Can Ovechkin reach elusive 700 goals? Foligno's big rebound; Canucks surge
Only seven players in the 100-year history of the NHL have ever scored 700 goals, and Alex Ovechkin may join them one day.
Ovechkin recently climbed past Stan Mikita on the all-time goals list and will soon pass the great Maurice "Rocket" Richard for 29th place. The 30-year-old captain of the Washington Capitals, with 543 career goals, could reach 24th in NHL history by season's end — passing Mike Modano's 561 goals — if he maintains his current scoring pace.
Barring catastrophe, Ovechkin will soon become only the 20th player ever to reach 600 goals — perhaps next season — but can he get to that elusive 700-club, which includes only Wayne Gretzky (894), Gordie Howe (801), Jaromir Jagr (756), Brett Hull (741), Marcel Dionne (731), Phil Esposito (717), and Mike Gartner (708)?
Ovechkin is on pace for 38 goals this season, which would leave him only 137 shy of 700 with four years left on his current contract with the Capitals. If he played only those four years Ovechkin would need to average 34-35 goals to get to 700.
Five more years and that average dips below 30, at which point Ovechkin will be in his late 30s.
Can he play that long and still remain productive?
Maybe, though not everyone has the moves like Jagr, the last player to reach 700. Jagr reached 27 goals last season at age 44.
Hull is probably the better comparable for Ovechkin. A like-minded shooter of wicked skill and power, Hull scored 25 goals at age 39 in his final full NHL season, which followed years of 37, 30, and 39 goals for the Detroit Red Wings and Dallas Stars.
Ovechkin's downturn may just be underway, potentially complicating his run for 700.
The Rocket Richard trophy winner for four years running, Ovechkin is currently tied for ninth in goals, eight behind NHL leader Sidney Crosby, though still on pace for almost 40 following three consecutive 50-goal seasons.
On a per-game basis he's scoring and shooting at the lowest levels of his career. Most notable is the drop-off in shots, particularly on the power play. He's averaging a career-low 3.87 per-game after busting past five on average last season.
He's still shooting about as efficiently as before (12 per cent), just a little less often, if still more than any other NHL forward this season.
His longer-term chase for 700 notwithstanding, Ovechkin last week tied Jagr for the most overtime goals (19) in history and needs just four points to become 37th player to record 1,000 with one franchise.
CAREER YEAR
Victor Hedman is quietly on pace for a career-high 72 points (a 25-point uptick from last year), second only to San Jose's Brent Burns in scoring among NHL defencemen this season. Since Dec. 1 Hedman has collected 20 points in 18 games while averaging about 25 minutes per game for the Lightning.
COLUMBUS CAPTAIN'S TURNAROUND
Nick Foligno's first season as Blue Jackets' captain began with an 0-8-0 start and the firing of head coach Todd Richards. Foligno was among Columbus's many slow starters, ultimately finishing the 2015-16 season with just 12 goals and 37 points following a career-best 31 goals and 73 points one year earlier.
Jackets' general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said Foligno was putting too much pressure on himself as Columbus's leader.
"He's since recovered very well and realized in many conversations that we've had that 'Hey, it's got to start by you doing on your own job, just concentrating on doing that well and leading by example and the rest of the stuff will come'," Kekalainen said in a recent interview.
The 29-year-old scored his 14th goal of the year Sunday against the Flyers, the overtime winner in the Jackets' 28th win (six shy of last season's total). Foligno is up to 35 points, just three points from surpassing his lowly total from last year.
SCHNEIDER'S STRUGGLES
Cory Schneider entered this season bettered only by Carey Price in save percentage since the draft day swap which sent the American goaltender from Vancouver to New Jersey. The 30-year-old has fallen off considerably though through the first half of his fourth season with the Devils.
Schneider was pulled for the first time this season against the Maple Leafs on Friday (three goals on five shots) and sits 24th in save percentage (.908) among the 35 goalies with at least 20 starts. His .912 mark at even-strength (with a slight uptick in shots) is a deep dive from the .933 showing he posted in each of the previous two seasons.
