Ovechkin hints he'll retire immediately upon beating Gretzky's goal record
Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin is 217 goals away from surpassing Wayne Gretzky (894 career goals) as the top goal scorer in NHL history and if he accomplishes the feat, he might retire immediately.
In an upcoming interview with Linda Cohn of ESPN, the superstar discusses what exactly he will do if he breaks that record.
What would happen if @ovi8 made @NHL history by catching Gretzky’s scoring record? @JohnCarlson74 @Capitals @CapitalsPR Extensive Interview tonight on espn+ #InTheCrease pic.twitter.com/PVCFSxIbcv
— Linda Cohn (@lindacohn) December 6, 2019
It might be in the middle of a season, but the 34-year-old winger believes he’d step off the ice for good.
“You’re probably never going to see me on the ice again,” Ovechkin said. “Right away, see ya.”
Surely, the active leader in career goals is kidding around, but it will take quite the feat to score that many more goals into his late career. Ovechkin’s 678 goals ranks 12th all-time, in between Teemu Selanne and Luc Robitaille.
Ovechkin already notched 20 goals in 30 games this season with no sign of slowing down. If he’s able to stay at a realistic pace, he could rocket up to the top-eight with no problem, surpassing Mario Lemieux and Steve Yzerman.
If his celebration from becoming a Stanley Cup champion in 2018 tells us anything, it’s that Ovechkin will certainly enjoy himself if he cements himself at the top of the leaderboard, even if that means never playing the game again.
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