How Ovechkin’s newest record helps cement his legacy
Alex Ovechkin has reached the point where he’s setting records he didn’t even realize he was chasing.
He reached his latest milestone when he scored career goal No. 787, setting an NHL record for most goals scored by one player with a single franchise. Gordie Howe held that mark since 1971, scoring 786 goals in 1,687 games with the Detroit Red Wings over 25 seasons.
Ovechkin didn’t know about that record before this season. He didn’t hear about it from a coach or a teammate. He said he saw it on an infographic while scrolling through Instagram.
“It’s just records after records that are being broken. It’s cool to watch,” Washington Capitals teammate Marcus Johansson said. “It’s hard to put it into words. It’s just so impressive.”
Mark Howe, Gordie’s son and a Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman himself, also didn’t know about the record — neither Ovechkin’s pursuit of it nor the fact that his father held it.
“He basically only had that one year in Hartford and the rest were in Detroit,” Howe said. “I thought maybe it would have been someone else’s record.”
He wasn’t surprised it was Ovechkin to claim the mark.
“It’s [because of] the way that Ovechkin has been scoring, and the pace that he does it. He’s so big, so strong and so powerful,” Howe said.
For Ovechkin, he’s proud to be something else: a Washington Capital. That’s what makes this record a special one for the 37-year-old superstar.
Here’s a look at what this record means for Ovechkin’s Washington sports legacy.
The franchise
It’s never guaranteed that a star will spend a full career with one NHL franchise. A team’s fortunes change, both on the ice and financially, where the salary cap inevitably plays a role in personnel decisions. A player’s goals change too. Franchise loyalty can’t carry one to a Stanley Cup or through the emotional drain of a rebuild.
Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Ovechkin are all part of the same generation of stars who still play for the team that drafted them. But look at the Chicago Blackhawks, for example. Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane won three Stanley Cups, yet are expected to play for different teams next season as Chicago rebuilds.
“I’m playing hockey with the team that drafted me. So right away, I have a good relationship with the organization and the whole team,” Ovechkin said. “And I’ve found very good friends in D.C. I kind of love it.”
When Ovechkin was drafted first overall in 2004, he didn’t know much about D.C.
“I knew it was the capital of the United States. Basically, that was it,” he said with a laugh.
His arrival in Washington sparked a turnaround for a franchise that had stumbled badly after making the Stanley Cup Final in 1998, including a calamitous attempt to center the Capitals around Jaromir Jagr. Ovechkin was a homegrown star whose electric play and incredible scoring rate transformed the team, on and off the ice. The “Rock the Red” era of the Capitals was born from Ovechkin’s magnetic stardom. His nine scoring titles and three MVPs underscored his impact on their fortunes.
In 2008, Ovechkin signed a 13-year, $124 million contract with the Capitals that accounted for 19% of their salary cap at the time.
“What I admired about Alex is, he never once compared himself and his deal to anybody else,” Capitals owner Ted Leonsis told ESPN in August 2021. “He never asked to be traded. He never said fire a coach. It’s just a remarkable personal journey for him.”
Ovechkin said his relationship with Leonsis is one catalyst for his long tenure with the Capitals.
“He was open to me and to my family right away. A great human being. Funny, too,” he said. “He gave me lots of advice and helped me a lot during my career, because there were ups and downs. He was a big part of that success I had mentally, on the ice and off the ice.”
Ovechkin has rarely had ups and downs statistically, scoring over 40 goals in 12 of his 18 seasons. The same couldn’t be said about the Capitals.
There were some crisis-of-conscience seasons for the franchise in the decade before their Stanley Cup breakthrough in 2018. There were first-round playoff exits, criticisms of their style of play and concerns that their “Young Guns” core should be broken up because it couldn’t win. In 2014, The Hockey News went so far as to argue that Ovechkin leaving for Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League would be “a blessing in disguise” for Washington: “If he wants to, the last thing the Caps should be doing is persuading him otherwise.”
Was there ever a moment when Ovechkin was worried that he wouldn’t be a Capital at this stage of his career?
