The China Mail - Ovechkin set to achieve the 'impossible'

Ovechkin edged closer to Gretzky's record on Saturday, netting his 887th career goal in the Washington Capitals' 5-1 drubbing of San Jose.

It means the 39-year-old Russian star is now just eight goals away from passing Gretzky's all-time mark, a total long regarded as untouchable.

"I could tell you 10 years ago or even eight years ago any of us that played the game in the Gretzky era would have said, 'I don't think it's possible,'" Hall-of-Famer and former Gretzky team-mate Luc Robitaille said recently.

Gretzky was viewed as a 'one-off' talent but his era also saw higher scoring rates; the 1980s averaging significantly more points per game than the tighter games of the 2000s and 2010s.

But Ovechkin's remarkable production owes more to his extraordinary talent than to shifts in the way the game is played.

His rise began long before he laced up skates in the NHL. Born in Moscow in 1985, the son of a professional footballer and Soviet women's Olympic team basketball gold medalist, he honed his craft with Dynamo Moscow in the Russian Superleague, debuting professionally at 16.

Selected first overall by the Capitals in the 2004 draft, his arrival was delayed by the 2004-05 lockout, but when he finally hit the ice in October 2005, he announced himself with authority -- scoring twice in his debut against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

That rookie season, he tallied 52 goals, earning the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year and finishing third in league scoring. It was a harbinger of what was to come.

What sets Ovechkin apart is his sheer ability to put the puck in the net. "It's his shot," Gretzky himself said in an NHL.com interview in October 2024.

"Look at guys like Brett Hull, Mario Lemieux, Mike Bossy. They get those opportunities. They don't miss the net. Ovi ... never misses the net. And that separates a great goalscorer from good goalscorers."

Ovechkin's signature one-timer from the left face-off circle -- known as his 'office' -- has terrorized goaltenders for two decades -- they know it is coming but there is nothing they can do about it.

- Scoring machine -

While Gretzky was a playmaker as well as a goalscorer -- he is far and away the all-time assists leader with 1,963 compared to Ovechkin's 718 -- the Russian is a pure goal-scoring machine.

The suggestion early in his career that he was a 'puck hog', hockey's equivalent of a 'greedy' striker in football, drew a characteristically blunt yet revealing response from Ovechkin in a 2008 interview: "Nobody ever tells me to give them a pass or anything. My job is to score goals, and if I don't shoot the puck, I can't score goals."

No one has complained since, especially not in Washington, where he has smashed franchise records and led the Capitals to their only Stanley Cup title in 2018.

But those in the game say there is more to Ovechkin's game than his lethal shot, such as reading of situations.

"Hockey players of his level do things that no one else does," Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery told Russian newspaper Sport Express.

"Take the way he perceives analysis of moments. I can show him a play, expecting one reaction, and he sees it completely differently. So you learn a lot about what makes him a great player," he said.

- Political balancing act -

The only criticism that Ovechkin has faced has been focused off the ice and for his apparent support for Russian leader Vladimir Putin, especially since the invasion of Ukraine.

Ovechkin founded "PutinTeam" to support the Russian president in the 2018 election and his profile picture on his instagram account is a picture of him standing with Putin.

When asked about the Ukraine war in 2022, Ovechkin called for "no more war". But when asked about Putin his usual frankness was absent.

"Well, he is my president. But how I said, I am not in politics. I am an athlete and I hope everything is going to be done soon," Ovechkin said at the time. "I'm Russian. It's something I can't control. It's not in my hands. I hope it's going to end soon."

But it is also noticeable that Ovechkin, who spends all his summers back home in Russia, has never made a public statement in support of the war, despite knowing that such a move would be lauded by Putin and his backers.

Whatever his motivation, Ovechkin walks a thin line away from the rink but there is no question of the NHL being muted in celebration of his achievement.

"Some people have suggested that because Alex is Russian that somehow this should be marginalized," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said at the start of the season.

"We couldn't disagree more with that. He's been a terrific ambassador for our game for 20 years now."

Y.Parker--ThChM