Alexander Ovechkin needs just 27 games to reach career game no. 1600. Ovi has played in a career 1573 NHL games. Only 13 other NHLers have played that many games in a career. (Colorado Avalanche defensemen Brent Burns is first among active skaters with 1579 games played, 21 games away from 1600, which he can reach this upcoming season.)
If Ovechkin plays in 80 games, he will pass former NHL greats Ray Bourque (1612), Larry Murphy (1615), Scott Stevens (1635…how many former Capitals are on this list anyway?), Dave Andreychuk (1639), the super-human-hockey player himself Chris Chelios (1651), and Mark Recchi (1652). That should leave the Great 8 9th all time in games played depending on how many games Burns plays this season. (Burns’ currently has the second longest consecutive games played streak at 1007, just 60 from breaking Phil Kessel’s consecutive streak of 1,064.)
I was surprised to see that Ovi wasn’t that far away from catching Chris Chelios. To me, Chelios was a warrior, a freak, someone that played seemingly forever, long past his contemporaries like some cyborg-super-human. How else could someone play that long in the National Hockey League? Chelios broke into the league with Montreal in 1983-84 and retired after the 2009-2010 as a 3-time Norris Trophy winner, a 7-time all-star, and won the Stanley Cup 3-times before retiring at the age of 48. (Okay, not forever.) While it took Chelios 26 seasons to reach 1651, Ovi has a chance to reach that milestone in his 22nd season.
Of course, all of this is predicated on Ovechkin’s health. Hockey is a violent sport and players like Burns and Ovi are the exception. Ovi has never shied away from freight-training a guy into the glass, but he isn’t 27 anymore. Yet, that hasn’t seemed to stop him. Despite slowing down a bit as he’s gotten older (who doesn’t, eh?), Alex Ovechkin is still the greatest goal scorer to ever live and remains a difference maker on the ice despite just a few weeks from his 41st birthday. However, until we actually see Father Time catch up to him and give him the ol’ kabong, I’ll put my money on the Russian machine, which has been pretty dependable.
Even in 2024-25, while chasing Gretzky’s goal record and he broke his leg, Ovechkin only missed a few weeks and didn’t even need a cast! Human cyborg, indeed.
Take that, Chris Chelios.
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