Chasing Gretzky – Page 2

Chasing Gretzky XI: Power Play GOAT + What’s Ahead

By Joe Pohoryles 275. Despite playing on what’s been the Washington Capitals’ worst power play in recent memory, Alex Ovechkin passed Dave Andreychuk to move into sole possession of first on the all-time power play goals list, with 275 in his career. Last April, I predicted Ovechkin would break that record 34 games into theContinue reading “Chasing Gretzky XI: Power Play GOAT + What’s Ahead”

Chasing Gretzky 10: Capitals Insiders Special

By Joe Pohoryles 10 editions of Chasing Gretzky; what a milestone. I expect 30-40+ of these when all is said and done, but by finally reaching double-digits, I decided to do something special. As part of a separate project for my college sports journalism class, I had the opportunity to speak to two Caps reportersContinue reading “Chasing Gretzky 10: Capitals Insiders Special”

Chasing Gretzky IX: A First Star-Level First Month

By Joe Pohoryles Between two lockouts and two other seasons shortened by the pandemic, every obstacle has been thrown in Alex Ovechkin’s path for the all-time NHL goal record. After injuries and a stint on the COVID list last season combined for one of his worst scoring seasons in recent memory (even with fewer gamesContinue reading “Chasing Gretzky IX: A First Star-Level First Month”

Chasing Gretzky 8: The Final Countdown

By Joe Pohoryles Alex Ovechkin is here to stay! The Great 8 signed a five-year/$47.5 million deal that will pay him $9.5 million per year until the 2025-26 season. He’ll be nearly 41 years old by the end of the deal, which is a lot of term and money to dedicate to a player ofContinue reading “Chasing Gretzky 8: The Final Countdown”

Chasing Gretzky VII: The Russian Machine Broke

By: Joe Pohoryles After a year of so many setbacks in the chase to 894 career goals, the seemingly unfathomable happened to make the road even more difficult: Alex Ovechkin got injured. Not including a 39-second shift on May 3 that was more of a test run than anything else, Ovechkin has not played sinceContinue reading “Chasing Gretzky VII: The Russian Machine Broke”

Chasing Gretzky VI: Hull Speed Ahead

By: Joe Pohoryles After one of the worst 20-game starts in his career, Alex Ovechkin has kicked things back into gear, scoring 11 goals this past month to elevate his season total to 19 in 35 games. The Great Eight now sits just six goals shy of tying Marcel Dionne for fifth on the all-timeContinue reading “Chasing Gretzky VI: Hull Speed Ahead”

Chasing Gretzky V: Shades of 2013

By: Joe Pohoryles Three goals in four weeks. That’s all Alex Ovechkin has scored between Feb. 8 and today, giving him a total of eight goals through 20 games. After losing so much time due to the recent shortened seasons, Ovechkin needed to ramp up his scoring pace. Instead, he’s experiencing one of the worstContinue reading “Chasing Gretzky V: Shades of 2013”

Chasing Gretzky IV: The Road Gets Bumpier

By: Joe Pohoryles With the NHL well underway and this being the first “eighth” of the season, the Chasing Gretzky series is finally back. Before the pandemic hit, Alex Ovechkin was a month removed from arguably the greatest scoring stretch of his career, and was contending with Boston’s David Pastrnak and Toronto’s Auston Matthews forContinue reading “Chasing Gretzky IV: The Road Gets Bumpier”