SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
We are standing here in the entranceway to Capital One Arena in downtown Washington, D.C. Hockey fans are streaming through the gates 'cause the Capitals are about to play the Philadelphia Flyers, and everyone is focused on the fact that Alex Ovechkin, the Capitals' captain, is on the precipice of breaking the NHL's all-time goal scoring record.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Go enjoy.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Thank you.
DETROW: At the beginning of the night, Ovechkin is eight goals shy of setting the record. In the arena's main hallway, there's a throne almost made up of hundreds of rubber black hockey pucks meant to show the goals that he scored. Fans are taking pictures sitting in it.
We're with NPR. We're doing a story on Ovechkin and just talking to his fans. Can we talk to you for a second?
MATT WALSH: Sure.
DETROW: Matt Walsh and his daughter Sawyer drove out from Virginia to be a part of the countdown to hockey history.
WALSH: It's going to be a memorable experience, and I hope she looks back on everything associated with Ovechkin and realizing that she was around to see one of the greatest of all time play in our hometown. And seeing that and getting her to experience that with me and share that love is nothing more than you could ever dream.
DETROW: What do you like about Alex Ovechkin?
SAWYER: I love how he has scored so many goals and is almost the world champion.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Hey, I got beer, cold beers.
DETROW: I love how many people on the store are shopping for Alex Ovechkin jerseys as they wear Alex Ovechkin jerseys.
But Samuel Corkadel is decked out in Flyers gear.
You're a Flyers fan. Are you still cheering for Ovechkin to get the record?
SAMUEL CORKADEL: Absolutely.
DETROW: OK, since you're not a homer, can I ask, what do you think makes Ovechkin so special?
CORKADEL: His endurance - you know, a lot of players don't really last the way he does. He plays a physical kind of game, swings the body around, hasn't had any real serious injuries. You know, he comes back every year, like, a little better than they did before if it's training. Yeah, he definitely deserves to be where he is.
JOE BENINATI: You knew that this player was explosive. You knew that he was special, but you figured that there would be some time where he would shrink from the pressure. He never did.
DETROW: That's longtime Washington Capitals play-by-play man Joe Beninati.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: (Inaudible) nonprofit organization...
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: We go...
DETROW: He is a broadcaster through and through, to the point where as we talk in the press box, he pauses the interview to yell across the arena to the PA system operator in order to get us a quieter scene.
DETROW: Yeah. That was a little too much...
BENINATI: Popcorn stealer.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: World team sports - Arena One will not (ph)...
BENINATI: You don't need to do 10 different sound checks of things you've tested 100 times. I'm just teasing you.
DETROW: Those efforts don't work, and we have to relocate to a back hallway to keep talking. Beninati called Ovechkin's first goal back in October 2005, Ovechkin's very first game in a decadeslong career with the Capitals.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BENINATI: Ovechkin fires. He scores. Alexander Ovechkin, welcome on board.
DETROW: It was clear then that Ovechkin would be special, but no one thought he or anyone could approach the all-time goal record held by Wayne Gretzky, who had retired six years earlier.
BENINATI: Every time you open a history book, a hockey encyclopedia, you see Wayne Gretzky's numbers, and they are daunting. And you would figure, untouchable, unapproachable, unassailable - none of those.
DETROW: Ovechkin kept scoring, often notching 50 goals or more a season. It only took him just a decade to hit the milestone of 500 goals, which is a surefire ticket to the hockey hall of fame.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BENINATI: Backdoor look - Ovechkin rips. He scores, in a flash. Welcome to the club. Number 500 for the Great 8.
When Alex clicked for 500 so fast and gave every impression that he truly was this Russian machine that didn't break, he was there so often that his consistency - I'm not a math major, but if you did the math, you started to figure, if he played long enough, if he had the drive, the motivation, if his talents never waned, that he could approach that number.
DETROW: Ovechkin has been durable. He's kept playing through the wear and tear that comes with professional sports. He's about to hit age 40, ancient in NHL hockey. The record is getting closer, and soon Gretzky himself will be coming to every Capitals game so he can congratulate Ovechkin in person. And Beninati knows that when the record-breaking goal happens, his voice will be tied to the moment.
BENINATI: We all want to have some touch on it. I can't tell you that I'm going to sit there and go, well, I know exactly what I'm going to say because it's a fluid sport. I pray that it's a beautiful Alex Ovechkin clear-cut, no-doubt goal, ones that we've seen hundreds of times over. But you never know what it might be.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BENINATI: And at left wing, your captain, the Great 8, Alex Ovechkin.
(SOUNDBITE OF HORN BLOWING)
DETROW: The game begins, and the first-place Capitals start strong. Ovechkin delivers a big body check on his first shift. And midway through the first period, he gets the puck right in front of a wide-open Flyers goal, fires it in.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BENINATI: Goal scored by the great 8, Alex Ovechkin.
(CHEERING)
DETROW: That's one more for Ovechkin, moving it from 887 to 888. Ovechkin one closer to that all-time record - seven goals to go.
The Flyers make it close at the end of the game, but Washington holds on for a win. Afterwards, Ovechkin sits in the corner of the locker room surrounded by reporters asking him about his chase.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ALEXANDER OVECHKIN: That's why the beginning of the year and the middle of the year, it's very important to collecting the points. And I feel confident...
DETROW: Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery says the chase is clearly affecting the team, even as it looks to lock up a top playoff spot.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
SPENCER CARBERY: They're pulling for him. I think it energizes them to play at a higher level, to be honest with you, and raise their game and when they're playing with him - and as a coach, I feel like this chase and the energy around it - it hasn't been a distraction or a hindrance to our group. It's been a massive benefit.
DETROW: Ovechkin has about a dozen regular season games left this year. As he tries to break the record, he and the Capitals are also trying to set themselves up for a playoff run and an opportunity to bolster his legacy even more by winning a second Stanley Cup. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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