The Magic of Alex Ovechkin and the chase towards Wayne Gretzky

Can Alex Ovechkin catch Wayne Gretzky as early as this season? It is the hottest question of the entire offseason as the Washington Capitals enter their 50th season.

Before sports I was a beliver in magic and recently came across a David Copperfield episode featuring Wayne Gretzky himself. Copperfield tears up a baseball card and restores it in front of the great one's eyes.

Similar to what some call as the king of magic like Copperfield or the king of goal scoring like Gretzky, Ovechkin has been the king of D.C. for the last 20 years.

Spencer Carbery BELIEVES Ovi can do it:

With Alex Ovechkin 42 goals away from eclipsling a record once thought to be impossible, Carbery has given the great eight his blessing per NHL.com's Tom Gulitti:

"Do I think he can score 42 goals this year? Yes, I do. I absolutely think he's capable of that."

New General Manager Chris Patrick would also add, "Ovi' has done so many things that people never thought he could do, so I think it's on the table for sure."

Carbery added this about the work ethic of the great eight:

"For me, putting himself in good positions to get opportunities is the key. And he has shown year after year, including last year, if he puts himself in enough positions to shoot the puck in, he gets around the net, he's spending time in the offensive zone. we're generating power plays, we're doing a good job on the power play of getting pucks on net, all the things we need to do, he will put the puck in the back of the net."

Carbery also added, "So if he's doing those things, which I expect he will, I don't think it's a stretch to say he could score 42 goals at his age because of how talented of a scorer he is."

Remember Ovi turns 39 next month but great ones always age like fine wine:

"People have to also remember that Alex is 38, turning 39. He's done this for a long, long time. He's got a family, kids, so at the end fo the year he also needs time to be able to reset mentally and go on vacation and spend time with family and get away from the game of hockey, so that when July 4 or 5 when his training ramps up, he feels mentally, 'I'm ready to go and excited and I want to get in the gym.'"

There's nothing this man can't do and in the end watching Ovechkin night after night is true magic around these parts.