Ovechkin countdown

[82birds]

getting quite close now.
wow

[Hazelwood72]

What a great story; what a great game, getting 3 in a Sunday national telecast. Ovi --- and no one else --- will ever approach Gretzky's astounding points and assists records, in part due to no one else having regular teammates like Mark Messier; Glenn Anderson; Jari Kurri; Paul Coffey; Grant Fuhr; Kevin Lowe; Luc Robitaille; Bernie Nicholls; Dave Taylor; John Tonelli; Larry Robinson; Brian Leetch; and bodyguards like Dave Semenko and Marty McSorley.

Mario Lemieux can only sigh and wonder.

Hiya, Pink,
You made some great points about Gretz’s far superior supporting cast. I’ll add one more thing which is impressive about Ovie and that is Gretzky played in an era of much higher scoring. Goalies with heavy leather pads, goalie pad thigh rises only about 2-3 inches above the knee rolls, somewhat smaller trapper mitts, and smaller chest/arm pads without the huge shoulder “wings”. Back then, goalies were forced to come farther out to cut down the angle, thus allowing more back door goals on odd man rushes.

Yes Gretzky was great, but Ive always debated that he’s the greatest. Hard to say but makes some good tavern banter. Or Blues Talk banter!

[Spyro Gyra]

Read this amazing stat this morning. Ovechkin is on another planet!

Consider this: From his age 32 season until retirement, Gretzky scored 145 goals (20.7 per season). Since his age 32 season, Ovechkin has scored 324 goals (40.5 per season), and he's still not finished. The longevity and consistency is remarkable.

[moose-and-squirrel]

What a great story; what a great game, getting 3 in a Sunday national telecast. Ovi --- and no one else --- will ever approach Gretzky's astounding points and assists records, in part due to no one else having regular teammates like Mark Messier; Glenn Anderson; Jari Kurri; Paul Coffey; Grant Fuhr; Kevin Lowe; Luc Robitaille; Bernie Nicholls; Dave Taylor; John Tonelli; Larry Robinson; Brian Leetch; and bodyguards like Dave Semenko and Marty McSorley.

Mario Lemieux can only sigh and wonder.

Hiya, Pink,
You made some great points about Gretz’s far superior supporting cast. I’ll add one more thing which is impressive about Ovie and that is Gretzky played in an era of much higher scoring. Goalies with heavy leather pads, goalie pad thigh rises only about 2-3 inches above the knee rolls, somewhat smaller trapper mitts, and smaller chest/arm pads without the huge shoulder “wings”. Back then, goalies were forced to come farther out to cut down the angle, thus allowing more back door goals on odd man rushes.

Yes Gretzky was great, but Ive always debated that he’s the greatest. Hard to say but makes some good tavern banter. Or Blues Talk banter!

even more telling is goalies didn't butterfly back then.. TONS of shots on the ice went in that wouldn't these days

[fish]

As a young adult I got to watch 99 break every all time scoring record. Bay the time he beat the goal record it had become part of the norm. This is one of those records that we thought wouldn’t fall during our lifetime so I’m super excited to see Ovi pass it. ESPN has a great special on Ovi’s chase

[82birds]

As a young adult I got to watch 99 break every all time scoring record. Bay the time he beat the goal record it had become part of the norm. This is one of those records that we thought wouldn’t fall during our lifetime so I’m super excited to see Ovi pass it. ESPN has a great special on Ovi’s chase

I thought the same thing

[thegibby.]

I'm fascinated the Gretz has so many goals being such a dynamic passer first..... and Ovie is a beast (6-3 240) and has been generally pretty darn healthy for the way he plays. I've soured on Gretz and I'm very fine with Ovie beating him here.

[82birds]

got another tonight
9 back

[a smell of green grass]

Gretzky won 4 Cups and reached the finals 6 times. Gretzky elevated the other players like Kurt Warner and the Rams. Remember how every receiver that the Rams had was an all-star?

Ovie is great and will scored more goals, but Gretzky is still the Great One.

Gretzky - 2967 Points in 1567 games.

