I Dig Sports
LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. This ones 4JO.
The USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship and Indianas Lawrenceburg Speedway race on in the memory of the 2022 track champion this Saturday night, April 12, with the second running of the Justin Owen Memorial.
The event honors the life and memory of the driver who died in a qualifying crash during the April 2023 USAC event at Lawrenceburg.
The 26-year-old Owen was the 2022 sprint car track champion at Lawrenceburg, scoring two feature wins en route to the title at the three-eighths-mile dirt oval in southeastern Indiana where hed long been a regular competitor for the past several seasons.
Among his greatest achievements were a victory in the season-closing Dick Gaines Memorial at Lawrenceburg in 2022. With USAC, Owen made two feature starts, both at Lawrenceburg in 2019 and 2021.
For Saturday, $6,000 has been added to the purse courtesy of friends, family, sponsors, donations and t-shirt sales. Among the rewards are a $1204 bonus which will be awarded to the feature hard charger. Additionally, $604 is up for grabs to the first non-transfer in the semi-feature.
Furthermore, a $404 bonus will be awarded to the driver with the second fastest hot lap time, and $404 more will go to the second fastest qualifier. Plus, $264 more will go to fourth place in the feature while $26 extra will be awarded to the fourth-place finisher in each heat race.
For the longest time, Lawrenceburgs Spring USAC National Sprint Car event had the distinction of producing a different winner each year between 2006 and 2023: Jon Stanbrough (2006), Levi Jones (2007), Josh Wise (2009), Jerry Coons Jr. (2010), Kevin Thomas Jr. (2013), Justin Grant (2014), Logan Jarrett (2015), Dave Darland (2016), Chris Windom (2017) and Brady Bacon (2021).
But in 2024, Kevin Thomas Jr. put an end to that streak by becoming the first two-time Spring Lawrenceburg victor after also scoring in 2013.
At this time a year ago, it was the Cullman, Alabama drivers first win after joining Rock Steady Racing. Now, after a bit of an inauspicious start with a best finish of 8th through the first six rounds of the 2025 season, Thomas looks to break through at the same place of his breakthrough nearly 365 days ago.
Dave Darland holds the all-time record of USAC National Sprint Car wins at Lawrenceburg with seven between 1998 and 2016.
Two drivers in this Saturdays field have an opportunity to equal Darlands longstanding record. Justin Grant and Kevin Thomas Jr. currently possess six victories apiece.
Grant won his very first USAC feature victory at Lawrenceburg in 2012, and since then, has reeled off additional wins in 2014, 2018, 2019 and twice in 2023. Thomas, meanwhile, has added six, starting with two in 2013, plus one each in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2024.
Briggs Danner very well couldve won all three of his USAC National Sprint Car starts at Lawrenceburg in 2024.
In Julys Indiana Sprint Week round, the Allentown, Pennsylvania racer led a total of nine laps and was running in the number one spot with 12 laps to go under caution when an engine issue sent him to the sideline.
In Octobers Greg Staab Memorial, Danner led the final two laps after misfortune befell Mitchel Moles in a similar manner, leading to Danners victory. The following night, Danner started on the outside of the front row of the feature and carried the lead into turn one where he endured a vicious flip that ended his weekend early.
Danner is making his first run at a USAC National Sprint Car title in 2025, and another big win at The Burg could really jumpstart their quest as the season gets into full swing.
The familiar colors and number of the Hoffman Auto Racing / Dynamics Inc. team will return throughout the 2025 season in a different form as a sponsor of Nick Bilbees racing operation.
Bilbee was contacted during the offseason by Tom Hoffman, and he expressed interest in putting a deal together with Bilbee to keep the Hoffman family No. 69 on track after Brady Bacons departure at the end of the 2024 campaign.
The Hoffman team is synonymous with success in USAC National Sprint Car racing, amassing 140 feature wins and 13 entrant championships over the years. Dave Darland, Jon Stanbrough, Jerry Coons Jr. and Bacon have collected a total eight Lawrenceburg USAC Sprint Car wins between 1998-2021.
Bilbee considers Lawrenceburg his home track, having tallied four sprint car championships at the venue in 2020, 2021, 2023 and 2024. In the 2024 Spring USAC race at The Burg, he finished a solid 10th in the feature.
Mitchel Moles is due for some good fortune when it comes to Lawrenceburg Speedway after several close encounters one year ago.
In Julys Indiana Sprint Week round, Moles was set to take off from the outside of the front row. However, while the field was on its pace laps and getting ready to go green, Moles pulled off to the Indy Metal Finishing Work Area due to a broken mag box. Relegated to the tail of the field for the start, Moles made a nice recovery by working himself all the way up to a seventh-place finish.
In October, he led the first 29 laps of the 30-lap feature, and just as he was within reach of the checkered flag, the caution flag was displayed due to an incident elsewhere on the track. Under caution, Moles was forced to pull off track again. This time, as his engines RPMs suddenly rose, Moles wore out his brakes just trying to keep his car whoad down under yellow, thus handing over the victory once more.
