Wayne Gretzky

Wayne Gretzky thinks Alex Ovechkin has a ‘legitimate chance’ to overtake his goals record: ‘I think it’d be wonderful for the game’

After Alex Ovechkin scored eight goals in three games last week, NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti spoke to Wayne Gretzky about how secure he believed his NHL goals record still was. Gretzky scored 894 goals in 1,487 career games. Ovechkin is now only 202 goals away from The Great One’s record in his age 34 season.

“I’m a big believer that records are made to be broken,” Gretzky said to NHL.com. “What I accomplished, I’m very proud of. It’s hard to do what I did, and it’s really hard to do what he’s doing now. But there’s no question in my mind that he has a real legitimate chance of doing it. The two things that you need; you’ve got to stay healthy, and he’s proven that over his career. He plays hard and he stays healthy. And, secondly, you’ve got to be on a good team — and he plays on a good team.”

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Wayne Gretzky on Alex Ovechkin catching his goals record: ‘Alex definitely is the guy who has a chance’

After scoring consecutive hat tricks against the Detroit Red Wings and the Carolina Hurricanes, Alex Ovechkin became part of a larger national debate on if he could catch Wayne Gretzky’s seemingly impossible-to-catch goal record.

Gretzky scored over 50 goals in eight consecutive seasons to start his career, including an insane four-year stretch where he scored over 70 goals four times (92, 87, 73, and 71). Gretzky ended his 20-year NHL career with 894 career goals — 93 more than Gordie Howe in second place and 128 more than third place Jaromir Jagr.

The 33-year-old Ovechkin has 636 goals during his 13 seasons so far in the NHL. He needs only 258 more to tie The Great One. If Ovechkin continues at his career .61 goals per game pace, he would need to play in 423 more games (five-plus seasons) to catch Gretzky. With 29 goals in 35 games this season, Ovechkin is averaging .83 goals per game.

“Alex definitely is the guy who has a chance,” Gretzky said in a phone interview with the Edmonton Journal’s Jim Matheson before Christmas. “It’s great for the game and it’s a great watch. If he’s close I’ll be the first guy to go there (to see it).”

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Wayne Gretzky on Alex Ovechkin’s Stanley Cup celebration: ‘He wore his emotions on his sleeve’

Wayne Gretzky appeared on Fox Business Network Friday afternoon to discuss the promotion of hockey in China and his investment in the company UNTUCKit on Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street.

The Great One had some interesting things to say about Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin and the celebrations in the DC area after the Capitals won the Stanley Cup.

“What Alex Ovechkin did last year, I think that he really elevated our sport to another level because it’s not about how good he played and what he did for the city of Washington, but how emotional he was and how he wore his emotions on his sleeve and how people rallied around that,” Gretzky told Bartiromo.

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