“Not really,” he said. “I think the way the relationship between my family and the organization goes, I didn’t even think to be with a different team. But I’ve always said that it’s a business. I don’t know what’s happening upstairs in the office with the GM and the owner. I think any player wants to stay as long as possible with one team.”
The fans
When he arrived in the NHL, Ovechkin stayed in Washington, D.C., for his first couple of months before getting a house in Arlington, Va. He and his family eventually settled in McLean, Va., purchasing a home in 2012. He has become part of the community, to the point where he was a man on the street interview for a local TV station while getting gas before a snowstorm.
Ovechkin is considered one of the greatest athletes to ever play professional team sports in D.C. An NBC Sports Washington ranking had him first overall, ahead of Washington football Hall of Famers Darrell Green and John Riggins as well as NBA legend Wes Unseld.
He said he’s enjoyed interacting with Washington’s other sports stars.
“We have a really good relationship with everybody,” he said. “When the Nationals were winning the championship, it was a good moment for D.C. and for each other. Because we supported each other.”
Ovechkin’s relationship with Capitals fans has been endearing. Leonsis credits his star with helping the Capitals become “a top-six or -eight ticket-selling team.”
When he partied with the Stanley Cup, the fans partied with him. Making shirtless “water angels” in a Georgetown fountain. Doing keg stands atop hockey’s holy grail. On stage at The Mall with his teammates, where he addressed the fans: “We’re Stanley Cup champions! It’s yours! Boys and girls and babes! Let’s go!”
While Capitals fans have watched Ovechkin grow up, he said he’s also watched the fans grow up around him, too.
“I’m the oldest player in the organization. I have a couple of friends now who have kids that are like 18 years old,” he said. “I remember them when they were young. And now they’re cheering for us from the stands.”
Ovechkin’s relationship with some local fans became more complicated recently. The Moscow native has been an ardent supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin over the years. In 2017, he campaigned on behalf of Putin by starting a social media movement called Putin Team, writing, “I never made a secret of my attitude toward our president, always openly supporting him.” His Instagram profile photo features him posing with Putin.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine cast that support in a new light for many fans. The Washington Post reported on Capitals fans that were conflicted with their support of Ovechkin and their opposition to the war.
“We’ve seen the Caps fail, and we’ve seen them win … and we’re always rooting for them. It takes away from the entire community, because now we’re divided,” Maryna Baydyuk, a Ukrainian who is president of United Help Ukraine, told the Post in May. “We have fans that say that Ovechkin needs to leave the team. We have fans that are now saying, ‘We don’t know.’ We have fans that are saying we support Ovechkin and the team. Now you have this division.”
Ovechkin decided to hold a press conference this past spring to address those concerns.
“He’s my president. But like I said, I’m not in politics. I’m an athlete. I hope everything is going to be done soon. It’s a hard situation right now for both sides,” Ovechkin said, while attempting to express an anti-war sentiment. “Please, no more war. It doesn’t matter who is in the war — Russia, Ukraine, different countries — we have to live in peace.”
Did he feel that relationship with the fans change due to Russia’s invasion and his support of Putin?
“No. They’re fans. They support the team. I’m with them,” he said in October. “It doesn’t matter which sport. It doesn’t matter who the player is. They support the team, not the player.”
The goals
Ovechkin’s current scoring pace has him around the 40-goal mark again. He’s within range of Howe on the all-time NHL goals list, as the Hall of Famer is second overall at 801 goals. Then comes Wayne Gretzky’s mark of 894 goals.
“It’s incredible,” New Jersey Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “To tell you the truth, there are certain guys that have the longevity. When you look at his body mass, how strong he is, you understand why he can play this long.”
Ruff has coached against Ovechkin every season of his career, as a head coach or an assistant coach. He calls the Capitals captain’s goal-scoring remarkable.
“I think the fact that he can sling the puck the way he slings it … he’s got a skill that nobody else has. And he still has that skill at his age,” Ruff said. “I think maybe speed-wise, maybe not quite as fast, but you see that with a lot of players that have been around. You take a Jagr. You take a Chara. They still have that one skill that’s better than any player on their team.”
Does Ovechkin have a favorite goal?
“No, they’re all goals. All my favorites,” he said.