The following night during Octobers $20,000-to-win Fall Nationals, Moles led the opening lap and ran second.
COLUMBUS, Ind. Gunnar Setser is taking his racing career to new heights, with the 16-year-old Columbus, Indiana, native announcing his intent to compete for the USAC AMSOIL Sprint Car National Championship.
Setser has teamed with KO Motorsports and Midwest Tube Mills for what promises to be an exciting and ambitious season, with over 50 events already slated on his expanding schedule.
I couldnt be more excited for this next step in my racing journey, he said. Im incredibly thankful to Kent and Brian for this opportunity. Weve had a few solid outings in Florida that went well, and those experiences have definitely boosted my confidence heading into my rookie season on tour.
He also acknowledged a longtime supporter who has played a pivotal role in his development.
I have to give a special thanks to Rick Russell at Midwest Tube Mills. Rick has supported me throughout my entire career and has always believed in me. I truly wouldnt be where I am today without his backing.
As mentioned, Setser enters this season having already gained valuable seat time in the KO Motorsports No. 5g Sprint Car. The driver recently competed with the team in USACs Winter Dirt Games in February, racing at two Florida tracks.
The youngster, who just recently obtained his drivers license in Indiana, joins the team with a wide racing background across various divisions. With experience in micro sprints, midgets and winged 360 sprint cars, he has proven his versatility on the track at a young age.
Earlier this season, Setser captured attention at the 39th annual Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, Okla. While his hopes of qualifying for Saturdays main event ultimately fell short, he scored a fifth-place finish during his preliminary night on Tuesday and earned the Chili Bowl National Rookie of the Year honors.
Ive always embraced a challenge, Setser said. Ive been racing Junior Sprints since 2018 and my drive to move up the ranks has never been stronger. Competing full-time with USAC in a Non-Wing Sprint Car is a major step forward in my career, and Im thrilled for the opportunity.
LAS VEGAS Three-time NHRA Funny Car world champion Ron Capps plans to expand his team in 2026, adding a second car and driver to his Ron Capps Motorsports operation.
As Capps has hinted at for months, he confirmed Thursday that rising star Maddi Gordon will pilot a Top Fuel dragster for the RCM team next year and beyond. Gordon is a third-generation drag racer who has been making a name for herself thanks to her outstanding performance serving in dual roles as both driver and crew member on her familys Top Alcohol Funny Car.
To commemorate this partnership, Gordon will warm up Cappss NAPA Auto Care Toyota GR Supra this weekend during the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
In her first year of driving the Alcohol car, Gordon became the 100th woman in NHRA history to win a national event. She also nabbed three regional wins in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, finishing second in national points, an impressive season that even most veteran drag racers would envy.
So far in 2025, Gordon, who is responsible for the clutch and jumps in to assist with engine work when needed, sits third in national points and has already captured a regional win in Phoenix.
This has been in the works for a while now, remarked Capps, a 31-year nitro pilot. When Snake (Don Prudhomme) brought me up to the pros, I was lucky enough to be given that shot despite not already having a sponsor attached. Its rare, these days, for funding not to be part of the equation, especially when youre building a new team. We wanted to do it backward where we wanted to pick somebody who we thought would be great and then come in from the other angle and find sponsors, where its usually the opposite.
I want to give someone a chance like Snake gave me a chance. Were going to build this program around Maddi. Shes crazy talented and shes a hard worker, and at 20 years old, we expect her to have a long career out here. Shes a great representative of the next crop of NHRA drag racers.
While Gordons sponsors, along with her crew chief, will not be announced until later this year, Capps says that NAPA is focused on bringing more women into the auto care space.
NAPA is really recruiting more women into auto care and mechanics. Maddi is a great example of what can happen when women take the wheel, so to speak. I mentioned several years ago at a NAPA conference, that I would like to put a girl in a car, and instantly the women in the audience sat up a little straighter and several wanted to speak with me about it right away, even though it was just an off-the-cuff remark. Thats when it kind of started.
Theres a global push right now to encourage women in the STEM fields and to recognize female athletes. We have women who arent just in the sport, they win in this sport. And they use science, technology, engineering, and math to accomplish their goals. Maddi is a great spokesperson for that.
For Gordon, competing in Top Fuel was something she never dared to wish for. Im very goal-oriented, she said. When I set goals, I plan to reach them. So, I had my sights set on running in alcohol. That was my dream, really, because I thought that was possibly something that could happen. I might be able to get there. Competing as a professional was never something I even thought about because I dont come from a background where I know I can just easily bring a few million dollars to the table. Racing in the pro ranks never seemed attainable to me.
When Gordon earned her Top Alcohol Funny Car license in 2023, Capps was one of the drivers who signed off on the paperwork. It was a milestone moment for the enthusiastic young up-and-comer who is scheduled to run the full slate of NHRA Mission Foods Series events during her rookie season as a Top Fuel pilot.
