Will Ovi breaking Gretzky's goalscoring record change or influence his legacy?

User9992

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Feb 27, 2016
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Will Ovi breaking Gretzky's goal scoring record change or influence his legacy?

Let's say if:
1) Ovi retires immediately & finish his goals total with 780
2) Ovi plays his remaining 4 seasons scoring at least 115 goals breaking Gretzky's record. And retires with 900+ goals.

Will breaking goal scoring record & finishing with 900 goals will change his legacy?
 

Mulletman

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Feb 23, 2013
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It will greatly improve ovechkin's legacy if he breaks the record and ends his career with 900+ goals. ovechkin is automatically a top 5 player all time and there's no chance of anybody trying to argue crosby over Ovechkin after that!

Gretzky's legacy on the other hand will take a hit too, as he will seem much more human after his record is broken.
 

Weztex

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Feb 6, 2006
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It will greatly improve ovechkin's legacy if he breaks the record and ends his career with 900+ goals. ovechkin is automatically a top 5 player all time and there's no chance of anybody trying to argue crosby over Ovechkin after that!

Gretzky's legacy on the other hand will take a hit too, as he will seem much more human after his record is broken.
That part is so irrational, I don’t know why some people still bring it up.

Ovi has a meaty 17 seasons career by which we can judge his place in hockey history. It includes a boatload of regular season awards, a Stanley Cup as captain, a Conn Smythe and countless comparables that we can use to evaluate his performance against his peers. If your historical ranking of him is resting on a single goal that would bring him from 894 to 895, then you’re just telling us your way of ranking players is highly questionable and cosmetic. If you think Ovechkin is a top-5 player, defend it on the bulk of numerous accomplishments. If you think he’s not after 894 goals, then it’s ridiculous to think he suddenly jumps players with a single one in a likely meaningless game.
 

bobholly39

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Mar 10, 2013
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There's often been questions about how high Ovechkin ranks all time today - and some people speculating that if he breaks the record he automatically jumps up multiple ranks. I completely disagree with that logic. If he ranks....8th all time with ~880 goals - hes still 8th with 900 goals too. No difference for 20 goals more or less.

But legacy? Legacy to me is different than all time ranking. I think breaking the record would be huge for his legacy. There'll be a ton of marketing and celebration around it - and I think it'd be a huge boost to his legacy.
 

Sasha Orlov

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It will greatly improve ovechkin's legacy if he breaks the record and ends his career with 900+ goals. ovechkin is automatically a top 5 player all time and there's no chance of anybody trying to argue crosby over Ovechkin after that!

Gretzky's legacy on the other hand will take a hit too, as he will seem much more human after his record is broken.
Gretzky could have scored no goals and still be the all time points leader lmfao yeah he seems very human
 

haseoke39

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Mar 29, 2011
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Scoring 50 goals a year for twenty years does not necessarily make you the best goal-scorer of all time. It makes you very consistent and long-lasting. Do an era-adjusted ranking, and there's a shmozzle of players with peaks in the same neighborhood, including Hull, Lemieux, Esposito, and Gretzky. Ovechkin will always be one of the best in that framework, but his consistency and longevity do not necessarily imply he had the greatest peak.

So holding the all-time record would matter a great deal to his legacy. It's one thing that he can hold that can't be disputed or qualified.

Gretzky's claim to the title is still meaningful even if Ovechkin passes him, though. Because Gretzky hit such an absurd number while goalscoring was an ancillary aspect of his offensive game. If he'd tried to play a more one-dimensional game, he might have hit 1000, while being a much less effective player overall. So there's always going to be an argument about raw talent and impact on the game at your peak.
 

Randyne

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May 20, 2012
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Do an era-adjusted ranking, and there's a shmozzle of players with peaks in the same neighborhood, including Hull, Lemieux, Esposito, and Gretzky. Ovechkin will always be one of the best in that framework, but his consistency and longevity do not necessarily imply he had the greatest peak.
Era-adjusted Ovechkin seasons are untouchable. Literally.

