ARLINGTON, VA — Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals have had plenty to celebrate over the last calendar year. Ovechkin, now 40, scored his 895th career goal to pass Wayne Gretzky for the all-time NHL record on April 6, reaching a milestone that once seemed untouchable. Almost exactly six months later, Ovechkin became the first player in the league’s history to reach the 900-goal mark, and he played his 1,500th game in October.
Ahead of Wednesday’s pregame ceremony celebrating Ovechkin’s milestones this season, Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery was asked whether any of the sport’s younger players had a comparable mindset to players like Ovechkin and Gretzky. Carbery pointed to the rarity of both of Ovechkin’s recent achievements — highlighting his goalscoring talent as well as his ability to resist aging as vital factors for any player looking to catch up.
“There’s so many great players in the league right now. I’d be hard pressed, though, that company that you’re talking about, the Ovis and Waynes — I mean, you look at Connor (McDavid) and — but I mean, they are in rare, rare company, of what they’ve been able to do for as long (as they have),” Carbery said. “That’s the key, right? Is the consistency and to be able to do it for 17, 18, 19 years.
“There’s some phenomenal players in the league that you look at right now. If they continue to do that for another 10 years — but that’s hard. That’s half the battle, is the attrition of being able to play at such a high level: score, and produce, and be productive, and still be a difference maker on a winning hockey team. And to be able to do that for 20 years, those two guys are one of a kind.”
McDavid has a ways to go to match Ovechkin’s early-career scoring. He’s earned 371 goals in 737 games, compared to Ovechkin’s 459 goals in that span. Auston Matthews, who Carbery coached in Toronto, has a better chance: he’s scored 410 goals in 646 career games, compared to Ovechkin’s 405.
Neither player, however, has matched Ovechkin’s resilience. McDavid has missed 71 career games in 10 seasons, while Matthews has missed 76 over nine seasons. Ovechkin, meanwhile, has missed just 76 total games over his 21-season NHL career. If either player wanted a chance of topping Ovechkin’s record, they’d need to stay healthy — and productive — for at least another decade.
Carbery is no stranger to seeing Ovechkin make history by this point, and he admitted that it’s easy to forget just how impressive his career has been. But even if it doesn’t fully sink in now, Carbery knows he’ll be grateful for these moments long after his coaching career is done.
“I feel like I’ve had a front row seat the last two and a half years of getting to witness greatness firsthand,” Carbery said. “I think I’ll appreciate it so much more looking back and just going like, ‘I was there for that, that, that, that,’ all these different moments of being able to have a front row seat and be along for the ride. Because it is, I’ve said this a bunch through the chase and through the last two years, you almost take it a little bit for granted, that it’s just like, ‘Oh, it’s Alex. Of course, he’s the greatest goal scorer in the history of the game. Of course, he’s going to play 1500 games.’
“To be scoring the way he has at the point in his career and throughout his career is just hard to wrap your head around. I think the appreciation I have and will have — I was actually thinking about this, I ran into him yesterday on the off day at the rink — of just (that) I’ve been able to get to coach the greatest goal scorer in the history of the game for the last two and a half years, and I’m going to be able to look back on that and go, ‘Wow.’ (I’m) very, very fortunate.”