Congrats... And Stuff?

While it may be a historic moment tonight and will certainly be historic upon Alex Ovechkin's next goal, it might be time for a disclaimer: I really don't care if Ovechkin breaks Wayne Gretzky's career goal-scoring record. While it's certainly interesting to see Gretzky's record fall, it's hard to be enthusiastic for Ovechkin when I spent a lot of my life disliking both men. As a Penguins fan, the Ovechkin dislike is probably understandable for anyone who knows me, but I lived as Mario Lemieux fan in my formative years when the "Gretzky-vs-Lemieux" rivalry was at its height. As such, this chase that Ovechkin was on to break history was a non-starter for me.

Some of this is complicated by the fact that I grew up watching the Winnipeg Jets get decimated by the Gretzky-led Edmonton Oilers through the 1980s. As they Oilers won Stanley Cups by the handful during that era, they often seemed to meet the Jets at some point in the playoffs where Gretzky and his high-scoring pals would ultimately prevail over the Jets. Having your heart broken as a kid by the same cast of villains over and over again meant that I recognized Gretzky's records with disdain. In some ways, I still do.

In saying that, it was easy to cheer for a guy who was a natural rival when it came to setting scoring records. While he didn't have the cast of characters similar to that which Gretzky had at his disposal, the Pittsburgh Penguins had the one guy who could outdo #99 on any given night. It didn't hurt that he played for a team with an actual logo, but watching Lemieux drag three guys to the net and score a goal was, in my impressionable mind, far more diffcult than hiding behind the net and centering a pass to an already-good teammate.

We jump to 1991 where the Penguins had become a contender, Lemieux had a cast of stars around him, and the threat of Gretzky being an impact in the postseason was close to nil thanks to the trade that sent him to the Los Angeles Kings from the Edmonton Oilers. Of course, the Penguins dismissed the Minnesota North Stars in the Stanley Cup Final in 1991 for their first Stanley Cup parade, and I, as a young, impressionable fan, felt vindicated. Gretzky's era was over, and Mario Lemieux's era of dominance was beginning!

1992 brought more celebration as the Blackhawks were the final victim to Lemieux-and-cast's dominance that season, and the city of Pittsburgh celebrated a second-straight Stanley Cup parade that summer. It seemed like a three-peat was almost a guarantee as the 1992-93 season progressed until Mario Lemieux stapped away from the team and game after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. He'd return and win the scoring title, but David Volek's bullet-to-my-adolescent-head in overtime of Game Seven in the second round ignited my hatred for the New York Islanders.

Of course, Gretzky got traded, never won another Stanley Cup, and the Jets left Winnipeg for sandier climates in Phoenix. The Penguins wouldn't win another Stanley Cup with Lemieux in the lineup, and that was when I realized that health issues can derail what seems like a record-smashing career for players. I wasn't around for the Bobby Orr days about which my dad would tell us, but it all started making sense as Lemieux's health began keeping him out of the lineup.

Jump forward to Lemieux buying the Penguins out of bankruptcy in 1999 which led to some rather lean years before 2005's NHL Entry Draft took place. That was when the Penguins selected Sidney Crosby first-overall, and it was one year after the Washington Capitals had drafted Alexander Ovechkin in 2004. This kicked off the Crosby-Ovechkin rivalry between Pittsburgh and Washington which revived my dislike for the Capitals once again after watching Peter Bondra, Michal Pivonka, Sergei Gonchar, Dino Ciccarelli, and Dale Hunter be thorns in the side of the Penguins during the early-1990s.

I don't really need to go over the Penguins-Capitals rivalry that featured Crosby and Ovechkin, but the 2009, 2016, and 2017 Stanley Cup victories all featured a Pittsburgh-Washington second-round battle while Washington's lone Stanley Cup parade came at the expense of a second-round Pittsburgh loss. Of course, it wasn't just Pittsburgh-vs-Washington, but it was also Crosby-vs-Ovechkin in a quiet Canada-vs-Russia battle that was recreated from the ashes of the 2005 World Junior Championship. It had layers.

There's a chance that the fans on Long Island could be witness to the historic moment when Ovechkin surpasses Gretzky on Sunday. The irony of that moment is how the New York Islanders seem to find their way into each instance: Gretzky learning what sacrifice looks like after the Islanders beat his Oilers, the Oilers defeating the Islanders to win their first Stanley Cup, the 1993 David Volek goal, and now, potentially, the Ovechkin history. And Ovechkin will likely victimize one of his countrymen in the name of history when Ilya Sorokin is in net on Sunday. It could be Marcus Hogberg, but we'll see.

In any event, I feel nothing about Ovechkin breaking Gretzky's record. It doesn't stir any emotions, it doesn't excite me to see him do it, and I'm tired of hearing about it. It is a huge moment, and I do appreciate the sheer difficulty in scoring the number of goals that Ovechkin has - 894 total to date - but it's hard to get excited for someone you've wanted to see lose in every manner possible stand on the precipice of legendary status. It makes me hope that the Islanders shut out Washington on Sunday, but I'd rather he surpass Gretzky's total ASAP so he doesn't do it against Pittsburgh on April 17.

It is a moment that will live in NHL history until the next legendary goal scorer comes along and challenges that total, and I cannot deny that I respect Alexander Ovechkin for staying healthy, getting a chance to chase down this record, and writing his name into the NHL history books. I raise my stick to Ovechkin reaching immortality alongside one of the greatest scorers and certainly the highest scorer in NHL history. At the very least, Ovechkin deserves some respect and recognition for his accomplishment. I can give that.

And now I'll be cheering for an Islanders shutout on Sunday.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!