Wayne Gretzky is as gracious an ambassador for the game of hockey as any sport could ask for. The man who put up the best numbers in the history of the sport and who is widely considered the best to ever play has carried that torch with aplomb.
So, please, can we stop with the notion that his records are in immediate peril?
Gretzky is so in the spirit of promoting the NHL that he was there on All-Star weekend in St. Louis — enough of a feat — and he was fully enjoying the festivities. He was eventually asked about the hot-button question that has seemingly just snuck up on people: Can Alex Ovechkin actually pass his seemingly untouchable record of 894 goals?
“What I accomplished, I’m very proud of,” Gretzky told the league’s website. “It’s hard to do what I did, and it’s really hard to do what he’s doing now. But there’s no question in my mind that he has a real legitimate chance of doing it.
“The two things that you need — you’ve got to stay healthy, and he’s proven that over his career. He plays hard and he stays healthy. And, secondly, you’ve got to be on a good team — and he plays on a good team.”
It was an incredibly nice thing of Gretzky to say. There is more than one guy remaining above Ovechkin on that list — OK, we’re talking about Phil Esposito at No. 6 with 717 goals — who probably won’t be quite as … eloquent … when he gets passed. Not sure how happy Mark Messier is going to be, either, with him next, just one more goal (694) to his name than Ovechkin.
Ovechkin is 34 years old, playing in his 15th season. The Capitals are in first place, and have a good a chance as anyone in the league to win the Stanley Cup — which would be their second in the past three years. (Just to ensure their best chance, Ovechkin decided that he would pass on joining Gretzky in St. Louis, therefore taking the one-game suspension in exchange for some … rest?)
The Great 8 scored in first game back on Wednesday, giving him No. 35 on the season and No. 693 on the career, passing Steve Yzerman for ninth on the all-time list. Yzerman, behind Gretzky in the record books but not in sportsmanship, made a video saying, in part, “If you ever do break Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record for most goals in the league, after watching your Stanley Cup celebrations, I want to be invited to your party.”
What Ovechkin is doing — and has done — is incredibly impressive. The game has changed a lot, with far fewer goals and points. But we still need to put this in perspective.
He remains 201 goals short of tying the record, meaning he would probably need four more seasons of the same high-level production to have a chance. Only Ovechkin, Gretzky, and the Islanders’ Mike Bossy have ever compiled eight or more seasons with 50 or more goals.
And then the NHL on NBC tweets out the question if anyone will ever beat Gretzky’s record of 92 goals in a single season. (The account also tweeted out a video of Justin Beiber stickhandling — as did the NHL — but, moving on.) Want to guess how many 60-goal seasons there have been in the past 25 years? Two: Ovechkin got 65 in 2008, and Steven Stamkos got 60 in 2012. The most recent 70-goal season? Teemu Selanne got 76 in 1993.
Hell, Gretzky is the only player in history to have a 200-point season — and he had four of them! Why not ask the question if anyone might ever again collect 163 assists in 80 games, like he did in 1986?
The numbers are laughably good, and no one will ever come close to Gretzky’s 2,857 career points. Ovechkin may end up coming close to the goals total — and Gretzky already asked if he can be there for the game, flying on the team plane like Gordie Howe did before Gretzky scored No. 802 for the most all time on March 23, 1994.
But please, for the time being, can we leave The Great One alone? He’s beyond gracious, but his numbers deserve more respect.
All Alberta Section
The Battle of Alberta is alive and well, with Wednesday night in Edmonton being the rematch of feisty contest on Jan. 11 that resulted in a two-game suspension for the Oilers’ Zack Kassian and some very harsh words for the Flames’ Matthew Tkachuk. The rematch was so anticipated, George Parros, the head of the Department of Player Safety, gave both sides a pregame warning and then stuck around to watch.
Kassian then made Tkachuk wait around for the inevitable fight until the end of the first period, when they had a spirited scrap. “I wanted to make him wait a little bit, think about it a little bit,” Kassian told reporters. “Part of the game – the game within the game.”
“Now it’s over,” Kassian said. “I wish that woulda happened in the first place. Then it would have been done. But I respect him for stepping up to the plate.”
Then came Connor McDavid getting so mad he broke his stick on the bench. The Oilers’ captain just avoided another serious knee injury from another reckless play by Flames captain Mark Giordano. After Giordano helped put McDavid’s left leg into the post on the final game of the 2018-19 season, McDavid decided to rehab all summer instead of having surgery. So when Giordano lunged for the knee again, barely missing but drawing no call, McDavid was rightfully furious.
And then the game went to a shootout, and it somehow ended with hockey’s version of a bat flip, courtesy of Calgary goalie David Rittich.
The two teams play again on Saturday in Calgary.
Parting shot
If somebody has access to the raw footage of Brett Hull mic’d up at the All-Star game this past weekend, please, please leak it. Before then, this ought to do.