Alex Ovechkin has 890 career goals. He’s going to break Wayne Gretzky’s NHL career record of 894.
But how should he do it? What would be best for business?
The Washington Capitals have to consider what’s best for their team. They unexpectedly have the top seed in the Eastern Conference and seem primed to make a run in the playoffs.
Ovechkin is 39. The Capitals have nine games left. Ovechkin should take a few games off before the postseason. But with his chase of Gretzky in full throttle, that won’t happen.
Hockey players don’t believe in load management, anyway. It’s part of what makes hockey great and certainly better than basketball.
The Capitals finish their season April 17 at Pittsburgh. That game is already highly anticipated. Will Ovechkin tie or break the record playing against Sidney Crosby, his long-time rival? If Ovechkin is at 893 or 894, that telecast figures to pop a big rating.
But there’s a better way to do it.
In 1973, Hank Aaron ended the MLB season one home run behind Babe Ruth’s career mark of 714. At the time, it was the most hallowed number in sports.
That gave baseball the chance to hype Aaron’s pursuit for an entire offseason. By the time Opening Day rolled around, the buzz was off the hook.
Some of it was negative: Aaron was a Black man playing in Atlanta pursuing an iconic mark held by a white man. Hate mail arrived in bushels. Thank heaven there wasn’t yet social media.
But there’s never been a more upright, gracious man than Aaron. He handled everything perfectly.
Aaron tied Ruth on Opening Day at Cincinnati, then broke the record at Atlanta in the season’s fourth game.
It was the perfect timeline.
What if Ovechkin ended the season one shy of Gretzky? What if the NHL had the whole offseason to hype Ovechkin breaking the record? What if Washington’s opening game was played outdoors in D.C., at Northwest Stadium or Nationals Park?
The NHL being the NHL, it would probably fail to maximize that scenario.
But it’s foolproof.
It’s also another chance to take full advantage of Ovechkin’s presence while the NHL can.
Ovechkin is 39, Crosby 37. As much as anybody, they are still the faces of the NHL. Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon just haven’t clicked the same way.
Ovechkin and Crosby, of course, have had each other. A great, classic rivalry. The James Bond villain vs. the Canadian babyface.
Pittsburgh has warmed up to Ovechkin. He’s a worthy opponent and a class act. I was glad to see him win his Stanley Cup in 2018 and am rooting for him to break Gretzky’s record. If he does so April 17 at PPG Paints Arena, I’ll be honored to witness.
But getting goal No. 895 makes Ovechkin the player with the most goals, not the greatest goal-scorer ever. The latter title belongs to Mario Lemieux or Mike Bossy. If you saw them play, you know.
I never saw Rocket Richard play. But the award for most goals is named after him, for heck’s sake.