I was in awe the whole time, Gordon recalled as she reminisced about getting her license. I dont even know if Ron would remember this or if it even meant anything at the time, but he said, You have a very bright future in this sport. There are big things to come. I couldnt believe it! I mean, this is my lifetime dream right here. I had no idea it would turn out where he would want me to drive for him professionally one day.
LONG BEACH, Calif. The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship has a long, memorable history of racing in the streets, ranging from Miami to Del Mar, San Antonio to Detroit, Nova Scotia to Australia.
Bicentennial Parks streets played host to a two-time Formula 1 World Champion coming out of retirement to race in 1983 in IMSAs Grand Prix of Miami, setting the stage for a glorious second act to his legendary career. You may have heard of him: Emerson Fittipaldi.
And it was Scotlands Allan McNish (driving with a strained back he injured whilst stepping out of kilt during a pre-race photo shoot) who teamed with Rinaldo Dindo Capello and Brad Jones to win IMSAs first and only race Down Under on the streets of Adelaide.
This weekend the WeatherTech Championship returns to North Americas most iconic street race, the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, to write a new chapter in a legacy dating to the early 1990s when IMSA GTO and GTU competitors first blasted down Shoreline Drive and along Seaside Way. In the intervening years, a veritable cornucopia of IMSAs prototype and production sports car-based categories have competed at Long Beach, with this years entry list featuring the Grand Touring Prototype and GT Daytona classes and 11 manufacturers represented across 27 entries.
Strategy Rules
Several factors conspire to make Long Beach one of the most strategic races on the WeatherTech Championship calendar. With these cars unleashed on the 11-turn, 1.968-mile circuit where track limits are generally concrete walls and the exotic GTP machines struggle to average 100 mph lap times, on-track overtaking is a premium. Then theres the one pit stop, which makes fuel filling and tire choice a gamble, all while getting the driver change done, to create the high-speed chess match.
Its a different dynamic of racing, says Felipe Nasr, who with Nick Tandy seeks their third straight win to start 2025 in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963. Its a one way forward to take in the race in terms of strategy. You only have the one pit stop to face.
While going the distance on one set of tires has lately been the key to victory, there are no guarantees that will be the case this year.
We have ideas, Nasr continues, but it always depends on track level, grip level and the degradation. And the out laps. If its best to keep the warm set, versus changing. Or where youre at in the race. That makes a huge percentage on the decision.
Renger van der Zande, who shares the No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-06 with Nick Yelloly, said the cat is basically out of the bag now on no-tire changes since its been the winning move the last two years.
The shine is off that move, lets put it that way. I think its the move, says the two-time and defending Long Beach overall winner.
It still needs to fit in the whole picture because we dont know how the tire wear is gonna be this year. Its gonna be reasonably warm, but not super warm. You cant say from whats gonna be the strategy, but the strategy is gonna be making the right call on the right moment.
Getting the driver change done as quickly as possible means more here too, as last years GTD class winner Parker Thompson explained.
Obviously the start of the IMSA season youve got Daytona and youve got Sebring, which are theoretically two of the longest pit stops that we do throughout the year just because youre doing full fills basically, and if youre not doing full fills, youre trying to top up the energy anyway, so really, youre sitting there for 40 to 50 seconds, said the Canadian, who shares his No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 with Jack Hawksworth.
The first sprint race of the season is our shortest pit stop of the year. You have to comfortably be able to do pit stops, and I would say at the lowest 12 seconds, so thats 12 seconds of getting a guy thats 58 out and then a guy thats over 6 in comfortably buckled in and ready to go.
Wicky Bobby
The inestimable Robert Wickens (sometimes called Wicky Bobby in deference to Will Ferrells Ricky Bobby in 2006s Talladega Nights: the Ballad of Ricky Bobby) is making his first GTD start aboard the specially equipped No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R.
With Pratt Miller-developed hand controls and Boschs EBS (electronic braking system), Wickens prepares to author his latest chapter to his comeback story since his 2018 accident in an IndyCar race. After testing at Sebring, the 2023 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge Touring Car champion was impressed with the Bosch EBS systems integration into the Corvette.
The biggest takeaway (from the test) is that it feels like the Bosch EBS and the hand-control system developed by Pratt Miller belongs in the car. There hasnt been a single hiccup, Wickens explains. The first run with the system, if that was all I had and there was no tunability I wouldnt have been upset about it. We started off in such a great window where I just got to figure out the race car.
Among the challenges of figuring out the Corvette were coming to grips with a state-of-the-art traction control system for the first time.
The biggest thing for me is understanding the traction control system thats in this Corvette Z06 GT3.R because I havent really felt traction control for all of my career, he says. Ive done some testing in GT3 from my times at Mercedes and some other stuff in a couple of other race cars here and there. But in terms of extracting lap times from a proper traction control system and all the aids and assists that we have inside the car (Im) still trying to understand kind of what makes it click, because when Im applying the throttle, my resolution is not spot on yet.
