Will Ovechkin hit 20 goals this season?

[hfman]

You think he's coming this close only to say gee sorry but I think I'll just retire?

He'll play until he's 45 if that what it takes to break the record.

The Capitals will keep re-signing him until he breaks it.

He is 100% breaking the record, there's no stopping it

 

[abo9]

I think he eventually gets hot, and yes, will break the record.

However, it may not be as easy as we thought it would be. It really puts into perspective what Gretzky accomplished.

Its pretty wild how different of an achievement Ovechkin breaking the record will be to Gretzky.

Obviously, Gretzky played hockey a long time, bit its the sheer volume of goals per season that got him the record. 92, 87 goals are just insane numbers. Half of those (46, 43) would have been good for top 5-10 in goalscoring for most of Ovechkin era (and most eras i imagine)

Ovechkin though just contjnued to score for so long at such an elite level.... 42 goals last year was seen as a low year. What kind of monster puts 42 goals in his late 30s amd people are disapointed? At his age, most guys are completely cooked and hanging on 4th lines on rebuilding teams

 

[Kingsfan1]

20-25 goals. Its Ovy , his shooting percentage isnt going to stay this low. He will have a spurt where he scores 8 goals in 5 games and go from there .

 

[DRW895]

Right now:
1-st centre Strome 0 assist, lucky goals with high shooting % has already gone.
Guy who supposed to replace Orlov has just 0+2 in a month.
Goalies - no comments.
Haters: "Ovechkin is a Capitals problem".

 

[22Brad Park]

Been watching hockey 50 yrs & when players that score goals age the taps shutoff fast when the end comes.He might break record but it's gonna be really hard without Capitals suffering to give him that ice time he will need.

 

[jcs0218]

You think he's coming this close only to say gee sorry but I think I'll just retire?

He'll play until he's 45 if that what it takes to break the record.

The Capitals will keep re-signing him until he breaks it.

He is 100% breaking the record, there's no stopping it

100% agreed.

This won't happen. But for the sake of argument, he would score 10 goals a season for 8 seasons if that is what it took to break the record.

The only thing that would stop him from breaking the record would be paralysis or something.

 

[Sykur]

What kind of monster puts 42 goals in his late 30s

Only guy I can think of who comes close is Mike Gartner -- Mr. Consistency, had 17 straight 30+ goal seasons, never won any awards or broke any records (he played in the Wayne/Mario era so it was never going to happen), but he never had any down years either, no matter who he played for. He quietly retired with over 700 goals.

 

[CanadienShark]

As a player he is clearly cooked. I wouldn’t be surprised if he can turn it around for goals but I agree here. Breaking 99’s record will most likely take more games than it took him as well as 3,000 more shots. Had 99 and 66 both had full health the record would be at over 1000 goals for either and no discussion here. I think it’s cool even as a pens fan to see the only reachable 99 record being hunted. There is no question though as a player he’s looked abysmal.

99 had an outstanding record of health. No way you can attribute his stats to being injured. The guy was like Ovechkin - almost never missed a game. Weird comment on your part, but give your fandom it makes sense.

 

[jcs0218]

99 had an outstanding record of health. No way you can attribute his stats to being injured. The guy was like Ovechkin - almost never missed a game. Weird comment on your part, but give your fandom it makes sense.

Gary Suter's hit on Gretzky in the 1991 Canada Cup really impacted Gretzky as an offensive player.

 

[Artorius Horus T]

You think he's coming this close only to say gee sorry but I think I'll just retire?

He'll play until he's 45 if that what it takes to break the record.

The Capitals will keep re-signing him until he breaks it.

He is 100% breaking the record, there's no stopping it

He will not play until 45, not with that physique, you are dreaming.


Teemu Selänne was able play at elite/semi-elite level until 42,
his last 2 seasons in the NHL however, were bad.

But his body was a temple to him, he kept his body in prime, elite condition,
ate very smart, his work out plan was hard thought up by specialists.
etc. etc.. Heck at 53 today, dude is still in helluva shape.


