It’s a moment to treasure, as Alex Ovechkin stands at the pinnacle of NHL goalscoring. It was a surreal moment for fans and Ovi alike, as he drove the shot home for goal No. 895 to break Wayne Gretzky‘s 26-year-old record. “I’m probably going to need a couple more days or maybe a couple weeks to realize what does it mean to be No. 1.,” Ovechkin said, half in disbelief, after shifting the paradigm of what was deemed possible and impossible in the NHL. The hockey world has been in celebration mode since—breaking a record like this is no cakewalk, and Ovechkin almost made it look as easy as running a hot knife through butter. But amidst the cheer, there have been some questions too.
As always in sports, decisions and results are questioned and debated and then questioned some more. A question looms large now: whether the NHL has been biased towards Alex Ovechkin over Wayne Gretzky. Gretzky stood at 894 goals. A tally that almost looked impossible to beat. But now Ovechkin has done the impossible. But did the NHL celebrate similarly when Gretzky made it happen? Did the world hear a similar kind of cheer back then? A question, while not to blame the NHL, but one to think about nonetheless!
It’s a subject that was briefly discussed on the 32 Thoughts podcast by the two stalwarts, Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman. “So Gretzky’s last goal in his career was goal number 1,072 of his career in the World Hockey Association, the Old Pro League, and playoffs, and the NHL regular season. And that goal passed Gordie Howe for No. 1 all time in goals. When you add up Howe’s goals in the NHL, the WHA, and the NHL playoffs, he got to 1,071. Gretzky’s last one was 1,072. It was also against the Islanders too. And there was a big celebration, though not as big as this one.”
That last line is an interesting tidbit. The fact that Gretzky broke Howe’s professional goals record and yet the celebrations were smaller than what we saw for Alex Ovechkin breaking just the regular season record does raise some questions over bias. Was Gretzky’s achievement, as historic as it was, undersold by the league? The hosts then move on to discussing Ovechkin’s chances at breaking the same record.
“So Ovechkin, when you add up all of his goals, NHL regular season, NHL playoffs, and KHL, he played a season during his NHL career during one of the half lockout years. And he also played four years in the KHL before he played—or sorry, it was the Russian League then; it wasn’t the KHL—back before he started his NHL career. He’s at 1,022. So he could catch Gretzky in that as well.”
So, are they hinting that the NHL’s been biased towards Alex Ovechkin for giving him his deserved exposure while not giving Gretzky’s colossal milestone its due? Well, the NHL of 2025 is different from Gretzky’s time; from sponsorship deals to accessibility to visibility, even though there may have been an imbalance, making such a direct comparison remains difficult. But one thing we can all agree on is that, be it Gretzky or Ovechkin, their achievements speak for themselves in their enormity.
The mutual respect between Alex Ovechkin and Wayne Gretzky
While debates rage on over who was the better goalscorer or who had it easier in their respective journeys to breaking the career goals record, when it comes to the two players in question, Alex Ovechkin has nothing but admiration for Wayne Gretzky and vice versa. His actions say it all.
In the game against the Chicago Blackhawks, when Ovechkin tied Gretzky, one of the first things the 39-year-old did was skate up to the section of the arena where Gretzky was sitting and bow down to him. After the game, Ovechkin spoke of how Gretzky had texted him earlier to go and “score three.”
During their joint press conference, he also added, “It’s fun. It’s fun. It’s always a pleasure to be in that category with those names. Thank you, Wayne, for your support, for your kindness. It’s great.”
Gretzky, for his part, has been nothing but supportive of Alex Ovechkin in his endeavor. After all, he was advised by his father to be there and be proud of the player who would break his record, just how Gordie Howe was there for Gretzky when he surpassed Mr. Hockey’s record.
And when the record finally did fall against the Islanders, Gretzky was indeed present and could not be prouder. “I was really happy for him. I felt like I scored the goal,” he said on the TNT broadcast postgame.
So really, as much as we can compare the two players, it’s also equally true that they’re both undeniable legends of the game in their own right. The Gr8 Chase has finally reached its conclusion, but it’s not the end. All attention will soon turn to goal No. 900 and maybe… No. 1000? With Alex Ovechkin, anything is possible.
The post NHL Called Out for Bias Toward Alex Ovechkin Over Wayne Gretzky appeared first on EssentiallySports.