The Top of the Mountain, 895

On April 6, 2004, the Washington Capitals drafted Alexander Ovechkin. I was eight years old at the time.

Now, at 28, he did it. He broke the unbreakable. With 895 goals, he carries the weight of being #1 atop the NHL all-time goals list. A record previously held by Wayne Gretzky who retired in 1999 with 894 goals.

I grew up with Alex Ovechkin. Not literally, but metaphorically. And it wasn't until last night that it all sunk in.

My life has revolved around hockey. Either playing it or being a fan of the game. I center my days around Washington Capitals gamedays. If the Capitals have a game that night, chances are I can't participate in whatever you're inviting me to.

I've been to dozens — if not recently crossing into triple digit — of games, collect merch like I'm building a museum, and know just about every thing there is to know about every player in the system.

The point is: I'm a Caps loyalist.

I placed my bet a couple of weeks ago and bought a ticket to the April 12, 2025 game in Columbus. I crunched the numbers, pulled out my TI-84. This was the date based on my projections.

Ovechkin had other plans.

Instead he broke it as I sat in a hotel room in Vancouver. On a two-day trip north of the border, I told Micah, my girlfriend, that we absolutely could not leave the hotel until the game was over. With an approved late checkout request from the front desk and my VPN activated, I tuned in on my laptop in the hotel bed. A testament to never missing a game.

I'd be lying if I said my fingers weren't secretly crossed, hoping he'd go cold for two games. I should have known better. It's Alex $#&@'ing Ovechkin.

Outside of being at Capital One Arena for the Cup win in 2018, this was the only time I cried about the Capitals. I think I speak for the majority of fans when I say that the day Ovechkin departs the team will be a depressing one.

At times it felt like a stretch to say that we took watching Ovechkin — every other night between October and April (and if you were lucky, June) — for advantage. But last night it didn't. It felt like I had.

We've been privileged as a fanbase to watch Ovechkin absolutely dominate for 20 straight seasons. And I mean, dominate.

When you spread his career out over a long time horizon, it's easy to take it for granted. Night in and night out, you come to expect that laser from the top of the left circle.

It's simply just what he does. It's the expectation that's been built over a 20 year period.

But yesterday it felt different. It made me realize that his domination isn't a "give-in" anymore. There's a day that it'll end. And that day is closer than any of us feel comfortable talking about.

I grew up with the Capitals and Ovechkin being synonymous. One never went without the other. To say he built hockey in Washington is an understatement.

The future, even outside of Ovechkin, is bright. The Capitals have performed an impressive retool to remain competitive while getting younger and setting the organization up for another decade of success.

That doesn't mean that there won't be a hole within the organization beyond next season.

It's been an absolute privilege to watch Ovechkin do what he's done. Even as I write this, it hasn't fully set in. But yesterday gave me an opportunity to reflect.

At the top of the year I wrote in my blog that one of my bucket list items in my 28th year was to watch Ovechkin break the record in-person.

I tried. I ran the numbers. I bought the ticket. But I made a critical mistake. I relied too much on the projections.

20 years later, you'd think I'd have learned by now to never underestimate him.