with you completely but the one thing you didn't consider is how much more Gretzky scored than everyone else. No one else was close across the board.

Ovechkin scored much more than everyone else too:

Season #	Gretzky G	2nd after Gretzky	gap		Ovechkin G	2nd after Ovi	gap
1​	51​	56​	-5​		52​	56​	-4​
2​	106​	119​	-13​		98​	100​	-2​
3​	198​	183​	15​		163​	146​	17​
4​	269​	243​	26​		219​	189​	30​
5​	356​	294​	62​		269​	230​	39​
6​	429​	352​	77​		301​	261​	40​
7​	481​	413​	68​		339​	298​	41​
8​	543​	451​	92​		371​	309​	62​
9​	583​	451​	132​		422​	310​	112​
10​	637​	451​	186​		475​	339​	136​
11​	677​	474​	203​		525​	361​	164​
12​	718​	498​	220​		558​	382​	176​
13​	749​	538​	211​		607​	411​	196​
14​	765​	583​	182​		658​	446​	212​
15​	803​	617​	186​		706​	462​	244​
16​	814​	629​	185​		730​	486​	244​
17​	837​	664​	173​		780​	517​	263​
18​	862​	696​	166​		822​	550​	272​
19​	885​	708​	177​		853​	592​	261​
20​	894​	708​	186​		870​	602​	268​

Also adjusted Ovechkin's record is off the charts, no one else is even remotely close.
Top 10 best adjusted seasons all-time:

 

[BallardEra]

Would be insane if he hits 40 goals this season after missing 16 games.

Most goals age 39 season:

1. Howe - 39
2. Bucyk - 29
3. Ratelle - 28
4. Doan - 28
5. Selanne - 27
- Alfredsson - 27
- Pavelski - 27

 

[thegazelle]

I watched Gretzky set all these records when I was a kid, and hoped they would never be broken but I gotta say, I am rooting for Ovi here and watching history unfold.

 

[Andrei79]

His longevity is insane. If the lockouts and COVID didn't happen, we'd be talking about hitting 1000 goals.

 

[Misery74]

His longevity is insane. If the lockouts and COVID didn't happen, we'd be talking about hitting 1000 goals.

All with on team too.

Has been amazing to be here though all of it.

 

[thegazelle]

His longevity is insane. If the lockouts and COVID didn't happen, we'd be talking about hitting 1000 goals.

Exactly right. Being a prolific goal scorer is one thing, but remaining healthy is another. Case in point - look at Matthews. Ovechkin even coming back from his injury so quickly and scoring again last night is certainly indicative of the consistency of his health over his career, that he has not had reoccuring or nagging injuries.

 

[Misery74]

But Gretzky is and always will be, if you cut out the last 50 procent of Waynes playoff games, and only count his assists he would have more points then Ovi had in his career.

Not a knock on Ovi at all from me, hes incredible.

I think the new question(hoping ovi stays healthy) can he break Waynes record of 1016 goals in Regular and postseason?

Ovi has now 942 in totals

lol. 21 teams vs 32 teams. Back then, 5 teams only would miss the playoffs.

Gretzky is the second greatest player of all time, only behind Mario. But to be fair, it was an uncapped league and they both played with superstar teammates.

 

[Agent Zuuuub]

I checked his first twenty games for every season of his career.

His 17 in 20 this year is tied for the second most of his career. He had 18 in the first 20 in 2009-2010 and 17 in 20 in 2013-2014. He was 24 and 28 years old in those seasons. Scoring being up 10-14% this year compared to those two seasons is not the answer.

It took him 56 games to score his 17th goal last season. He’s still more than double ahead of where he was (17 to 8) last season at this point of the Caps schedule. The difference is he has missed 16 games this year.

I have always preferred to not see him break the record, but he’s certainly doing it in style.

how could you not want him to break the record lol

like what is the logic behind that?

 

[Video Nasty]

how could you not want him to break the record lol

like what is the logic behind that?

I like the idea of Gretzky hoarding all the records more. It’s amusing to me. Besides, I’ve seen so many records fall across all sports, that I don’t quite get the same feeling I used to when a mark is eclipsed.

 

[banks]

He's breaking that record this season. Quote me on it.

 

[BallardEra]

I like the idea of Gretzky hoarding all the records more. It’s amusing to me. Besides, I’ve seen so many records fall across all sports, that I don’t quite get the same feeling I used to when a mark is eclipsed.

No doubt but this one will be massive.

Bonds beating Aaron's 755 wasn't the same because people knew he was juicing. LeBron passing Kareem for all time points was expected with very little to no hype.

Sammy and McGwire was fun to watch even though we knew they were juiced.

Bolt's 9.58 and 19.19 were amazing to watch live.

I can't think of a recent record that was broken with this hype level attached to it. This will be amazing to watch it all unfold and then seeing him hit 900 career goals.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

Does he challenge for the Rocket, even with games missed?