Alex Ovechkin hits 700 career NHL goals!

[Video Nasty]

With his hat trick tonight, he also tied the record for most consecutive 30+ goal seasons with 15 (shares with Gartner and Jagr). He has played 15 seasons.

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

Ovechkin just keeps making me believe. He's been my favorite player since Foppa's prime.

I think he gets 50 this year, or just about, maybe 48. Either way, unless injury occurs, or he just REALLY lets himself go, he has the power and offensive IQ to keep playing until he is 40-42. You have to think he'll still have the shot, but will his hands drop off (even more)? Will his accuracy? His confidence or drive? Again, will he get injured? And if so will it affect him after recovery, will he still be having fun?

If his career stays simple, I think he really challenges Wayne for top all time. I think having Kuzy, Vrana, Wilson, around him helps, and Backstrom is the type of player that his hands are what they are- he will play for some time too. He may slow, but his IQ is incredible and his hands and passing will stay with him I think for a long time. All these factors help Ovechkin. They have some talent in the system too.

IF I DID THE MATH right at this hour, Ovechkin may have 708 goals if he gets 50 this year.

That leaves him with 186 goals to tie Wayne.

If he plays at season ages 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, that is 6 seasons. He needs to average 31 goals a season then to tie the record. If he has a 50 and 40 goal season in him, then the next four seasons average drops to 24 a season until his age 40 season to tie Wayne. If he can score 50, and then 45, and then 40, it gets even easier. (708+50+45+40 = 843). I think that is going to be very hard.

Why? Because if you have watched Ovechkin this season, you start to notice little things that are dropping off. He has lost speed over the past 3 seasons (on top of the speed he has already lost). His puck handling is really dropping off. He seems mildly uninterested in the first half of the season. He isn't so passionate anymore. Now, I don't fault him for a single one of these things. But, it's the truth.

He can't dangle anymore. He may get lucky on a few poor defenseman, but his footspeed and hands have dropped off since he was in his 20's, which they do for everyone. Every year becomes more 'coverable' as player. That said, he is still scoring. So, I give him all the praise, and he is still scoring 5v5 too. But he's losing his hockey skills by simple aging. Lucky for him, his shot hasn't gone almost anywhere. He can't shoot quite like he could when he was 24- I remember some wristers of his from far out were impossibly fast. But his slapper is still deadly, albeit not 'quite' as fast- still faster than the human goalie eye can track.

It'll be really, really hard. But Ovechkin is also really, really good at scoring goals.

Like Mulder said, I want to believe.

Ovie is evolving his game, though. He'll adjust as he always does.

 

[ALLCAPSALLTHETIME]

I personally never thought that Gretzky is the best goal-scorer ever. His goal-scoring prime was short compared to other all-time great goal-scorers - he won his last goal-scoring title at 26 and only finished top5/top10 in goals once since then.

In my view, the mantle of the best goal-scorer belonged to Bobby Hull for good 50 years - he has twice as many top3 finishes in goals as Gretzky, 2 more goal-scoring titles, and he finished top5 in goals for 13 years straight (well, there was one lapse when he finished 6th).

The only thing one can bring up against Bobby Hull is that he won his last goal-scoring title at 30 and his NHL career ended at 33 (he went to play in WHA). If those things bother you when compared to Richard's, Howe's, and Ovechkin's longevity, then Howe is your champion - he has as many goal-scoring titles as Gretzky (the last one came at the age of 34), but he has 12 top3 finishes in goals (to Gretzky's 5) and 19 top10 finishes, which is absolutely insane even in a 6-team league.

But somewhere around last season I got convinced that Ovechkin had surpassed both Howe and Bobby Hull - with his record-setting 8th goal-scoring title won at the age of 33, two more top3 finishes, and better margins of victory outside of peak three years. Again, if you are really into longevity, you might hold out a year or two to push Ovechkin past Howe as a goal-scorer, but I am past that tipping point.

No worries. It is all conjecture anyway. I think when its all said and done, it'll be Ovie.

 

[Pucks Bad Boy]

With his hat trick tonight, he also tied the record for most consecutive 30+ goal seasons with 15 (shares with Gartner and Jagr). He has played 15 seasons.

I really hope he'll break it next year just to add a little bit more to his already legendary legacy.

 

[cowboy82nd]

Gretzky's not the greatest goal-scorer of all-time.

The record books say otherwise.

 

[Dondini]

The record books say otherwise.

to be fair the record book only states that he has the most goals. That’s just one factor when deciding the best goal scorer. If they remove goalies from the game day today and some player scores 1500 goals are we going to pretend he’s the best scorer ever? No so, there is way more to look at than just raw totals. It’s a ridiculous argument that so many make.

 

[vippe]

Congrats from hat-trick.
700 is really big achievemant. (not far away)

Highly doubtfull thou that he ever reaches the next mark, 800.
He is super exceptional Russian born player, but he'll be 35 when the next season starts
and 35 has been very influental age for Russian born NHL:ers so far. For example,
Sergei Fedorov was still awesome at 34, but affter turning 35, not so much.

