“Let’s Not Talk About It”: Year Before Breaking Top Two, Russian Legend Alexis Ovechkin Refused Wayne Gretzky Comparison

Alex Ovechkin has been the talk of the town, ever since it was apparent that he could break ‘The Great One’ aka Wayne Gretzky‘s all-time goalscoring record. The Russian ice hockey legend who captains the Washington Capitals has carved out a name for himself in the NHL. Now, with every passing year, he is inching excruciatingly closer to the all-time highest goalscoring record, currently held by the Edmonton Oilers’ legend. Rumors have been rife for a few years now among fans, but Ovechkin has other areas to focus on. During an interview, he rejected the idea of concentrating on records and instead pulled the focus back onto his game.

In a 2021 YouTube interview for SportsNet, alongside Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, Ovechkin dismissed the notion of any competitive spirit between him and Gretzky to avail the titular spot in the all-time goalscoring list. Crosby, on the other hand, encouraged it, but with a slight twist.

Alex Ovechkin refused to comply with the notion of breaking Gretzky’s records

NHL player-turned-analyst Colby Armstrong caught up with both Ovechkin and Crosby for a short interview in 2021. While their discussion touched upon various highlighting moments of their career, it eventually landed on the one hot topic everyone was discussing at the time – Will Alex Ovechkin break Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goalscoring record?’.

Ovechkin did not have it at all. He replied, “Yeah! So let’s not talk about it”, which broke Armstrong into laughter. Armstrong further asked, “You thinking about it a lot or you just…”, at which point Ovechkin explained himself. He said, “No, like outside game by game. It’s basically the same right now like my first year.. every press conference or every media. What I think about the set and right now it’s basically the same”. Although he politely played the question aside, Ovechkin’s goals have gotten further closer to Gretzky’s since then. ‘The Great One’ himself is stunned by Ovechkin chasing his records. Hence, every social media platform is rife with their comparison.

Armstrong then presented the same question to his friend and former Penguins teammate, Sidney Crosby, albeit in a different manner. Armstrong asked Crosby, “Would you like to see Ovi break Gretzky’s record?” Crosby responded, “I think it would be pretty cool. Just score those goals against everyone else”, adding a tinge bit of humor to it.

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This was the first time ever since their rookie careers, that Ovechkin and Crosby sat together for an interview. The two have faced each other a total of 63 times, with 4 times in playoffs, during the Penguins vs Capitals game.

The Alex Ovechkin vs Wayne Gretzky comparison continues

While Crosby has a slight advantage on points (Crosby 85, Ovechkin 61), Ovechkin takes the icing on goals over him (Ovechkin 32, Crosby 28). Besides trumping Crosby in goals, Ovechkin’s stats stand pretty tall against Gretzky’s in more than one list.

Just a few days ago, Alex Ovechkin completed 400 home goals in his career, after scoring against the Philadelphia Flyers. At the time, his all-time goals were 810, a good 82 goals behind Wayne Gretzky’s 892. However, he has since scored two more goals and stands at 812 at the moment. In 2022, he crossed another Canadian legend Gordie Howe’s record 801 goals and has since held the No.2 spot.

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Whether he breaks Gretzky’s record or not remains to be seen, but if the day might come when it happens, there wouldn’t be a calm note in the NHL community.