Back to the Top News Newsfeed

Alexander Ovechkin passes Wayne Gretzky: Why it’s not your average record being broken

Alexander Ovechkin has supplanted Wayne Gretzky as the NHL’s all-time goal scorer.

Let that sink in for a moment, because even a few years ago, did it seem possible that anyone, from any era, could supplant Wayne Gretzky at anything?

I, for one, didn’t. In fact, I wrote as much in our GOAT of GOATS project five years ago, which asked readers to vote for who you think is the greatest of the greatest athletes:

“Gretzky has set the bar so high, it’s unlikely his records for … deep breath … points scored (2,857), goals (894), assists (1,963), goals in a season (92) and points in a season (215), just to name a few — we could go on … quickest to 50 goals in a season, most assists in a season, most 100-point seasons — will ever be broken.