In 1994 it took the Great One, Wayne Gretzky, 7 games to break Gordie Howe’s all time goal scoring record at 802. In 2025, it took Alex Ovechkin only one game to pass Gretzky!
There are very few moments in life you will remember forever. The birth of your first child, your wedding day, or even your favorite sports team winning their first championship. Well many people around the world today, have witnessed a moment they will remember forever.
History was made today out on Long Island. In an atmosphere fitting a Stanley Cup Final, Ovechkin scored his 895th goal of his illustrious career, becoming the NHL goal-scoring king! Ovechkin scored his goal on, of course, a power play! Having more power-play goals than anyone else in NHL history, Ovie notched one more, beating his Russian countryman Ilya Sorokin for the goal. The score at that time was now 2-1 Islanders, but for most fans, the score didn’t matter.
The UBS arena went wild. You would have thought it was the Islanders who had just won the Stanley Cup. With a sea of red Capitals jerseys scattered through the arena, and with ticket prices going for over $1000, fans got their money’s worth.
The similarities between Oveckin and Gretzky are almost eerie. Wayne Gretzky scored his 894 goals in 1487 games. Ovechkin today scored his 895 goals in his 1487 game! But we can keep going. Gordie Howe held the all-time goal-scoring record for 31 years until Gretzky broke his record in 1994. Gretzky then held the goal-scoring record for, you guessed it, 31 years, until Ovie broke the record today!
Lets keep going, shall we? Ovechkin and Gretzky have both played 20 seasons. Ovechkin and Gretzky both have had nine 50-goal seasons as well. If you want a weird coincidence, I’ll give you one. Gretzky scored his first goal against Glen Hanlon. When Ovechkin was drafted by the Capitals, his first coach was Glen Hanlon. There are a lot of other things the two have in common, which makes this moment even more special.
After Ovie broke the record today, the game was stopped for a ten minute ceremony where Commissioner Gary Bettman, along with Gretzky and Ovechkin’s family came on the ice to salute the Great Eight. They even had special hats made to commemorate the occasion. As Ovie thanked everyone including the fans, you could almost see him tearing up wishing his late father could have seen this moment.
Hockey is and always will be my favorite sport, but it takes shots by the media all the time. You hear them say, “Oh, no one cares about hockey,” or “Oh it will always be the fourth major sport”. I call bull on all of this? The year the NHL has had so far this year has been awesome. It started with the tremendous response the Four Nations tournament had around the world, and now to this. This will be a moment seen all over the world today and not just on the sports networks!
If you are a hockey fan you had tears in your eyes today. When Ovechkin came to the league most fans like myself hated the guy cause he usually scored goals against my team. In fact he scored a lot of them. But in 2018 a lot of opinions changed about him. Ovechkin got to hoist his first championship winning a Stanley Cup. To know there are so many great athletes in team sports that dont win the big prize, seeing Ovechkin win was a great moment.
As we head toward the end of the 2024-25 NHL season, The Capitals are one of the best teams in the league. They will have a legitimate chance to win another championship. It would be so fitting if it happens and Ovie can lift that Cup once again! The question is would he ride off into the sunset, or keep going? The man is 39 years old but has the passion for the game of a 20-year-old. I would not be surprised to see Ovie play next year and even represent his country in the Winter Olympics.
For one day, one game on Long Island, the whole NHL was watching. The whole sports world was watching, too. To witness greatness. To see the Great Eight pass the Great One. And he did it in style on a power-play goal! As he sprawled to the ice and screamed, you could maybe hear him say one thing. “I am now the greatest living goal-scorer of all time!” This time, however, this record will never be broken! If it ever does get broken we will need to wait 31 years! Congrats to Alexander the Great!
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