Ovechkin milestone thread - 850 and Beyond!

[Protas Zealots]

If its a fracture why wouldn't it be immobilized/in a cast? Seems like it would be best to absolutely max out his rehab and come back swinging by Christmas. On a side note holy shit am I glad its not his knee

 

[hockeykicker]

If its a fracture why wouldn't it be immobilized/in a cast? Seems like it would be best to absolutely max out his rehab and come back swinging by Christmas. On a side note holy shit am I glad its not his knee

You don't always put a cast on a broken bone. Must mean it's basically still together ( non displaced)

 

[Lou Sassole]

You don't always put a cast on a broken bone. Must mean it's basically still together ( non displaced)

Yeah, must be closer to a hairline fracture like Kypreos first reported earlier in the week.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

I feel like I cursed Ovechkin with this post from two weeks ago:

Somewhere, someone was talking about durability. Here's how Ovechkin ranks (as of today - November 10th, 2024) among players during their first 20 seasons (games played divided by games on the schedule):

Players	Games	Max	Percentage
Larry Murphy	1,558	1,586	98.2%​
Patrick Marleau	1,575	1,606	98.1%​
Nicklas Lidstrom	1,564	1,608	97.3%​
Jaroma Iginla	1,554	1,606	96.8%​
Alex Ovechkin	1,440	1,499	96.1%​
Scott Stevens	1,516	1,590	95.3%​
Wayne Gretzky	1,487	1,584	93.9%​
Ron Francis	1,489	1,588	93.8%​
Jaromir Jagr	1,473	1,572	93.7%​
Brendan Shanahan	1,490	1,600	93.1%​
Mark Recchi	1,490	1,602	93.0%​
Joe Thornton	1,493	1,606	93.0%​
Doug Gilmour	1,474	1,592	92.6%​
Rod Brind'Amour	1,484	1,604	92.5%​
Stan Mikita	1,376	1,498	91.9%​
Ray Bourque	1,453	1,584	91.7%​
Shane Doan	1,466	1,606	91.3%​
Glen Wesley	1,457	1,600	91.1%​
Mike Modano	1,459	1,604	91.0%​
Dave Andreycchuk	1,443	1,590	90.8%​

It's an interesting mix. You have some power forwards (Ovechkin, Iginla, Shanahan, Doan, half of Mikita's career). Forwards who aren't huge hitters, but are good two-way players (Gilmour, Francis, Modano). Excellent two-way defensemen (Bourque, Lidstrom, Stevens). A few forwards who are big and strong, but not aggressive (Jagr, Thornton). There's only one player who I'd say is relatively soft (Marleau).

Note - I haven't filtered out "false starts". So Chris Chelios's 12 games in 1985 counts against him. I don't have any way to calculate this though.

(EDIT - I just realized the database I pulled this from only starts in 1960, and stops at 2020 - except for Ovechkin, who I calculated manually since we're mid-season. So there are a few players missing - Gordie Howe being the most obvious. I just calculated he's at 97.0%, which would rank him 4th here. In any event, this table covers six decades, and presumably highlights just how rare Ovechkin's durability has been).

 

[cupface52]

If its a fracture why wouldn't it be immobilized/in a cast? Seems like it would be best to absolutely max out his rehab and come back swinging by Christmas. On a side note holy shit am I glad its not his knee

Hairline fracture, can heal in as little as two weeks depending on several factors, including severity, ie, a 1mm crack will heal much quicker than a crack through 3/4 of the bone. Could also take 8 weeks.

If it were the playoffs, he very well could have been playing right now.