On Sunday, Alexander Ovechkin became the greatest goal scorer of all time when he recorded his 895th snipe. Where were you, and who were you with when you heard the news? These moments really are once-in-a-lifetime. Like Shohei Ohtani’s 50-50 feat on September 19, 2024, Ovechkin’s record is history, and we got to see it.
Fewer than 20,000 people were actually in the arena. But someday, 200,000 or maybe two million will tell the story like they were there. Forgive them now. One of them might be us.
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The thing that makes Ovechkin’s feat so special is that he did it at the same seasonal rate as Wayne Gretzky did. This is Ovie’s 20th season in the NHL — that’s the same number that the Great One took to score 894. Gretz set the record in 1,487 games. Amazingly, Ovie broke it in the exact same number of 1,487 games.
However, they did it in two different ways. Gretzky front-loaded his snipes — he had a four-year run with 92, 71, 87 and 73 goals early in his career. He overwhelmed fantasy hockey in its earliest days, but when he hit about 32 years of age, his pace dropped dramatically, and Gretzky ended his career averaging 20 goals across his last seven seasons. He also put up just nine snipes in his final season (1998-99).
Fantasy-wise, Gretzky’s peak may never be repeated, not even by Connor McDavid. However, Gretzky’s later years were basic at best.
Ovechkin has never scored more than 65 goals in a single season. He’s had a pair of three-season runs with 50 or more, and remarkably, there’s been no real drop-off in average goals scored. Ovechkin’s most recent 50-goal season came at age 36. It took 42 goals this season to break the record. He did that at 39 years of age.
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That’s bussin’. Or fire, maybe even wicked, depending on your age. His fantasy impact continues to be elite. After all, pure snipers are the rarest of beasts. Ones that pound out hits, too? Those are counted on one hand. Wait, make that one finger.
Gretzky was slim at six feet tall and 185 pounds. His shoulder pads were about as thick as paper towels, and he had a bodyguard named Marty McSorley. His office was behind the net. Ovechkin? He’s built like a tank at six-foot-three and 238 pounds. He remains his own bodyguard — he’s approaching 3,000 hits in his career. And we all know “Ovie’s Office.”
So does every opposing goalie and fan. Still, nobody can stop him. That puck is off his tape and past netminders before you can blink. I finally saw him in person in Toronto on December 28, 2024 — his first game back from a busted fibula. Honestly, pay the price to see him if you can find it. I sat 16 rows up from his office, right on the goal line.
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I heard his blades crush the ice. I never caught the puck coming off his stick, even when iso-ing on him. Seriously. I am still blown away by that.
Ovechkin’s power-play excellence started in his rookie season, but it was his unbroken five-season run as the league’s PPG leader that stands out in fantasy lore.
He wired 101 PPG between 2012-13 and 2016-17, and he’s been the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer with the man advantage for a long time. Ovechkin’s 325 power-play goals eclipse Dave Andreychuk, who is second on that list with 274.
Ovechkin has never really slowed down, but an abysmal start last season had everyone whispering about his so-called “rapid decline.” Nobody expected he would have just six goals in his first 34 games, and he suffered through his first 14-game goal drought.
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Ovechkin finished with 31 goals, including 23 in his last 36 games. That run was a 52-goal pace. This season, his 888th goal was his 35th of the season. That made Ovechkin the all-time record holder for 35-goal seasons (15), one more than former Caps forward, Mike Gartner.
Earlier in March, Ovechkin also beat Gretzky’s all-time record for the most goals in any month. Gretzky owns December with 157 goals. Ovie now has 161 in March.
Ovechkin has always been an NHL unicorn. He came into the league with that trademark tinted visor and gap-toothed grin, and his now-beloved goofy personality. He wasn’t immediately loved — he didn’t fit the quiet, self-deprecating, 110% Canadian guy that the hockey institution still strangely adores.
Ovechkin oozed personality. Remember when he basically begged to be picked last at the All-Star Game fantasy draft so he could win a car? Or when he manhandled the Cup around D.C. on a summer-long pub crawl?
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Ovie has matured. Kids and time will do that to a person — he turns 40 in September. But he still shows pure, unapologetic joy when he scores. And when his teammates score, too.
He simplified his game this year. He’s conserving energy, and head coach Spencer Carbery has cut his ice time back to help keep him fresh. It’s worked, and it’ll keep working through the end of next season when his contract ends. That’s when he’s expected to retire and head home to Russia.
Ovechkin plans to open a hockey museum in his hometown of Moscow, filled with his memorabilia and the pieces he’s gotten from teammates, fellow stars and hockey legends. This season, he’s been saving the stick, jersey, puck and pair of gloves from every goal he scores, and he’s getting his teammates to sign each jersey.
He also gives back. At the start of March, the Capitals announced he would donate his career goal-number amount to pediatric cancer research. With every goal, his donation goes up $1. And with his record-breaking 895th snipe, Ovechkin will have donated $9,790, which will be matched by Monumental Sports and Entertainment, the owners of the Caps. That’s a combined $19,580.
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Fans can join in, too, if you’re so inclined.
Ovechkin’s goal feat may never be matched. Auston Matthews might get there one day, but he’s already shown a propensity for injuries that Ovie has mostly escaped.
There’s only one big record left for Ovie to chase — most goals in the regular season and playoffs combined. Ovechkin has 967 career goals (895+72). Gretzky’s combined record is 1,016 (894+122). I wouldn’t put it past Ovechkin — that’s just 50 goals, and the Caps have their eyes on the silver chalice.
Ovechkin is an NHL unicorn. He’s an even rarer fantasy animal.
Let’s enjoy him while we can. By next June, fantasy hockey will never be the same.
