The Athletic has live coverage of Alex Ovechkin’s journey to break Wayne Gretzky’s career goal record.
WASHINGTON — Wayne Gretzky first played against the Washington Capitals during his rookie season in 1979. The Caps, in their sixth NHL season, were still playing in Landover, Md.
“We had like 7,000 people at the game,” Gretzky said. “People probably didn’t even know where Edmonton was in ’79.”
The atmosphere was quite a bit different Friday night at Capital One Arena, in the heart of D.C. A delirious sellout crowd poured into the arena hoping to witness history as Alex Ovechkin continued his assault on Gretzky’s all-time goals record. When Ovechkin scored the 893rd goal of his career on his second shift — drawing him within one of Gretzky’s career mark — the noise was deafening.
Gretzky was there to witness it, and he was there when Ovechkin scored goal No. 894 in the third period, tying Gretzky’s record. He will follow Ovechkin until he breaks the record — which isn’t likely to take very long at this rate. Ovechkin has scored in four consecutive games.
“(NHL commissioner Gary Bettman) and I talked the other day, and Alex said, ‘Don’t get here until I get to two,’” Gretzky said. “I thought (Thursday), ‘Gosh, we better get on the plane and get up there because he might get three (Friday).’ When he scored four minutes in, I thought, ‘Oh, my God, we might be able to leave after the first period.’”
Gretzky has been shunning the spotlight since his public support of Donald Trump and his subsequent silence over the U.S. president’s rhetoric and economic policies toward Canada made him a controversial figure in his native country. But he was greeted warmly in Washington, getting a standing ovation during a television timeout in the first period.
“Oh, it’s nice,” he said. “Washington fans are nice. Hockey fans are nice, right?”
Gretzky, who was seated between Bettman and Kash Patel, the FBI director recently appointed by Trump, did not discuss politics in his media scrum Friday.
He said it was important for him to be in attendance when Ovechkin inevitably breaks his record, citing the “integrity of the game” and naming legends Jean Béliveau, Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr, Mario Lemieux and Mark Messier as “passing it down.” Howe was there when Gretzky scored his 802nd goal to become the new scoring king in 1994. Gretzky couldn’t recall what Howe told him that night other than, “I’m proud of you.”
He joked that when Ovechkin breaks his mark, he’ll say, “Why’d you do it?”
“It’s great for hockey,” he said. “I’m so happy for the league. I’m proud of Alex. When I broke Gordie’s record, my dad told me that same night, ‘Be as proud of the guy that breaks your record.’ This is so good for hockey. It’s really been a wonderful journey for everyone.”
Ovechkin’s first goal Friday was his 40th of the season — his 14th 40-goal campaign. When Gretzky was 38, in his final season, he scored nine goals in 70 games. Gretzky said he’s known for years that Ovechkin would get to 895 and insisted there’s no bitterness about seeing one of his most hallowed records fall.
“No, not at all, not one bit,” he said. “Happy for Alex. My grandfather was Russian, he’d be really happy that a Russian broke my record. So, good for Alex.”
(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
