Copyright yardbarker
After all, if Wayne Gretzky could not get there playing in the era he played in, who was ever going to do it? Only three players in league history (Ovechkin, Gretzky and Gordie Howe) have topped even the 800-goal mark. Only eight have gone over the 700-goal mark. It is even more impressive for Ovechkin when you realize he played in significantly lower-scoring eras than the likes of Gretzky and several of the other 700-goal club members, and also missed significant chunks of seasons due to lockouts and the Covid-19 pandemic. His potential rookie season (2004-05) was wiped out due to a lockout, as was half of the 2012-13 season. The 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons were also basically cut in half. That comes out to potentially two-and-a-half seasons worth of games. Given how the fact Ovechkin has averaged more than 40 goals per season in his career and routinely scored 50, it is not a stretch to think he could be closing in on 1,000 goals at this point. There has simply never been a goal-scorer like him in the history of the sport. Even though he is unlikely to ever get close to that number, exceeding the 900-goal mark will still be a massive accomplishment. He is one goal away from it.
