Alex Ovechkin Is Already A No-Doubt Hall Of Famer
Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin has already accomplished a lot of things in his career. It’s hard to remember sometimes that this season is already his tenth season in the NHL. Despite having only played ten season in the NHL, Alex Ovechkin should, and more than likely would, be a first ballot inductee into the Hockey Hall Of Fame. Anything he does after this season is just icing on the cake as far as his career is concerned.
Alex Ovechkin’s Stats Compared To Others
To get a unique perspective on Alex Ovechkin’s career so far, I compared his career to this point to other players’ first ten years in the NHL. Through his first ten years in the league, Ovechkin has 875 points. Here is every player who has 875 points or more through their first ten years in the league. Stats are as of February 20th, 2015:
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Every person who has scored more points in their first ten seasons in the NHL than Ovechkin has in his first ten seasons is either a member of the Hockey Hall Of Fame or definitely will be one. Ovechkin is the only player on this list to begin his career past 1990. That’s extremely noteworthy because it shows you how good Alex Ovechkin is compared to his competition. Now let’s look at goals. Stat’s are as of February 20th, 2015:
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Only five players have scored more goals in their first ten seasons than Alex Ovechkin. There’s a decent chance that Ovechkin will pass Kurri by the end of this season, so he could be fifth. Unless Ovechkin has a 63 goal season in him, he’s not going to match Hull. Again, what makes this even more special is that Ovechkin is the only player within the past 19 years to be on this list. The only people do out-do Ovechkin in their first ten seasons in the NHL are members of the Hockey Hall Of Fame (or will be soon in Jagr’s case). But that’s not all.
It is sort of unfair to judge Alex Ovechkin’s career totals against players who have played more than 10 seasons. To make it fair, let’s look at goals per game. Stats are as of February 20th, 2015
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Alex Ovechkin is fifth all-time in goals per game. Everyone above him is a Hall of Famer. The closest active player to Ovechkin is Steven Stamkos. Here’s where Ovechkin stands in other notable stats as of February 20th, 2015:
- He’s 30th in career shots with 3,726. If he plays the remaining 23 games this season and continues his average of 4.93 shots per game, he’ll wind up with 3,839 shots, which would make him 23rd of all time.
- He’s 29th in career power play goals with 168. If he continues this season’s pace of 0.28 power play goals per game, he’ll end this season with 174, which would make him 27th.
Alex Ovechkin’s Awards
Stats aren’t everything though. Awards are important as well. Alex Ovechkin definitely has his fair share of awards. To date, he has won four Rocket Richard Awards (on pace to get his fifth this season), three Ted Lindsay Awards, an Art Ross Trophy, and three Hart Memorial Trophies (on pace to at least contend for his fourth this season).
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If Alex Ovechkin wins his fifth Rocket Richard this season, that will make him just the seventh player ever to lead the league in goals at least five times. The other players are Wayne Gretzky (five), Gordie Howe (five), Richard (five), Charlie Conacher (five), Phil Esposito (six), and Bobby Hull (seven). That’s some pretty impressive company.
If Alex Ovechkin wins his fourth Hart Memorial Trophy, that would make him just the fourth player ever to win four. The other three? Gretzky, Eddie Shore, and Howe. If he wins his fourth Lindsay Award, he’ll be just the third player to win it four times. The other two? Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. Ovechkin definitely measures up as far as awards.
Alex Ovechkin’s Legacy
The one area that Alex Ovechkin might be lacking in right now as far as Hall of Fame credentials is his legacy. If he retired a minute from now, he would be remembered in the same way that Dan Marino has been viewed: as an excellent player who never won a championship. However, Marino was still a no-doubt Hall of Famer because nobody who watched him play could deny his greatness. I think it’s safe to say that’s the case with Ovechkin as well. If, however, Alex Ovechkin wins a Stanley Cup before he retires, that would further cement his legacy as one of the greatest hockey players to ever play in the NHL. He’s already building that legacy, but a cup would definitely help.
With Washington Capitals fans, Alex Ovechkin’s legacy has been pretty much cemented. He’ll be remembered as the man who made hockey relevant in the nation’s capital again and as the greatest forward in Washington Capitals history. He needs not do anything else to improve his legacy in Washington, though I’m sure a Stanley Cup win would be nice.
Even if Ovechkin declined horribly from here on out, he’s had an extremely dominant 10 season run. In my opinion, that’s enough for him to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Mike Bossy is proof of that. Ovechkin’s 10 year run is comparable to Bossy’s if you take into consideration the two different eras that they played in. Really, there’s no excuse for not voting for Alex Ovechkin for the Hall of Fame at this point. If there is, I’d love to hear it.