Ovechkin milestone thread - 850 and Beyond!

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

31 goals in his last 48 games since Jan 27th. That's a 53 goal pace - only Kaprizov and Matthews have more in that span.

Pretty insane from a guy who turns 40 in 10 months. He's an athletic freak.

I think he could get too 900 this season.

 

[The Panther]

Pretty insane from a guy who turns 40 in 10 months. He's an athletic freak

Yes he is. The longevity is one thing, but xe've seen that in a handful of other players. But the durability is just insane. Never seen anything like it.

I mean, I guess to partly explain it, his parents are both athletes, so that helps genetically, and NHL rough-play has declined as he's gotten older, which probably helps, too. But any way you slice it, he's a freak.

 

[Kuz]

The first line is playing really well and Ovi is a big part of it. Strome aswell have turned in to a 1C. Then Protas is looking like a stud aswell. Second line have also been amazing so far with CMM, PLD and Wilson. Get the PP working and things look good for Ovi.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Yes he is. The longevity is one thing, but xe've seen that in a handful of other players. But the durability is just insane. Never seen anything like it.

I mean, I guess to partly explain it, his parents are both athletes, so that helps genetically, and NHL rough-play has declined as he's gotten older, which probably helps, too. But any way you slice it, he's a freak.

I think his style has helped a lot too. He's obviously a physical force, and loves to throw the body, but he takes shockingly few hits for a guy who throws so many hits. In fact, in the last 3 seasons, nobody has a higher ratio of hits given to hits received (>1,500 mins).

He's received only 1.46 hits/60 in the last 3 seasons, meaning he gets hit less than once every 2 games. The only forward in the sample who took less hits per minute than Alex Ovechkin was the late great Johnny Gaudreau (1.33).

That doesn't make his longevity and durability less impressive, but it definitely helps when you're 6'3 240lbs and taking less contact than guys like Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin lol.

 

[BallardEra]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1854328614361178398

 

[Acallabeth]

I think his style has helped a lot too. He's obviously a physical force, and loves to throw the body, but he takes shockingly few hits for a guy who throws so many hits. In fact, in the last 3 seasons, nobody has a higher ratio of hits given to hits received (>1,500 mins).

He's received only 1.46 hits/60 in the last 3 seasons, meaning he gets hit less than once every 2 games. The only forward in the sample who took less hits per minute than Alex Ovechkin was the late great Johnny Gaudreau (1.33).

That doesn't make his longevity and durability less impressive, but it definitely helps when you're 6'3 240lbs and taking less contact than guys like Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin lol.

It's a very interesting stat, as Ovechkin isn't exactly elusive. Young Ovechkin used to recieve enormous hits.
I think AO carrying the puck far less the last several years explains it partially (Alex playing injured and getting rid of the puck ASAP to avoid getting hit isn't out of question too), and, of course, AO famously led the NHL in PP TOI over that period.

 

[stephenball]

He's going to finish with over 900 goals, that's 20 years at 45+ goals a season.

It’s funny how just writing something out can put it in such a different perspective. This just seems insane. I feel like both halves are notable. First, playing in the league for 20 years is super impressive, it’s really difficult to have that kind of longevity. Then 45 goals is a great goal scoring season, that can’t be argued. A player would be thrilled to have a 45 goal season, but to do it on average every year for 20 years? Insanity.