OUT WEST
An unlikely six-game win streak has pushed the Vancouver Canucks into the playoff mix, currently one point back of the Los Angeles Kings for the final wild card spot out west. The Canucks mustered the season-long string despite being outshot 201-139, with superb goaltending (mostly from Ryan Miller) fuelling the run.
Only seven players in the 100-year history of the NHL have ever scored 700 goals, and Alex Ovechkin may join them one day.
Ovechkin recently climbed past Stan Mikita on the all-time goals list and will soon pass the great Maurice "Rocket" Richard for 29th place. The 30-year-old captain of the Washington Capitals, with 543 career goals, could reach 24th in NHL history by season's end — passing Mike Modano's 561 goals — if he maintains his current scoring pace.
Barring catastrophe, Ovechkin will soon become only the 20th player ever to reach 600 goals — perhaps next season — but can he get to that elusive 700-club, which includes only Wayne Gretzky (894), Gordie Howe (801), Jaromir Jagr (756), Brett Hull (741), Marcel Dionne (731), Phil Esposito (717), and Mike Gartner (708)?
Ovechkin is on pace for 38 goals this season, which would leave him only 137 shy of 700 with four years left on his current contract with the Capitals. If he played only those four years Ovechkin would need to average 34-35 goals to get to 700.
Five more years and that average dips below 30, at which point Ovechkin will be in his late 30s.
Can he play that long and still remain productive?
Maybe, though not everyone has the moves like Jagr, the last player to reach 700. Jagr reached 27 goals last season at age 44.
Hull is probably the better comparable for Ovechkin. A like-minded shooter of wicked skill and power, Hull scored 25 goals at age 39 in his final full NHL season, which followed years of 37, 30, and 39 goals for the Detroit Red Wings and Dallas Stars.
Ovechkin's downturn may just be underway, potentially complicating his run for 700.
The Rocket Richard trophy winner for four years running, Ovechkin is currently tied for ninth in goals, eight behind NHL leader Sidney Crosby, though still on pace for almost 40 following three consecutive 50-goal seasons.
On a per-game basis he's scoring and shooting at the lowest levels of his career. Most notable is the drop-off in shots, particularly on the power play. He's averaging a career-low 3.87 per-game after busting past five on average last season.
He's still shooting about as efficiently as before (12 per cent), just a little less often, if still more than any other NHL forward this season.
His longer-term chase for 700 notwithstanding, Ovechkin last week tied Jagr for the most overtime goals (19) in history and needs just four points to become 37th player to record 1,000 with one franchise.
CAREER YEAR
Victor Hedman is quietly on pace for a career-high 72 points (a 25-point uptick from last year), second only to San Jose's Brent Burns in scoring among NHL defencemen this season. Since Dec. 1 Hedman has collected 20 points in 18 games while averaging about 25 minutes per game for the Lightning.
COLUMBUS CAPTAIN'S TURNAROUND
Nick Foligno's first season as Blue Jackets' captain began with an 0-8-0 start and the firing of head coach Todd Richards. Foligno was among Columbus's many slow starters, ultimately finishing the 2015-16 season with just 12 goals and 37 points following a career-best 31 goals and 73 points one year earlier.
Jackets' general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said Foligno was putting too much pressure on himself as Columbus's leader.
"He's since recovered very well and realized in many conversations that we've had that 'Hey, it's got to start by you doing on your own job, just concentrating on doing that well and leading by example and the rest of the stuff will come'," Kekalainen said in a recent interview.
The 29-year-old scored his 14th goal of the year Sunday against the Flyers, the overtime winner in the Jackets' 28th win (six shy of last season's total). Foligno is up to 35 points, just three points from surpassing his lowly total from last year.
SCHNEIDER'S STRUGGLES
Cory Schneider entered this season bettered only by Carey Price in save percentage since the draft day swap which sent the American goaltender from Vancouver to New Jersey. The 30-year-old has fallen off considerably though through the first half of his fourth season with the Devils.
