What a year! What a postseason! The Caps are about to be, for the first time in franchise history, defending Stanley Cup Champions! Our Hero, Alex Ovechkin, scored 49 goals last season, and went on to score 15 in the postseason.
That puts Ovi in 19th place all time for regular season goals scored, and with 61 total postseason goals, in 65th place all time for postseason goals. Both records are owned (naturally) by Wayne Gretzky (894 regular season and 122 postseason, respectively).
With 102 game-winning goals, career, Ovi is fittingly starting the season in 8th place. Alexander the Gr8 can certainly rise in all of these categories. Let's look at regular season goals first. Here's where we stand: 01 - Wayne Gretzky - 894 G in 1487 GP +287 02 - Gordie Howe - 801 G in 1767 GP +194 03 - Jaromir Jagr - 765 G in 1714 GP +158 04 - Brett Hull - 741 G in 1269 GP +134 05 - Marcel Dionne - 731 G in 1348 GP +124 06 - Phil Esposito - 717 G in 1282 GP +110 07 - Mike Gartner - 708 G in 1432 GP +101 08 - Mark Messier - 694 G in 1756 GP + 87 09 - Steve Yzerman - 692 G in 1514 GP + 85 10 - Mario Lemieux - 690 G in 915 GP + 83 11 - Teemu Selanne - 684 G in 1451 GP + 77 12 - Luc Robataille - 667 G in 1431 GP + 61 not bloody likely! ----------------------------------------------------- 13 - Brendan Shanahan - 656 G in 1431 GP + 49 outside chance ----------------------------------------------------- 14 - Dave Andreychuk - 640 G in 1639 GP + 33 probable 15 - Joe Sakic - 625 G in 1378 GP + 18 16 - Jarome Iginla - 625 G in 1554 GP + 18 17 - Bobby Hull - 610 G in 1063 GP + 3 18 - Dino Ciccarelli - 608 G in 1232 GP + 1 19 - Alex Ovechkin - 607 G in 1003 GP
At the end of last season, I predicted Ovi would surpass Dave Andreychuk for sure this season, and might surpass Brendan Shanahan. I stand by that prediction. It'll be some time next year before he surpasses Luc Robataille, unless goalies start ducking when he's unleashing his wrister!
Next up, game winning goals:
01 - Wayne Gretzky - 135 GWG in 1733 GP 7.78% +33 02 - Gordie Howe - 121 GWG in 1767 GP 6.84% +19 03 - Phil Esposito - 118 GWG in 1282 GP 9.20% +16 not likely! ------------------------------------------------------------- 04 - Brett Hull - 110 GWG in 1269 GP 8.67% + 8 possible 05 - Teemu Selanne - 110 GWG in 1451 GP 7.58% + 8 ------------------------------------------------------------- 06 - Brendan Shanahan - 109 GWG in 1524 GP 7.15% + 7 probable 07 - Patrick Marleau - 103 GWG in 1575 GP 6.53% + 1 08 - Alex Ovechkin - 102 GWG in 1003 GP 10.17%
Holy crap. Ovi scores the game winner in over 10% of his games played?! OK. Assuming he plays all 82 games, we can expect +8 GWGs based on his prior percentage. I believe at the end of the season, Ovi will either be tied with Brett Hull and Teemu Selanne, or on his way up the chart towards Phil Esposito. We shall see!
I am not even looking at postseason goals yet. I'm hoping for BACK-TO-BACK! as Our Other Hero, T.J. Oshie, put it, but as a Caps fan, I'm nervous. Really nervous.
Let's look at power play goals. Here, Gretzky drops down to 17th. Guess he didn't get out there all that much, because Ovi is up in 10th! 01 - Dave Andreychuk - 274 PPG in 1639 GP 16.72% +45 02 - Brett Hull - 265 PPG in 1269 GP 20.88% +36 ------------------------------------------------------------ 03 - Teemu Selanne - 255 PPG in 1451 GP 17.57% +26 possible ------------------------------------------------------------ 04 - Luc Robataille - 247 PPG in 1431 GP 17.26% +18 probable 05 - Phil Esposito - 246 PPG in 1282 GP 19.19% +17 06 - Brendan Shanahan - 237 PPG in 1524 GP 15.56% + 8 07 - Mario Lemieux - 236 PPG in 915 GP 25.79% + 7 08 - Marcel Dionne - 234 PPG in 1348 GP 17.36% + 5 09 - Dino Ciccarelli - 232 PPG in 1232 GP 18.83% + 3 10 - Alex Ovechkin - 229 PPG in 1003 GP 22.80%
Ovi's PPG % by games played is 22.8%, which is surpassed only by Mario Lemieux. So, 22% of 82 games is... roughly 27 PPG. Jesus, Ovi! If Our Hero scores at his regular rate this season, that will catapult him to third place all time. Given that Ovi just became a daddy for the first time, and his son Sergei will be showing him all kinds of "firsts" this year? I don't doubt his ability to get there!
