With Alex Ovechkin's GWG on Thursday night against the Jets, he tied Wayne Gretzky and Mark Recchi for 16th on the all-time game winning goals list.
Ovechkin was tied with former Capital great, Mike Gartner, who was a personal favorite of mine growing up. Gartner finished his NHL career with 708 goals and 627 assists in 1,432 games. He was one of the greatest goal scorers in league history and held the fastest skater record in the all-star game for 20 years.
One thing that eluded Gartner, however, was a Stanley Cup ring.
In his 18 year NHL career, Gartner played in just 122 playoff games, scoring 43 goals and 93 points. He never had playoff success, but remains one of the greatest and respected players in NHL history.
Earlier this week, ESPN's Joe McDonald noted that Alex Ovechkin, the greatest goal scorer of his generation, had to win the Stanley Cup in order to be mentioned as one of the greatest players of his time. McDonald also said that "...unless he wins a Stanley Cup, his career numbers won't matter."
Won't matter, huh?
First of all, I can't take ESPN seriously when it comes to anything involving hockey. Their coverage of the World Cup was brutal, and the fact that they rely on Barry Melrose as their only analyst is both cringe-worthy and a little desperate.
Second of all, McDonald noted that Ovechkin tied Gretzky and Recchi for 19th all-time, which is wrong. They're 16th.
Third, Ovechkin has scored 531 goals and 975 points in 849 games and he's just 31. He's almost guaranteed to score 50 goals a season in a league where 40 goals is a career year. In 84 career playoff games he's scored 41 goals and 82 points. He's a 5 time all-star, 3-time Hart Trophy winner, 3-time Lester Pearson Award winner, Art Ross Award and Calder Trophy winner, and a 6-time winner of the Maurice Richard Trophy.
Ovechkin is also one of the most iconic players in NHL and IIHF history.
But according to ESPN's expertise in a sport that they barely cover, none of that matters.
Only Championships matter.
Alex Ovechkin has been under the microscope of every "expert" in the field since his inception over 10 years ago. He has won every major individual award that that he can. He has the potential to crack 700 goals and join the likes of Gartner and Marcel Dionne as the losers who never won a Cup and should be forgotten about.
Being a Caps fan isn't easy. They're not the "sexy team" that the media loves to dote on. They are constantly being criticized because of their inability to move on passed the second round of the playoffs. All of their regular season success is moot. Yet, all the criticism falls on the shoulders of the captain.
I've been waiting for the Capitals to win a Cup for well over 30 years. I have seen some of the greats of this game come and go throughout the years. I've shared in their playoff heartbreak and cursed them as they fall year after year, but as a fan of the game I have been spoiled by being able to witness a great like Ovechkin earn his legendary status.
Whether or not Ovechkin leads this franchise to a Stanley Cup, he will go down as one of the greatest players of all-time, and with the likes of Mike Gartner and Marcel Dionne he will cement himself into the record books and earn his place in the HHOF.
More to come...