[Bubble4427]

What a great story; what a great game, getting 3 in a Sunday national telecast. Ovi --- and no one else --- will ever approach Gretzky's astounding points and assists records, in part due to no one else having regular teammates like Mark Messier; Glenn Anderson; Jari Kurri; Paul Coffey; Grant Fuhr; Kevin Lowe; Luc Robitaille; Bernie Nicholls; Dave Taylor; John Tonelli; Larry Robinson; Brian Leetch; and bodyguards like Dave Semenko and Marty McSorley.

Mario Lemieux can only sigh and wonder.

Hiya, Pink,
You made some great points about Gretz’s far superior supporting cast. I’ll add one more thing which is impressive about Ovie and that is Gretzky played in an era of much higher scoring. Goalies with heavy leather pads, goalie pad thigh rises only about 2-3 inches above the knee rolls, somewhat smaller trapper mitts, and smaller chest/arm pads without the huge shoulder “wings”. Back then, goalies were forced to come farther out to cut down the angle, thus allowing more back door goals on odd man rushes.

Yes Gretzky was great, but Ive always debated that he’s the greatest. Hard to say but makes some good tavern banter. Or Blues Talk banter!

even more telling is goalies didn't butterfly back then.. TONS of shots on the ice went in that wouldn't these days

Today’s composite sticks are 10x better than the trash sticks that Gretzky was using.
Gretzky played in an era where clutching and grabbing and slashing were the norm for defenders…..Ovie played many of his games after that era was gone. Gretzky and Lemieux were the two best forwards that I’ve ever seen. There is no comparison.

[acewater11]

Ovechkin career plus minus + 61 including his +16 this year.
Gretzky career plus minus + 520 ( despite playing with a bad back his last 7 years of his career - 90 for those years)
The greatest -Bobby Orr - career plus minus + 582 in 657 games played!!

[82birds]

got another one today
8 to tie
9 to break

[theograce]

Ovechkin career plus minus + 61 including his +16 this year.
Gretzky career plus minus + 520 ( despite playing with a bad back his last 7 years of his career - 90 for those years)
The greatest -Bobby Orr - career plus minus + 582 in 657 games played!!

Gretzky was a minus player after the age of 27 and after he left the Oilers. 80’s were a much different era and Gretzky played with lots of HOFers.

[sdaltons]

Lol only needs 1300 points to match Gretzky!

[dhsux]

I just don't get the banter.

Here's to Ovie.... breaking a great and unreal record for goal scoring of hockey's most cherished point leader.

It's time to celebrate, not argue.

The guy will freaking do it I don't care what "era".

It's his time now and he deserves it.

[theograce]

What a great story; what a great game, getting 3 in a Sunday national telecast. Ovi --- and no one else --- will ever approach Gretzky's astounding points and assists records, in part due to no one else having regular teammates like Mark Messier; Glenn Anderson; Jari Kurri; Paul Coffey; Grant Fuhr; Kevin Lowe; Luc Robitaille; Bernie Nicholls; Dave Taylor; John Tonelli; Larry Robinson; Brian Leetch; and bodyguards like Dave Semenko and Marty McSorley.

Mario Lemieux can only sigh and wonder.

Hiya, Pink,
You made some great points about Gretz’s far superior supporting cast. I’ll add one more thing which is impressive about Ovie and that is Gretzky played in an era of much higher scoring. Goalies with heavy leather pads, goalie pad thigh rises only about 2-3 inches above the knee rolls, somewhat smaller trapper mitts, and smaller chest/arm pads without the huge shoulder “wings”. Back then, goalies were forced to come farther out to cut down the angle, thus allowing more back door goals on odd man rushes.

Yes Gretzky was great, but Ive always debated that he’s the greatest. Hard to say but makes some good tavern banter. Or Blues Talk banter!

even more telling is goalies didn't butterfly back then.. TONS of shots on the ice went in that wouldn't these days

Today’s composite sticks are 10x better than the trash sticks that Gretzky was using.
Gretzky played in an era where clutching and grabbing and slashing were the norm for defenders…..Ovie played many of his games after that era was gone. Gretzky and Lemieux were the two best forwards that I’ve ever seen. There is no comparison.

Gretzky also played in an era where some guys smoked two packs a day and goaltenders were 5’10 with tiny pads. Ovie also played in a clutching and grabbing era. An era that saw Jamie Benn win a scoring title with 80 something points lol.