NHL Gears Up for Grand Celebration of Historic Milestone

Wayne Gretzky, the NHL's all-time leading goal-scorer, is expected to be in attendance for Alex Ovechkin's games as the Washington Capitals star gets closer to eclipsing Gretzky's record. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman will also follow Ovechkin as he churns towards Gretzky's high-bar of 894 career goals.

Ovechkin's goal tally currently sits at 886 with 16 contests remaining on Washington's regular-season schedule. Gretzky, who owns a long list of individual records, has topped the goal category since March, 1994, when he passed Gordie Howe's previous mark of 801.

The NHL has several other initiatives planned to honour Ovechkin, including an in-arena celebration when No. 895 eventually hits the back of the net. Ovechkin's goals have come in many forms through his career – from acrobatic to jaw-dropping to the one-timer that's fooled opponents for two decades. He's registered nine separate 50-goal seasons, including the 65 he scored in 2007-08, and has reached at least 40 an eye-popping 13 times.

Gretzky, who works on TNT's NHL broadcasts in the U.S, filled the net early in his career with single-season totals of 92, 87, 73 and 71, but lost steam late with an average of just 20 goals over his final four campaigns before retiring in 1999. Ovechkin's run, meanwhile, has included the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign and two pandemic-stunted seasons. If not for those stoppages, he might have already passed Gretzky.

Ovechkin, who somehow missed only 16 games earlier this season after breaking his left leg, appeared to be slowing down when he scored just 33 times in 2016-17, but the bulldozing winger responded with a combined 148 goals over the next three seasons. The No. 1 pick at the 2004 NHL draft registered his ninth 50-goal showing in 2021-22 and put up 42 in 2022-23 – when he eclipsed Howe's 801 to move into second place all-time – before adding 31 more to his ledger last season.

The approaching milestone moment, however, comes against the backdrop of Russia's continuing war in Ukraine following the country's 2022 invasion. Ovechkin has been a supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past, and his Instagram profile picture features the two men. NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said before the start of the season that the league did not view the impending accomplishment as something that should be diminished by the association.