The Sabres are beating Columbus 6-0. Tage Thompson has 4 goals and an assist.
There’s 3 minutes remaining in the 1st period.
There’s 3 minutes remaining in the 1st period.
He is. Saw an online article about this awhile back, and it pointed out the great differences in offensive environments today as compared to the Gretzky era, plus the fact that Ovi lost a lot of games in his prmie to work stoppages.I'm pretty convinced Ovi passes Gretzky. He'll finish the season around 820 and will need 60-75 goals to pass Gretzky. He'll do that in a couple seasons.
I actually think he has a reasonable chance to get to 1000 if he plays into his 40s. He's the greatest goal scorer in the history of hockey.
Part of shooting percentage is the goalies shooters face. Ovechkin has faced much better goaltending that what was in the league during Gretzky's era. League average save percentage during Gretzy's peak was in the .870's, the very best goaltending was barely at or above .900. Ovechkin faces .915 league averages (or thereabouts) in his career.Is he really though?
- His career shooting percentage is the lowest of any of the top 10 G/60 players.
- Taking into account the players before the G/60 was tracked, his shooting percentage is the lowest of the ~50 top G/GP players
- This is generously discounting those for whom SH% wasnt tracked
He really just shoots a lot.
It's not at all. If you consider the era in which Ovi plays, it's incredible what he's done. He'll hit 1000 goals and it'll never be surpassed.I'm just saying that calling him "the best goal scorer in the history of hockey" may have been an overstatement. You're arguing about goalie save %, but then you also need to factor in those "old timers" didnt have the stick technology, sports science, etc, that the modern players do either.
That goes both ways. The modern goalies Ovechkin has faced also have better technology and sports science at their disposal. Even with rules restricting pad size, they wear far more padding today than in Gretzky's era. They are more flexible and athletic and in general better than their predecessors. It's harder to score now than it was back in the 80's or 90's. I don't think that's a particularly controversial take.I'm just saying that calling him "the best goal scorer in the history of hockey" may have been an overstatement. You're arguing about goalie save %, but then you also need to factor in those "old timers" didnt have the stick technology, sports science, etc, that the modern players do either.
This is an excellent point - he's scoring at an 80s pace in the modern game. It's pretty crazy.I'll also add that there are only 2 contemporaries of Ovechkin in the top 50 (Crosby at 34 and Stamkos at 49). Both have a legit shot at 700 goals, but won't come close to what Ovi has done. At least half of the top 50 were contemporaries of Gretzky (and several played on the same team as him). It was a much different game.
It's somewhat fair to use GPG as an alternate but I disagree with the fixation on shooting percentage. Even then GPG doesn't account for era.Yes, others I would consider better "goal scorers" are older players like Mike Bossy or Lemieux with a career shooting percantage of 21.2%/19% respectively and >0.75 G/GP each.
https://www.hockey-reference.com/leaders/goals_adjusted_career.htmlBy what calculable measure other than total goals does that apply to him?
Also - Ovechkin has been by far the most dominant goal scorer of this era, it's not particularly close. Meanwhile you've listed 5 different "dominant" players from the same era as being more dominant. Which basically refutes the point.I dont understand why being dominant in the era you played somehow doesnt matter just because the era is different.
I actually only mentioned 2 people, but that's OK. I also quoted Goals per Game as another stat, so wasnt only using shooting percentage, but again..cool..Also - Ovechkin has been by far the most dominant goal scorer of this era, it's not particularly close. Meanwhile you've listed 5 different "dominant" players from the same era as being more dominant. Which basically refutes the point.
There are interesting conversations to be had that others might qualify as the best goal scorer ever. Using shooting percentage isn't one of them though. Personally I'm on Team Ovechkin, even though I hated him for most of his career. He's unreal.
This is quite amazing and it's striking how you still don't get many of his contemporaries jumping up high on that list.
What FL4WL3SS saidI actually only mentioned 2 people, but that's OK. I also quoted Goals per Game as another stat, so wasnt only using shooting percentage, but again..cool..
As a reminder, this all started with a response to a comment about "...in all of hockey history", and I...y'know...looked at hockey history as a whole.
As there is no actual definition of "best goal scorer", I'm happy to accept that we can have different opinions as to what that means and who we think represents it. I'm not saying he isnt great and he isnt amazing. I just have a different idea of what "best ever" means.
Mario is in front of Wayne, not Ovechkin.I'm looking at the adjusted thing and trying to wrap my head around it.
Edit - Even if you're just kind of agreeing that Mario is ahead of him...that in and of itself means he's not "the best". I didnt say that there were a ton of people ahead of him, just that he wasnt the zenith.
He is actually.Looking at that list how is Jagr not in the Hockey Hall of Fame... oh that's right the dude is probably still out there somewhere playing...
Eh, they’ve got 3 Cups, loads of money, and are still adored in Chicago. Losing sucks, but life is pretty easy for them.Chicago is just awful. Toews and Kane must really love deep dish pizza to not be begging to get out of there.
Plus they’re probably getting Connor Bedard next year for mailing it in this year.Eh, they’ve got 3 Cups, loads of money, and are still adored in Chicago. Losing sucks, but life is pretty easy for them.