OVECHKIN OR GRETZKY: ONE IS PROLIFIC AND FIERCE, THE OTHER IS GREAT FOREVER
Rather than make a choice — I’ll take Gretzky for thrills — let’s pay tribute to both as Ovechkin ties the all-time record of 894 goals and owns the superlative with the next Capitals game in New York
Teeth missing and hair all but ashen, the most prolific of all hockey players settled into history. Is Alexander Ovechkin the best of his generation or the greatest ever? The inquiry should rage among folks who know this ranks among the all-time sporting records, with Wayne Gretzky smiling and saluting in a suite, as the Russian in red scored his 893rd and 894th goals and tied the mark in Washington.
First place will be his, either in New York on Sunday or Thursday at home. We would prefer he rabble-rouse in D.C., where he can ramble to “Shake, Rattle & Roll” by Big Joe Turner and sing the rap song “Bandz Make Her Dance” with his teammates. But the superlative belongs to him already.
“I’m still a little shaking and still can’t believe it,” Ovechkin said after a 5-3 victory over Chicago. “It’s history. It’s great for the game. It’s great to do it here. It’s special.”
Allow me to compare, if possible. The Great One was the most exciting performer on ice and almost any surface. Ovechkin has played almost 1,500 games and performs at 39 as he did at 19, capable of skating another four or five years and blowing past a thousand goaltenders. He is the anti-Brady, eating pizzas and chicken parms, playing video games instead of heaving weights. He shows up each night and usually nicks the scoreboard.
Who is better? Gretzky generated thrills, not only in his native Canada but in America, where he remains a favorite son of President Trump and won’t discuss tariffs. He turned on Los Angeles and made the sport a rock show in all regions, even southern. Forget the goals. His assist total — 1,963 — is 1,239 more than Ovechkin’s. His point total of 2,857 points is untouchable. He won four championships in Edmonton and is listed among the leading miracle-creators in sport and life. Even in second place in the biggest category, Gretzky always will be followed by romance and religion, even with a MAGA cap. He remains absolute through my two eyeballs.
Still, Ovechkin joins only Gordie Howe among players who’ve scored 20 goals a season for 20 straight NHL years. The goalies are better today. It’s more difficult to remain long-lasting and durable in a league of 32 franchises in two countries. He has done so, which suggests we pay tribute to both. One sold hockey in the 1980s and 1990s. The other sells hockey in the 21st century. The game survives and drew big television numbers for the Canada-U.S. game weeks ago in Boston. To view the two as one was vital Friday night, especially when he blew kisses to his wife and family and waved at his 894 partner.
“I can live with that for 24 more hours. I can still say I’m tied for the most,” said Gretzky, sitting beside Ovechkin. “This is what the game is about. Alex has been so great for the city of Washington. He’s been so great for the National Hockey League. And he’s encouraged so many kids in his home country of Russia to play the sport of hockey.”
And through it all, Ovechkin is a massive idol in Russia, a country in lower American esteem amid the Ukraine warfare. You wouldn’t know it watching Capitals fans roar, only blocks from the White House, as they never have for a local sports behemoth. It wasn’t long ago when Ovechkin pleaded to end armed conflict, saying, “Please, no more war. It doesn’t matter who is in the war — Russia, Ukraine, different countries.” But then he praised Vladimir Putin, which hasn’t stopped fans from waving “GR8 Chase” signs in D.C., praising his beloved No. 8.
“He’s my president,” Ovechkin said of Putin. “I’m Russian, right? I am not in politics. I’m an athlete.”
As much as they worship him in Moscow, he’s precious in a town where he celebrated a Stanley Cup title by swimming in fountains at the Georgetown waterfront. He hangs out at sports bars in Arlington and attends Commanders games. Watching him in the arena, his milestone was a thank you to the fans. They could have hated him. They love him.
“It means a lot. I don’t know what to say. So emotional,” Ovechkin said. “You never thought I could reach the milestone. It’s about all my teammates and you guys and my family. They did everything for me. Thanks to you guys for all the support. It’s been a pleasure with tremendous atmosphere for all games. I am so happy to do it here, scoring the tying goal.”
His teammates are astounded. “It’s bigger than the game right now. It’s bigger than hockey. It’s the ‘Great One.’ I mean, no one would have ever thought that would happen,” winger Tom Wilson said. “The energy around this thing the whole year, it’s been second to none, and it’s been something no one’s ever gone through.”
Some of us were hoping the Blackhawks would let Ovechkin score when down by two goals. He tried repeatedly, with four shots in the final 78 seconds, but goalie Spencer Knight stuck out a left pad or made a glove save. Anyone who tried the TV for a live shot was let down by broadcast partners. ESPN used TWO channels to carry a women’s Final Four game and ran a “Pardon The Interruption” rerun on a third. TNT aired “Godzilla vs. Kong” and “The Meg.” A few boos came from the stands at Capital One Arena. At one point, Gretzky urged Ovechkin to score a hat trick and end his triumph.
“He deserves to do it in front of their fans,” he said.
That’s the NHL. The Capitals should sit him against the Islanders, where the get-in price is $555. This should end in Washington. And it should happen under appropriate circumstances for Ovechkin, who is tired of hearing he has scored 63 times when the opposing goalie isn’t on the ice. He had another chance when Knight was pulled by the Blackhawks, but he stayed on the bench.
“I don’t want an empty net,” Ovechkin said. “Everybody ask me, ‘Do you want it? Do you want it?’ I said let’s wait.”
“He wants to break the record with a goaltender in the crease, which I appreciate,” coach Spencer Carbery said. “He told me that on the bench, and I just wanted to confirm that he didn't want to go out. And it's hard for us as coaches because I just wanted to make sure in that moment: hat track, at home. And he didn't want to go out and score on an empty net to break the record. We have six games left, and he wants to break the record and have that moment where he's shooting the puck past a goalie.”
His decision honored hockey. He wants a man in the net. “The integrity of the game,” Gretzky said of the complete moment. "When I was breaking Gordie Howe's record, Gordie was there. And I said two years ago that if Alex gets close to my record, I'll be here. That's the National Hockey League, Beliveau to Howe, Orr, Lemieux, Messier, you pass it down. Then it became Crosby and Ovechkin.”
Do not expect an NHL career beyond next season. In his 40s, Ovechkin likely will play with Dynamo Moscow in the KHL. “Most likely, yes, to Dynamo, if health allows,” he said. “It’s hard to plan for such a long term.”
For now, hockey is his world as Gretzky watches with his wife and commissioner Gary Bettman. “Alex said don't come until I get to two, and I thought yesterday, ‘Gosh we better get on the plane and get up there because he might get three tonight,’ ’’ Gretzky said. “When he scored four minutes in, I thought, ‘Oh my god, we might be able to leave after the first period.’ ’’
Everyone will be at UBS Arena in Elmont, beside Belmont Park, where Secretariat won the Triple Crown by 31 lengths in the greatest of horse racing performances.
This show is better.
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Jay Mariotti, called “without question the most impacting Chicago sportswriter of the past quarter-century,’’ writes general sports columns for Substack while appearing on some of the 1,678,498 podcasts and shows in production today. He is an accomplished columnist, TV panelist and talk/podcast host. Living in Los Angeles, he gravitated by osmosis to film projects.