I am basing this all, 100%, on my opinion. I said at the beginning of last season that Ovi had a shot at catching Gretzky. Thanks to his poor showing two years ago, that's now more of an outside chance than anything, but I'm still holding out hope that a miracle will occur and he'll pull it off. In my last post, I showed how he could do it, by playing the same number of games Gretzky played in.
I'd say, let's look at overtime goals, but... I don't think anyone's catching Ovi this year. He's got 22, and holds #1 all by himself, three ahead of Jagr... the next-closest active player has 15.
Hat-tricks in two games To start the season last year This year, let's see three! #OviHaiku
Back on November 9th, 2016, I made a post that said that I believed Ovi was going to top Gretzky. Let's see where we stand...
From that post:
The record all time for career goals belongs to Wayne Douglas Gretzky, a name almost every hockey fan knows. Gretzky scored 894 goals in his career, which lasted 1961 games.
Yes, Gretzky did his scoring when high-scoring games were much more
frequent than they are today; his single-season record is a
mind-boggling 92 goals in an 80 game season (1981-82). That's
disgusting, and by today's standards... Ovechkin's beast season was in
2007-08, when he scored 65 goals, a feat that was considered fairly
outrageous at the time. Ovechkin's contract with the
Washington Capitals will end in the 2020-21 season, five [now three] years from now.
He will be 35 years old. I expect Ovi will continue to play for a few
years after that; if he plays until he is 38, as Gretzky did, that will
be the 2023-24 season. 8 years to make up 411 goals.
In 2015-16, Ovi scored 50 goals. In 2016-17, he had an off year and scored only 33. That broke what I had written... but... In 2017-18, Ovi scored 49 goals. His total as of today stands at 607 goals in 1,003 games played. If Ovi plays 1,961 games, he has 958 games to play in his career left. That's 11.68 seasons. Ovi is currently 32 years old. That would put him at 43 years old, and... 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 ---------- 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 2026-27 2027-28 2028-29 2029-30 (partial season)
...would match the game total for Gretzky, who retired at age 38. That's a lot of games for a guy who plays like Alex Ovechkin! That disgusting 1981-82 season when Gretzky scored 92 goals is one difference-maker; the others are the 71-goal 1982-83 season and the 87-goal 1983-84 season. And the 73-goal 1983-84 season... ugh. Otherwise... let's line them up... Gretzky.....Goals..........Ovi.........Goals 1978-79.....43.............2005-06.....52 1979-80.....51.............2006-07.....46 1980-81.....55.............2007-08.....65 1981-82.....92.............2008-09.....56 1982-83.....71.............2009-10.....50 1983-84.....87.............2010-11.....32 1984-85.....73.............2011-12.....38 1985-86.....52.............2012-13.....32* 1986-87.....62.............2013-14.....51 1987-88.....40.............2014-15.....53 1988-89.....54.............2015-16.....50 1989-90.....40.............2016-17.....33 1990-91.....41.............2017-18.....49 1991-92.....31 -------------- 1992-93.....16 607 1993-94.....38 1994-95.....11 1995-96.....23 *Lockout-shortened season 1996-97.....25 1997-98.....23 1998-99......9 -------------- 894
Now let's take a look at where Ovi stands right now.
01 - Wayne Gretzky - 894 G in 1487 GP +287 02 - Gordie Howe - 801 G in 1767 GP +194 03 - Jaromir Jagr - 765 G in 1714 GP +158 04 - Brett Hull - 741 G in 1269 GP +134 05 - Marcel Dionne - 731 G in 1348 GP +124 06 - Phil Esposito - 717 G in 1282 GP +110 07 - Mike Gartner - 708 G in 1432 GP +101 08 - Mark Messier - 694 G in 1756 GP + 87 09 - Steve Yzerman - 692 G in 1514 GP + 85 10 - Mario Lemieux - 690 G in 915 GP + 83 11 - Teemu Selanne - 684 G in 1451 GP + 77 12 - Luc Robataille - 668 G in 1431 GP + 61 13 - Brendan Shanahan - 656 G in 1524 GP + 49 14 - Dave Andreychuk - 640 G in 1639 GP + 33 15 - Joe Sakic - 625 G in 1378 GP + 18 16 - Jarome Iginla - 625 G in 1554 GP + 18 17 - Bobby Hull - 610 G in 1063 GP + 3 18 - Dino Ciccarelli - 608 G in 1232 GP + 1 20 - Alex Ovechkin - 607 G in 1003 GP
2018-19 - project 40 goals (647) takes Ovi to 14th 2019-20 - 35 goals (682) to 12th 2020-21 - 30 goals (712) to 7th ---------- 2021-22 - 25 goals (737) to 5th 2022-23 - 20 goals (757) to 4th 2023-24 - 15 goals (772) to 3rd 2024-25 - 15 goals (787) still 3rd 2025-26 - 10 goals (797) still 3rd 2026-27 - 10 goals (807) 2nd ... 2027-28 - 5 goals (812) 2nd ... 2028-29 - 5 goals (817) 2nd ... 2029-30 (partial season) 3 goals (820) 2nd ... OK, so maybe it's not realistic anymore... but let's do some tweaking. Ovi just had a nearly 50-goal season... 2018-19 - 45 goals (652) takes Ovi to 14th 2019-20 - 40 goals (692) to 12th 2020-21 - 35 goals (727) to 6th (tied) 2021-22 - 30 goals (757) to 3rd 2022-23 - 25 goals (782) still 3rd 2023-24 - 20 goals (802) still 3rd 2024-25 - 19 goals (821) 2nd 2025-26 - 18 goals (839) 2nd 2026-27 - 17 goals (856) 2nd 2027-28 - 16 goals (872) 2nd 2028-29 - 15 goals (887) 2nd 2029-30 - 14 goals (901) 1st by 4 goals... IT STILL COULD HAPPEN. I never, ever, EVER bet against Alexander the Gr8!
