Alex Ovechkin is now the career N.H.L goal scoring leader as he scored his 895th goal last Sunday against the New York Islanders. Wayne Gretzky himself handed over the laurels to Ovechkin for being considered the greatest goal scorer of all-time (at the game in Long Island).
Ovechkin earned the distinction of being considered a great hockey player right from the start of his career. In his inaugural campaign of 2005/06 he scored 52 goals and had 54 assists for 106 points in 81 games. Alex won nine Rocket Richard Trophies including a stretch of four Richard Trophies in a row (2012/13-2015/16). He has accumulated a total of 895 goals and 725 assists for 1620 points in 1488 games played. In Ovechkin's average N.H.L 82 game season he scores 49 goals with 40 assists for 89 points. Alex had four seasons in which he totaled 106+ points and ten season in which he had 81+ points with six seasons with 10+ in the plus/minus. Ovechkin is the greatest player to come out of the former U.S.S.R (currently Russia) and has dominated on the World scene in the Olympics, winning in 2018 for Russia, and was perhaps the greatest player of his era. The argument of who the better player in the N.H.L at that time of 2005/06 was between Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, and that man would be the greatest player of his era. Ovechkin won the Calder Trophy in 2005/06 ahead of rival Sidney Crosby.and compares well. He won the Conn Smythe in 2017/18 leading the playoffs in goals scored with 15 over 24 games when the Washington Capitals won their first Stanley Cup. All Ovechkin did in playoff hockey over his career with the Washington Capitals was score 72 goals with 69 helpers for 141 points over 151 games. Ovechkin and Crosby were also both considered the best Juniors when they played against each-other before their N.H.L days in 2005. The tournament was in Grand Forks, North Dakota and showcased the two greatest Hockey players of our era playing for their countries in the finals of Canada vs Russia, in which Canada was victorious.
Sid 'the Kid' Crosby vs Alex Ovechkin
Sidney Crosby was born in Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia. Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon were both born there, and were both 1st overall picks in their respective years of the draft. Sid 'the Kid' was the first to make it to the N.H.L and shone in his rookie campaign of 2005/06 in which he comprised 39 goals and 63 assists for 102 points finishing a close second to standout Alex Ovechkin in the Calder Trophy voting. Then in his sophomore year Crosby won the Hart and Art Ross Trophies comprising an impressive 120 points with 36 goals and 84 assists. He has had six years with 100+ points and fourteen seasons with 84+ points. What distinguishes Crosby in this comparison is the fact that Crosby has excelled at the World level in Olympic competition and shown he's the greatest Hockey Olympian for the 2010 and 2014 Canadian Olympic Gold Medals for Team Canada. Crosby showed in 2010 in Vancouver, B.C that he was ready for the spotlight as our games best player when he went short-side on Miller to ice victory for Canada. We defeated a worthy U.S.A led by the goal-tending of Ryan Miller and furthered success by winning the next Olympics of 2014 in Sochi, Russia again led by Sid 'the Kid'. He has sustained a career in which he has totaled 1349 GP with 623 goals and 1060 assists for 1683 points with a plus/minus of + 196 over a twenty year career to date. His average campaign shows that in an 82 game season he scores 38 goals with 64 assists and 102 points with a + 12 in the plus/minus. Crosby played with the Pittsburgh Penguins and when the playoffs hit they were always there winning three Stanley Cups with Crosby and Malkin in 2008/09, 2015/16, and 2016/17. Sid won two Conn Smythe Trophies in back to back years of 2015/16 and 2016/17 and has impressively totaled 201 points in post-season play in just 180 games played with 71 goals and 130 assists.
The problem with talking in infinitives with these two legends of the game is that they're so even in many intangibles that the numbers don't show. Both Crosby and Ovechkin are pure winners. One is Canadian, the other is Russian. They've played against each-other in the Junior rank, the N.H.L playoff rank, and the Olympic rank and they're considered the two greatest players on the ice when they play. Maybe one of the two will surprise and play another ten years like Gordie Howe did and play until 50. Surprise us guys. In actual fact I don't see either slowing down over the next couple of years. The reality is that Ovechkin has a real shot at getting to 1000 goals in his N.H.L career. If he scores 40 a year over the next two years, he'll be twenty five away from 1000 by the year 2027 when he is 42 years of age. It seems likely he'll be able to produce. Crosby is currently 37 years of age. By the time he is 41 he'll likely to have accumulated another 270 points to make his career total 1953 points. This paradigm of one being a one thousand goal scorer versus a two thousand point scorer. In my book that is pretty equal.
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