Wickens heads in with both a flexible frame of mind and a four-time Long Beach-winning co-driver. Tommy Milner joins the DXDT IMSA lineup with the GTD PRO category off this race.
Memories
When a racing series has been a part of an iconic event for as long as IMSA has been on the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach schedule, the result is a flood of great memories.
Its featured trading paint (and body parts) from IMSAs Long Beach debut in 1990. It witnessed a giant-killing top-six overall sweep by Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) cars in 2007, led by a Penske Porsche RS Spyder. Its seen last-lap passes, such as Simon Pagenaud on Adrian Fernandez in 2010. And its seen several recent three-peats: Corvette Racing in GT1 from 2007 to 2009, the Brothers Taylor overall in both DP and DPi from 2015 to 2017 and Paul Miller Racings Madison Snow and Bryan Sellers in GTD from 2021 to 2023.
Sebastien Bourdais Long Beach stardom shifted from Champ Cars to sports cars when in 2022, the Frenchman put a new twist on the adage if you cant win be spectacular by winning in spectacular fashion. He stormed back from a mid-race miscue to erase a 21-second deficit and grab the overall victory co-driving with van der Zande.
The last two years, age-old rivals and cagey riverboat gamblers Roger Penske and Chip Ganassi and their strategists drew inside straights and went the distance on a single set of Michelin tires. Meanwhile Vasser Sullivan Racing started a winning streak of its own with successive GTD PRO and GTD wins in their Lexus RC F GT3s.
Will Vasser Sullivan collect a three-fer of its own this year? Will one or two sets of tires be the ticket to the overall win for a third consecutive year? The only sure thing is that Saturdays 100 minutes of Southern California is destined to add a few more great memories to IMSAs rich legacy on the streets of Long Beach.
DENVER -- Nathan MacKinnon is tied for the league lead with 116 points and three games to go in the regular season. That may be the total he winds up with, too.
The Colorado Avalanche forward will sit out against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night, marking the first game he has missed this season. He may also be sidelined this weekend for the final two regular-season games as a way to rest and heal up for the playoffs.
Asked if MacKinnon, who has appeared in 209 straight games, was out purely for rest purposes, coach Jared Bednar said, "He's dealing with something too. You get to this point in the year, all these guys are dealing with something."
It's been a lot of hockey for MacKinnon, who was the MVP in helping Canada win the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament. The fast-flying forward has 32 goals and 84 assists this season as he makes a case to win a second straight MVP title. He is tied with Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov for the most points.
The 29-year-old MacKinnon was the first skater to reach 30, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 and 110 points this season.
"He's such a valuable player," defenseman Cale Makar said. "Every single day, what he brings to our team is pretty incredible. In my mind, he's a runaway [MVP winner]."
MacKinnon isn't the only player sitting out against the Canucks. The Avalanche also will be without defensemen Ryan Lindgren (upper body), Josh Manson (upper body) and forward Jonathan Drouin (upper body).
Meanwhile, up the road in Loveland, Colorado, captain Gabriel Landeskog has joined the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League on a minor league conditioning assignment. He could play with the Eagles on Friday or Saturday -- maybe both -- in his comeback bid after nearly three years without playing an NHL game. A knee injury and subsequent surgeries have sidelined Landeskog since he helped the Avalanche win the Stanley Cup in 2022.
Landeskog could be activated for Game 1 of Colorado's first-round playoff series if the conditioning assignment and additional practices go well. The Avalanche will enter the postseason as no worse than the Central Division's No. 3 seed.
"The more excited he gets about a return, the more excited I get," Bednar said. "Because I know there's been lots of peaks and valleys.
"When you're talking about mental toughness, resilience, the work ethic that it takes to go through what he's gone through and have all those ups and downs and peaks and valleys along his recovery to get to the point where it's possible he could play, that's pretty exciting."
Landeskog's teammates feel the same way.
"Everybody wants him to be able to come back from this and succeed," Makar said. "Everybody's rooting for him in here."
The Pittsburgh Penguins have ruled out promising rookie winger Rutger McGroarty and four other players due to injuries with three games remaining in their season.
Pittsburgh (32-35-12, 76 points), which has been eliminated from postseason contention, announced Thursday that McGroarty (lower-body injury) and forwards Tommy Novak (lower body), Blake Lizotte (undisclosed), Noel Acciari (undisclosed) and Matt Nieto (undisclosed) will be sidelined.
The Penguins have games on Friday at New Jersey and at home on Sunday against Boston and April 17 against Washington.
McGroarty missed practice Thursday after taking a shot off his left skate during Pittsburgh's 5-0 victory over the visiting Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.
McGroarty, who turned 21 on March 30, has one goal and two assists while averaging 14:37 of ice time in eight games. He was playing on the first forward line with superstar center Sidney Crosby.
The Winnipeg Jets selected McGroarty 14th overall in the 2022 NHL draft and traded him to Pittsburgh in August 2024 for forward Brayden Yager.
"It's disappointing because he was playing real well and we thought it was a great experience for him to get NHL games," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said.
