Wayne Gretzky is expected to be in attendance Friday night in Washington with Alex Ovechkin two goals from tying and three from breaking the Canadian great's NHL record.
The Capitals’ game against Chicago marks the start of Gretzky joining the chase in person.
“It’s great," Ovechkin said after his team's morning skate. "He’s been supportive all the time to me. It’s a fun time right now. We’ll see what’s going to happen, but right now it’s all attention to a hockey game. It’s a pretty cool moment.”
Commissioner Gary Bettman, Ovechkin’s wife, Nastya, and Capitals owner Ted Leonsis were in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Wednesday night. Ovechkin scored his 892nd goal in that game, putting him a hat trick on home ice away from passing Gretzky's mark of 894 that long seemed unapproachable.
“It’s going to be fun," said winger Tom Wilson, who like Gretzky is from Ontario. “It’s bigger than the game right now. It’s bigger than hockey. It’s the ‘Great One.’ I mean, no one would have ever thought that would happen. The energy around this thing the whole year, it’s been second to none, and it’s been something no one’s ever gone through.”
Not at least in 31 years, since Gretzky passed “Mr. Hockey” Gordie Howe's all-time mark of 801 career goals. Gretzky is accompanying Ovechkin on the approach to 895 like Howe did for him on the way to 802 in 1994.
“The greatest player of all time is coming to follow us for however long it takes, so it’s exciting,” Capitals center Dylan Strome said. "I think Ovi and Gretzky have a pretty good relationship. And obviously the ambassador that he’s been for the game for as many years as he has, he does a ton for hockey and a ton for Canada, so it’s cool.”
The anticipation is building around hockey for what's being billed the “GR8 chase,” and Gretzky being in the building is the latest piece of that.
“It just shows you how close the players are in the game and how much respect there is between both of them,” said retired defenseman Jason Demers, an NHL Network analyst who will also be at the game with “NHL Live” moving on site for the occasion. “Having Wayne be there and support Ovechkin, who’s going to basically break his record and take him out of the record books, I know he’s got 20 or 30 more of them, but it’s just wild to think about the support that guys have for one another, and that’s what makes our sport so great.”
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL
