Alex Ovechkin scored the 700th goal of his career this afternoon, in a 3-2 loss to the Devils. The Capitals' superstar is the 8th member of the 700 goal club.
When Ovi scored his 699th career goal against Montreal on Thursday I had a feeling he would make history here in Jersey. I really wanted to get tickets, but my daughter's reconciliation was today. We were at church for the first two periods of the game.
I've been an Ovechkin fan since his 52-goal rookie season, and I can remember Beckett Hockey Magazine running an "Ovechkin watch" feature in his draft year.
The "Ovechkin watch" has been on high alert lately, and will continue to heat up as he climbs the NHL's all-time leader board.
Let's dive a little deeper into the career goal total of the seven legends ahead of Ovi:
Wayne Gretzky
894 NHL goals
+ 46 WHA goals
= 940 career goals
The greatest goal scorer in NHL history began his pro career as a 17 year-old in the World Hockey Association. He scored three goals for the Indianapolis Racers and 43 for the Edmonton Oilers. (And that's not counting 10 playoff goals in the WHA and another 122 postseason tallies in the NHL.)
Donruss projected what each player's stats would have been had there not been a lockout in 1994-95. According to this card, Gretzky lost 8 goals to the lockout - which would have netted him a career total of 902!
While Wayne Gretzky is universally recognized as the game's all-time greatest goal scorer, the pro hockey record is held by his idol:
Gordie Howe
801 NHL goals
+ 174 WHA goals
= 975 career goals
"Mr. Hockey" was not active during any labor disputes. However the third-leading scorer in NHL history played during three lockouts:
Jaromir Jagr
766 NHL goals
+ 66 KHL goals
= 832 career goals
Donruss projected Jagr would have scored another 24 goals in a full 1994-95 season. He played overseas in 2004-05, scoring 11 goals for Kladno in the Czech league and 17 for Omsk in Russia. There's no way to tell how many goals Jagr would have had in the NHL that year. He scored 31 in the year before the lockout and 52 in the season that followed, so let's say he would have scored 40.
Jaromir was still active during the 2012-13 NHL lockout, scoring 16 goals in a shortened season. At a rate of .333 goals per game, Jagr could have added 11 goals to his career total. With just half of the projected 75 'lost' goals, Jaromir Jagr would have passed Gordie Howe for second on the NHL's all-time list.
Brett Hull
741 NHL goals
The "Golden Brett" did not play in any pro leagues other than the NHL. His Donruss card projected a 51-goal season in 1994-95, meaning the lockout cost Hull 22 goals that year. He was still active in 2004-05, though it's difficult to determine how many goals he would have scored as a 40 year-old. In five post-lockout games Hull did not register a goal and retired early in the 2005-06 season. It's safe to say Hull would not have been shut out in '04-05.
Marcel Dionne
731 NHL goals
Phil Esposito
717 NHL goals
Phil Esposito did not play in another pro league and was not active during any work stoppage.
Mike Gartner
708 NHL goals
+ 27 WHA goals
= 735 career goals
Mike Gartner potted 27 goals for the WHA's Cincinnati Stingers in 1978-79. He was still active in 1994-95 and lost 9 goals to the lockout, according to the back of his 1995-96 Donruss card.
One other player scored well over 700 professional goals. In fact he scored more goals in North American pro hockey than everyone except Gretzky and Howe:
Bobby Hull
610 NHL goals
+ 303 WHA goals
= 913 career goals
Only two-thirds of Bobby Hull's goals were scored in NHL nets. However the "Golden Jet" deserves a mention here.
Six more players likely would have joined the 700 goal club without work stoppages interrupting at least one season of their careers:Steve Yzerman (692 NHL goals)
Mario Lemieux (690 NHL goals)
Teemu Selanne (684 NHL goals)
Luc Robitaille (668 NHL goals)
Brendan Shanahan (656 NHL goals)
As a matter of fact, Alex Ovechkin could have scored his 700th goal more than a year ago. It's likely that the "Great Eight" would have made his NHL debut as a 19 year-old in the 'lost' season of 2004-05. Maybe he wouldn't have scored 52 that year, but the fewest goals Alex has ever scored in a season is 32...
...which was his (league-leading) total in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. His .667 goals/game that year projects to 54.6 over a full 82-game season, meaning he missed out on another 20-25 tallies. Ovechkin could easily have scored 750 NHL goals by now!
There are no more 700-goal scorers on the horizon. The next active leader is 40 year-old Patrick Marleau with 561. Behind him is Sidney Crosby with 458. When Crosby (and Ovechkin) were still amateurs, Wayne Gretzky was asked if he thought anyone could break his records:
Crosby is an all-time great and could clear 600 goals if he remains healthy and productive. But the goals record is well within Ovechkin's sights - and the Great One is okay with that.
Thanks for reading!
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