The Greatest 8

By Scott MacLean

Records are made to be broken, and while when it comes to American sports some – particularly in baseball – are now considered unreachable, one fell this week.

When Wayne Gretzky – The Great One – broke Gordie Howe’s record of 801 NHL goals in 1994 en route to his final total of 894 few believed that anyone would come close to that total, let alone break it. But as Gretzky‘s career ended in 1999, the man who would was taking his first steps in professional hockey in his hometown of Moscow.

By then Alexander Ovechkin was starring in Dynamo Moscow’s youth system. The third and youngest son of a professional footballer father and a two-time Olympic gold medallist basketballer mother he racked up goals at a record rate. By 16 he was in the clubs first team and playing in the Russian Super League, but a move to North America was inevitable.

That came when Ovechkin was drafted first overall by the Washington Capitals in the 2004 NHL Draft, but owing to the league lockout and cancellation of the 2004-05 season he remained with Dynamo. He lived up the hype from his first NHL game, scoring twice against Columbus and by the end of the season he’d scored 52 goals and 54 assists, third in the league in each, won the Calder Trophy as the Rookie of the Year, and was named to the All-NHL first team; the first rookie to do so in 15 years.

“Ovi” broke out two years later, scoring 65 goals and leading the Capitals to the playoffs. That season he won the first of three Hart Trophy’s as the league MVP, the first of nine Richard Trophy’s as the leagues leading scorer, and his only Ross Trophy as the leagues top points-scorer (goals plus assists).

All of which was highlighted by one score against Phoenix were he, somehow, scored despite being on his back and sliding away from the net; something quickly dubbed “The Goal”. In the crowd that night was a nine-year-old Auston Matthews, now a current star in the NHL in Toronto and like Ovechkin a number one pick and winner of the Calder, Hart, and Richard Trophies, while the Phoenix coach was none other than Gretzky himself.

From there, the goal tallies for “The Great 8”, referring to his jersey number, continued to mount; 56, 50, 32, 38, 38 (in another lockout-shortened year), 51, 53, 50, 33. By then the only thing missing from the resume was a Stanley Cup title, which was accomplished when the Caps beat the first-year expansion Vegas Golden Knights in the 2018 Finals. Ovechkin’s 49 goals again topped the regular season standings and he took home the finals MVP.

That left one personal mark to achieve; Gretzky’s goal record. 51 more in 2018-19, 48 in 2019-20, before 24 in Covid-shortened 2020-21 campaign, then 50, 42, and 31 the past three seasons put him on 853, 42 away from Gretzky.

With media interest in what was being dubbed “The Gr8 Chase” building, the pursuit this season started well with 15 goals in his first 25 games but in the last of those against Utah he fractured his fibula colliding with an opponent. Expected to miss four-to-six weeks, the 39-year old Ovechkin was back in three; yes, he was going to do this having just broken his leg! In late February a hat-trick against Edmonton saw him become the first player to score 200 goals in three different decades before he tied the record with two against Chicago late last week.

The moment would arrive two nights later against the New York Islanders.

https://x.com/Sportsnet/status/1908940471675601268

It was only fitting that the record goal came from where hundreds of the ones before it had, the left face-off circle in the attacking zone that Ovechkin had come to call as “his office” and from where he’d unleashed thousands of vicious one-time shots just like the record-breaker.

The game was put on hold for 10 minutes for a ceremony to acknowledge the record. Gretzky – who’d been in attendance for Washington’s last few games – was part of that and upheld his promise he’d be the first to shake Ovechkin’s hand; an acknowledgement of the record changing holders.

And then there’s this eerie coincidence:

There’s some solace for Gretzky. His assists and points records (1,963 and 2,857) are considered untouchable. The only active player within 1,000 of the former is Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and only Ovechkin and Crosby are within 1,300 of the latter.

If he wasn’t already, Ovechkin is a lock for the Hockey Hall of Fame as it’s greatest-ever goalscorer and the only questions left are how long he keeps playing and how high he can push that number. It’s not unusual for elite NHL players to play into their 40’s, and maybe he has getting to 1,000 in mind, but he’s also talked about going back to Russia to finish his career once his contract expires after next season.

This weekend though, in a moment we may not see again, The Great 8 became The Greatest 8.

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