Alex Ovechkin’s 895th career goal, passing Wayne Gretzky for most in NHL history, was literally a show-stopping moment.
Immediately after the Capitals’ captain finished celebrating his historic achievement with his teammates on the ice, the league rolled out the red carpet (New York Islander blue, in this case) for a pre-planned seven-minute ceremony to honor Ovechkin mid-game — which ended up being 22 instead.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, Gretzky, Ovechkin’s family, team owner Ted Leonsis and the entire team offered their congratulations at center ice.
“We have all just witnessed history,” Bettman said to kick things off. “Wayne, you’ll always be ‘The Great One,’ but you had a record that no one thought would ever be broken, but Alex, you did it. You have been amazing…. Thank you for all you have given the game.”
Gretzky then spoke and reflected on the magnitude of this moment compared to when he passed Gordie Howe in 1994.
“I can tell you first hand, I know how hard it is to get 894, 895 is pretty special,” Gretzky said. “My congratulations to not only Alex, his mom and dad, his family, his wife and kids. When I broke the record, my two kids were about the age of his boys, so it’s kind of reminiscent for me and I’m so happy that two of my boys are here tonight.”
Gretzky’s record was long-thought to be unbreakable. “The Great One” wanted to be the first to declare Ovechkin’s mark, whatever heights that may reach, as truly uncatchable.
“They say records are made to be broken, but I’m not sure who’s going to get more goals than that,” he said, incredulous. “I said I’d be the first guy to shake your hand when you broke the record.”
Gretzky then kept his promise by shaking Ovechkin’s hand and giving him a hug. He pointed to the red No. 9 pin on his jacket lapel in remembrance of the late Gordie Howe, whom Gretzky idolized and passed 31 years ago for the NHL goal-scoring crown. Gretzky and his wife, Janet Jones, then presented Ovechkin’s wife, Nastya, with a gift.
Gretzky joked with Leonsis that he had his “work cut out” for him because the owner of the Los Angeles Kings, Bruce McKnall, gifted him a Rolls Royce after he passed Howe.
The man of the hour then took the microphone and thanked his family, his teammates and the fans for their support throughout his career leading up to the historic moment.
“What a day, huh?,” Ovechkin said. “Like I always said, all the time, it’s a team sport and without my boys — the whole organization, the fans, the trainers, coaches — I would never stand there and obviously I would never pass the ‘Great One.’ So, fellas, thank you very much. I love you so much.”
Ovechkin took a moment to specifically heap praise on his long-time teammates Nicklas Backstrom, who assisted on 279 of his 895 career goals, and TJ Oshie (48 assists), who were both in attendance Sunday.
“I know Nicklas Backstrom is here, TJ Oshie, fellas, I love you. We did it, boys. We did it,” he said emotionally.
He also thanked Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin, a fellow Russian, for being his latest and most historic beaten goaltender, saying “Thank you to Sorokin to let me score 895. I love you, brotha.” It was the first time in three attempts Ovechkin had dented the twine against Sorokin.
“All of you fans, the whole world, Russian, we did it, boys. We did it. It’s history,” Ovechkin continued. “And the most important thing, to my mom, my family, my beautiful wife, my father-in-law, my beautiful kids, thank you. I love you so much, and without you, without your support I would never stand here. So, I love you guys.”
As the arena crew laid out the carpet ahead of the ceremony, the entire Islanders team lined up to shake Ovechkin’s hand. It was a classy move mirroring the Chicago Blackhawks after he scored twice on Friday to tie Gretzky at 894 career goals.
