BOLD PREDICTION ABOUT OVECHKIN

By: Olivia Lawrence
RP Show Intern

Washington Capitals analyst Alan May foresees Capitals star Alex Ovechkin breaking Wayne Gretzky’s 894 NHL goals record within the duration of his five year contract he just signed with the team in July. Ovechkin is 164 goals behind Gretzky, with 730 goals in his 16 NHL seasons.

“I think as long as he stays healthy, he will break that record,” said May on The Rod Pedersen Show.

Any NHL fan knows, Ovechkin is one of the toughest and ferocious players in the league. Last season however, he struggled. After suffering a groin injury he started to miss games—something he’s never really done throughout his career. Not only did he struggle, the team had some COVID-19 suspensions and other players suffered with injury—this did not help Ovechkin’s goal count.  Ovechkin still ended up with 24 goals in a 56 game season, but May believes there is more to come from him this season.

“He looks like he’s in incredible shape,” said May, a former Estevan Bruin and 393 NHL game veteran. “It’s kind of weird right now; he looks like he enjoys practicing and the training camp process. He’s front and center during every drill and when the coach is in front of the whiteboard.  I’ve never seen that before, he seems like he’s totally engaged and taking this thing totally serious.” 

Ovechkin is just one goal behind Marcel Dionne for fifth in League history (731), 11 behind Brett Hull for fourth (741) and 36 behind Jaromir Jagr (766) for third. Ovechkin, who just turned 36, said he intends to try to chase down Gretzky’s record, but does not plan to play hockey until he is 50. 

It will be a busy season for Ovechkin, he is also playing for Russia in the 2022 Beijing Olympics. NHL fans will have to watch and see how many goals he can put on the board with their Oct. 13 season start approaching.