Cards
Collectors Poll: Who’s the greatest? Alex Ovechkin or Wayne Gretzky?
Recently on a drive home from work I tuned into a sports radio show and the host was arguing that since Alex Ovechkin has scored more goals than Wayne Gretzky that he is now the greatest hockey player of all time.
At first—and because I tuned into the broadcast mid-rant—I assumed his comment was tongue-in-cheek, but the more I continued to listen I realized he was really trying to make this case and convince his audience of such.
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His main point was that Ovechkin scored more goals during the same number of games played. I was taken aback, and then I thought, how do hobbyists view Ovechkin's place in the sport. I posted a poll on my social media accounts asking people to vote for the greatest hockey player of all time with these three choices—Gretzky, Ovechkin, or “other.”
Not surprisingly, Gretzky got 93 percent of all votes cast; Ovechkin got 4 percent; and “other” got the remaining 3 percent.
I think the 4 percent who voted for Ovechkin did the same thing as the radio host, focusing only on pucks in the net rather than looking at the complete book. Ripping one chapter out of the book and claiming you read the whole thing is obviously not telling the whole story.
So while I personally never wavered in believing that Gretzky is still the greatest hockey player to ever live, it made me take a deep dive into both players. Indulge me as I share what I discovered.
Yes, Ovi scored one more goal in the same number of games, but during that same span of games, Gretzky also had 1,963 assists to Ovi’s 724, meaning Gretzky had over 1,200 more points during the same number of games.
Both averaged over a point per game during their careers, but Gretzky averaged two points per game, which includes the time span in his later years when his play started to drop off. Gretzky scored 73 short-handed goals to Ovechkin's five, an indicator of anticipation and skating prowess.
Ovechkin took 1,500 more shots on goals to beat Gretzky by that one goal, so Gretzky's shooting percentage is much higher than Ovechkin’s. Gretzky led the NHL in points 10 times to Ovie's once.
Make no mistake, Ovechkin is an all-time great but he's definitely not on the same level as Wayne Gretzky. You want to say they're two great players, I won't disagree, but for the time being Wayne Gretzky is the greatest to ever to lace up the skates.
With that, I rest my case. Go Rangers in 2026!
— John Newman is a collector, dealer and the host of the Sports Card Nation podcast. Catch his Hobby Quick Hits on Monday and his guest interviews on Friday on your favorite podcast platform. You can reach him at sportscardnationpc@gmail.com or on Twitter at @sportscardnati1
John Newman is the host of the Sports Card Nation podcast
