Wayne Gretzky's NHL career goals record has long been seen as one of the more unbreakable records throughout sports history. As the legendary player retired after the 1998-99 season with 894 goals in 1,487 games.
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While many expected Gretzky's name to stand atop the record books for quite some time, along came 18-year-old kid Alexander Ovechkin out of Moscow, who was selected No. 1 overall by the Washington Capitals in the 2004 NHL Draft.
Spending the entirety of his career with the franchise, Ovechkin has also gone on to mirror Gretzky's greatness, as he broke the goals scored record with his 895th goal in his 1487th career game vs. the New York Islanders on Sunday.
The moment Alexander Ovechkin passed Wayne Gretzky to make HISTORY 👏
First NHL player EVER to score 895 goals 🔥 pic.twitter.com/vyRQD9gGDF
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 6, 2025
To note, this happened exactly 21 years since the Capitals won the NHL Draft lottery, giving them the opportunity to select Ovechkin (April 6, 2004).
Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin have been broadcasting together for nearly 30 years.
The duo has called Alex Ovechkin’s entire career since he entered the league in 2005.
They were in the booth for Ovi’s first goal—and his record-breaking 895th goal. pic.twitter.com/CSGnRmrfRE
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) April 6, 2025
However, in view of his longevity, some are surprised how Ovechkin managed to play so long at such a high level considering his diet consists of "eating whatever he wants."
This includes consuming Mamma Lucia's heavy Italian food (large plates of chicken parmesan) before every game, along with eating Subway and flaming hot Cheetos on team planes.
all these athletes talking about their super strict, scientifically engineered diets when subway sandwiches and flamin hot cheetos are apparently the correct fuel to break a historic nhl record pic.twitter.com/M1zkrp8iSF
— Ava (@avatarrant) April 5, 2025
To emphasize the absurdity of Ovechkin's diet (or rather lack thereof), he even has been known to drink Pepsi instead of water during games, while drinking Dr. Pepper at intermissions. And not to mention, chugging lots of beer and vodka throughout the season.
Alex Ovechkin's drink of choice during games may surprise you🥤
📺: Penguins-Captials, ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/ZU5qSh0OfU
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 11, 2021
That is to say, some athletes are just built different, and Ovi is certainly one of them.
Undoubtedly, his accomplishment of scoring 895 goals goes down as one of the most impressive feats in all of sports.
Some greats recognizing #Gr8ness 🫡 pic.twitter.com/uaKFeBujnt
— NHL (@NHL) April 6, 2025
Alex Ovechkin can now be called the greatest goal scorer in the history of the NHL.
Alex Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky's record in the same amount of games 🤯 pic.twitter.com/FlXfzEdsok
— ESPN (@espn) April 6, 2025
Related: Alex Ovechkin is Just 41 Goals Shy of Wayne Gretzky's NHL Record for Most Career Goals