Ovie is a complete different story, honestly, im really surprised he has gotten to that pro age
already and kept scoring that much*, i have been waiting his decline for few years now.

*although, for several past years, his game has come more and more one sided
to his one spot play, really... well, he has shown some great playmaking skills
so i give him that

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

If he doesn’t get 20 I will eat my house piece by piece on live stream

Don't say things like That because then you end up like cat shit guy.

Cat shit guy was a Leaf fan who made a tweet after the Leafs were down 3-0 to Montreal that if the Leafs won the game he would eat cat shit.

Leafs stormed back and won 6-3.

Now he's cat shit guy.

I think Matthews had a hat trick that night.

Anyway moral of the story is don't say things.

 

[Beukeboom]

99 had an outstanding record of health. No way you can attribute his stats to being injured. The guy was like Ovechkin - almost never missed a game. Weird comment on your part, but give your fandom it makes sense.

That's not true at all. Wayne had well known back issues, that started back in 90-91 something, and which were aggravated by the Gary Suter hit from behind in 91. Gretzky was never the same player after that, and especially so his goal scoring took a hit (pun not intended)

 

[psycat]

100% agreed.

This won't happen. But for the sake of argument, he would score 10 goals a season for 8 seasons if that is what it took to break the record.

The only thing that would stop him from breaking the record would be paralysis or something.

Agreed or maybe some pro Putin tweets and a departure for KHL.

Anyway he looks done but id bet quite alot he still gets the record, it just won't be pretty or next season.

 

[Hanji]

He will not play until 45, not with that physique, you are dreaming.


Teemu Selänne was able play at elite/semi-elite level until 42,
his last 2 seasons in the NHL however, were bad.

But his body was a temple to him, he kept his body in prime, elite condition,
ate very smart, his work out plan was hard thought up by specialists.
etc. etc.. Heck at 53 today, dude is still in helluva shape.


Ovie is a complete different story, honestly, im really surprised he has gotten to that pro age
already and kept scoring that much*, i have been waiting his decline for few years now.

*although, for several past years, his game has come more and more one sided
to his one spot play, really... well, he has shown some great playmaking skills
so i give him that

Ovechkin is in fantastic shape for his age and body type. It's what's given his his longetivity.

Comparing his physique to Selanne's is dumb. It's like comparing elite triathletes and weightlifters. Both are in amazing shape for the tasks they perform.
Ovechkin's game has always been predicated on immediate strength.

 

[Caps8112]

Been watching hockey 50 yrs & when players that score goals age the taps shutoff fast when the end comes.He might break record but it's gonna be really hard without Capitals suffering to give him that ice time he will need.

Agree with the first part but it’s not hurting the team as so many have said. They are at the cliff of full rebuild. They have to be terrible 2 3 years to get high end picks. They are playing all their young guys now anyway that we’re late draft picks. Not saying I want 7 years of wheeling ovi out there but there is nothing they can do to improve today. They need everything and others to retire

 

[blankall]

You think he's coming this close only to say gee sorry but I think I'll just retire?

He'll play until he's 45 if that what it takes to break the record.

The Capitals will keep re-signing him until he breaks it.

He is 100% breaking the record, there's no stopping it

At a certain point the team can't keep giving him top line minutes and top pp time of he's getting 10-15 goals/year and contributing nothing else. I'm not saying that's where he is now, but the idea that he can just continue playing until he hits the record isn't realistic.

I think he'll likely beat the record in the next three years, but I wouldn't expect him play until 45.

 

[Hanji]

You think he's coming this close only to say gee sorry but I think I'll just retire?

He'll play until he's 45 if that what it takes to break the record.

The Capitals will keep re-signing him until he breaks it.

He is 100% breaking the record, there's no stopping it

Like the poster above just stated, at what point does he become too much of a liability?

