When Wayne Gretzky retired in 1999, he had 894 goals, a record that has stood in the National Hockey League for over 31 years. Now, a left wing from the Washington Capitals is threatening that record. Alex Ovechkin needs just four more goals to break Gretzky’s record.
Students say they feel excited about witnessing this historic event. “I’m a huge hockey and Capitals fan along with the fact that I’ve been playing for eight plus years, so to be able to witness Ovechkin getting closer and closer to breaking the scoring record every game is really cool,” senior Rebecca Ogorodnikov said.
Ovechkin has been playing in the NHL for 20 seasons, amassing 891 career goals, scoring 65 goals during the 2007-2008 season alone. When Ovechkin joined the NHL in 2005, he was just 20 years old and finished that season with 52 goals and 54 assists. Along with scoring 890 goals Ovechkin has also compiled 723 assists, 1,613 assists and has 321 points per game average across his career so far.
Ovechkin has been an exciting athlete to watch, from finding ways to score while on his back to amazing one-timer goals. In fact, he’s had such a big impact on the game of hockey that there’s a spot in Capital One Arena, the home arena of the Washington Capitals, that is dubbed the “Ovi Office,” located within one of the red face-off circles. This is a spot on the ice where Ovechkin is most effective, with 48% (426) of his goals coming from there. “He’s been amazing to watch since he came into the league, I remember seeing that play of him scoring from his back against the Coyotes for weeks on ESPN. I remember being a teenager and watching Wayne Gretzky breaking Gordie Howe’s scoring record and to be able to see Ovechkin getting closer along with being a huge Capitals fan, it’s been really fun,” science teacher David Bitler said.
As anticipation for Ovechkin’s record-breaking goal grows by the day, so do the ticket prices for games. The lowest price for a ticket to an upcoming Caps game is about $102, compared to what it was last season, where it got as low as $30. This is to be expected, as teams will often raise prices for games if they know a big milestone is upcoming.
The Capitals have nine games left until the playoffs start and it’s possible Ovechkin won’t break the record this season. I believe that on Oct. 7, opening day for the next NHL season Ovechkin will break the record. While it is a good possibility that he will score the four goals that he needs to tie the record, I just do not see him breaking it this season.