McGroarty could heal in time to be sent back to the franchise's AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, for a playoff run. He had 14 goals and 25 assists in 60 games with the AHL squad.
"We're hopeful that Rutger's injury will come around," Sullivan said. "We're hopeful that Wilkes-Barre will play long enough that he has an opportunity to help them continue to have success down there. That's an important experience for him as well."
Acciari, 33, has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in 79 games this season. Lizotte, 27, has 20 points (11 goals, nine assists) in 59 games. Nieto, 32, has one goal and two assists with 20 blocks and 39 hits in 32 games.
Novak, 27, appeared in two games since the Penguins acquired him from Nashville on March 5. He collected 22 points (13 goals, nine assists) in 52 games with the Predators.
Pittsburgh recalled forwards Vasily Ponomarev, Emil Bemstrom and Valtteri Puustinen from the AHL on an emergency basis.
LAS VEGAS -- Center Tomas Hertl was expected back in the lineup for the Vegas Golden Knights for Thursday night's game against the Seattle Kraken.
Hertl was injured March 23 when he was slammed into the boards by Tampa Bay defenseman Emil Lilleberg in the Golden Knights' 4-2 victory over the Lightning.
"It's nice to be with the guys again and be part of the team," Hertl said after Thursday's morning skate. "It wasn't a long time, thank God. It was taken care of in two weeks, so I feel lucky."
Hertl led Vegas with 31 goals at the time of his injury. Pavel Dorofeyev has since taken the team lead with 33 goals.
The Golden Knights particularly missed Hertl on the power play. He set the club's single-season record with 14 goals with the man advantage before sustaining an upper-body injury, with Dorofeyev just one behind.
Vegas' power play had been the NHL's best, converting on more than 30% of its chances. The Golden Knights have failed to score on their last 10 power plays, covering five games.
"We miss his interior presence there," coach Bruce Cassidy said. "Offensively, I thought even 5-on-5 he was doing a really good job with [Dorofeyev]. They really had chemistry and [Brandon Saad]. That line can hopefully recapture where they were, and I thought they were playing really well defensively."
Cassidy said Jack Eichel (upper-body injury) and defenseman Alex Pietrangelo will not play for the second straight game. Nicolas Hague will return from a one-game absence because of an illness that Cassidy said has been prevalent on the team.
'That's just Ovi': How a true original set a goal-scoring record
NEW YORK -- After Alex Ovechkin scored his NHL record-breaking 895th goal -- in vintage Ovechkin fashion, from his "office," on an old-school wrist shot -- he skated to center ice and belly flopped.
The celebration, the Washington Capitals captain said, was unplanned.
"Ice was bad today," he explained. "I fell."
Carolina Hurricanes at Washington Capitals, 7:30 ET on ESPN+/Hulu
After the iconic moment, Ovechkin's teammates swarmed him. The late-season game between the Capitals and New York Islanders paused for 25 minutes for an on-ice ceremony. Wayne Gretzky, the legend whom Ovechkin passed, made his way down; the Hall of Famer graciously followed the 39-year-old from one arena to the next as he closed in on his record, fulfilling a promise to be the first person to shake Ovechkin's hand afterward -- just as Gordie Howe, the previous record holder, had done for Gretzky in 1994.
As the league set up carpet on the ice, Ovechkin was focused on hugging each of his teammates. Ovechkin then fixated on finding his family, including his mother, wife and their two young sons. "Without them, it's basically, I don't know if I can reach this milestone," he said.
All the while, a video tribute played on the videoboard at UBS Arena on Long Island.
Those congratulating Ovechkin included a who's who of sports GOATs: Roger Federer, Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Sidney Crosby, Derek Jeter, Simone Biles, Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky.
"To be honest with you, I didn't see it," Ovechkin said. "But the boys told me that lots of great people, great athletes support me and congratulate me. It's huge."
As teammate Tom Wilson said earlier in the week, the attention on Ovechkin was unparalleled for their sport. "To try to think about what he's going through, the pressure, the entire game of hockey is on his shoulders right now. It's bigger than hockey," Wilson said. "And for him to handle that, to perform, to lead the top team in the league and still be such a fun teammate, it's really remarkable."
It's what makes Ovechkin, the NHL's new all-time leader in goals, a true original -- and perhaps the last man who will ever hold the title.
"They say records were meant to be broken," Gretzky told the crowd. "But I'm not sure who's going to get more goals than that."
WHEN GRETZKY ECLIPSED Howe's mark 31 years ago, many around the sport believed that was it. Nobody would surpass The Great One, whose stat line was so outlandish over a 1,487-game career, that you could take away his final goal total (894) and he'd still be the league's all-time leader in points.
Gretzky, over the years, was known to say he was sure "somebody, somewhere will come along and break it." But few people believed it, especially as the game evolved. The average goals per NHL game during Gretzky's career was 6.93. Since Ovechkin's rookie season, the average is 5.72. But something was always different about Ovechkin, who was a surefire talent when the Capitals selected him No. 1 in 2004. Ovechkin scored two goals in his first NHL game and finished with 52 in his rookie season.