Ovechkin has eleven(!) 50+ adj. goal seasons.
Nearest players like Gretzky, Lemieux, Howe, Hull each has five 50+ adj. goals seasons (more than 2 times less).
Brett Hull has better peak adj.G. season by 6 goals, and the next two seasons by 1 goal, but in other seasons Ovechkin blew him out of the water.

Ovechkinadj.GHoweadj.GLemieuxadj.GGretzkyadj.GBobby Hadj.GBossyadj.GBrett Hadj.G
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Noldo

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May 28, 2007
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But legacy? Legacy to me is different than all time ranking. I think breaking the record would be huge for his legacy. There'll be a ton of marketing and celebration around it - and I think it'd be a huge boost to his legacy.

That is definitely true. A major record would absolutely affect Ovechkin’s legacy. He would not be “only” one of the best goal scorers ever, and with excellent argument that he is the best ever, he would also be the player who broke one of Gretzky’s major records, the most productive goal scorer ever.

And NHL is counting all their lucky stars that it will take another couple of years before Ovy reaches Gretzky and they are hoping as hell that international situation changes by that time because celebrating Ovy’s achievement in the current political reality (including Ovy’s apparent allegiances) would be utterly complicated.
 

filinski77

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Feb 12, 2017
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I think passing the raw record will simply cement his legacy as the greatest goal scorer of all-time. He already easily is in my opinion, but there's still some ignorant fans that simply think "894 >780". If he breaks the raw record he'll have:

1) The most raw goals of all-time
2) The most adjusted goals of all-time
3) The most times leading the league in goals
4) The most times leading the league in goals/gp
5) The most raw 50-goal seasons of all time
6) By far the most adjusted 50-goal seasons of all-time

The only small argument that haters will have to cling on will be theoretical ones such as "Gretzky COULD have scored more goals if he wanted to".
 

Randyne

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May 20, 2012
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The only small argument that haters will have to cling on will be theoretical ones such as "Gretzky COULD have scored more goals if he wanted to".

The season when he scored most assists all-time he didn't stop trying to score goals. He shot 350 shots on goal which is 95% shots from the most goals season all-time (92), but scored only 52.
This argument is weak.

My whole post was about peak, not quantity. I think your post accurately supports that point.
So Brett is the best goalscorer of all-time? Are you kidding?
Ovechkin has 9 rockets which is three times more than Brett.
 
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haseoke39

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Mar 29, 2011
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So Brett is the best goalscorer of all-time? Are you kidding?
Ovechkin has 9 rockets which is three times more than Brett.
I'm saying he has a claim to the best peak. Not just the top season overall, but a favorable top 3 next to Ovie.

Peak matters. If Connor McDavid retires now, William Nylander will eventually pass him in points, yknow.
 

ricky0034

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Jun 8, 2010
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That literally makes no sense. It’s a legitimate question to ask when he’s 115 goals away with 4 years left to play.

and he literally just had 50 last year so it's not like his numbers are way down lately or anything

anyways as far as the thread goes maybe it will for some but it shouldn't, he's already the best goalscorer at this point however the next few years go
 

ricky0034

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Jun 8, 2010
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I'm saying he has a claim to the best peak. Not just the top season overall, but a favorable top 3 next to Ovie.

Peak matters. If Connor McDavid retires now, William Nylander will eventually pass him in points, yknow.

does Nylander have 9 Rockets too?

you act like Ovechkin got to where he's at by just playing a long time and compiling numbers when he's literally lead the league in goals more times than anyone else ever has
 
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Midnight Judges

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Feb 10, 2010
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Gretzky's claim to the title is still meaningful even if Ovechkin passes him, though. Because Gretzky hit such an absurd number while goalscoring was an ancillary aspect of his offensive game. If he'd tried to play a more one-dimensional game, he might have hit 1000, while being a much less effective player overall. So there's always going to be an argument about raw talent and impact on the game at your peak.

It's a trade-off though. Had Gretzky focused more on goal scoring, his point totals would have gone down, perhaps even substantially.

Conversely, had Ovechkin chosen to focus more on playmaking, his point totals would have increased, probably dramatically.
 

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