Ovi Is Now Just 35 Goals From Passing Gretzky and Only 40 Away From 900
Remember like, 10 years ago when people were asking if Ovi was washed? That was a fun little time in history. When he "would never make it out of the 2nd round", or "only cared about Russia", or "what about his +/-!!!!" were things people actually said. Well he has put every dumb hater to rest and all he has done is won a Cup and now is staring down the barrel of not just Gretzky's record, but also becoming the first player to ever have 900 career goals! 900!!!!! The number seems so absurd yet it's also directly in reach.
There's not even an argument to be made about Ovi anymore. And I'm not even going to mention how Gretzky played when goalies stood on the goal line, used tic tacs for pads, and closed their eyes when the puck was shot at them. Not going to mention how Gretzky didn't have a 50 goal season in the final 10 seasons of his NHL career. Not important. None of that matters. All that matters is Ovi is in his 20th NHL season and 39 years old and is still performing at the highest of levels, to the point he was just named the 1st star of the week!
It's truly, truly remarkable what he's able to do. And I know a lot of people don't pay much attention to early regular season hockey, but the Caps have were unreal, sitting at 8-3 and playing about as good as I've ever seen a Caps team play. So much credit goes to Carbery who has to be the early favorite for the Jack Adams award for coach of the year.
It's very possible Ovechkin breaks Gretzky's record this season. He needs 35 more in the final 71 games to hold the record at 895. This is happening. It's fucking crazy that this is happening and how lucky we are to have witnessed it all. The best part too is it isn't a distraction for the team, because as Ovi goes, the team goes. They aren't forcing him the puck or anything like that, he's just playing at an elite level and making the rest of the team better as a result. If you haven't been watching, it's time to start!