As a 2-year-10-months-old kid, Wayne Gretzky would visit his grandparents’ home where he would skate on ice for the first time. And who knew, that would be it! Watching Hockey Night in Canada as a family, Wayne evolved his love for ice hockey as he learned to ice skate. With his friends and siblings, he would then practice on an ice rink – the Wally Coliseum – his father made in the backyard where he previously used to play hockey with his siblings using a souvenir stick. The young Wayne would practice drills, skating around bleach bottles and tin cans and picking pucks between scattered hockey sticks as his father’s advice “skate where the puck’s going, not where it’s been” would stick with him, giving him his vision to predict the next play, something he applied for 20 years as part of the NHL.

Fast forward to March 29, 1999, The Great One would make his final score to go down in NHL history as one of the greatest as he wrapped up his career as No. 99 with 2,857 points, 894 goals, and 19 seasons of most points per game. To date, these records have stood the tests of time and many great players that followed Gretzky.

Until now.

His competition for the total goals? A 39-year-old LW known as Alexander the Great– Alex Ovechkin. But if you thought this was it, there is another one coming right at Gretzky’s record. Yes, NHL’s current superstar and the Pittsburgh Penguins’ captain, The Next One: Sidney Crosby. And he has taken one more step towards the historical feat.

NHL reporter Web Crosby took to his X to announce Crosby’s latest individual win amidst the 6-5 OT defeat. “Obviously, there’s Alex Ovechkin chasing Gretzky. But there’s Sidney Crosby too. He’s at 64 points (with this game still going) in 61 games. Can play a max of 80. So, he’s 16 points from a 20th point-per-game season. Would break a tie with Gretzky for the most ever. #Pens”

However, minutes after the post was up, Crosby brought the difference down to 15 points when he set up Bryan Rust for the Penguins’ fourth and final goal of the night. And with the gap closing in, Captain Canada is on pace to make it his 20th season with most points per game, the most ever in the history of NHL.

Guess Alexander Ovechkin — who is just 11 goals away from surpassing The Great One‘s all-time goals record — is not the only one involved in a great chase this season.

“Obviously (that record is) something I didn’t want to talk about. I knew it was getting closer. Any time you can be in that company, it’s pretty cool,” said Sidney Crosby last year in April after the three points he scored led the Pittsburgh Penguins to a win over the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. With those points, Crosby tied Wayne Gretzky for the most point-per-game seasons at 19. And even though Pittsburgh lost 4-5 to the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight, Crosby took another step toward making the record exclusively his.

With the game wrapping up, all Crosby could conclude was, “My take: It’s just cool two players that were rookies together could reach, in the same season, legitimately amazing milestones associated with Wayne Gretzky.”

Apart from breaking Wayne’s record, Sidney also crossed Bobby Hull (610) for all-time goals with 611, reaching 18th all-time, and not just tied but later also passed Gordie Howe (1049) with 1050 assists to position himself at the 10th spot. And if he is able to surpass Gretzky this season, Sidney will stand alone at the top.

But while the Penguins captain is tied with Gretzky in terms of point-per-game seasons, Gretzky is way ahead of him on the points-per-game leaderboard. With 1.25 points per game, the 4 Nations winner stands in the 9th spot, while The Great One is still unbeaten at an average of 1.92 points. But if you think that record is safe, you have got another thing coming.

That record is being chased too by Crosby’s Canadian teammate and Edmonton Oilers captain– Connor McDavid. Averaging 1.51 points per game, McDavid ranks third. Ahead of him is Penguins legend Mario Lemieux with 1.88 points per game. However, can Sidney Crosby get closer to that record as well? Never say never. But will he do it in a Penguins sweater? Probably. Probably not.

Sidney Crosby set for a surprise trade?

“Things are tough in Pittsburgh. We’ve seen rumors kick up about whether or not Erik Karlsson could be dealt and lots of fans and other media around the league wonder if even captain Sidney Crosby could land with a contender,” wrote Bleacher Report‘s Joe Yerdon. Yes, you read that right. After almost twenty seasons with the Penguins, leading them since 2007 as their captain, Crosby could be packing his bags. But where could he be traveling?

Reports suggest that the Penguins veteran could be joining Nathan MacKinnon at the Colorado Avalanche. Although the two have met each other in the NHL only as adversaries, they had insane chemistry at the 4 Nations Face-Off. Both are, in fact, “good buddies” with their roots in Halifax and have been practicing with each other during the offseason ever since MacKinnon joined the big leagues. And with the Penguins languishing at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division, it is quite likely that Crosby might seek out a reunion in his quest to win his fourth Stanley Cup. But wait, what does Crosby think about all this trade rumor?

He hates it! When Crosby was asked recently about the trade, he simply shut down the talks. “I don’t think that it’s something I’m going to discuss every time someone speculates something. I’m not going to answer it every time that happens.”

However, the trade rumors have been on the back burner since last season when many believed Crosby might want to grab his fourth Stanley Cup by joining a potential contender. But many also debated that the power and passion he feels as a veteran captain of a team he has given decades to, he just might want to stay and teach the incoming Penguins what the team is all about. And why not, he is still one of the superstars with his firepower nowhere to budge as even the Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews spoke after their win in the PPG Paints Arena, “Yeah, I mean, he’s still one of the best players in the league and a guy that’s tough to play against on any given night. There’s a reason he is who he is. No matter what season he’s playing in, he’s still at the top of his game in my opinion. It’s always a challenge.”

Well, the trade deadlines are a week away. The story will unfold shortly as we move closer to the playoffs.