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History was made on Sunday as Alexander Ovechkin scored goal 895 and surpassed Wayne Gretzky as the NHL scoring leader.
Tom Gulitti has followed the GR8 Chase all season long, he spoke to The Green Zone on Monday.
Read more:
- Cheers fill arena as Alex Ovechkin becomes NHL’s all-time goal scorer
- Alex Ovechkin ties Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goals record
Listen to Tom Gulitti on The Green Zone:
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
LOCKER: Now that the record-breaking goal is out of the way, how do you think the league handled it?
GULITTI: I thought it was well handled by everybody. It was a celebration and Gretzky was gracious.
The NHL also found a way to bring Gordie Howe into it, and the way the Capitals handled it, the way the owners handled it, the way Ovechkin mentioned the people that he did, I just thought it was a really well done.
How do you think the NHL stacks up against other leagues when dealing with moments like this?
GULITTI: I haven’t really followed similar things like this. They did stop the game for LeBron James when he broke the points record recently.
Gretzky was genuinely rooting for Ovechkin. I talked to Kirk Muller, who is really good friends with Gretzky and is the assistant coach for the Capitals and he never got the chance to write the story because Alex went nuts in the last week — he scored six goals in five games. He got it faster than we thought.
Last year, when Ovechkin was struggling at the beginning of the season and wasn’t scoring goals, people were wondering ‘is this it? He’s not going to break the record.’ He said Gretzky was calling him and offering suggestions. He really wanted to help out, it wasn’t just for show.
And Gretzky talked on Friday in Washington about the legacy of passing things down, from Gordie Howe to Bobby Orr to John Bell, to guys like Gretzky and Mark Messier, and to now, Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby.
Ovi hit 895 goals in 1487 games played and Gretzky hit 894 in 1487 games, Ovi scores his against the Islanders, Gretzky scores his last goal against the Islanders, both did it in New York. Did you find it as fascinating as the rest of us when you saw those numbers?
GULITTI: The numbers were kind of crazy. That was when Gretzky retired, and he actually scored his 894th goal nine games before that. The numbers are pretty even and it’s kind of eerie. There was another coincidence yesterday — it was the anniversary of 21 years since the Capitals won the draft lottery and the right to pick Ovechkin.
Do you think anybody has a chance of breaking Ovi’s record?
GULITTI: I never thought that anyone would break Gretzky’s record. We’ve seen what Austin Matthews has done in his career and he’s having a down year this year, he has 30 goals still.
Then we have Leon Draisaitl, so I can’t say never. Maybe it’s not somebody who’s even playing right now. It’s going to be hard to do what he did for 20 seasons. But I think it could possibly happen.
What impresses you the most about Alex Ovechkin as a player or even as a person?
GULITTI: I think he definitely respects the history of the league and he respects Gretzky.
He grew up in Russia and didn’t really get to see these guys play. He saw the highlights. He liked Owen Nolan, Jarome Iginla, Mario Lemieux, but he’s learned over the years, as he’s passed these names, who these players were.
He appreciates the players who helped him along the way that he’s had all these different guys. Nicklas Backstrom had the most assists on his goals — something like 277 — and he was there yesterday.
Alex, in recent weeks, has started to talk about Nick and how he’s missed him and wished he was part of this. So I think his appreciation for for history and those who helped him get this record was one of the things I’ve been really impressed with — and his longevity.
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