On June 26 and 27, 2004 at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, Alex Ovechkin was selected in the first round as the overall #1 pick by the Washington Capitals. That year, #2 was Evgeni Malkin (picked by the Pittsburgh Penguins) and #3 was Cam Barker (picked by the Chicago Blackhawks). The #5 pick was Blake Wheeler (picked by the Phoenix Coyotes) and the #14 pick was Devan Dubnyk for the Edmonton Oilers. Cam Barker only played 310 NHL games including 25 for the Edmonton Oilers in 2011-12 season but really disappeared after that playing111 games for the KHL. We all know about the longevity of Evengi Malkin and, of course Ovechkin.
Ovechkin has had an amazing NHL career and will go directly into the Hockey Hall of Fame when he is done playing the sport he has shown so much passion for. His hockey career started with the Moscow Dynamos from 2001 to 2005 when he had 54 goals, 41 assists for 95 points in 170 games. A modest start to the holder of the most career goals in the NHL! I think he was just warming in the RSL league in Russia with 95 points as he had 52 goals and 54 assists for 106 points in 81 games in his rookie year. He won the Calder Trophy in the 2004-05 NHL year for rookie of the year. After his first goal on October 5, 2005, he would have nine 50+ goals seasons in the next 20 years to get to 895 career goals and break the record set by Gretzky on March 23, 1994.
Many had said that Gretzky’s career goal record of 894 goals would be unbreakable but the Russian machine showed us that it was not. At almost 40 years old, Ovechkin has 42 goals in the 2024-25 season as of April 9, 2025 and only Gordie Howe has more at that age scoring 44 goals in the 1968-69 NHL hockey season for the Detriot Red Wings. Ovechkin is not done yet and he is now raising the bar on the career goal total and his record, I think, will be truly unbreakable.
Ovechkin’s Goal Record Transcends Generations
Hockey has grown so much in the US since Gretzky arrived to play the LA Kings in the 1988-89 NHL season. Teams have appeared in the Sunshine state (two of them), Music City, Las Vegas, Utah and Texas. I have three kids under the age of 12 and they have been on the Ovi goal tracker since the beginning of the 2024-25 season. It is amazing to see the next generation of fans watching as hockey records are broken and not only loving players on their team but on others. My 7 year old is now wearing #8 when he plays for his ball hockey team.
The achievements of Ovechkin does not overshadow how great the Great one was. Gretzky still owns > 50 NHL records and many of those will be truly unbreakable (such as 50 goals in 39 games). Now he gets to share greatness with Ovechkin.
Fun facts during this historic race to 895 career goals:
1. Ovechkin has 894 goals in 1,486 games in 20 seasons, all with the Capitals. Gretzky had 894 goals in 1487 games in 20 seasons with 4 teams;
2. Ovechkin's goal 895 came on the 21st anniversary of the Capitals winning the 2004 NHL Draft Lottery and the right to select him with the No. 1 pick in 2004;
3. Gordie Howe’s record of 801 goals was not broken until 14 years later by Wayne Gretzky on March 23, 1994; Ovechkin broke Gretzky’s record 26 years after Gretzky’s last goal on March 29, 1999;
4. Ovechkin's record-breaker on April 6, 2025 happened on the 45th anniversary of Gordie Howe's 801st and final goal on April 6, 1980;
5. Gretzky’s last NHL goal #894 was against the New York Islanders; Ovechkin scores goal 895 against the New York Islanders.
6. Gretzky has won the Art Ross Trophy 10 times; Ovechkin has won the Rocket Richard trophy 9 times.
7. There are 28 goalies that Ovechkin did not score on to achieve 895 goals in his career. They were all given special beer cans that say: Budweiser Zero of 895.
8. There are 11 goalies both Gretzky and Ovechkin have scored on including Martin Brodeur, Dominica Hasek and Kevin Weekes.
I could go on by above gives you a snapshot of the greatness of both of these generational players.
Ovechkin’s next chapter
Ovechkin will no doubt get 900 goals and possible 950. He is not done yet and hopes to take the Washington Capitals to the Stanley Cup finals. That story will begin soon but, for now, let’s bow our heads to one of the greatest goal scorers the game has ever seen. I was fortunate to have seen both Gretzky and Ovechkin achieve goal 894 live on TV. McDavid and Draisaitl are achieving their own greatness in this generation and will write their own script into the NHL record books over the next 10 seasons.