Schneider was pulled for the first time this season against the Maple Leafs on Friday (three goals on five shots) and sits 24th in save percentage (.908) among the 35 goalies with at least 20 starts. His .912 mark at even-strength (with a slight uptick in shots) is a deep dive from the .933 showing he posted in each of the previous two seasons.
OUT WEST
An unlikely six-game win streak has pushed the Vancouver Canucks into the playoff mix, currently one point back of the Los Angeles Kings for the final wild card spot out west. The Canucks mustered the season-long string despite being outshot 201-139, with superb goaltending (mostly from Ryan Miller) fuelling the run.
Today at 7:52 am by Rocky
» utube 3/28/24 MM&C Iraqi Dinar - IQD Update - SWIFT - Purchasing Power - Urban Renaissance - Releas
Today at 7:51 am by Rocky
» Al-Mandalawi: Iraq is witnessing competition between major companies...and the House of Representati
Today at 7:49 am by Rocky
» The President of the Republic stresses the importance of the role of programmers in developing the w
Today at 7:46 am by Rocky
» The Minister of Industry and Minerals follows up on the technical and production performance of the
Today at 7:45 am by Rocky
» The Minister of Finance is following up on the field the progress of the newly implemented ASYCUDA s
Today at 7:44 am by Rocky
» Statistics: There are more than 15 million bank accounts in Iraq
Today at 7:42 am by Rocky
» Representative: One paragraph hinders the passage of a general amnesty within the House of Represent
Today at 7:37 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Finance: “The draft federal budget law will be devoid of new job grades.”
Today at 7:36 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary action to resolve the fate of “food security contracts” in 15 governorates
Today at 7:35 am by Rocky
» 300 factories turned into "iron scrap" in Diyala
Today at 7:34 am by Rocky
» A deputy expects the dollar exchange rate to reach 140 Iraqi dinars
Today at 7:32 am by Rocky
» Al-Yasiri: The American administration is working hard to destroy the Iraqi economy
Today at 7:31 am by Rocky
» Infographic: The highest annual salaries of leaders of Arab countries
Today at 7:30 am by Rocky
» Communications announces that the electronic signature project has reached advanced stages
Today at 7:29 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Integrity presents a file related to Kuwaiti violations of Iraqi oil
Today at 7:27 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary move to include amendments to Parliament’s internal regulations on the agenda (documen
Today at 7:25 am by Rocky
» The Iraqi President urges the Minister of Finance to expedite the payment of salaries to the Kurdist
Today at 7:23 am by Rocky
» Central Bank of Iraq sales exceeded $251 million at today’s auction
Today at 7:21 am by Rocky
» The Foreign Minister questions the "Iraqi resistance" attacks against Israel: the other side did not
Today at 7:20 am by Rocky
» The Minister of Labor announces progress in the electronic payment system
Today at 7:17 am by Rocky
» Interior Ministry: For the first time, we controlled the smuggling of petroleum derivatives by 98 pe
Today at 7:16 am by Rocky
» International companies offer offers to invest in the Dhi Qar marshes.. What distinguishes them?
