Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin is closing in on Wayne Gretzky’s profession NHL regular-season file of 894 targets, one which has stood for greater than a quarter-century.
It’s a quantity that was seemingly untouchable. Gretzky, thought of arguably the best hockey participant of all time, set the mark with the New York Rangers in 1999 in his twentieth and ultimate season.
The 39-year-old Ovechkin has till the Capitals’ ultimate regular-season sport on April 17 to interrupt it or anticipate subsequent 12 months. He was two away, at 893 targets, after scoring in the course of the Capitals’ sport in opposition to the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday, April 4, with Gretzky in attendance at D.C.’s Capital One Area wanting on.
/ Getty Photographs
“It’s just a matter of time, whether it’s late this year, early next year, whenever,” Gretzky advised NHL.com final September about Ovechkin breaking the mark. “I mean, he’s a great player. He’s a great goal scorer.”
Gretzky additionally holds the file for many profession targets within the common season and playoffs mixed, with 1,016. Ovechkin sits in second place as effectively in that class, about 50 targets again.
BRUCE BENNETT / Getty Photographs
Gretzky received 4 Stanley Cups with the Edmonton Oilers, and likewise performed for the Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers. In contrast, Ovechkin has spent his total professional profession in Washington, D.C. A colourful persona off the ice, the Moscow native as soon as portrayed a Russian spy in an ESPN business and swam in a public fountain with teammates to have fun profitable the Stanley Cup. Ovechkin, who led the Capitals to their first championship in 2018, already holds a number of NHL profession information, together with essentially the most energy play targets, most goalies scored upon and most targets with one group.
As he nears one other, listed here are among the most well-known information in American sports activities.
Wayne Gretzky’s NHL assists and factors file: 1,963 and a couple of,857
Whereas Ovechkin is nearing Gretzky’s holy grail of targets, nobody will seemingly contact Gretzky’s file of 1,963 assists and a couple of,857 complete factors.
To place that in perspective: If Gretzky had by no means scored a single aim in his total profession, he would nonetheless be the NHL all-time chief in factors since targets and assists each rely as one level in hockey. By comparability, the No. 2 all-time factors chief is Jaromir Jagr, who tallied 766 targets and 1,155 assists throughout his profession for a complete of 1,921 factors — or practically 1,000 factors shy of Gretzky.
Robert Laberge /Allsport
Wilt Chamberlain with essentially the most factors in an NBA sport: 100
On March 2, 1962, the late Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 factors for the then-Philadelphia Warriors (now the Golden State Warriors) in a win over the New York Knicks. Chamberlain, one among NBA’s best facilities, went 28 of 32 from the stripe regardless of being a profession 50% free throw shooter.
It’s a file that has by no means been threatened. The late Kobe Bryant got here the closest when he scored 81 factors for the Los Angeles Lakers in a sport in opposition to the Toronto Raptors in 2006.
Chamberlain was totally dominant in his period. There have solely been 15 70-plus level video games in NBA historical past, and Chamberlain has six of them.
AP Picture/Paul Vathis, File
Cal Ripken Jr. with essentially the most consecutive MLB video games performed: 2,632
For 17 seasons, Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. didn’t miss a single sport. From Could 1982 till September 1998, Ripken was an iron man, enjoying a shocking 2,632 consecutive video games.
On Sept. 6, 1995, Ripken broke New York Yankees legendary first baseman Lou Gehrig’s then 59-year-old file of two,130 straight video games set in 1939, one which was believed to be unbreakable. For good measure, Ripken went on to play one other 502 straight video games after surpassing Gehrig.
His streak got here to an finish on Sept. 20, 1998, when he voluntarily selected to take a seat out Baltimore’s ultimate residence sport of the season in opposition to the Yankees.
Focus On Sport / Getty Photographs
Caitlin Clark because the all-time main scorer in NCAA Division I basketball: 3,951 factors
In her ultimate season at Iowa, Caitlin Clark grew to become a family title, utterly upending the basketball world. Her video games grew to become must-see TV, drawing in tens of millions of recent followers, and her rivalry with Angel Reese prompted Lakers legend Magic Johnson to match it to his personal with the nice Larry Fowl.
And whereas Clark set quite a few information over her school profession, one stands head and shoulders above all of them. On March 3, 2024, in opposition to Ohio State, the sharp-shooting guard handed the late “Pistol” Pete Maravich to develop into the NCAA Division I profession scoring chief. His mark of three,667 factors set in 1970 with LSU had stood for 54 years.
Clark in the end completed her school profession with 3,951 factors — no at present lively gamers are near Clark’s mark. Over 139 video games for Iowa, she averaged 28.4 factors per sport, additionally a girls’s Division I file.
And she or he’s not practically accomplished. The 23-year-old was the No. 1 total choose by the Indiana Fever within the 2024 WNBA draft, and as a rookie, she set the WNBA’s single-season assists file with 337.
Keith Gillett/Icon Sportswire through Getty Photographs
Jack Nicklaus with golf’s most main titles: 18
{Golfing} legend Jack Nicklaus received an astounding 18 majors between 1962 and 1986. That included six Masters, 5 PGA Championships, 4 U.S. Opens and three British Opens.
If that wasn’t sufficient, Nicklaus was a runner-up in one other 19 majors, additionally a file, in line with the PGA Tour.
When Tiger Woods got here blazing onto the scene within the mid-Nineteen Nineties, Nicklaus’ majors file seemed to be in danger. However Woods — whose profession was derailed by accidents and tumult in his private life — sits three again from Nicklaus at 15.
Whereas Nicklaus holds the file for many majors, Woods and Sam Snead are tied for the file for many PGA tour wins with 82. Nicklaus is in second with 73.