The "Alex Ovechkin Effect" in Washington, D.C., is undeniable. Since Ovechkin's rookie season (2005-06), hockey players in the Potomac Valley region have increased by 71%, according to USA Hockey statistics. To help meet the growing demand for access, the Caps have helped build or refurbish 14 outdoor inline rinks. Ovechkin used his platform for charity; in March he pledged a dollar amount equal to his career goal total to pediatric cancer for every goal he scored for the rest of his career.
His reach expands well past Caps fandom. Utah Hockey Club center Logan Cooley, who was born in Pittsburgh a year before Crosby's and Ovechkin's debut seasons, cites Ovechkin as his favorite player growing up. Canadiens winger Patrik Laine grew up in Finland idolizing the Russian winger. Even Minnesota Wild defenseman Brock Faber admits he owned Ovechkin jerseys growing up.
"Ever since I was a young kid playing hockey," Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews said, "he was always one of my favorite players to watch."
Perhaps the most remarkable part of Ovechkin closing in on the record was how players around the league universally cheered for him. After nearly every game this season, players have asked Ovechkin for a stick swap. Ovechkin obliges, in large part because he is a collector himself; it's believed he hopes to open a sports museum in Russia post-retirement. Ovechkin recently exchanged sticks with Sharks rookie Macklin Celebrini, who signed his stick for Ovechkin with the message: "Thanks for being a role model."
Crosby has long been pitted as Ovechkin's biggest rival; neither has won a Stanley Cup without eliminating the other. But the Penguins' captain gets emotional when talking about Ovechkin.
"That was a record probably everybody thought wouldn't be touched," Crosby said. "It's awesome for the game of hockey, and I'm loving the fact that I'm playing at this time and get to see it firsthand."
OVECHKIN WAS OFF to a torrid start this season, in which the Capitals surprisingly emerged as the top team in the league after successfully undergoing a retool on the fly. He scored 15 goals through his first 18 games before things came to a screeching halt just before Thanksgiving. The Capitals' captain had already scored twice against Utah in a Nov. 18 road game when Utah's Jack McBain cut through Washington's zone and got tangled with Ovechkin, who immediately fell to the ice.
The result: a broken left fibula. It was the first time in Ovechkin's 20-year career that he broke a bone.
"When that happened," goaltender Charlie Lindgren said, "everyone was kind of thinking to themselves whether or not it was going to be possible."
But Ovechkin is built differently. As he famously declared after avoiding injury from an errant puck in 2006: "I'm OK, Russian machine never breaks."
Within two days of the injury, Ovechkin rid himself of the walking boot. (The fibula doesn't take on a substantial weight-bearing load.) Soon after, he was skating. Ovechkin remained around the team, getting electric stimulation to help with blood flow, and just had to wait it out until the bone healed enough to sustain contact.
Ovechkin returned just after Christmas, scoring in each of his first two games back, naturally.
Ovechkin's unorthodox habits -- in an age when many elite athletes view their body as a temple -- have become legendary. Before arriving at the team plane for a road trip, Ovechkin always stops at the same Subway where he orders a spicy Italian footlong and Flaming Hot Cheetos. When the Capitals arrive at road arenas, there's a request that the No. 8 water bottles on the bench be filled with Coke or Pepsi, whichever the arena has a deal with. His home pregame meal is a heavy one: a chicken parm and pasta Alfredo combination from a local joint, Mamma Lucia's.
Ovechkin won't be the first or last player in the gym, and he's judicious about how much time he spends on the ice.
"At this point in his career, he knows exactly what he needs to do to get himself ready," said his locker mate, Nic Dowd, who explained the two keep opposite hours. "A lot of it is mental. And it's hard to argue against the results."
ANYONE WHO FOLLOWS the NHL has been keenly aware of Ovechkin's chase for Gretzky's record. What many fans don't know: the details that allow Ovechkin to thrive.
He's a gear nerd. It's not a secret that Ovechkin is an equipment free agent right now. Most players have deals with CCM, Bauer, Sherwood or True hockey. Last season, Ovechkin toyed with a few different sticks until he found a custom model around All-Star Weekend. Since switching to the new stick -- which is wrapped in black, with no logos -- Ovechkin has scored 64 goals in 96 games.
Capitals coach Spencer Carbery has made an intentional effort to put Ovechkin in better positions to thrive. Ovechkin's ice time was reduced to under 18 minutes per game this season for the first time in his career. He cut his 4-on-4 play, has sometimes swapped him from left to right wing, and gives him more shifts in the offensive zone.
"It's about quality shifts, not quantity," Carbery said. "And with O, if you present him the information, if you explain here's why we're doing this and here's how it will help you and the team, he always buys in. That's never an issue."
The one nonnegotiable: Ovechkin isn't missing any ice time during the two minutes the Caps are on the power play. Ovechkin has been on the ice for 97.3% of the Caps' power-play time this season. Only four other players are in the 80% range or higher: Nikita Kucherov, Nathan MacKinnon, Leon Draisaitl and Quinn Hughes.
