Russian player Alex Ovechkin becomes the top NHL scorer of all-time: 895 goals

The National Hockey League, which is recently earning a symbolic status amid tensions between United States and Canada is celebrating this season a huge milestone, as the 39-year-old player Alex Ovechkin has become the top scorer in the history of the NHL, founded in 1917. And, ironically, he is Russian...

Alex Ovechkin, legend at the Washington Capitals, scored his 895th goal last Sunday during a match between the New York Islanders, scoring over his compatriot Ilya Sorokin, Islanders' goalkeeper. He overcame the previous record holder, Wayne Gretzky, who scored his final 894th goal in 1999, when he was 38. Funnily enough, Ovechkin scored his goal exactly 45 years after Gordie Howe's final goal, who had the record before Gretzky (801 goals).

Leaving out any political implications, Ovechkin is a legend in the NHL, and has played most of his career at the Washington Capitals, since he joined in 2005 - with the exception of 2013, when he returned to his debut club, Dynamo Moscow. In all those years, he won the Stanley Cup in 2018, has been included at a first All-Star team eight times. The rest of NHL teams published messaged congratulating "the Great 8", his nickname. The league has been anticipating this moment for the whole season.

He is to NHL what LeBron James is to NBA, who recently achieved a similar landmark: nearly 40 years old and still going strong. The Capitals are the top team in the East Conference, with 49 wins and 18 defeats, and only five games remain for the play-offs.