Even the empty-netters?
“Of course. If you think it’s easy to score them, it’s not,” he said. “The other team has a man advantage. They’re putting pressure on you. It’s kind of hard. Sometimes I’m out there and sometimes I’m not. But if I’m out there, my No. 1 priority is not to let the opposite team score.”
Mark Howe believes Ovechkin will eclipse his father’s career goals mark — and that of Gretzky.
“To set these records, you have to have three things,” he said. “Obviously, you have to have a love and a passion to play. Breaking records is one thing, but you play because you love to play the game. Second, Ovi’s strength is scoring. I’ve seen a lot of scorers that put the puck in the net like nobody can, but after a while the puck starts hitting the crest instead of the corner of the net. I haven’t seen that with Ovi yet.”
“And the third thing is that there’s so much money in the game now. Back then, guys had to play to support their families. Some guys now, after a while get satisfied with what they made financially and their drive lets down a little bit. But that hasn’t happened with Ovi.”
Ovechkin signed a five-year, $47 million extension in July 2021 that will keep him in Washington through 2025-26. He said he believes that breaking the records ahead of him will take care of itself as long as he remains focused on his task with the Capitals.
“I have to do my job,” he said. “I have to play well. I have to score goals.”
Additional reporting by ESPN’s Emily Kaplan.
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Chris Low, ESPN Senior Writer
Tennessee‘s Nico Iamaleava has been cleared medically to play Saturday against Georgia and is set to return as the Vols’ starting quarterback, sources told ESPN.
Iamaleava, a redshirt freshman, missed the second half of the 33-14 win over Mississippi State last week after suffering a blow to the head. He was listed as questionable earlier this week on the SEC availability report but has been removed in the latest report.
Iamaleava practiced this week, including team periods, and there was optimism among the staff that he was trending in the right direction and would be able to play. But the final call was made by medical personnel. Iamaleava was examined by doctors for what sources told ESPN were concussion-like symptoms after leaving the Mississippi State game. He did not return to the sideline for the second half.
Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said on Monday that he felt like Iamaleava would be in “great shape for Saturday” and noted that Iamaleava was with the team earlier Monday morning for meetings and team activities. The Vols’ first full-scale practice was Tuesday.
Iamaleava was having his most productive outing against an SEC team this season before leaving the game against Mississippi State. He completed 8 of 13 passes for 174 yards, no interceptions and a pair of touchdowns as Tennessee built a 20-7 halftime lead. In Iamaleava’s previous five SEC games, he had accounted for three touchdowns and turned it over five times. He was also sacked 15 times in those five games.
Redshirt senior Gaston Moore filled in for Iamaleava in the second half last week and finished 5-of-8 for 38 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.
Getting Iamaleava back for the Georgia game is big news for Tennessee, which is right in the middle of the SEC championship race and College Football Playoff picture.
Receiver Dont’e Thornton (hand) has also been given the green light to play for Tennessee after earlier being listed as questionable.
Week 12 is here as we take a look at an SEC matchup that has College Football Playoff implications, learn about three of the nation’s top passers who all played under the same coach and see what’s going on in the Big 12.
No. 7 Tennessee will visit Sanford Stadium as it takes on conference opponent No. 12 Georgia on Saturday night. With so much at stake, what can each team improve on ahead of this SEC showdown?
The Big 12 has six teams in the hunt for a spot in the conference title game. With the final CFP rankings coming out in less than a month, what scenario looks most realistic for the conference in terms of how many of its teams could make the 12-team field?
Our college football experts preview big games and storylines ahead of the Week 12 slate.
Jump to a section:
Tennessee-Georgia | The coach behind three top QB passers
What’s going on in the Big 12 | Quotes of the Week
What has each team done well in conference play? What improvements can be made?
It has been a historic (and dominant) season for Tennessee’s defense, which has yet to give up more than 19 points in any of its nine games. Against SEC competition, the Volunteers lead the conference in scoring defense, giving up 16.7 points per game, and also lead the way in third-down defense and red zone defense. In other words, they’ve given up very little of anything on defense and are buoyed by a line that’s both talented and deep. Tennessee plays a ton of players up front and has been especially good at forcing key turnovers. In 23 trips inside its own 20-yard line, the Vols have forced six turnovers.