Ovechkin is not resented in the locker room because he is emphatic about being a good teammate.
"It really feels like he gets more excited, or just as excited for our goals than his goals," said Dylan Strome, who assisted on No. 895. "He's always keeping the mood light, with all of his pregame routines, handshakes with guys in the tunnel, screaming in the locker room. He's very consistent like that."
When rookie Aliaksei Protas was first called up, he needed to return to the farm club in Hershey, Pennsylvania, to retrieve some personal items on an off day. And he needed to borrow one of his teammates' cars.
"The big man come up to me, and first he is mad because I asked [Evgeny Kuznetsov], and he said, 'Why didn't [you] come to me straight?'" Protas recalled.
Ovechkin loaned Protas his car. "He told me to keep it for a few months," Protas said.
Washington signed its top prospect, Ryan Leonard, on March 31, the day before the Caps played in Boston. Ovechkin texted Leonard, the Boston College star who was already in town, and invited him to a sushi dinner that night with a few teammates. Afterward, Leonard told Ovechkin a few of his buddies would love to meet him, and they knew just the spot. So the night before Ovechkin scored No. 891, he was drinking a beer at Circle Tavern, a bar near the BC campus.
"Everywhere we go lately, it's been rock-star stuff the second he walks into a room, people grab their phones," Wilson said. "And he doesn't get fazed by it at all. He'll go out walking in a Canadian city, doesn't care who recognizes him. Will stop for fans. Most guys aren't like that. But that's just Ovi."
ON THE DAY Ovechkin tied Gretzky's record, there was an aura surrounding him. He was smiling and laughing as he came off the ice. He was most excited to see his former Stanley Cup-winning teammates, such as Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie and Braden Holtby, who were being honored later that night as part of the Capitals' 50th anniversary celebration.
Backstrom and Ovechkin have always been instinctively linked, with the Swedish center assisting on more of his goals (279) than any other player. Backstrom (hip) and Oshie (back) have not had the same injury luck as Ovechkin. Both are still under contract but sidelined on long-term injured reserve, probably for the remainder of their careers. Ovechkin acknowledged both players in his on-ice speech.
"There's not many instances where someone has openly, in one instance or another, kind of thanked me in front of the world," Oshie said. "So in that moment, I kind of assumed and knew that 'Backy' was going to get a shoutout. They go hand in hand and their bond is like no other of two teammates that I've seen. But for him to call my name in that moment was incredibly special and, honestly, very emotional for me inside to have him mention and give me a little shoutout during the biggest accomplishment that the world of hockey has seen in a very long time."
Now, everyone wonders whether there could be another moment like this. As for Ovechkin's personal goals, he has been very coy. Though he once famously told ESPN's Linda Cohn he'd retire as soon as he broke Gretzky's record, that's not a foregone conclusion. Ovechkin is under contract for one more season for $9.5 million. He'd love to win another Stanley Cup, and this Washington team has proved capable.
The next question is: Will anyone come for Ovi's record? Should Ovechkin play next season then retire, ESPN Research projects he will finish with 937 career goals. At his current goals pace (0.64 per game), it would take Matthews 848 games to surpass it; that puts him 11 seasons away. For Draisaitl (0.51), the projection is 1,066 games (13 seasons). David Pastrnak (0.52) and Connor McDavid (0.51) are each projected to get there in 14 seasons.
Perhaps, they -- or someone else -- will get there one day. But for the foreseeable future, that record belongs to Ovechkin.
"This is something crazy. I'm probably going to need a couple more days. Maybe a couple weeks to realize what it means to be No. 1," Ovechkin said Sunday. "All I can say, I'm very proud. I'm very proud for myself. I'm really proud for my family, for all my teammates, that helped me to reach that milestone, and for all my coaches. It's huge. It's an unbelievable moment."
Castellanos: 'Uncertainty' over travel ban 'scary'
Portland Thorns and Venezuela women's national team forward Deyna Castellanos said she does not know when it will be safe for her to travel outside of the United States due to uncertainty around potential travel bans to the United States for dozens of countries, including Venezuela.
"The uncertainty of like, yeah, I can go home but not knowing if I can come back is something that is very scary, not just for me but players across the league," Castellanos told reporters on Wednesday.
ESPN first reported last week that Castellanos did not travel to Venezuela for a recent pair of national team games against Panama due to a lack of clarity around the United States' new potential travel bans.
"It was very sad I couldn't go with the national team, but I think it was the right decision for me to stay and just keep training and growing here -- but mainly to be able to stay and keep playing here in the U.S.," she said on Wednesday.
Venezuela was reportedly listed on the highest level of potential travel bans proposed from the Trump administrator, but the plan, along with a potential list of countries, is not yet finalized.
Several of the NWSL's international players stayed with their clubs during the recently concluded FIFA window due to the proposed travel bans.
