Ovechkin's chase of Gretzky

[Moderator1]

Wanted to break this out of the NHL thread - Alex Ovechkin got No. 700 today. He's 194 behind Gretzky. He's 34.

Does he catch him? What say you?

I say yes but I'm a fanboy. I love watching that guy play. I promised my son if he gets within range, we'll be there.

 

[Della9250]

If he wants to try, he will. And by try I mean play until he's 40. He's got one year left on his current deal and he's one a Cup. If signs a three-year deal after that or goes year to year and see how he feels, he might not be up for it. Of course if he's tickling 750 by the end of next year, maybe the allure is too strong to not give it a go

 

[Spartan Squad]

He needs 35 to 40 goals per year for the next 5 years depending where he finishes this year. Granted we don't know how his health holds up, but yeah he probably gets there. Every goal he notches this year is one less that final year when he's turning 40 so maybe he'll only need 25 to 30 that 5th year... not impossible but he has a lot of miles on those legs.

 

[mpcincal]

Whether he gets it or not, you have to give him credit. I didn't think anyone in this day and age would ever get close to that record.

 

[Cosmo]

He has a tremendous chance of getting there. Whether he actually does depends on health, though that's never been an issue for him. Russian Machine Never Breaks, you know?

 

[JimmyHoward33]

Shooting on goalies that have puffy pads and know how to stand up on 2 skates makes it more impressive no matter what the final number is