Russian superstar Alexander Ovechkin is on the verge of achieving something that seemed impossible just a few years ago; the man known as the “Great 8” appears set to break Wayne Gretzky’s all-time National Hockey League (NHL) regular-season record of 894 goals scored.
Whenever goal number 895 goes in, as is expected to happen in the remaining few games of the NHL campaign, Ovechkin will be celebrated as a hero – not just by fans of his Washington Capitals, but by ice hockey fans all over North America and beyond. Presumably, there will be no shortage of congratulations – including from NHL top brass – and the man whose record he is set to break, Wayne Gretzky.
However, some are irritated or even disturbed by all this cheering. For Ovechkin is a left winger – but only on the ice. More than three years after Vladimir Putin launched his war of aggression on neighboring Ukraine, Ovechkin’s Instagram profile picture remains a photo of him smiling beside the Russian president.
Whenever goal number 895 goes in, as is expected to happen in the remaining few games of the NHL campaign, Ovechkin will be celebrated as a hero – not just by fans of his Washington Capitals, but by ice hockey fans all over North America and beyond. Presumably, there will be no shortage of congratulations – including from NHL top brass – and the man whose record he is set to break, Wayne Gretzky.
However, some are irritated or even disturbed by all this cheering. For Ovechkin is a left winger – but only on the ice. More than three years after Vladimir Putin launched his war of aggression on neighboring Ukraine, Ovechkin’s Instagram profile picture remains a photo of him smiling beside the Russian president.