Four of Zambia's top players compete in the NWSL, but they stayed in the U.S. instead of joining their national team in China this month. Those players were: Orlando Pride trio Barbra Banda, Prisca Chilufya and Grace Chanda, along with Bay FC forward Racheal Kundananji
Zambian FA general secretary Reuben Kamanga said last week that "recently introduced measures" prevented the players from traveling, but that they "will definitely be available" for future international duty.
The next women's FIFA international window begins in late May.
There are continental championships being staged this summer in Africa, Europe, Oceania and South America.
"I've worked in professional sports for decades, and I think there's many times in our history where the professional sports leagues, depending on what policy discussions are going on, use that as an opportunity to convene and educate about how decisions that are being made impact our business," NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman told ESPN.
"That's what we'll continue to do in order to be prepared and ensure that we're set up to support our athletes and our business."
Potential U.S. travel bans could cause problems for soccer leagues and events beyond the NWSL.
The U.S. will host two significant international men's tournaments this summer: the Concacaf Gold Cup and FIFA's expanded Club World Cup.
The first 48-team men's World Cup will be predominantly hosted by the U.S. next summer.
"We've had a long-standing relationship with the state department," U.S. Soccer CEO and secretary general JT Batson told ESPN.
"We have, for decades, been working with them on visa-related dynamics, so that's something we've been doing for quite some time and my guess is that if we're talking to someone 20 years from now, we're still going to be navigating around visa dynamics as players come from all over the world. That's pretty standard stuff for us."
Kylian Mbappé's legal team is going on "the attack" to try and resolve the dispute between the World Cup winner and his former club Paris Saint-Germain.
The France striker argues PSG owes him 55 million ($61m) in unpaid wages, and his lawyers claim they have asked the Paris court to start proceedings.
Legal expert Thomas Clay said Mbappé has been authorized to make a precautionary seizure of the money, which has been frozen from PSG's bank accounts on Thursday. A legal hearing is scheduled for May 26, he added.
"This story has been going on for just over a year now. One year was the deadline we set for ourselves for trying to resolve this dispute as peacefully as possible," Mbappé's main lawyer, Delphine Verheyden, said.
"As the months went by, Kylian Mbappé still hasn't been paid the missing 55 million euros. A decision has been taken, this time to go on the attack."
Verheyden said they were also asking the French sports minister to intervene and to legally challenge a decision by the appeals commission of the French Football Federation, which ruled that Mbappé's appeal against PSG was not receivable.
She said she will also ask UEFA to look into the matter, arguing that PSG is in breach of its salary obligations. Verheyden suggested that PSG, if found responsible, could lose the licence allowing the club to play in the Champions League.
PSG said in a statement it still wants to reach an "amicable" solution to the dispute, "despite the repeated signs of bad faith and the player's total refusal of any mediation."
The club added: "After hearing yet another fantastic story from a parallel universe today, PSG continues to fail to understand why Kylian Mbappé is not taking his case to the labour chamber, which is the only court competent to settle the dispute between him and his former club.
"All the procedures announced by Kylian Mbappé's lawyers only serve to delay the resolution of the dispute by the labour chamber, before which PSG is ready to present all the facts, evidence and testimony proving the existence of an agreement, or better still by means of the transaction that PSG has been calling for over a year."
Last October, the French league appeals commission upheld the decision ordering PSG to pay Mbappé the unpaid wages he wants. Mbappé claims the club owes him three months' salary and the last third of a loyalty bonus.
He joined Real Madrid last summer on a free transfer after scoring a club-record 256 goals in seven years at PSG.
PSG argued that when Mbappé was sidelined before the 2023-24 season -- following his decision not to extend his contract -- there was a verbal agreement with him opting to relinquish bonuses in order to return to the team.
Mbappé's relationship with PSG ended amid deep tensions and some fans booed him in his last home game at Parc des Princes. PSG felt let down by Mbappé after offering him the most lucrative contract in club history when he signed a new contract in 2022.
But Mbappé was frustrated because he felt promises to sign key players were not kept. When he signed that deal, he was paraded in front of fans holding up a jersey with 2025 on it. Mbappé was reportedly annoyed because the contract was until 2024 -- with a player's option for an extra season.
Mbappé stunned PSG in June 2023 by informing the club he would not take the option for an extra year. With his contract effectively into its final year, it put PSG in the position of needing to sell Mbappé to avoid losing him for nothing when the contract expired.
His PSG career could have ended that summer amid a tense transfer standoff.
After telling the club he would not extend, Mbappé was left off a preseason tour to Japan and South Korea and forced to train with fringe players. PSG said it would rather sell him than let the player leave for free in 2024, but he rejected a 300m ($335m) move to Saudi Pro League team Al-Hilal.
PSG left Mbappé out of the opening league game of that season but he soon returned to the lineup following talks. Mbappé's legal team said on Thursday it will start an action against PSG for harassment because of the way he was treated.
They will also start another legal procedure before an industrial tribunal, while Mbappé and his mother have filed lawsuits for the abuse they received online.
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