02 - Gordie Howe - 801 G in 1767 GP +230
03 - Jaromir Jagr - 765 G in 1714 GP +194
04 - Brett Hull - 741 G in 1269 GP +170
05 - Marcel Dionne - 731 G in 1348 GP +160
06 - Phil Esposito - 717 G in 1282 GP +146
07 - Mike Gartner - 708 G in 1432 GP +137
08 - Mark Messier - 694 G in 1756 GP +123
09 - Steve Yzerman - 692 G in 1514 GP +121
10 - Mario Lemieux - 690 G in 915 GP +119
11 - Teemu Selanne - 684 G in 1451 GP +113
12 - Luc Robataille - 668 G in 1431 GP + 97
13 - Brendan Shanahan - 656 G in 1524 GP + 85
14 - Dave Andreychuk - 640 G in 1639 GP + 69
15 - Joe Sakic - 625 G in 1378 GP + 55
16 - Jarome Iginla - 625 G in 1554 GP + 55
17 - Bobby Hull - 610 G in 1063 GP + 39
18 - Dino Ciccarelli - 608 G in 1232 GP + 37
19 - Jari Kurri - 601 G in 1251 GP + 30
20 - Mark Recchi - 577 G in 1652 GP + 6
21 - Mike Bossy - 573 G in 752 GP + 2
22 - Alex Ovechkin - 571 G in 937 GP
After starting October with a bang, and being the first player in 100 years to score a hat trick in the first two games of the season - and 100 years ago, there were a lot fewer teams, and goalies didn't wear masks! - Ovi slowed down a bit, so he is now sitting at 571 goals in 937 games played, and is creeping up on Mike Bossy.
Mike Bossy, the former New York Islander, player for the Isles from 1977-78 through 1986-87. In the 752 games that he played, Bossy scored 573 goals. He remains, along with Mario Lemieux, one of two players in the top 22 that reached their goal mark in fewer games than Ovi has currently played.
A native of Montreal, Quebec, Bossy was born January 22, 1957. He was drafted 15th overall in the 1977 draft, and began his career with the Islanders that season. He scored 50 goals in 50 games in 1980-81, becoming the second of only five players, after Maurice Richard (1944-45), to do so*.
Bossy never engaged in fighting on the ice; he is known, however, for a goal scored in the 1982 Stanley Cup finals...
The ability to score goals in wild positions of contortion is something Bossy and Ovi have in common.
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571 goals... that's a lot of Weagles!
*Wayne Gretzky (894 goals in 1487 games played) would repeat the feat three times, in 1981-82, 1983-84, and 1984-85. Mario Lemieux (690 goals in 915 games played) did it in 1988-89, and Brett Hull (741 goals in 1269 games played) did so in 1990-91, and 1991-92. Ovi has 13 goals in 16 games played this year, and is scoring on 16.7% of his shots. If he takes 78 shots in 16 games, that averages 4.875 shots per game. If he continues at that rate, he will have taken 243.75 shots in 50 games. That will put our hero at 40.7 goals in 50 games, short of the "50 in 50" mark, in an era where fewer goals are scored, so the odds of him actually accomplishing that feat are slim... very slim.