John Iacono /Sports activities Illustrated through Getty Photographs
The 1972 Miami Dolphins with the NFL’s solely undefeated season
To say legendary head coach Don Shula and his 1972 Miami Dolphins steamrolled via the remainder of the NFL is an understatement. That group, which produced eight Corridor of Famers, went a stellar 14-0 within the common season and had the league’s No. 1 ranked offense and protection.
The Dolphins then tore via their playoff competitors, defeating Washington 14-7 in Tremendous Bowl VII to cap their good 17-0 season.
That file was put in critical jeopardy in 2007 by Invoice Belichick’s New England Patriots. Spurred by historic seasons from quarterback Tom Brady and huge receiver Randy Moss, the Pats went 16-0 within the common season and reached Tremendous Bowl XLII, the place they have been closely favored in opposition to the New York Giants.
However that solely set the stage for one of many best upsets in NFL historical past. Late within the fourth quarter and trailing 14-10, Giants quarterback Eli Manning and huge receiver David Tyree related on the “helmet catch,” one of many best performs in NFL historical past. The play arrange a Plaxico Burress game-winning landing, denying the Pats their good season.
Each NFL season, when the final undefeated group loses, the remaining residing members of the 1972 Dolphins group will pop champagne to have fun.
Ross Lewis/Getty Photographs
The Los Angeles Lakers with the NBA’s longest profitable streak: 33 video games
With a roster that includes the likes of legendary Corridor of Famers Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor and Gail Goodrich, the Lakers ripped off 33 straight regular-season wins from Nov. 5, 1971, till Jan. 7, 1972, a file that also stands greater than a half-century later.
That Lakers group completed the common season with 69 wins — additionally a file which stood for over 24 years till Michael Jordan’s 1996 Chicago Bulls broke it by going 72-10 — and delivered the Lakers their first title since they’d relocated from Minneapolis to Los Angeles in 1960.
The one group to return near breaking the 33-game profitable streak was LeBron James’ Miami Warmth in 2013, who received 27 straight video games from Feb. 3, 2013, to March 25, 2013. That Warmth group, with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, additionally received the NBA title that 12 months.
Just a few years later, Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors received 28 straight common season video games, however divided over two seasons. They received 4 video games to shut the 2014-15 season, after which one other 24 straight to open the 2015-16 season.
Heinz Kluetmeier/Sports activities Illustrated through Getty Photographs
Joe DiMaggio with MLB’s longest hitting streak: 56 video games
Baseball is a sport outlined by statistics and dominated by numbers, and few numbers are extra revered than New York Yankees centerfielder Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak in 1941.
Starting on Could 15, 1941, DiMaggio recorded successful in 56 straight video games, spanning over two months. Over the course of the streak he batted .408, had 15 residence runs and drove in 55 runs.
On July 17, 1941, in opposition to the Cleveland Indians, shortstop Lou Boudreau fielded a groundball and recorded the out that ended DiMaggio’s streak.
Within the greater than 70 years since, no participant has come near DiMaggio’s file. In 1978, the late Pete Rose had a 44-game hitting streak, and in 1987, Milwaukee Brewers infielder Paul Molitor achieved a 39-game streak.
Getty Photographs
Eric Dickerson’s NFL single-season speeding file: 2,105 yards
In 1984, in simply his second season within the league, Los Angeles Rams working again Eric Dickerson rumbled to an NFL regular-season speeding file of two,105 yards, a mark that has remarkably stood for greater than 40 years.
Over the course of the 16-game season, the Corridor of Famer averaged 131 yards per sport and had twelve 100-yard video games.
Getty Photographs
Seven working backs have since recorded 2,000-yard seasons. In 2012, Minnesota Vikings working again Adrian Peterson got here inside 9 yards of breaking Dickerson’s file, falling simply brief with 2,097 yards.
The NFL elevated the common season from 16 to 17 video games in 2021, making it extra seemingly Dickerson’s mark may sometime fall.
This previous January, Philadelphia Eagles working again Saquon Barkley went into the group’s ultimate regular-season sport sitting on 2,005 speeding yards and an opportunity to interrupt Dickerson’s file. Nonetheless, Eagles head coach Nick Siriani selected to relaxation Barkley in preparation for the playoffs. A transfer that paid off when the Eagles received the Tremendous Bowl about 5 weeks later.
UConn with the longest profitable streak in school basketball: 111 video games
Arguably, no group has eclipsed a sport fairly like UConn has eclipsed girls’s school basketball this century.
From 2000 to 2016, UConn underneath head coach Geno Auriemma received 10 of his 11 NCAA titles with the college. And starting in 2000, UConn performed in 21 of a potential 26 Remaining Fours.
However it’s the 111-game profitable streak that started in November 2014 and was damaged in March 2017 that’s most staggering.
In the course of the two-and-a-half 12 months profitable streak, UConn received 4 consecutive NCAA titles.
The 111-game streak, the longest in school basketball historical past, led to dramatic style within the Remaining 4 on March 31, 2017, when Mississippi State’s Morgan William hit a buzzer-beater in time beyond regulation to shock UConn 66-64. Mississippi State went on to lose within the championship sport to South Carolina.
Richard W. Rodriguez/Fort Price Star-Telegram/Tribune Information Service through Getty Photographs
And even with the loss to Mississippi State, UConn additionally had a 126-game common season streak that began in November 2014 and lasted greater than 4 years via January 2019.
UConn’s dominance underneath Auriemma has drawn comparisons to the UCLA males’s basketball group underneath John Wood, which received 10 titles in 12 seasons between 1964 and 1975. Throughout that period, UCLA had an 88-game profitable streak of its personal from 1971 to 1974.