Even Fetisov dropped after 34, thou due to a lock out shortened season, he rejuvinated for (or two) one season
at 37 (38) in the NHL. (but he played 15 years in Russia prior to NHL, for obvious reasons)

Pavel Datsyuk started to decline after 35
Alexei Kovalev was still great 35, but dropped after that
Alexander Mogilny's game dropped at 34
Slava Kozlov's game dropped at 33
Pavel Bure retired at 32 (not the same situation thou)
Alexei Yashin retired at 32 (not the same situation thou)

There's just one thing that would possibly stop Ovechkin from hitting 800 goals and that would be a career ending injury. Your entire argument lies on the fact that he's russian, but neither of the players you mention plays like Ovechkin. There's no similarities in their games.

I can imagine Ovechkin signing an extension that stretches until he's 40 when contracts of Kuz, Bäckström also ends which leaves Ovechkin with 5,5 years to score a little over 100 goals to hit 800. It's obviously going to happen.

 

[tsujimoto74]

The record books say otherwise.

Have you ever seen an 80s NHL game? Apples and oranges to today's game. Ovi stands above his peers as a goal-scorer in a way Gretzky didn't. Gretzky was the best goal-scorer in a season 5x in his career; Ovi's already at 8 (the most by anyone in NHL history), and it doesn't look like he's done yet.

 

[filinski77]

To put Gretzky's record in perspective: Let's say Ovi scores 48 goals this season, he finishes the season with 706 goals.

Marleau from his aged 35-39 year old seasons, scored 114 goals. 114+706 = 820.

Marleau isn't even in the same stratosphere as Ovechkin in goalscoring, so why couldn't Ovechkin score ~40% more than Marleau and play another season or 2? Nothing is guaranteed, but just a thought.

 

[Jeremy Hronek]

To put Gretzky's record in perspective: Let's say Ovi scores 48 goals this season, he finishes the season with 706 goals.

Marleau from his aged 35-39 year old seasons, scored 114 goals. 114+706 = 820.

Marleau isn't even in the same stratosphere as Ovechkin in goalscoring, so why couldn't Ovechkin score ~40% more than Marleau and play another season or 2? Nothing is guaranteed, but just a thought.

I think a better comparison would be Selanne. Lets say Ovie plays until age 39, and he puts up the same goal totals as Selanne did from age 35 to 39. Selanne put up 40,48,12,27,27 (154)
If Ovechkin continues on his same pace this year he ends up at 711 goals. 711+154=865. Selanne missed 103 games over that 5 year span, if Ovechkin remains healthy I believe it is possible that he could beat Gretzky by age 39.

 

[Raikkonen]

It's a puzzle why a player whose game is so predictable, has nonetheless been able to dominate for so long. Since 2010, his overall game has really shriveled. But he still has that great shot, even if he doesn't drive play as he once did, and as long as NHL assistant coaches (mostly a dumb lot) never figure out how to take away his one-timer from the left face-off circle, he'll keep scoring goals while being a boat anchor and a minus player. Sadly, I could see him being rated ahead of Crosby in the future because of the raw totals, but anyone who has watched both men a couple hundred times knows that Crosby is the greater player - even if he lacks that one, singular, outlier talent that Ovechkin possesses (his shot).

But it is a devastating singular talent, and don't be shocked if he surpasses Gretzky. I could definitely see him threatening the 50-goal barrier a couple more times after this year, too. It will ultimately come down to this: does he have a stubborn decline, or will he fall off a cliff? Right now, I think it will be relatively stubborn, and even 35-goal seasons at this juncture are going to make the Wayner start to sweat - especially if Ovechkin decides to play into his 40s a la Joe Thornton.

You miss a little thing about Crosby. Hockey is not a game about being good player or something else. Its a game where you need to score f***ing goals. Ovi does just that.

You dont like the style? Well, its subjective

 

[stampedingviking]

53, 69, 51, 68, 64, 60, 51, 58, 61,( 38 in 63 games)
Bossy played 10 years. Go ahead you can even cherry pick Ovechkin's best 10.

Ovi best there has ever been AINEC

 

[HurricaneFanatic]

I personally never thought that Gretzky is the best goal-scorer ever. His goal-scoring prime was short compared to other all-time great goal-scorers - he won his last goal-scoring title at 26 and only finished top5/top10 in goals once since then.

In my view, the mantle of the best goal-scorer belonged to Bobby Hull for good 50 years - he has twice as many top3 finishes in goals as Gretzky, 2 more goal-scoring titles, and he finished top5 in goals for 13 years straight (well, there was one lapse when he finished 6th).

The only thing one can bring up against Bobby Hull is that he won his last goal-scoring title at 30 and his NHL career ended at 33 (he went to play in WHA). If those things bother you when compared to Richard's, Howe's, and Ovechkin's longevity, then Howe is your champion - he has as many goal-scoring titles as Gretzky (the last one came at the age of 34), but he has 12 top3 finishes in goals (to Gretzky's 5) and 19 top10 finishes, which is absolutely insane even in a 6-team league.

But somewhere around last season I got convinced that Ovechkin had surpassed both Howe and Bobby Hull - with his record-setting 8th goal-scoring title won at the age of 33, two more top3 finishes, and better margins of victory outside of peak three years. Again, if you are really into longevity, you might hold out a year or two to push Ovechkin past Howe as a goal-scorer, but I am past that tipping point.

Wayne did drop off fast but man his prime.. I still think his back injury in the early 90s really slowed down his goal scoring. He made up for it still being a playmaker. He also played on some really bad teams in the 90s.

 

[JasonRoseEh]

With his hat trick tonight, he also tied the record for most consecutive 30+ goal seasons with 15 (shares with Gartner and Jagr). He has played 15 seasons.

Is that good or?

 

[FrozenJagrt]

8 goals in his last 3 games? Is that right?

 

[The Iron Goalie]

8 goals in his last 3 games? Is that right?

Affirmative.

 

[JasonRoseEh]

Unbelievable. Back to back hat trick, 8 goals in 3 games and the first time Ovechkin has scored multiple goals 3 straight games. All of that and led a big comeback win against a division rival. GOAT.

 

[Ignatius]

8 goals in his last 3 games? Is that right?

Ovechkin is an arsonist, your village is his target.

 

[Sentinel]

Have you ever seen an 80s NHL game? Apples and oranges to today's game. Ovi stands above his peers as a goal-scorer in a way Gretzky didn't. Gretzky was the best goal-scorer in a season 5x in his career; Ovi's already at 8 (the most by anyone in NHL history), and it doesn't look like he's done yet.

1. It's not apples and oranges. Remove Gretzky and all the people he assisted, and goalscoring is not all that different.
2. Gretzky had FOUR 70+ goal seasons. Ovechkin -- ZERO.

 

[kmart]

1. It's not apples and oranges. Remove Gretzky and all the people he assisted, and goalscoring is not all that different.
2. Gretzky had FOUR 70+ goal seasons. Ovechkin -- none.

1. thats not how it works... u have to replace him (probably with average firstline goal scorers) instead of removing if u want to make any claim that the gpg in his era was heavily tied to him.

2. thats very impressive...

 

[Walt Comiskey]

In 15 years Ovi has 8 Richards. Rest of the league 7. Its 8 and 5 in last 13. Don't bother looking for another run like that in NHL history. There isn't one. No one has come close to goal scoring dominance like this during their time in the league. That people would even debate it is ridiculous.

 

[Sentinel]

1. thats not how it works... u have to replace him (probably with average firstline goal scorers) instead of removing if u want to make any claim that the gpg in his era was heavily tied to him.

That's exactly how it "works." You don't have to "replace" anybody. It's not a set-in-stone criteria. You made it up... and so did I.

2. thats very impressive...

Glad to see you acknowledge it.

 

[Roshi]

1. It's not apples and oranges. Remove Gretzky and all the people he assisted, and goalscoring is not all that different.
2. Gretzky had FOUR 70+ goal seasons. Ovechkin -- ZERO.

1. thats disrespective towards guys like Mark Messier and Jari Kurri. They were hoffers by their own merit. Oilers kept winning after Gretzky too.

And If you remove Gretzkys goals, you need to remove Ovies goals too. And hand pick equal guys to Messier and Kurri and remove those out.

2. That is highly impressive from great one, but also different times. What were % difference for those seasons between others of the same era?

 

[tsujimoto74]

1. It's not apples and oranges. Remove Gretzky and all the people he assisted, and goalscoring is not all that different.
2. Gretzky had FOUR 70+ goal seasons. Ovechkin -- ZERO.

Your first point has absolutely no support in the data. For example, the year Gretzky scored 212 points (81-82), there were an additional 10 players who scored 100 or more, and another 10 who scored 90-99. Not one of those guys played on the same team as Gretzky. Among players with a minimum of 70GP, 52 were a point per game or better. I can assure you the counting stats across the league do not look similar to that now.

 

[kmart]

That's exactly how it "works." You don't have to "replace" anybody. It's not a set-in-stone criteria. You made it up... and so did I.

i am not sure what you are arguing here. i did not make anything up. IF YOU make the argument that the higher gpg average in a random season in the 80s is directly tied to gretzky u have to compare it with a statline with him and another statline without, thereby posing a challenge in the way u have to calculate to get the average number.

as u probably know the math is simple, total goals in a season / games played = average goals per season. now in a hypothetical scenario where u simply remove the goals and maybe even the assists from 99 from that formula u have to assume the oilers simply play a hole year without gretzky or even without their topline which is not realistic if u want to devide with "games played" as the oilers would surely not play with men down the hole year. u have to replace him as a firstline player or somehow alter the formula if you want to prove that the goalscoring in the 80s would be similar with todays goalscoring if wayne did not exist. thats asinine to even suggest something like that, he was not the only dude who played against flopping goalies back then.