SIMMONS SAYS: Great One has two records he believes will never be caught

Article content

Wayne Gretzky wasn’t sure the day would ever come.

Article content

Article content

Article content

He has held tightly and proudly to the multitude of records he established with pride in the National Hockey League. He knew all of them by heart.

He won the Hart Trophy nine times as league MVP. Michael Jordan won five times in the NBA.

He won the NHL scoring championship 11 times. Jordan won 10.

Jordan won more championships — six to four — but didn’t leave his original team relatively early the way Gretzky was sent to Los Angeles to change hockey forever.

Gretzky’s goal-scoring record will soon belong to Alexander Ovechkin, all alone after he scores his next goal, and Gretzky has known for some time his record was about to fall.

There are two records he believes will never be broken.

One, the 50 goals in 39 games he once scored to start a season in Edmonton. “I don’t see anyone scoring 50 goals in 38 games,” said the 64-year-old Gretzky.

Article content

Article content

Two, the all-time point leadership number isn’t being caught. Gretzky has 2,857 career points. Ovechkin has 1,618. Sidney Crosby is the closest among active players to Gretzky at 1,682.

To catch Gretzky or get anywhere close, Connor McDavid, for example, would have to play 15 more years averaging 119 points a year. Or possibly 12 more years at just under 150 points a season.

That’s not going to happen. Not the 50 in 38 games, not the 2,857 points, not the nine Hart Trophies.

From a hockey perspective, it’s fabulous that Ovechkin has caught Gretzky and that the goal-scoring record will be his, probably forever. It’s the first time a non-Canadian had held that mark.

Records are supposedly made to be broken. Some of them, anyhow. Some of Gretzky’s, still, will never be.

THIS AND THAT

We don’t talk enough about the understated brilliance of Nikita Kucherov. He is between Nathan MacKinnon and Leon Draisaitl in NHL scoring as of Saturday and should be a finalist for the Hart Trophy as most valuable player, alongside those two. For some reason, though, he doesn’t seem to get Hart attention very often. This is Kucherov’s fifth 100-point season. That ties with him with Jaromir Jagr all-time, puts him one ahead of Ovechkin and Brett Hull. The only wingers with more 100-point seasons: Mike Bossy, Jari Kurri and Guy Lafleur. Over the past three seasons, Kucherov is second in NHL scoring overall, just seven points behind McDavid. Currently, he ranks first in points per game, first in power-play points, third in even-strength points. I have made cases here and verbally for both MacKinnon and Draisaitl to win the Hart this season. The same case should be made for Tampa Bay’s Kucherov. This is first among equals at the highest level. He doesn’t get the attention Draisaitl or MacKinnon do, but those two haven’t managed 93 individual points in three consecutive playoff runs by the Lightning forward. I write down MacKinnon’s name and Draisaitl’s name and Kucherov’s name, but for a Hart ballot, I have difficulty placing one above the other. It is that close. It should be that close. And it is that dynamic … There are all kinds of reasons to admire Ovechkin and this scoring race, but the fact he asked to be left off the ice with a goalie pulled Friday night showed a respect for both the game and the record he’s about to break. He didn’t want to set the all-time mark with an empty-netter … It’s a tight race for the Hart. But not such a tight race for the Norris or Calder anymore. The injury to Quinn Hughes put Cale Makar in the driver’s seat for top defenceman and the play of Montreal defenceman Lane Hutson during a playoff race has put him in strong position to take home the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year, over sound contenders in Macklin Celebrini, Dustin Wolf and Matvei Michkov … There is something to be said for making the playoffs. The Leafs have done it nine years in a row, the most in the NHL. You know what happened the last time they made the playoffs nine years in a row? They won the Stanley Cup. In those nine seasons of a six-team NHL in the 1960s, the Leafs won four Cups, played for two others. Seems easy, right? Except in that same decade, the Bruins made the playoffs just twice, the Rangers made it four times, Detroit six out of 10 years. None won a Stanley Cup in the decade. Rangers never won a playoff round in the ’60s; Boston won one.

Article content

HERE AND THERE

There was so much talk and debate about hockey on television with Rogers signing up for 12 more seasons that I got to thinking: What if I could put together the best broadcast team for one game, never mind the network — who would be on it? So here goes, my ultimate hockey broadcast team: James Duthie, host; play-by-play: either Chris Cuthbert or Gord Miller; analyst: Ray Ferraro at ice level, Mike Johnson in the booth; between-periods panel: Duthie alongside Jeff O’Neill, Kevin Bieksa, Paul Bissonnette and Cheryl Pounder; stats man: Mike Kelly; insider: Elliotte Friedman; in-game interviews: Scott Oake and Emily Kaplan; draft expert: Bob McKenzie. Of the 14 broadcasters selected here, there’s six from TSN; four from Sportsnet/Hockey Night in Canada; two from ESPN; one from NHL Network; one from TNT … The producer for that imaginary group, the former Hockey Night giant Sherali Najak … Tip of the cap to TNT for rewarding the retiring Sam Rosen with a network game on April 9, alongside his long-time colour man John Davidson … Another quick Ovechkin story: In his first NHL season, his coach, Glen Hanlon, was having problems with the length of his shifts. This is an early kind of problem and a language-difficulty thing, too. Also sensitive because Ovechkin was scoring and had previously been the first pick in the draft. Hanlon called Ovechkin into his office, explained to him how much more effective he would be if he played shorter shifts, and he wasn’t sure how it went. “That could have been a disaster,” said George McPhee, then-general manager in Washington. “But Ovi said the coach did the right thing: ‘I have no problem with it.’ He later walked down to the coach’s office and apologized and said it wouldn’t happen again.” It did happen on occasion over the years — but mostly on power plays. Ovechkin was much more coachable than most have given him credit for being … And one more Ovi thing: “Watch the great players in hockey,” said McPhee, “they love to shoot when they get chances. But they don’t always hit the net. I know it’s happened, but I don’t remember Alex shooting wide or high. It sounds simple, but he has that remarkable skill. He rarely if ever missed the net.” … The great bird-dog Rick Dudley, one of most respected scouts in history, said this of Ovechkin before he played an NHL game: “He’s the best player I’ve ever scouted.”

