Alexander Ovechkin is about to become the most prolific goal-scorer in hockey history.
But does passing Wayne Gretzky on the career list, a feat once believed impossible, make him the greatest scorer in history?
Maybe. Maybe not.
If goal-scoring is determined strictly by the total number accomplished, then yes, Ovechkin is the champion of all champions. But in order to properly address history, you can’t talk about all-time great scorers without referencing the remarkable careers of Mike Bossy and Mario Lemieux.
You can make the case rather soundly that no one ever was more prolific with the puck than Lemieux. He played 755 games with Pittsburgh before he retired for the first time due to cancer and back issues and, in that time, scored 613 goals. That’s scoring at a 66-goal pace. No one has ever done that before
Twice, Lemieux scored more goals in a season than games played.
Bossy, much like Ovechkin, was a pure goal-scorer. Not explosive like Lemieux, but absolutely gifted as a shooter. His career, unfortunately, was shortened due to severe back troubles. He played only 752 games, a number similar to that of Lemieux’s first pre-retirement games.
The Islanders winger scored 573 goals — not far from Lemieux’s total of 613 — which was later extended to 690 when he returned to the NHL after a three-year absence.
In Ovechkin’s first 752 games with the Washington Capitals — which includes a 65-goal season, his best ever in the NHL — he scored 475 goals. That’s 138 fewer than Lemieux had through a similar stretch and 98 goals less than Bossy.
Bossy had a career half as long as Ovechkin, but scored more playoff goals — 85 to 72. Lemieux played in 44 fewer Stanley Cup games than Ovechkin and scored four more playoff goals.
This is Ovechkin’s time. His season. His month. His record. His run of publicity. Maybe there is a Stanley Cup to go along with all of that in this great Washington season. But in all of the celebration, the names Lemieux and Bossy need to be discussed and acknowledged.
They were the greatest goal-scorers who ever lived. For as long as they happened to play.
THIS AND THAT
HEAR AND THERE
What are the Maple Leafs getting by adding centre Scott Laughton to their roster? “One of the best humans I’ve been around,” said Philadelphia Flyers president Keith Jones. According to FWill hlyers watchers, Laughton is outstanding on the puck, skates well and is highly competitive and respected by those he plays against … Laughton was coached in minor hockey by Dan Brown, Connor Brown’s father. The team was one of the more remarkable in GTHL history. Seven players from that West Mall select team that turned into the rep Marlies went on to get drafted in the NHL. Three of them — Laughton, Connor Brown and Adam Pelech — have combined to play 1,783 NHL games and counting … When the Leafs lost in the playoffs to Boston in recent years, Brandon Carlo usually stood out on defence for his sound play with the Bruins. As he joins the Leafs now, he brings 72 games of Stanley Cup experience, which is more than Chris Tanev, Morgan Rielly, Jake McCabe or Oliver Ekman-Larsson have played. And Carlo is younger than all of them … For now, the Leafs’ sixth defenceman is Simon Benoit, not Philippe Myers … Still hard to believe that Brad Marchand is no longer a Bruin. Harder to believe it’s possible that if both Marchand and Matthew Tkachuk are playoff healthy, they could be teaming up with Sam Bennett on a Florida Panthers all-pest line … Is Marchand on your Team Canada Olympic roster next year? Or, will Wilson, Mark Scheifele and Wyatt Johnston be added over Marchand and others? … I have great regard for the work that general managers Brad Treliving, Bill Zito, Julien BriseBois, Jim Nill and Chris MacFarland have done in making their teams harder to play against come playoff time. With a steep proviso: For all of the additions made, Toronto, Florida, Tampa Bay, Dallas and Colorado are all candidates to be eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. That seems off to me, but it’s possible that Winnipeg will play St. Louis, Vancouver or some weak sister in the first round of the same playoff round that Colorado will play a cage match against Dallas, without The Rock involved … That was a nice piece of work by the much-criticized Kyle Dubas in Pittsburgh, picking up Luke Schenn from Nashville, then turning him into a second-round pick from Winnipeg … The slow, steady, cautious approach Kevin Cheveldayoff takes in operating the Winnipeg Jets would be terrific if he were handling your financial portfolio. You’d get your 8% every year from Chevy. But you’d never hit on a big one …. The Jimmy Devellano GM development tree in the NHL: Nill in Dallas, Steve Yzerman in Detroit, Don Waddell in Columbus, Pat Verbeek in Anaheim. All of them starting in management with the Red Wings.
SCENE AND HEARD
Midway though the season, coach Jon Cooper was quietly complaining about the lack of depth on his Tampa Bay roster. He was also saying that the lack of high draft picks made by Tampa in contending seasons meant the cupboard had gone rather bare for prospects. GM BriseBois must have heard Cooper. He went out and brought back Yanni Gourde from Seattle along with his better teammate Oliver Bjorkstrand, who will score more than 20 goals for the sixth time this season … Washington’s Wilson wasn’t happy about being passed over for Team Canada at the 4 Nations tournament. But he recently had a chat about it with coach Cooper. Wilson very much wants to play for Canada in next February’s Olympic Games in Italy … How hard will it be for the Maple Leafs if they don’t finish first in the Atlantic Division? By finishing second or third, they will face either Andrei Vasilevskiy or Sergei Bobrovsky — combined Stanley Cup wins, three — in Round 1 or Round 2 of the playoffs. They can have a great season and a great playoffs and still get goalied in the first or second round … Does any team in hockey have a 1-2-3 at centre the way the Avalanche do with Nathan MacKinnon, Brock Nelson and Charlie Coyle? This is MacKinnon and Nelson’s 12th season, Coyle’s 13th. Who will be better down the middle? … USA general manager Bill Guerin will have to find a way to add Cole Caufield and Tage Thompson to his Olympic roster next year. Caufield and Thompson are just behind Kyle Connor and Jake Guentzel among American scorers in the NHL this season, with Matthews nowhere to be found on the scoring list this season … Defenceman Ryan Suter, now in St. Louis, leads all active players with 1,508 games played. He has yet to carry the Stanley Cup.