It’s not every day in sports that a record is broken — let alone a historic record set 31 years ago.
However, on April 6, hockey history was made in Elmont, New York, as Washington Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin scored his 895th career goal.
The goal cemented Ovechkin as the greatest goal scorer in the history of the National Hockey League, as he passed retired NHL star Wayne Gretzky in all-time goals.
Gretzky set the goal record on March 29, 1999, in his final NHL game against the New York Islanders, playing for the New York Rangers at the time.
Ovechkin tied the goal record on April 4 in Capital One Arena, as the Washington Capitals’ home turf erupted. While Ovechkin did have the opportunity to break the record in hat-trick fashion on the Capitals’ home ice, he refused.
Per reports, Ovechkin told Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery he didn’t want to come in, which he later confirmed after the game.
With minutes left in the game and the Chicago Blackhawks goaltender out of the crease, Ovechkin’s only way to secure the record on home ice would have been with an empty-net goal.
“I tell ‘Carbs’ (Capitals coach Spencer Carbery) right away, ‘I don’t want to do it,’” Ovechkin said after the game on April 6, according to NHL News.
Pretty understandable if you ask me, that with 30 years of hockey history on the line, Ovechkin did not want history to be made on an empty-netter.
After breaking the record, a clip from an interview in 2016 resurfaced. In the clip, a reporter asks Ovechkin if he thought he could catch up with Gretzky’s record.
“No. I don’t think somebody will beat this record,” Ovechkin said. “In this league, I think it’s impossible.”
Even when the reporter pointed out that Ovechkin could get close to his record, Ovechkin did not believe such a thing.
“I’d have to have six seasons of 50 goals,” Ovechkin said. “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to skate in six seasons.”
Yet, eight seasons later, he was able to shatter the goal record, despite being the fourth oldest active athlete in the NHL at 39 years old.
After scoring on New York Islander’s goaltender Ilya Sorokin, the Capitals bench cleared, as the sea of red jerseys in attendance celebrated.
The game was paused while an on-ice ceremony was held for the milestone, with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, Gretzky and his wife and Ovechkin’s wife and two kids joining on the ice.
The hockey love and respect touched my heart as Gretzky and Ovechkin shared a hug and gave speeches about the accomplishment.
Ovechkin even poked fun at his Russian friend and former teammate, Sorokin, in his speech.
“Ilya Sorokin, thank you for letting me score 895. I love you, brother,” Ovechkin said.
Ovechkin and Gretzky even did the press conference together after the game, putting on full display the respect the two athletes have for one another.
The Capitals organization honored Ovechkin’s milestone with the pregame ceremony, where he and his family were presented with numerous gifts. Ovechkin was further honored on April 11 with the Gr8 City Celebration that was held at Capital One Arena.
A remarkable factor of this milestone is that Ovechkin tied Gretzky’s all-time goal record in one less game than him. Gretzky set the record in his 1,487 career game, while Ovechkin tied the record in his 1,486 career game. Yet, both athletes, at the time of publication, sit with an average of 0.60 goals per game.
Ovechkin and Gretzky further scored their all-time record-setting goal in the same seasons, their twentieth season of their careers, with Gretzky retiring after his twentieth season.
Another interview from 2019 has recently resurfaced where Ovechkin told ESPN’s Linda Cohen that if he broke the goal record, he would simply retire.
“You’re probably never going to see me on the ice again,” Ovechkin said.
With one year remaining in his contract, it looks like Ovechkin won’t be retiring just yet. And you never know, with now 896 goals, 1,000 isn’t too far away.
