“Records are made to be broken”, but no one would have ever thought Wayne Gretzky’s 894 goals would be surpassed, but on April 6 the Washington Capitals faced New York Islanders at UBA Arena, Alexander Ovechkin scored the 895th goal of his career to break Gretzky’s record.
The goal came from the left face-off circle notably nicknamed his office, a trademark spot where Ovechkin got most of his career goals.
How did someone break hockey’s most moral records which stood for 31 years?
Ovechkin was born on Sept. 17, 1985 in Moscow, Russia. He grew up with athletes around him with his mom Tatyana A two-time Olympic gold medalist in basketball and his father Mikhail a former soccer player.
Ovechkin brother Sergei would take him to his games and teach him about the game of hockey.
At age 10 Ovechkin and his family would deal with tragedy after Sergei was killed in a car accident.
On the same day, Ovechkin played a hockey game after the loss of his brother and was crying on the bench.
This event only motivated Ovechkin, as he dove more into perfecting his game.
When Ovechkin scores and kisses his gloves are a tribute to his brother Sergei.
In 2001 Ovechkin made his pro debut for HC Dynamo Moscow in the Russian Super League at the age of 16.
Ovechkin remained for the Dynamo for three seasons before entering the 2004 NHL entry draft.
With the first overall pick, the Washington Capitals selected Ovechkin in the first round.
After the 2004-05 NHL lockout Ovechkin made his NHL debut in the 2005-06 season by scoring 2 goals in his first game in win 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Ovechkin won the Calder Memorial Trophy for rookie of the year with 52 goals and 54 assists for 106 points for the season.
NHL commentator Bill Clement called Ovechkin ” One of the greatest goals of all time.”
Ovechkin dominance would continue in the league for a decade by winning the Art Ross Trophy for points in the league in 2008, the Hart Memorial Trophy for league MVP in 2008, 2009, and 2013, and the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy 6 times for most goals in a season.
In 2018 Ovechkin and his Capitals captured hockey’s holy grail by defeating the Vegas Golden Knights in five games to the Stanley Cup and winning the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoff MVP.
After winning the Cup, Ovechkin’s scoring has not slowed down, he has two more Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophies in 2019, and 2020.
Ovechkin goal totals have been moving I’m up the all-time leading goal scorers by passing players like Brett Hull, Jaromir Jage and Gordie Howe.
This 2024-25 season all eyes were on Ovechkin to break Gretzky’s record.
On Nov. 18, 2024, we suffered a broken leg against the Utah Hockey Club, every fan and sports journalist assumed the record would be broken the next season but we came back 6 weeks later on Dec. 28, 2024.
In a game against the Islanders, Ovechkin beat Ilya Sorokin To surpass Gretzky.
Ovechkin had 895 goals in 1,487 games the same amount of games Wayne Gretzky played in his career.
With one year remaining on his contract with the Capitals Ovechkin will likely have 900 goals of his career.
