Wayne Gretzky, also known as “The Great One” in hockey, has sat atop the leaderboard for most goals in a career for 26 long years after passing Gordie Howes’s 801-goal career in 1994. He would continue to solidify his top spot and rack up goals to finish his career with 894.
Most people believed that this record would never be broken. Even Ovechkin himself didn’t think the record would be broken.
“No. I don’t think somebody will beat this record,” he said, very seriously.
This was back in 2016. Nine years later, on April 6th, 2025, Alexander Ovechkin scored on the powerplay to net his 895th career goal, surpassing Wayne Gretzky all time.
Keep in mind that Ovechkin is 39 years old which is heard of in the NHL but his continued dominance at his age isn’t. Alexander Ovechkin started the 2024-25 season with 853 career goals, 41 away from tying Gretzky. The end was finally in reach this season which caused him to start the “GR8 Chase”.
The GR8 Chase tracked every goal Ovi scored this season, counting down to his inevitable record-breaking goal. Ovi also partnered with Hockey Fights Cancer and the V Foundation for Cancer Research to create the “GR8 Chase for Victory Over Cancer.” This partnership would donate a dollar amount equal to Ovi’s career goals every time Ovechkin scored and grew closer to the record.
But does this make him the G.O.A.T. Many would believe so as Ovechkin has continued his dominance late into his career, continuously scoring and being an all-around player for his team. He’s also done this all with one team: Drafted in 2006, Ovechkin has played all of his 20 seasons with the Washington Capitals.
But there is a big argument to say that Wayne Gretzky still holds the title of G.O.A.T. Wayne Gretzky finished his career with 2,857 points nearly 1000 points ahead of Jaromir Jagr, second place on that list. Ovechkin currently has 1,619 points and sits in 11th place on the all-time points leaderboard. This is the main question in his G.O.A.T. conversation.
“I believe that you can look at who’s the G.O.A.T. in both ways,” Braeden Schneider, hockey fanatic and Green Level Junior says, “Ovi has proved himself in scoring but he’s still far behind with assists and other things.”
But what do you think? Does Wayne Gretzky deserve the title of G.O.A.T.? Does Ovechkin? Can Ovechkin reach a point where he would then deserve it?
Ovechkin still has 1 year left on his contract with the Capitals and many believe that he will play one more season before retiring but only time will tell. In the meantime, Ovechkin continues his search for a 2nd Stanley Cup in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