Today at 7:15 am by Rocky
» “Tough” comments on interest rates raise the dollar globally
Today at 7:14 am by Rocky
» Iraq is the fifth largest oil supplier to South Korea in a month
Today at 7:12 am by Rocky
» Recovering more than 100 billion as a result of more than 200,000 employees on social welfare
Today at 7:11 am by Rocky
» The Sudanese consultant announces the completion of Baghdad Metro track designs
Today at 7:08 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani stresses ending the problem of triple-shift schools
Today at 7:07 am by Rocky
» Iraq begins building two new tankers to transport petroleum products
Today at 7:06 am by Rocky
» Forming a council for “competition and preventing monopoly”
Today at 7:04 am by Rocky
» Features of an Iraqi-Turkish agreement regarding the status of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party
Today at 7:02 am by Rocky
» {Al-Buzrajiya} between the hammer of fraud and the power of the owners
Today at 7:01 am by Rocky
» Ministry of Oil: The gas sector is witnessing great development
Today at 6:59 am by Rocky
» An agreement with Britain in the field of securities
Today at 6:58 am by Rocky
» Discussions between Baghdad and Ankara to open a new port
Today at 6:57 am by Rocky
» Trade: About 11 million citizens updated their new card information
Today at 6:56 am by Rocky
» Electronic payment is sustainable growth
Today at 6:55 am by Rocky
» Experts: Iraq qualifies to be an important tourist country
Today at 6:54 am by Rocky
» Amending the Health Professions Law “robs” scientists of the central appointment 3 years after it wa
Today at 5:20 am by Rocky
» Is the “blessings package” that Erbil paid to the citizens of Kurdistan related to the elections?
Today at 5:19 am by Rocky
» Exceeded 5,000 projects.. Allocating 10 trillion dinars to support governorate reconstruction plans
Today at 5:18 am by Rocky
» “His need no longer exists.” Parliamentary Finance confirms the necessity of returning the retiremen
Today at 5:17 am by Rocky
» To communicate with the bases... 12 directives from Al-Sadr, including blocking numbers for non-gove
Today at 5:15 am by Rocky
» In an interview with "Baghdad Today"... an Iranian researcher reveals the importance of Haniyeh's vi
Today at 5:14 am by Rocky
» After it was 63 trillion in 2023... the 2024 budget deficit will rise to 80 trillion dinars
Today at 5:13 am by Rocky
» Parliament reveals the date of the first evaluation of the governors and determines the party respon
Today at 5:11 am by Rocky
» The President of the Republic informs Al-Araji and Al-Basri: Momentum must be mobilized to eliminate
Today at 5:10 am by Rocky
» Can the Federal Court sue others? A legal clarification of its response mechanism to abuse
Today at 5:09 am by Rocky
» Despite promises to soon stop burning gas.. What is the secret behind Iraq renewing the Iranian gas
Today at 5:07 am by Rocky
» Advisor to Al-Sudani: The dollar is on the way to further decline, and 70% of Iraqi traders have ent
Today at 5:06 am by Rocky
» Iraq exported more than 99 million barrels of oil last February
Today at 5:04 am by Rocky
» Barzani “gives good news” to Kurdistan employees: salaries, land, and loan exemptions
Today at 5:03 am by Rocky
» Alia Nassif: Nour Zuhair returned to the port of Umm Qasr to make deals.. An influential Shiite forc
Today at 5:02 am by Rocky
» The Prime Minister announces the movement of nearly 500 stalled projects
Today at 5:00 am by Rocky
» A government strategy to enhance investments.. Iraq is on the verge of a new era of economic develop
Today at 4:59 am by Rocky
» Ranging between 20% and 50%.. The Kurdistan government decides to reduce service fees, customs dutie
Today at 4:58 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: The reform approach in the security services is an integral part of reform in other secto
Today at 4:56 am by Rocky
» Everyone in Iraq wants the Sudanese visit to Washington to be successful, even the factions!
