Think about some of Alex Ovechkin’s contemporaries. Nicklas Backstrom turns 37 this month, and he took his last shift in an NHL game a year and two weeks ago, his resurfaced hip no longer able to support his once-elite game. T.J. Oshie turns 38 in December, and he had to will himself into last season’s playoffs with a back that was eternally a shift away from giving out. He almost certainly won’t play again.
Ovechkin turned 39 in September. He’ll play the 15th game of his 20th NHL season Wednesday night against Toronto. His tally from the first 14 games: 10 goals. Entering play Tuesday, only five players in the league had more. Their ages: 23 (Montreal’s Cole Caufield), 27 (Buffalo’s Tage Thompson), 28 (Toronto’s William Nylander), 29 (Florida’s Sam Reinhart) and 31 (Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov).
Professional hockey is a young man’s game. Unless you’re Ovi.
>“I know I can’t imagine doing it at 39,” said Tom Wilson, a Washington Capitals teammate for a dozen of those seasons who’s now all of 30.
Willie has played with OV for 12 years!!
Hell yeah, Ovi. During the off season I saw so many posts doubting if he could actually catch Gretzky at his age because of his poor first half last season. Well we’re 15 games into this season and that was clearly a fluke. Anyone who actually doubted the greatest goal scorer of all times ability to score goals should be ashamed of themselves. As if Ovi hasn’t been clapping bombs for two decades. He’s the fucking Russian Machine and he never breaks.
Wayne Gretzky scored 176 goals in his 30’s. He retired at the age of 38.
Ovechkin scored 378 goals age 30-38. Not including his 10 goals from this year.
This tells me two things. 1) Gretzky played in an incredibly inflated era, especially during his prime in the 80’s. 2) What Ovi is doing at his age is insane. He is currently out scoring the 27 year old Austin Matthews, 10-5. The guy that is supposed to pass Ovi one day.
I think we’ve all been wondering when age will catch up with Ovi. Now I wonder if age won’t catch up to him until after he retires.
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Column by [Barry Svrluga](https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/barry-svrluga/?itid=ai_top_svrlugabw):
Think about some of Alex Ovechkin’s contemporaries. Nicklas Backstrom turns 37 this month, and he took his last shift in an NHL game a year and two weeks ago, his resurfaced hip no longer able to support his once-elite game. T.J. Oshie turns 38 in December, and he had to will himself into last season’s playoffs with a back that was eternally a shift away from giving out. He almost certainly won’t play again.
Ovechkin turned 39 in September. He’ll play the 15th game of his 20th NHL season Wednesday night against Toronto. His tally from the first 14 games: 10 goals. Entering play Tuesday, only five players in the league had more. Their ages: 23 (Montreal’s Cole Caufield), 27 (Buffalo’s Tage Thompson), 28 (Toronto’s William Nylander), 29 (Florida’s Sam Reinhart) and 31 (Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov).
Professional hockey is a young man’s game. Unless you’re Ovi.
Read more here: [https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/11/13/alex-ovechkin-age-39-gretzky/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/11/13/alex-ovechkin-age-39-gretzky/?utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com)
the russian machine never breaks.
Craziest part to me is this:
>“I know I can’t imagine doing it at 39,” said Tom Wilson, a Washington Capitals teammate for a dozen of those seasons who’s now all of 30.
Willie has played with OV for 12 years!!
Hell yeah, Ovi. During the off season I saw so many posts doubting if he could actually catch Gretzky at his age because of his poor first half last season. Well we’re 15 games into this season and that was clearly a fluke. Anyone who actually doubted the greatest goal scorer of all times ability to score goals should be ashamed of themselves. As if Ovi hasn’t been clapping bombs for two decades. He’s the fucking Russian Machine and he never breaks.
Wayne Gretzky scored 176 goals in his 30’s. He retired at the age of 38.
Ovechkin scored 378 goals age 30-38. Not including his 10 goals from this year.
This tells me two things. 1) Gretzky played in an incredibly inflated era, especially during his prime in the 80’s. 2) What Ovi is doing at his age is insane. He is currently out scoring the 27 year old Austin Matthews, 10-5. The guy that is supposed to pass Ovi one day.
I think we’ve all been wondering when age will catch up with Ovi. Now I wonder if age won’t catch up to him until after he retires.