The Great Record Will Not Be Broken

The game has changed and so has the style of play.

The players are bigger and faster.

The debate still continues and that debate is will Alex Ovechkin catch Wayne Gretzky as the NHL’s All-Time goal scorer.

The answer is no.

Wayne Gretzky has a very impressive resume to which very few have come close to breaking his 62 NHL records. 73 shorthanded goals. 37 hat tricks. 91 game winning goals. 24 game-winning playoff goals.

Video game numbers, right?

What people may not know is how he scored those goals. He had a very underrated slapshot, he could beat you with a wicked wrister, bounce the puck off a defensemen or goalie himself or the very deceiving backhander. He had a variety of ways to beat you and very few defensemen had the ability to stop him, even if they knew what was coming.

Alex Ovechkin

Alex Ovechkin is a different story. He is a tank on skates and has a more physical game than Gretzky. His totals are impressive as well, 28 hat tricks, 259 power play goals, 110 game-winning goals and 12 penalty shot goals.

There is one big difference of how this will be determined, and that is how opponents play Ovechkin from here on out. Ovechkin parks himself on the left side of the power play and just lets them rip. If the opposition can limit his chances or stop it all together than Ovechkin doesn’t come close to the record.

The players are bigger, faster and have more technology on stats and percentages than ever before. After all, if Ovechkin doesn’t break the record the only one he can point fingers at is himself.

When it is all said and done Wayne Gretzky will still have the most goals in NHL history.

Featured Image: Sam Eggleston/SB Nation