Hockey Hall of Famer and Foam Lake Saskatchewan's own Bernie Federko did not think Alexander Ovechkin could break the NHL goals record held by Wayne Gretzky.
"I did not think that would happen, I really didn't," Federko explained to The SportsCage. "I was really surprised even last year when people started talking about Ovechkin getting there. At 39 years old, I thought if he gets 15 or 20 a year, it would be a good year. But what he has done has been absolutely amazing. The fact that he was out for those games, he would probably have it already."
Ovechkin missed 16 games after suffering a fractured left fibula on November 18, 2024. He returned on December 28, 2024 against the Toronto Maple Leafs and scored an empty-net goal in a 5-2 win. His goal tally stands at 894 -- he needs one more to break the record.
"It's not broken until it's broken. I think this is probably going to be the hardest to get," Federko explained. "Certainly, he's got to be commended because I didn't think anybody was ever going to surpass what Wayne did but it looks like Ovechkin is going to get it done.”
Gretzky broke the goal record previously held by Hockey legend and Floral, Saskatchewan's own Gordie Howe on March 23, 1994, when he scored his 802nd against the Vancouver Canucks. He played for five more years in the NHL and scored his final goal on March 29, 1999 when he was with the New York Rangers. In total, Gretzky finished his NHL career with 894 goals.
"The funny part about it is that we played them a lot of times. In our day, it was really scorers against checkers," Federko recalled facing off against Gretzky.
"I did not play against Wayne an awful lot. He was the scorer, I was the scorer. I had their checking line and he had our checking line. Every once in a while, when he was killing penalties or if I on rare occasions got out to kill a penalty, we'd get out there against each other.”
Federko played in the NHL from 1976-1990. 13 of those years were with the St. Louis Blues, who selected him with the seventh overall pick in the 1976 NHL Draft. The last team Federko played with was the Detroit Red Wings.
Currently, his former team the Blues are on an 11-game winning streak.
"Whatever they're doing, they certainly want to bottle it, but it's been a strange transition," Federko said. "They went from really struggling before that Four Nations break and for whatever reason, they got their act together. They're playing with a lot of emotion and energy. They've got all four lines that are doing a great job forward checking, they're scoring goals, their defence has been really solid and the goaltending has been great."
