First, congratulations to Alex Ovechkin for becoming the NHL’s all-time leading goalscorer among Russian-born players, after he passed former teammate Sergei Fedorov with the 484th goal of his career on Thursday against Dallas.
But let’s also acknowledge, at 483, Fedorov’s total is relatively low for a career compared to those of other countries, even when excluding the overall leaders. Multiple Finns, Slovaks, Americans and Canadians are WAY ahead of this number, not to mention a Swede and a Czech. Ovechkin’s current total is tied for 48th place all-time with Darryl Sittler, a milestone otherwise hardly worth celebrating.