Some things in life are more important than other things. That's just the way it goes. That is happening in hockey right now as well. We actually saw a record get broken, a Wayne Gretzky record also, and it didn't get as much talk as another.
The Gr8 Chase and then some
Sidney Crosby just broke Gretzky's record of most point per game seasons. A nice accomplishment. Well done! But it's not goals is it? The objective of the game we all love here. While points are important I think most would argue goals and goal records should be celebrated more. Like we just said, it is the objective of the game after all.
That's what Alex Ovechkin is doing. He is chasing Gretzky's all time goal record. That is more important than beating his point per game record that Crosby just beat.
Some things are more important than others.
But that doesn't mean we cant admire other things happening at the same time. When you hear the name Ovechkin right now there is really only one thing people care about. How many goals does he have now or how many more goals to pass "The Great One"?
I want to point this out though, because it is getting overshadowed by this chase to be the goal scoring king. While that is easy to understand and appropriate, it's worth mentioning at the same time, and no one really seems to be talking about it.
Alex Ovechkin is having one of his better seasons in recent history.
Let that sentence sink in for a second. A 39-year-old, who still seemingly habitually scores fifty goals a season is having one of his better seasons in recent history. What!? This also coming in a season where Ovechkin perhaps received his first major injury in his career forcing him to miss a good chunk of time. And yet he is still putting up the numbers he is.
When you look at his stats they aren't going to slap you in the face with how impressive they are. It's not 109 points in 69 games played. That would be Nikita Kucherov who is currently tied for first in league scoring.
Ovechkin currently has 63 points in 57 games played this season, scoring 37 goals. Nice numbers, especially goals, for basically anyone who isn't a superstar in their prime, like a Kucherov.
When the season ends Ovechkin will probably finish in the low 70's in points and low 40's in goals. Again, very impressive, and nuts when you look at his age. But we said something earlier that I think is important. For the first time, Ovechkin missed a big chunk of games this season. What would his numbers be if he didn't miss that time?
If Ovechkin played 82 games this season he would be on pace for about 53 goals and just over 90 points.
He hasn't hit 53 goals or more since 2014-15. He has also only scored 90+ points once since 09-10. He scored 109 points in 09-10, since then his high is 90 in 21-22.
Lockouts and shortened seasons have cost Ovechkin some. Story of his career quite frankly. Back in the 2013 lockout season he was on pace for about 57 goals and 95 points. But, unfortunately, the fact is he didn't play enough games, and he didn't score those goals and points. And again, unfortunately he won't score the amount of points he could again this year.
But Ovechkin being on that pace, to score the most goals that he has in a decade, and put up one of his highest point totals in fifteen years, at thirty-nine years of age is absolutely insane.
Should all of the attention and energy around him be on the goal scoring record? Yes. Obviously. I'm not trying to get your attention off of that. At the same time I think the season he is having, one of his best in years potentially, deserves some attention that it isn't getting, for obvious reasons.