Is it realistic? Maybe, maybe not... first off, the odds of Ovi playing another 10+ seasons the way he plays aren't fantastic. They aren't impossible. Gordie Howe holds the record for number of games played, with 1767. Jagr has played 1733. Chris Chelios 1651. You have to go all the way down to 22nd place before you find Gretzky, with his 1487 games. Ovi is sitting at 317th league-wide for games played. Do I see him playing a Gordie Howe number of games? No. Do I want to be watching Ovi play in 2029-30? HELL YES!
With 750 wins, Head Coach Barry Trotz is in sole possession of #5 on the all-time winningest NHL coaches list. 1 - Scotty Bowman - 1244 W in 2141 GC +494 2 - Joel Quenneville - 868 W in 1572 GC +119 3 - Ken Hitchcock - 799 W in 1488 GC + 49 4 - Al Arbour - 782 W in 1607 GC + 32 5 - Barry Trotz - 750 W in 1999 GC
Next Up: Al Arbour, who is no longer coaching. Trotz will not catch Arbour this year; the Caps have played 65 of 82 games, leaving 17 games remaining this year.
With 734 wins, Head Coach Barry Trotz is in sole possession of #6 on the all-time winningest NHL coaches list. 1 - Scotty Bowman - 1244 W in 2141 GC +510 2 - Joel Quenneville - 868 W in 1572 GC +134 3 - Ken Hitchcock - 799 W in 1488 GC + 65 4 - Al Arbour - 782 W in 1607 GC + 48 5 - Lindy Ruff - 736 W in 1493 GC + 2 6 - Barry Trotz - 734 W in 1476 GC Next Up: Lindy Ruff, who is no longer coaching.
After some thought, the Weagle tallyboard has been redesigned.
I'll be using the big Weagles to represent 100 goals, the medium-sized to represent 25 goals, and the small to represent 1 goal each. The graphic shows Ovi has 581 goals in 955 games played, putting him in sole possession of 20th overall in goals scored. Next up, Jari Kurri has 601 goals in 1251 games played. 01 - Wayne Gretzky - 894 G in 1487 GP +313 02 - Gordie Howe - 801 G in 1767 GP +220 03 - Jaromir Jagr - 765 G in 1714 GP +184 04 - Brett Hull - 741 G in 1269 GP +160 05 - Marcel Dionne - 731 G in 1348 GP +150 06 - Phil Esposito - 717 G in 1282 GP +136 07 - Mike Gartner - 708 G in 1432 GP +127 08 - Mark Messier - 694 G in 1756 GP +113 09 - Steve Yzerman - 692 G in 1514 GP +111 10 - Mario Lemieux - 690 G in 915 GP +109 11 - Teemu Selanne - 684 G in 1451 GP +103 12 - Luc Robataille - 668 G in 1431 GP + 87 13 - Brendan Shanahan - 656 G in 1524 GP + 75 14 - Dave Andreychuk - 640 G in 1639 GP + 59 15 - Joe Sakic - 625 G in 1378 GP + 45 16 - Jarome Iginla - 625 G in 1554 GP + 45 17 - Bobby Hull - 610 G in 1063 GP + 29 18 - Dino Ciccarelli - 608 G in 1232 GP + 27 19 - Jari Kurri - 601 G in 1251 GP + 20 20 - Alex Ovechkin - 581 G in 955 GP Jari Kurri was born May 18, 1960 in Helsinki, Finland. The right wing played for six different NHL teams, beginning his career in Edmonton with the Oilers in 1980, and ending it in 1997 as a member of the Colorado Avalanche. Initially playing for Jokerit in SM-liiga (Finland), from 1977-1980, Kurri signed with the Oilers ffor the 1980-81 season, and played with them until the 1989-90 season, during which time, he and the Oilers won five Stanley Cups (in 1984, 85, 87, 88, and 90). For the 1990-91 season, Kurri played for HC Devils Milano in the Italian Serie A league, then was traded twice in the same day, first from Edmonton to Philadelphia, then, from Philadelphia to the Los Angeles Kings, where he again made it to the Stanley Cup finals (losing in five games to the Montreal Canadiens). In 1994-95, he played for Jokerit during the lockout season, then returned to the Kings, was traded to the Rangers as a rental player, then signed with the then-Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1996-97) before signing with the Colorado Avalanche (1997-98) where he finished his career. Kurri is now the general manager of Jokerit, the Finnish KHL team. It will take Ovi another 20 goals to pass Kurri's record... Meanwhile, also on #OviWatch, in the Game Winning Goals category, Ovi currently has 99, placing him in sole possession of 9th place. 