Article content

SCENE AND HEARD

The timing couldn’t be missed. Bell/TSN wound up without NHL hockey on a national scale for the next 12 months and its leader, the highly regarded Stewart Johnston, left the company to become commissioner of the Canadian Football League. Johnston oversaw an incredible run of financial and programming success and growth at TSN. The best part about being CFL commissioner: You don’t have big shoes to fill … Trivia question: Name the last great CFL commissioner. Answer: There hasn’t been one … I can’t believe the Aaron Judge of this early season was the same Aaron Judge who couldn’t hit a lick in the World Series last October. Judge is mashing in the early season, already with six home runs, 17 RBI and 12 runs scored. He’s paid $40 million a year, give or take a dollar for doing this … I’d rather see Vladimir Guerrero Jr. start mashing himself rather than discuss how much more or less than $500 million the Blue Jays will pay him. He will be overpaid the minute he signs in Toronto or anywhere else. He’s a great hitter, but he’s not Judge, not Shohei Ohtani, not Juan Soto … Historically, the Blue Jays do so much of their ticket-selling in the off-season, and this was not a strong off-season for the Jays. That’s why attendance in home games two to seven thus far have been below attendance compared to the same games a year ago … Should the Jays continue to stay in contention in the American League East, they’ll start to draw better come summertime. But if they can’t keep up their fast start, expect a profound attendance drop this season … You can have one or two of Ernie Clement, Will Wagner, Davis Schneider, Nathan Lukes, Alan Roden and Myles Straw on your Major League roster, but certainly you can’t have six of them the way the Blue Jays currently do … Essay question: George Springer’s fast start — real, spectacular or just an illusion? … The rookie pitcher Roki Sasaki introduced himself to the big leagues with his first four pitches clocked at 100, 100, 100 and 101 m.p.h. That was the good. What’s been not so good? His first two starts with the Dodgers. He could find himself in the minors before long … Is this the worst start of Alex Anthopoulos’ big-league career? His Atlanta Braves are struggling through injuries, a player suspension, a lack of performance. They have the worst record in baseball, 1-7 into the season’s second week. Braves have made the playoffs seven years in a row. By comparison, the Blue Jays have made the playoffs seven times in the past 32 years, four of them as wild-card teams … You know who’s not surprised that Max Scherzer is on the injured list with a thumb problem this early in the season? The Texas Rangers. They had Scherzer for two seasons. He started just 17 games for them.

Article content

AND ANOTHER THING

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is five games away from becoming the first Canadian in NBA history to lead the league in scoring. He’s averaging 32.6 points per game. The five highest-scoring seasons for any Canadian in the NBA have been Gilgeous-Alexander’s last five seasons. Behind him: Andrew Wiggins, Jamal Murray and RJ Barrett … Oklahoma City has a record of 64-13 this season. That should be a contributing factor in winning Gilgeous-Alexander his first MVP award, the second Canadian behind Steve Nash to do that … The Raptors continue to set the bar rather low, with the apparent news they will be retiring Chris Bosh’s number. For the record, he won three playoff games as a Raptor. What exactly is the criteria for jersey retirement here? … According to Forbes magazine, sports magnate Larry Tanenbaum is the 37th-wealthiest man in Canada. Just ahead of him on the list, Edmonton Oilers owner Daryl Katz and Calgary Flames owner Murray Edwards … There should be some kind of award for Aliaksei Protas: Best player nobody has ever heard of or could pick out of a lineup. He’s scored 30 goals with Ovechkin’s Washington Capitals and is plus-40 in his fourth NHL season … It’s sure looking like a Battle of Ontario in the playoffs, Leafs versus the Ottawa Senators. If that happens, you’ll get Florida-Tampa Bay in the first round as well, and maybe Montreal-Washington. That’s just in the East. The West will feature Dallas-Colorado in Round 1 and, once again, Edmonton-Los Angeles. Lots to chew on here … This has been a relatively quiet season for McDavid, considering he scored 42 points in the Stanley Cup playoffs last year. Has he been playing possum, waiting for the playoffs to explode? Might be … Happy birthday to Bo Bichette (27), Bo Horvat (30), Shaquille O’Neal (53), Matt Bonner (45), Bryan Berard (48), Hal Gill (50), Val Venus (54), Sterling Sharpe (60), Doug Favell (80), Marcus Smart (31) and Matt Boldy (24) … And hey, whatever became of Robert Reichel?

ssimmons@postmedia.com

twitter.com/simmonssteve

Article content