Will Ovechkin pass Gretzky’s Goal Total?

[hockeyrobot]

I just hope it doesn't end up as a sad pitty party where you've got a bottom dwelling team spoon-feeding this 40 year old dude to get him his last 10... that would kind of tarnish it for me

Hope not.

Different sport but something I was not aware of until recently. I didn't know Pete Rose was pretty terrible at the end of his career and just hung around so he could break the hits record. Like....a -6.6 WAR over his last 8 seasons bad. Woah.

[LawMan]

Hope not.

Different sport but something I was not aware of until recently. I didn't know Pete Rose was pretty terrible at the end of his career and just hung around so he could break the hits record. Like....a -6.6 WAR over his last 8 seasons bad. Woah.

That sounds ugly. But Pete bet $100k on himself to break the record so he had to keep playing to cash the ticket.

[ericdaoust]

Different sport but something I was not aware of until recently. I didn't know Pete Rose was pretty terrible at the end of his career and just hung around so he could break the hits record. Like....a -6.6 WAR over his last 8 seasons bad. Woah.

Given Pete's history it's possible those "negative wins" were by design

[2014olympicgold]

-6.6WAR over 8yrs isn't even that bad for someone in their late 30s/40s. A less than -1WAR is totally not "terrible".

Also, WAR varies based off the site you use, but he had a -1.2WAR on Baseball reference with a oWAR of 2.8 in his final 8yrs. Between the ages of 38 and 45yrs old, Pete Rose was a 98OPS+, he was just below a league avg hitter.

Pete Rose defense was terrible his final years.

[hockeyrobot]

Ovieeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[pmorrow]

Another 20+ goal season, and just 52 more to pass Gretzky.

[hockeyrobot]

If he could somehow get another 10.....there could be hope he breaks it next year.

[hockeyrobot]

If he could somehow get another 10.....there could be hope he breaks it next year.

[blayze]

He ain't breaking it next year... gonna be another 2 years best case scenario

[Pengwin7]

Props to OV for hitting 20 again.

Mercy though... love his stats.
Next year, 2024-25 will be his 20th NHL season - all with Washington.
He'll turn 39 years old when camp breaks around his September 17th birthday.
https://www.espn.com/nhl/player/stat.../alex-ovechkin

If he happens to ride out the rest of this year's games... he'll be at 1426gp.
So if he plays in 74+ of next season, he'll be near 1500gp to end next season.
And maybe around 870 goals (if he scores 25 or so).

That would put his age40 season... in 2025-26... as the chase for the record.
To see a 40-year old in his 21st NHL season... all with same team... with grey hair... chasing a goal-scoring record.
Boy - that would be something.
I'm here for that!

[Dover]

13 goals in his last 21 games… He can definitely do it!

[Canucks_fan18]

His season actually looks dam decent now too. He's pacing for 67 points in his 38 year season. I would love to see him get 9 more this year and set the record for most 30 goal seasons in the league.

[SeaDawg]

Part of me wants Ovechkin to break the record, but if he does I hope he isn't a hanger-on when it happens, playing simply to break the record.

I love that he is pacing for 60+ pts this year, and that he has had such a strong second half. I hope for the same next year and the year after.

Not that Gretzky needs more praise, but he finished 3rd overall in points (with 90 points and 23 goals) in his penultimate season and then finished his career with 62 pts in 70 games. Very respectable numbers.

[2014olympicgold]

Ovi is going to the net more recently and his scoring has ticked up. Hopefully (for those who want Ovi to beat the record) he recognizes this might be the way he beats it.

He has 14G in 30 games in 2024. He has 15 games left, so if he continues that pace that's 7goals. Finishing the season with 28goals, and his career to date at 850goals. That's 45goals from breaking the record, with 2 seasons left on his deal.

The only thing I hope he doesn't do, is sign a 1yr deal in a weird city in 2026-27 season to beat the record if he's a few goals off.

[Canucks_fan18]

Ovi is going to the net more recently and his scoring has ticked up. Hopefully (for those who want Ovi to beat the record) he recognizes this might be the way he beats it.

He has 14G in 30 games in 2024. He has 15 games left, so if he continues that pace that's 7goals. Finishing the season with 28goals, and his career to date at 850goals. That's 45goals from breaking the record, with 2 seasons left on his deal.

The only thing I hope he doesn't do, is sign a 1yr deal in a weird city in 2026-27 season to beat the record if he's a few goals off.

He won't the owner is really close with Ovi and I think they view the record not only as individual record for Ovi but a team one as well.