The reality is that Tennessee has played to its defense for much of this season out of necessity. The offense has lacked consistency and struggled to generate explosive plays, particularly in the passing game. It’s not all on redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava, either. Iamaleava has thrown only five touchdown passes in six SEC games, and the Vols are tied for 10th with an average of 7.5 yards per completion. Iamaleava, who sustained a head injury in a win over Mississippi State last week, has been the victim of poor pass protection at times, and his receivers have dropped some costly passes. Iamaleava has also been shaky when it comes to overthrowing receivers and occasionally holding onto the ball too long.
The bright spot on offense for Tennessee has been running back Dylan Sampson, who has a school-record 20 rushing touchdowns. He has been a constant for the Vols on offense and has an SEC-leading 772 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns in conference play. As good as he has been, the Vols are probably going to need more from their passing game to win in Athens. — Chris Low
The Bulldogs didn’t do much of anything well in last week’s 28-10 loss at Ole Miss, which was the first time in a long time that Kirby Smart’s team was manhandled on the lines of scrimmage.
The good news for Georgia: It’s heading home to Sanford Stadium for the first time in more than a month. Georgia hasn’t dropped back-to-back games in the regular season since 2016, Smart’s first season, and it has bounced back after each of its past eight losses. The Bulldogs have won seven of their past eight games against the Volunteers.
For all of quarterback Carson Beck‘s turnovers, Georgia’s problems on offense probably start up front. The offensive line hasn’t done a good job of protecting him, and the Bulldogs’ lack of a potent running game has prevented them from effectively utilizing play-action passes. Their banged-up offensive line is going to face another formidable defensive front Saturday. Georgia has 27 dropped passes, fourth most in the FBS, according to TruMedia, so its receivers need to become more reliable as well. — Mark Schlabach
The coach behind three of college football’s top passers
Miami‘s Cam Ward, Washington State‘s John Mateer and North Texas‘ Chandler Morris are three of the top five quarterbacks in total offense this season in FBS. All three have the same head coach to thank for where they are today.
North Texas coach Eric Morris coached Ward at Incarnate Word and Washington State, recruited Mateer to the Cougars and signed Morris out of the transfer portal this offseason. All three hailed from Texas and are putting up big numbers this season. Morris, a Mike Leach disciple, knows what he’s looking for when it comes to QBs.
For each one, the journey was different. Ward was a zero-star recruit out of West Columbia, Texas, played in a wing-T offense and had no scholarship offers. But he showed up to Incarnate Word’s camp in 2019 and impressed with his quick release and accuracy. Morris saw appealing traits, too, in Ward’s multisport talents.
“He was such a good basketball player,” Morris said. “He was a bigger guy who could really handle the ball and move with ease. He had a twitch and quickness about him that was almost Mahomes-esque, where he’s not fast but you see him get out of the pocket and scramble and he’s nifty on his feet. He saw the floor great and shot the basketball great.
“It might be easier at an FCS school to take that risk, but it was something we were really confident in.”
Ward came in with extreme confidence, telling coaches he’d win the starting job over their returning all-conference player (and he did). He followed Morris to Pullman, Washington, out of loyalty to the coach who believed in him. Now he’s playing on a big stage, chasing a College Football Playoff bid and a Heisman Trophy with the No. 9 Hurricanes.
“It’s been fun to watch him flourish and get rewarded for being patient all these years,” Morris said.
When Morris left UIW to become Washington State’s offensive coordinator in 2022, he brought Ward but needed another QB. On his first recruiting trip in Texas, he stopped by to check out Mateer. The two-star recruit had a prolific senior season at Little Elm High School but was committed to Central Arkansas. Morris didn’t understand what FBS programs were missing and convinced Mateer to flip.
After two seasons behind Ward, Mateer has emerged as one of the top dual-threat QBs in college football with 2,332 passing yards, 805 rushing yards (excluding sacks) and 33 total TDs.
