"They say records were made to be broken, but I'm not sure who's gonna get more goals than that," said Wayne Gretzky from the ice at the UBS Arena after Alex Ovechkin surpassed his longstanding goalscoring record on Sunday against the New York Islanders.
It was a touching moment between two of the game's all-time greats as they celebrated NHL history being made, with Gretzky passing the torch over to Ovechkin after having held the goals record for over a quarter of a century.
Ovechkin became the NHL's all-time leading goalscorer Sunday after burying No. 895 of his career to overtake Gretzky in league history. Gretzky, who was in attendance for the game, gave a short speech about what the moment means.
"I can tell you first hand, I know how hard it is to get to 894 (goals). 895 is pretty special," said Gretzky.
Have a look at the full speech below:
Wayne Gretzky's speech as he passes the torch to the NHL's newest goals King, Alex Ovechkin 🐐 pic.twitter.com/DrEiRWxZ3O
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 6, 2025
Gretzky was all class after seeing his historic achievement overtaken. There was no bitterness in his voice, as he was clearly truly delighted for Ovechkin to become the NHL's all-time leading goalscorer.
There are plenty of other Gretzky records that have yet to be, and may never be broken. There's one fewer now after Ovechkin's second-period snipe.
Gretzky retired from hockey after a legendary 1,487-game career. In game 1,487 for Ovechkin, he overtook Gretzky's record with "The Great One" himself in the building.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Wayne Gretzky Classily Congratulates Alex Ovechkin on Overtaking His NHL Goals Record.