No team, even the Caps, are gonna keep a 40+ year old who can only score 15 goals while adding nothing else of value.
I'm not sure Ovechkin would even want that,

 

[WalterLundy]

99 had an outstanding record of health. No way you can attribute his stats to being injured. The guy was like Ovechkin - almost never missed a game. Weird comment on your part, but give your fandom it makes sense.

If the Suter hit doesn’t happen he is at over 1000 goals. He went from being a 170 point pace player in ‘89-‘91 who could still score roughly 50 goals per full year to a guy who would never eclipse or pace for more than 135. He lost so much of what made him Gretzky as an offensive player. It’s not that he missed games it’s that he was diminished in those he played after ‘91. Sure he was naturally declining at 30 but at the end of the ‘91 season he had 718 G, 1424 A, 2142 PTS in 925 GP. His career after that with the effects of that injury was a far cry from even his first 3 kings seasons level. Anyone reasonable would know and estimate his goal total at far beyond 894.

The record would be safe with him. And both Gretzky and Mario would most likely have eclipsed 1K. My fandom has nothing to do with facts here. Ovechkin breaking the record will still be cool to see. I’ve never hated him as a pens fan I actually stand up for opposing players objectively. The fact that 99 would have 1K goals and 3K points isn’t really something that well read fans of the game would really dispute. The fact that through the same point in their careers Ovechkin taking nearly 1700 more shots than Gretzky with less goals is also true.

 

[Hockey4Lyfe]

Lol, guess people are new to OVs career in this thread. He always starts slow. He might not be a shoe in for 40 like he was in years past, and the last couple years showed he has slowed down a bit. But he will easily hit 30 and flirt with 40.

It’s a long season boys, and it’s November.

He doesn’t “always” start slow.

 

[Toby91ca]

99 had an outstanding record of health. No way you can attribute his stats to being injured. The guy was like Ovechkin - almost never missed a game. Weird comment on your part, but give your fandom it makes sense.

Are you joking? He played with a bad back after getting hit from behind into the boards at 30.

2 goals in 10 games?

4 goals in the next two games and hes back to 6 in 12 - a 40 goals pace

Of course he needs to score those 4 goals, but his shooting percentage is extrenely low relative to his norm. It wouldnt be too surprising if he did

Huh? He can’t get to 6 in 12 games as he’s already played 12 games and only has 2 goals.

 

[Toby91ca]

You think he's coming this close only to say gee sorry but I think I'll just retire?

He'll play until he's 45 if that what it takes to break the record.

The Capitals will keep re-signing him until he breaks it.

He is 100% breaking the record, there's no stopping it

I tend to agree…hard to believe he gets this close and doesn’t stay to get it. Honestly though, if it takes him sticking around year after year and getting 5-10 goals to get it, I wouldn’t like to see it….However, I don’t see that happening, I think he’ll score a decent amount each year where it isn’t obvious he can’t play and is just there to notch one goal after another until he has enough

 

[sr edler]

How’s he going to get ENG’s when the Capitals will be behind a lot this year?

I think they've scored 3 already and the season is pretty young, Kuznetsov got 2 of them. They're not trash, and when they win it's always by a small margin. It's not like they blow out teams like Vegas.

You can't have Ovi out there shorthanded though because he's such a liability.

 

[Hockey4Lyfe]

Right now:
1-st centre Strome 0 assist, lucky goals with high shooting % has already gone.
Guy who supposed to replace Orlov has just 0+2 in a month.
Goalies - no comments.
Haters: "Ovechkin is a Capitals problem".

I mean you watch the games and the dude is pretty invisible currently.

And not that I put too much weight on them but the underlying stats and hockey cards after games has him regularly near the bottom of the team.

 

[abo9]

Are you joking? He played with a bad back after getting hit from behind into the boards at 30.


Huh? He can’t get to 6 in 12 games as he’s already played 12 games and only has 2 goals.

He indeed plays games on an o going basis

 

[george14]

When Ovi got hit last night in the corner, he looked like an old man getting up. Still good for 25 goals IMO.