“I think the sky’s the limit,” Ward said. “He’s just so dang hard to tackle in the open field. Just a kid that loves ball and was under-recruited. The tide’s turned and he ends up being a big-time ballplayer.”
Chandler Morris was not an under-the-radar talent, but he’s having his best season yet at North Texas. He began his career at Oklahoma, won the starting job at TCU in 2022, sustained a knee injury in its season opener and then watched Max Duggan lead the Horned Frogs to the national title game.
Morris had a six-game stint as TCU’s starter last season before injuring the same knee. At UNT, he’s leading the nation’s No. 3 passing offense with 3,244 total yards and 30 TDs. Like Ward and Mateer, he processes information quickly, makes plays with his feet and throws outside the pocket with accuracy. If you ask Eric Morris, those traits are a must in today’s game. When paired with his version of Air Raid ball, you get big-time results.
“It’s been fun to see him get his swagger back,” Morris said.
Eric Morris points to Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and Jayden Daniels. The QBs thriving at the highest level are becoming unstoppable by creating plays out of the pocket. And so are his guys.
“Everybody obviously watches Cam and the magic he makes,” Morris said, “but I think all three of ’em can make plays when it’s not a perfect play call. There are a bunch of really good pure passers nowadays, but that’s what sets them all apart.” — Max Olson
What’s going on in the Big 12?
Two-thirds of the way through the Big 12 schedule, six teams are still in the hunt for a title-game appearance: BYU (6-0), Colorado (5-1), Arizona State, Iowa State, Kansas State and West Virginia, all of which are 4-2. There are too many variables to discuss all the scenarios, but the conference has a straightforward tiebreaker policy.
It’s possible to come up with scenarios in which the Big 12 could get two bids, one bid or shut out altogether.
For the Big 12 to get two bids, BYU probably would have to finish 12-0, then lose a close game in the championship to a two-loss team (Colorado, Iowa State or Kansas State). A 12-1 BYU team would get consideration, but it would become a question of how far it would fall and what else happens around the country.
The most likely scenario is the Big 12 will get one team in: whichever one wins the conference title game. If BYU wins out, it will have a bye, but if it slips up even once — or if another team wins the title — Boise State might be in position to get a first-round bye, assuming the Broncos win out.
The doomsday scenario in the Big 12 is if the conference champion has two or three losses and Army and Boise State win out. If that’s the case, there is a good possibility both of those schools would be ranked ahead of the Big 12 champion and the Big 12 would be left out. — Kyle Bonagura
Quotes of the Week
“They’re stubborn, man. They’re physical. He is an elite runner. The runs they run are sometimes nontraditional. They run some runs that other people don’t run because of the space in the box. He’s very patient. He hits small creases. He’s hard to tackle. How many touchdowns has he got in the SEC? Twenty-something? That’s crazy. In the SEC? The SEC is the hardest league in the world to run the ball in on because they’ve got the most size defensive lineman, and he continues to do it at a crazy pace to me.” — Kirby Smart on Volunteers tailback Dylan Sampson.
“I never try to take a step back. I try to take a step up. I’m always putting my head out the window. I’m trying to see around the corner, not trying to see straight ahead. It’s normalcy for everybody to see what’s in front of them. I’m trying to see around the corner. That’s the relationship I have with the Lord, to help me see around the corner so I can help navigate these young men as well as the women that’s attached to our program to a better way and a better life. So I don’t get caught up in the ‘You go, boys!’ or the ‘You ain’t nothing.’ You know, if I would’ve listened to you guys earlier, I’ve gotta listen to you now. So I might as well just put some headphones on and block you out. Notice I don’t have a sponsor for headphones, but that would’ve been a good placement for a sponsor.” — Deion Sanders when asked if he takes time to step back and appreciate the magnitude of Colorado’s turnaround.
“I hope anyone who has ambitions about playing in the National Football League, let’s see what you’ve got against Clemson. Let’s see you play your best game here. If you weren’t focused for Virginia, which I can’t imagine you weren’t — and I’m not saying anybody was not focused — but if they didn’t get your focus, I imagine Clemson will get your focus when you put the tape on.” — Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi on whether playing Clemson gets the attention of his players.
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