01 - Jaromir Jagr - 135 GWG in 1730 GP 02 - Gordie Howe - 121 GWG in 1767 GP 03 - Phil Esposito - 118 GWG in 1282 GP 04 - Teemu Selanne - 110 GWG in 1451 GP 05 - Brett Hull - 110 GWG in 1269 GP 06 - Brendan Shanahan - 109 GWG in 1254 GP 07 - Patrick Marleau - 103 GWG in 1527 GP 08 - Jarome Iginla - 101 GWG in 1554 GP 09 - Alex Ovechkin - 99 GWG in 955 GP Next up is Jarome Iginla, who retired after the 2016-17 season after playing for Colorado and Los Angeles. He is a part owner of the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL, holding a minor share of the franchise with Shane Doan, Mark Recchi, and Darryl Sydor. With 21 OT GWGs, Ovechkin is in sole possession of #1 in that category, surpassing Jagr's 19 earlier this season.
01 - Wayne Gretzky - 894 G in 1487 GP +323 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. ------------ 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.
Our Hero Alex Ovechkin has scored not one, but two hat tricks so far to start the 2017-18 season. Two. In the first two games of the season. The last time someone did that, the number of teams was far fewer - it was 100 years ago. Sitting pretty on top of the goal scoring race, Ovi now has 9 goals in 6 games played. Now with 567 goals, he is sitting 22nd all time! While he's unlikely to continue that torrid pace (123 goals in a single season?!), it'll be fun to watch...
Here's the route to the top...
01 - Wayne Gretzky - 894 G in 1487 GP +327 02 - Gordie Howe - 801 G in 1767 GP +234 03 - Jaromir Jagr - 765 G in 1714 GP +198 04 - Brett Hull - 741 G in 1269 GP +174 05 - Marcel Dionne - 731 G in 1348 GP +164 06 - Phil Esposito - 717 G in 1282 GP +150 07 - Mike Gartner - 708 G in 1432 GP +141 08 - Mark Messier - 694 G in 1756 GP +127 09 - Steve Yzerman - 692 G in 1514 GP +125 10 - Mario Lemieux - 690 G in 915 GP +123 11 - Teemu Selanne - 684 G in 1451 GP +117 12 - Luc Robataille - 668 G in 1431 GP +101 13 - Brendan Shanahan - 656 G in 1524 GP + 89 14 - Dave Andreychuk - 640 G in 1639 GP + 73 15 - Joe Sakic - 625 G in 1378 GP + 58 16 - Jarome Iginla - 625 G in 1554 GP + 59 17 - Bobby Hull - 610 G in 1063 GP + 43 18 - Dino Ciccarelli - 608 G in 1232 GP + 41 19 - Jari Kurri - 601 G in 1251 GP + 34 20 - Mark Recchi - 577 G in 1652 GP + 10 21 - Mike Bossy - 573 G in 752 GP + 6 22 - Alex Ovechkin - 567 G in 927 GP Let's talk about game-winning goals... Ovi currently has 95 of those, and the #1 spot is 135, held by Jaromir Jagr. Gretzky himself only had 91. Ovi sits in 12th right now. Of course, Jagr is still playing... how much longer remains to be seen. Power play goals... At the moment, Ovi has 214 of those, sitting 13th... the record is held by Dave Andreychuk, with 274. Overtime goals... Ovi is tied, for now, for 1st with Jagr - both of them have 19 of those beauties! Of course, a lot of the major goal scorers played in an era when ties happened, so there weren't any overtime goals, but still....! Here's to the start of the 2107-18 season, and may the Caps improve considerably as a team... Ovi plays well when he has to pick the team up and carry them, but if the defense doesn't get their act together, it's going to be a very long season...
