Can Alex Ovechkin Break Wayne Gretzky's Goal Record? Stats And Logic Both Say Yes
Bryan Altman, CBS Local Sports
Alex Ovechkin is on the precipice of history, Jaromir Jagr is seemingly making history every time he steps on the ice and there's major buzz surrounding a possible rule change that could change NHL hockey as we know it. Let's delve a little further into all of these topics in this week's "This Week In Hockey."
Jaromir Jagr Just Keeps Going
In the annals of sports history Father Time might be undefeated, but he's certainly getting a run for his money from Jaromir Jagr. Somehow, some way, Jagr keeps making it look easy at the age of 43. He's played in 13 games so far this season and has a team high 12 points, including seven goals, which also leads the Panthers.
ESPN's Scott Powers wrote a great piece about Jagr's longevity and Jagr had a great quote about how he's still hanging around the game and playing at such a high level.
"It's up to you. It's not about the age. It's about the willingness to do it. Age has nothing to do with it. It's just attitude. You've got a different attitude when you get older. Things are not as important to you. Some things you just let it go. It's an excuse, 'It's happened to everybody. I'm getting old.' It's not true. It's just an excuse for everybody else. I believe as long as you're healthy, you can do anything you want."
Obviously Jagr's talent at a young age was easy to admire, but the fact that Jagr is doing what he's doing now just gives us another reminder of the generational player that Jagr is. If you have the chance, snag a ticket to a game the next time the Florida Panthers are in town. Jagr says he's going to play until he's 50, and who am I to doubt it, but make sure you get to see this living hockey legend before he hangs up his skates.
Alex Ovechkin Poised To Make History
Speaking of must-watch players, Alex Ovechkin is off to another scintillating start and it's got him one goal away from becoming the most prolific Russian scorer in NHL history. Oh yeah, and he's only 30 years old. Ovechkin stands at 483 goals - tied with his childhood idol and former teammate in Washington for a season, Sergei Fedorov. Fedorov, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame this year, scored 483 goals in 1,248 career NHL games. Ovechkin has reached that number in just 773 with an average of .62 goals per game. By comparison, Wayne Gretzky averaged .60 goals per game over the course of his NHL career.
There are hundreds of things that could happen over the next few years, but if Ovechkin keeps up his current pace he could very well become the leading goal scorer in NHL history. Ovechkin needs 411 more goals to equal Gretzky's mark of 894 goals. If he plays for the next 10 years, which is certainly a possibility, he'll have to average .50, or a goal every other game, in order to catch "The Great One." Again, plenty can and almost certainly will happen between now and then, but it's certainly not out of the realm of possibility.
Bigger Nets, Better Product?
Like all sports leagues, the NHL recognizes that they're obligated to make improvements to their game to better the fan experience. However, the NHL and all sports leagues also recognize their obligation to uphold the integrity and history of their game, which brings us to the latest discussion that will certainly be coming to the NHL's negotiating table come this offseason, as it has in offseasons prior.
However, this time around the talks are heating up as goal scoring in the NHL continues to drop at an alarming rate. According to Yahoo! Sports' Puck Daddy blog, through 215 games this season, there's been an average of 5.32 goals per game, down from last year's year end total of 5.46. The difference doesn't seem that drastic on the surface, but the fact of the matter is that this is a trend, not an anomaly.
Goalies pads are bigger and goalies themselves are bigger, which is contributing to the goal scoring drought, but most are reluctant to reduce goalies' pad sizes by a significant margin due to safety reasons.
Ostensibly, the argument to expand the size of the nets makes sense. It compensates for the increase in goalie pad size and will increase the appeal of the product at the end of the day. We all want to see more 100-point scorers and 50-plus goal scorers, and if this is what has to be done so be it.
Mike Babcock had a perfectly logical explanation for why he's in favor of the net size increase, explaining that by expanding the nets to be the width of both goal posts combined, shots that would have hit the post in the past will go in. The increase would be extremely subtle and definitively lead to more goal scoring.
The issue is, as Washington Capitals goalie coach Mitch Korn said, that you would then "fundamentally change the way goalies play the position," which is a valid point.
But again, something will be done sooner than later. Scoring sells, and in a league that needs as many sales as it can get, any and all solutions will, and should, remain on the negotiating table.
Bryan Altman is, for some reason, an unabashed fan of the Rangers, Jets and Mets. If he absolutely had to pick a basketball team it would be the Knicks, but he'd gladly trade them for just one championship for either of his other three teams.
Questions or comments? Feel free to follow Bryan on Twitter or send him an email.
