How to deal with a living legend like Alex Ovechkin

Ovechkin's pursuit of Wayne Gretzky's once seemingly unbreakable goal record is a good enough reason to find out what it's like to face off against him.

Alex Ovechkin skates during Washington Capitals morning skate in Buffalo on Monday. (Photo: Joe Yerdon)

Ever since Washington Capitals superstar Alexander Ovechkin took the ice for the first time back in 2005, he’s been a goal-scoring phenomenon unlike any we’ve seen in NHL history.

Where Gordie Howe excelled through fierce competitiveness and determination and Wayne Gretzky did by being three steps ahead of everyone else, Ovechkin took off by being bigger, stronger, and having one of the hardest shots in NHL history. No one Ovechkin’s size has dominated the league the way he has, nor have they been as staggeringly consistent throughout their career.

With Ovechkin closing in rapidly on Gretzky’s all-time goal record of 894, a record once believed to be untouchable given that he was able to pile up the majority of those goals in an era which goalies were at the mercy of opposing offenses.

Since the dead puck era of the mid-90s to early-00s, so few players have been able to pile up goals with the kind of regularity Gretzky did. Only Jaromír Jágr was capable of keeping up and lockouts and a brief departure to Russia’s KHL prevented him from taking aim on 99. That he finished his NHL career with 766 goals only leaves us wondering what could’ve been.

But Ovechkin made it possible to stop asking that question and start asking if or when he’d be able to surpass Gretzky. Now as he sits 23 goals away from breaking the all-time goal record, the new question is whether he’ll be able to do it this season. Perhaps the more appropriate question given the way he’s scored this year is when he’ll break it this season.