Today at 4:55 am by Rocky
» Sources and experts expect the agenda.. in his bag is the Baghdad dollar and the factions’ truce, bu
Today at 4:54 am by Rocky
» The decision to raise gasoline prices arouses the ire of drivers...a reminder of the large demonstra
Today at 4:53 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary services: 3 important hospitals in Baghdad will enter service at the end of the year
Today at 4:52 am by Rocky
» Iraq signs a contract to supply Iranian gas for a period of five years
Today at 4:50 am by Rocky
» Parliament adds a voting paragraph on amending the Penal Code to its agenda
Today at 4:49 am by Rocky
» His political advisor: We are not afraid of Sudanese entering the elections alone
Today at 4:48 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary services explain the reasons for the rise in real estate prices in Baghdad
Today at 4:46 am by Rocky
» Attia, criticizing the government's decisions: "The citizen's feathers will be ruffled without servi
Today at 4:45 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Communications: Zain Iraq and Asiacell did not pay their debts
Today at 4:44 am by Rocky
» The Governor of Karbala announces the imminent establishment of the largest industrial city in the c
Today at 4:43 am by Rocky
» A government determination to end the issue of displaced persons in the middle of this year
Today at 4:42 am by Rocky
» Iraq buys gas from Kurdistan to generate electricity
Today at 4:41 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary signatures to include an amendment to the internal regulations to decide the choice of
Today at 4:40 am by Rocky
» In Basra.. a demonstration against foreign workers in Iraqi companies (video)
Today at 4:38 am by Rocky
» Al-Samarrai: Presidency of Parliament is an entitlement to the constituents, and calling it a “frame
Today at 4:36 am by Rocky
» Electronic food supplies in 6 governorates... covering 11 million Iraqis and “writing off” about 700
Today at 4:34 am by Rocky
» Corruption of the Ministry of Transport.. Representatives express their surprise at the minister’s s
Today at 4:32 am by Rocky
» The biggest supporter of the invasion of Iraq.. The death of former US Senator Joe Lieberman
Today at 4:31 am by Rocky
» Iraq is ranked “late.” A list of the most and least safe Arab countries for women
Today at 4:30 am by Rocky
» The Council of Ministers exempts the Gulf Interconnection Authority from guarantee fees: it is a gov
Yesterday at 7:48 am by Rocky
» The Iraqi government raises the size of the 2024 budget, and Parliament is “surprised”
Yesterday at 7:46 am by Rocky
» Popular Movement: We have many economic options away from American hegemony
Yesterday at 7:42 am by Rocky
» The Oil Parliament stresses the need to transfer part of the revenues to the producing governorates
Yesterday at 7:41 am by Rocky
» It will cover 14 regions in eastern Iraq.. A deputy reveals the “border electricity” project
Yesterday at 7:40 am by Rocky
» Experts Warn Mass Migration Threatens US Food Security
Yesterday at 7:37 am by Bama Diva
» Al-Fateh: America occupies Iraq through agreements
Yesterday at 7:37 am by Rocky
» Anger in Iraq over a "sudden decision"... and a reminder of a "general strike" that paralyzed the co
Yesterday at 7:34 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Committee: Parliament is discussing today a decision that “disturbed” the Iraqis
Yesterday at 7:33 am by Rocky
» Ministry of Electricity: Our production will reach 27 thousand megawatts by May
Yesterday at 7:31 am by Rocky
» Diagnosing the “most important” problems in the oil file between Baghdad and Erbil.. What is the rel
Yesterday at 7:30 am by Rocky
» The Iraqi Fiqh Academy and the Sunni Endowment issue a fatwa to pay Zakat al-Fitr
Yesterday at 7:28 am by Rocky
» The National Bank of Iraq continues its digital transformation by launching its new banking system a
Yesterday at 7:26 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Investment and the Central Bank are discussing the housing initiative
Yesterday at 7:25 am by Rocky
» The Prime Minister announces the restart of 500 suspended projects
Yesterday at 7:23 am by Rocky
» Al-Barti assesses the region's employees: Your salaries are insured and will be paid after resettlem
Yesterday at 7:21 am by Rocky
» Iraqi-American discussions in anticipation of the Sudanese visit
Yesterday at 7:20 am by Rocky
» Iraq and Turkey hold meetings in Ankara to discuss technical issues related to the development road
Yesterday at 7:17 am by Rocky
» A government parliamentary agreement to support budget revenues and governorate allocations for inve
Yesterday at 7:16 am by Rocky
» Oil: The gas sector is witnessing great development
Yesterday at 7:15 am by Rocky
» A Kurdish-French agreement to develop trade and economic relations
Yesterday at 7:13 am by Rocky
» Exchange companies in Mosul demand that they be entered into the currency selling window
Yesterday at 7:12 am by Rocky