[28-DEC-2016] #OviWatch

#20.....Mark Recchi..........577 G..........1652 GP

#21.....Mike Bossy...........573 G...........752 GP

#22.....Mats Sundin..........564 G..........1346 GP

#23.....Joe Nieuwendyk.......564 G..........1257 GP

#24.....Mike Modano..........561 G..........1499 GP

#25.....Guy Lafleur..........560 G..........1126 GP

#26.....John Bucyk...........556 G..........1540 GP

#27.....Ron Francis..........549 G..........1731 GP

#28.....Michel Goulet........548 G..........1089 GP

#29.....Maurice Richard......544 G...........978 GP

#30.....Alex Ovechkin........541 G...........872 GP

#31.....Stan Mikita..........541 G..........1394 GP

#32.....Keith Tkachuk........538 G..........1201 GP

Ovi's 16th goal of the season came last night in a 4-3 loss to the New York Islanders, but it propels the Great 8 into 30th place all-time (tied with Stan Mikita). The holidays prevented me from updating in the last month or so, but here we go.

Stan Mikita was considered the best centerman of the 1960s when he played for the Chicago Black Hawks. Elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983, Mikita's NHL career began in the 1958-59 season when he played 3 games for the Black Hawks. His career would span until the 1979-80 season, when he played in 17 games and scored 2 goals, to bring his total to 541 goals in 1394 games played. 

Mikita played in nine NHL All-Star games; he won the Hart Memorial Trophy, Art Ross Trophy, and Lady Byng Trophy twice, in 1966-67 and again in 1967-68, becoming the only NHL player to do so. In his career, Mikita played in 155 playoff games, scoring 59 goals and 91 assists, missing the playoffs only four times in his career - 1958-59, 1968-69, 1978-79, and 1979-80. Interestingly, his misses came a decade apart until the last. 

Mikita retired during the 1979-80 season due to chronic back problems. In January 2015, the Chicago Tribune released a statement indicating Mikita was suffering from suspected Demetia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and in June of that year, it was revealed that he had no memory of his life as a hockey player, and was being cared for by his wife. DLB is a progressive disease, and has no cure; it has not been linked with chronic traumatic encephalopathy, but may have genetic ties to the PARK11 gene, which is also associated with Parkinson's disease (which DLB is often misdiagnosed as, in early stages).