No. 894: Not even Gretzky could match Ovechkin's staying power

When Babe Ruth hit his 711th career home run in 1935 with the Boston Braves against the Cubs at Wrigley Field, it was with a minimum of fanfare. It officially broke baseball’s all-time home run record, but that was old hat by then. In fact, it was the 591st time that Ruth had broken his own all-time home run record since initially breaking Gavvy Cravath’s record of 119 career homers in 1921. For the record, Ruth broke it 84 times against the White Sox and once against the Cubs. 

So when Washington Capitals’ star Alex Ovechkin tied Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record for career goals with his 894th against the Blackhawks on Friday night, it was a much bigger deal. Of the all-time great athletes in the modern era — including Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Michael Phelps and Tom Brady — Gretzky has come the closest to dominating his sport like Ruth, whose 54 home runs in 1920 were more than any other team in the American League. Barry Bonds would have had to hit 236 home runs in 2001 (when he set the single-season mark with 73) to equal that feat. From 1920-31, Ruth hit 562 home runs, more than twice as many as any other player in baseball in that span (Rogers Hornsby, 268).

Gretzky was notably well ahead of the pack when he dominated the NHL in the 1980s. When he broke Phil Esposito’s single-season record of 76 goals with 92 in 1981-92, the next best was Mike Bossy’s 64. Gretzky's NHL-record 212 points that season were well head of Bossy’s 147. In a six-season span (1981-87), Gretzky scored 1007 points. Teammate Jari Kurri was next with 591 (The best non-Oiler was Bossy with 550.)

Gretzky indeed played in a high-scoring era when goalies were neither as big, nor as universally proficient, nor as fully padded as they would later be. And Ruth played in a formative era of baseball and did not compete against Black and Hispanic players. But the argument is the same — if it was so easy for Ruth and Gretzky, why didn’t other players hit 54 home runs or score 92 goals and 212 points? 

Wayne Gretzky broke Gordie Howe's career scoring record of 801 goals on March 23, 1994.

Ovechkin’s accomplishment is a tribute to his greatness, but more so to his impressive longevity. Ovechkin has 41 goals in 60 games at 39 this season. Since turning 35, he’s scored 188 goals in 334 games. Since Gretzky turned 35, he scored 57 goals in 267 games. (A tip of the cap to Gordie Howe, who scored 246 of his 801 goals after turning 35 from 1963-71.)

Ovechkin's staying power is the benefit of playing in the modern era. LeBron James is averaging 24.6 points and 8.0 rebouds a game at age 40. Tom Brady threw 43 touchdown passes and was the MVP runner-up at age 44. Novak Djokovic has won four Grand Slam titles after turning 35 and was a five-set loss (to Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon) away from the Grand Slam at 36 in 2023. 

What’s most remarkable about Ovechkin’s inevitable record is not only that he’s eclipsing the Great Gretzky, but that he’s doing it with a full head of steam. His goal that tied Gretzky’s record was vintage Ovechkin — a one-timer from the left faceoff circle that Hawks goalie Spencer Knight was helpless to stop. 

The evolution of athleticism has reached a point of diminishing returns for team sports. The hard-hitting NFL like it used to be played is unsafe. The NBA has better athletes who can play any position, but is turning into a three-point shooting contest. More and more pitchers throw harder than ever, but baseball is a hit-or-miss game today, with more strikeouts than ever, and has to resort to gimmicks like the ghost runner in extra innings, because pitchers just can’t pitch as much or as often as they used to. 

But that evolution has been a boon for top-tier players like Ovechkin, because modern conditioning gives them a unique staying power — not only able to play longer, but play better longer. His soon-to-be record is not as safe as it might appear to be. 

Babe Ruth hit his 711th career home run with the Boston Braves against the Cubs at Wrigley Field on May 21, 1935. He hit his final three home runs in the same game against the Pirates four days later, then retired ingloriously a week after that to finish with 714.