Forget breaking Gretzky's record. Could Ovechkin become president of Russia?
2025-02-01
Category: world

Washington Capitals and NHL superstar Alex&nbsp;Ovechkin&nbsp;is on the cusp&nbsp;of&nbsp;breaking&nbsp;a scoring&nbsp;record&nbsp;many believed would never be broken: the 894 goals scored by Wayne&nbsp;Gretzky&nbsp;over his illustrious career. As&nbsp;of&nbsp;this writing,&nbsp;Ovechkin&nbsp;sits at 875 goals.&nbsp;Only he,&nbsp;Gretzky and Gordie Howe are members&nbsp;of&nbsp;the 800-goal club.&nbsp;With only 30 games left in the season – he missed 15 games this year with injuries – it will be tough, but not impossible to eclipse&nbsp;Gretzky’s&nbsp;record&nbsp;this year.&nbsp;&nbsp; That said, if he does not, there is not a person in hockey who does not believe&nbsp;Ovechkin&nbsp;will break the&nbsp;record&nbsp;early next year and go on to score over 900 goals.&nbsp;A&nbsp;record&nbsp;I predict will never be broken.  Ovechkin&nbsp;is a phenom; the human equivalent&nbsp;of&nbsp;a brick wall at 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds; and arguably one&nbsp;of&nbsp;the top five players ever to skate in the NHL.&nbsp;The other four in my opinion are Gretzky, Howe, Bobby Orr and Mario Lemieux. INSIDE PUTIN’S MINDSET: WHAT TEAM TRUMP CAN EXPECT FROM MOSCOW WHEN NEGOTIATING OPTIONS ON RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR Ovechkin&nbsp;also has that elusive "It Factor," which has made him world famous.&nbsp;Most especially in his native&nbsp;Russia. Way back in the day as a teenager, I had a dream to play in the NHL.&nbsp;I was fortunate enough to get invited to one NHL camp and several minor league camps.&nbsp;Only a complete lack&nbsp;of&nbsp;talent and a knee injury kept me from realizing that dream.&nbsp;But it was the love&nbsp;of&nbsp;hockey that inspired me to follow the truly amazing career&nbsp;of&nbsp;Ovechkin.&nbsp;  Years later, I executed a 180 away from sports and somehow ended up as a writer in the White House for two&nbsp;presidents, an&nbsp;official at the Pentagon, director&nbsp;of&nbsp;communications for former Sen. Bob Dole, a vice&nbsp;president&nbsp;of&nbsp;a well-known government relations firm, and a principal at the then largest law firm in the world, where I specialized in politics and government relations.&nbsp;&nbsp; TRUMP CALLS ON PUTIN TO MAKE A DEAL, END ITS WAR AGAINST UKRAINE OR FACE MORE ECONOMIC PRESSURE And it is because&nbsp;of&nbsp;that background, that I have been viewing&nbsp;Ovechkin&nbsp;through a totally different prism.&nbsp; Anyone who has remotely followed the life and career&nbsp;of&nbsp;Ovechkin&nbsp;knows that he is a man&nbsp;of&nbsp;character.&nbsp;He is renowned for being a great husband, father, friend, teammate, and a giving philanthropist.&nbsp;  He is also renowned for loving his native&nbsp;Russia&nbsp;and her people.&nbsp;As he should. Today – quite sadly – we live in a very polarized country and world where far too many people operate from personal and ideological silos separated from all others.&nbsp;As one who has worked in politics at a fairly high level, I will confess to not being a fan&nbsp;of&nbsp;either political party.&nbsp;&nbsp; PRO-RUSSIA, PRO-CHINA RADICALS MARCH AGAINST TRUMP: ‘PROUD TO IDENTIFY AS A SOCIALIST’ My "Party" for the last 15 years or so has been the "commonsense" Party.&nbsp;I strongly believe it is in the best interest&nbsp;of&nbsp;all&nbsp;of&nbsp;us to speak to each other in a civil manner while seeking out shared interests and solutions.  Over the last three years, one&nbsp;of&nbsp;the subjects that has&nbsp;become&nbsp;politicized and polarized is the war in Ukraine.&nbsp;This is not the forum to have a back and forth on that subject.&nbsp;That acknowledged, I will venture to say that we as a people and as a nation must make it clear that the people&nbsp;of&nbsp;Russia&nbsp;are not our enemy.&nbsp;Unfortunately, over the last three years, we have witnessed a number&nbsp;of&nbsp;athletes from&nbsp;Russia&nbsp;treated as the "enemy" by some. Because&nbsp;of&nbsp;the war in Ukraine, some have chosen to rhetorically attack&nbsp;Ovechkin&nbsp;for his friendship with Vladimir Putin.&nbsp;While it’s always easy – especially in the age&nbsp;of&nbsp;social media – to attack someone on the floor&nbsp;of&nbsp;the "arena" from the peanut gallery in the stands or from 30,000 feet up, it’s also almost impossible to know the facts, the history, or someone’s heart from that distance.  CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION Judgments&nbsp;of&nbsp;Putin aside, I find it admirable that&nbsp;Ovechkin&nbsp;– while making it clear multiple times that while he is not political, he does love his country and does not want to see war between&nbsp;Russia&nbsp;and Ukraine – has refused to walk away from his friendship with the&nbsp;Russian&nbsp;president. And like it or not, it is that decision, along with his fame, charisma and personal generosity, which have made&nbsp;Ovechkin&nbsp;a beloved figure in&nbsp;Russia.&nbsp;&nbsp; Today, as I operate from under my political hat, I am always scoping the landscape to assess who might be the best candidate for the Democrats and the Republicans come 2028. JD Vance for the Republicans.&nbsp;No idea for the splintered Democrats.&nbsp;  CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP It is from under that same hat that I look at the landscape&nbsp;of&nbsp;Russia&nbsp;with the understanding that at some point, Putin will stand aside.&nbsp;And then what?&nbsp;Who might fill such a tremendous vacuum? As someone who does have a fairly deep understanding&nbsp;of&nbsp;politics, all I can say is that Alexander&nbsp;Ovechkin&nbsp;checks a great many boxes.&nbsp;Never say "never." CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM DOUGLAS MACKINNON