Ovechkin Milestone Thread - Countdown to 894

[Gerulaitis]

Ovechkin stands the greatest scorer pure
In hockey’s tale his scoring shall endure
Why dost the whispers of disdain arise?
When such a star ascends before our own eyes
A player rare unmatched in skill and might
He bends the record books to his own light
Rewriting the Gretzest feat is task most grand
A joy for all who love the game so planned

 

[BallardEra]

OV right back into his typical form of being invisible all game then going all out for empty net goal

He's scored nearly as many goals as Crosby and Malkin combined this season and he missed 6 weeks.

 

[Dr John Carlson]

Whatever, as a Devils fan who will ostensibly be competing with the Caps for playoff positioning please keep doing that. Next time, the pass won't go through and the other team will score due to a number advantage while Ovy has to turn around and come back.

Please tell me this isn't somebody with an Ilya Kovalchuk name/avatar calling another player out for cherrypicking. Somebody please tell me I'm mistaken here.

 

[Neil Racki]

Opposing fans should thank Ovi for closing out games. Gives opposing fans like last night Leafs fans a chance to hit the exits early and avoid traffic

 

[KovalchukFistPump]

Please tell me this isn't somebody with an Ilya Kovalchuk name/avatar calling another player out for cherrypicking. Somebody please tell me I'm mistaken here.

Lol - I'm not even a Kovalchuk fan post-2013. I kept the username and profile pic because it's my 'brand' on the Devils board.

Whatever, I'll chalk this up as just a difference in mentality between Caps fans and people like me who grew up on those Lou-era "total team defense" Devils where there was no offensive star power and the team still won. Kovy is actually a good guy to bring up because bringing him in initially completely ruined the team chemistry and structure. After getting rid of Langenbrunner and John MacLean though, Jacques Lemaire taught Kovy how to play a two-way game. This lasted for a solid 1.5 seasons and got the team to a Cup final. I do think Kovy would have gone right back to floating and cherry picking as he got older though.

 

[Dibbs31]

I see there is still a ton of hatred for OV out there. Love it. Dude will keep proving everyone wrong on his way to being the GOAT goal scorer.

 

[BallardEra]

I see there is still a ton of hatred for OV out there. Love it. Dude will keep proving everyone wrong on his way to being the GOAT goal scorer.

Oh ya. Saw this immediately last night online when he scored.

You know they secretly wished he was injured for much longer and they clearly don't want to see him chase down 894.

It's like they didn't want him to return to hockey.

 

[zappa4ever]

Seeing parallels with the Latvia win over Canada... some applaud the success of non-Canadians and show maturity, and some are <names redacted>

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

OV right back into his typical form of being invisible all game then going all out for empty net goal

Right back in his typical form of securing games and playoff spots for his team. You wish your guys had empty nets to shoot at

 

[ReimanSum1908]

Oh ya. Saw this immediately last night online when he scored.

You know they secretly wished he was injured for much longer and they clearly don't want to see him chase down 894.

It's like they didn't want him to return to hockey.

Honestly, as a fan of the Canadiens and thus uninvested save as someone who appreciates the sport, all that I wish is that he hadn't suffered through a few down years under Oates and two lockouts. It would have been spectacular to see someone break 1000 goals, and I feel as if he's been robbed of that.

 

[crazy8888]

Honestly, as a fan of the Canadiens and thus uninvested save as someone who appreciates the sport, all that I wish is that he hadn't suffered through a few down years under Oates and two lockouts. It would have been spectacular to see someone break 1000 goals, and I feel as if he's been robbed of that.

Ovi actually did good under Oates. Unfortunately, that was all that Oates was good for.

 

[pi314]

Ovechkin: *scores goal*
hfboards: ok so here's why what he did was BAD, actually...

Because the game was 4-2 with a few minutes left.

Every player’s first and foremost responsibility is to do what it takes to win.

The most important thing to win is to keep it a 2.

It’s the most obvious defense first situation.

Not leave your team shorthanded to pad your stats.

You would never see Gretzky or Bobby Orr hang their team out to dry with a late 2 goal lead just to pad their stats.

 

[Blitzkrug]

"Gretzky didn't pad with empty netters"

Didn't need to given goalies couldn't figure out how to stop shots travelling along the ice in the 80s.

 

[Roland of Gilead]

Sorry Ovi-fans, but I hope that he never gets Gretzky. Gretzky was another level still.

 

[Fantomas]

Lol - I'm not even a Kovalchuk fan post-2013. I kept the username and profile pic because it's my 'brand' on the Devils board.

No one cares about your brand, mate. Go get a job.

 

[KovalchukFistPump]

No one cares about your brand, mate. Go get a job.

Wow that's certainly a statement after we compare post counts.

 

[Fitzy]

Sorry Ovi-fans, but I hope that he never gets Gretzky. Gretzky was another level still.

Hope all you like, but you'll end up disappointed

 

[WarriorofTime]

Hawks can never score on empty nets even in rare scenarios where they do lead late. Makes you appreciate a player like Ovechkin and his ability to put games away. I’ve also never seen any evidence that Ovechkin correlates to a much higher GA/60 in empty net situations. Seems like he just does the job he’s out there for really well.

 

[HTFN]

Because the game was 4-2 with a few minutes left.

Every player’s first and foremost responsibility is to do what it takes to win.

The most important thing to win is to keep it a 2.

It’s the most obvious defense first situation.

Not leave your team shorthanded to pad your stats.

You would never see Gretzky or Bobby Orr hang their team out to dry with a late 2 goal lead just to pad their stats.

You know what's hard to do with a few minutes left? Score 2 goals.

You know what's even harder? Scoring 3.

 

[M2Beezy]

Sorry Ovi-fans, but I hope that he never gets Gretzky. Gretzky was another level still.

 

[Hanji]

Sorry Ovi-fans, but I hope that he never gets Gretzky. Gretzky was another level still.

Why exactly? Records are meant to be broken. Let greatness be rewarded.
And it's not like Ovechkin doesn't deserve it. He's a product of an era where scoring is/was exponentially lower than Gretzky's era.

 

[Roland of Gilead]

Hope all you like, but you'll end up disappointed

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?

 

[Incognito]

Ovechkin looked a bit rusty and not at his best last night, but he’s also 39. The fact that he returned so quickly from that injury at his age is pretty impressive. I doubt it’ll take him too long to find his legs again and get back to where he was prior to the injury.

 

[zappa4ever]

///

You would never see Gretzky or Bobby Orr hang their team out to dry with a late 2 goal lead just to pad their stats.

No one will ever come close to padding their stats like Gretzky did.

Gretzky = 255 goals when up by 2+ (including 37 goals leading by FIVE or more LOL)
OV = 129* (* as of Oct29, thx to pnep for chart he posted then)

 

[pezpunk]

OV right back into his typical form of being invisible all game then going all out for empty net goal

He was leading the league in even strength goals when he got hurt, dingdong.