By Lucas Pollara
On April 6, 2025, in a National Hockey League (NHL) game against the New York Islanders, Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals broke a 25-year-long record by scoring his 895th goal.
The previous holder of the record was one of hockey’s best players, Wayne Gretsky, also known as the Great One. He was in attendance at the game and was able to congratulate Ovechkin for this significant feat.
Alex Ovechkin cemented his place in history as one of the best NHL players in history. In his past 20 years of hockey, NHL has reported that he has become the all-time goal scorer, holds the record for receiving nine Maurice “Rocket” Richard trophies (most goals scored in one season), won a Stanley Cup, and so much more.
Scoring in hockey is not an easy task which makes this feat even more impressive. According to the NHL, an average hockey player would score about 15 to 20 goals in a season. A season consists of 82 games meaning that he would have to score a goal every four games or more. Ovechkin scored about 44 goals per season, more than double the amount of an average player.
A hockey goal net, similar to a soccer net, though significantly smaller, is only 6 feet wide and 4 feet high. Bleacher Report estimates the average height of a goalie to be around six feet three inches. Add some experience and skill and it makes it extremely hard to find an opening in the net when the goalie is protecting it.
20 years of hockey, which is about 1,640 games, requires a lot from a hockey player. Hockey is a sport that has a lot of physical contact, both legal and illegal. Players sacrifice their bodies into push opponents into walls, to hinder them, or to push them out the way. Fist fights are also common along with puck hits to the face.
Skating is also not an easy task since skaters are relying a lot on their lower body muscles. It gets harder as a player ages and grows more tired. They are at a higher risk for injuries and their performance can get worse. A lot of NHL careers have been cut short because of these injuries. It shows Ovechkin’s resilience as he has defied these odds by managing to stay healthy and bounce back quickly from injuries over the course of twenty years.
A huge congrats to Alex Ovechkin for his remarkable achievement. The Gr8 chase was a fun journey to keep track of in the past few months. The fans have something else to look forward to since the Washington Capitals are in the 2025 playoffs for the Stanley Cup. Alex Ovechkin has expressed that he wants to keep playing for as long as he can so fans might see more of him in the next few seasons.
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