Long before Alex Ovechkin surpassed Wayne Gretzky for the NHL goal-scoring record with No. 895 on Sunday, Gretzky moved into the top spot ahead of Gordie Howe by putting the puck in the net for the Los Angeles Kings on March 23, 1994.
During the Kings' regional sports network broadcast that day, an announcer breathlessly declared: “A historic moments in sports, compared with Henry Aaron passing Babe Ruth in home runs, with Pete Rose passing Ty Cobb in hits. Great moments when people thought records would never be broken. Mike Powell passing Bob Beamon's long jump record of 29 feet, 2 1/2 inches. And Wayne Gretzky, indeed, has records that may never be broken. Perhaps this one.”
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FILE - New York Yankees' Joe DiMaggio singles to center in the first inning of the nightcap of a doubleheader with the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on July 2, 1941. The hit ran his consecutive hitting streak to 44 games, equaling the record set in 1897 by Willie Keeler. The Boston catcher is Johnny Peacock with Joe Rue umpiring. (AP Photo/File)
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FILE - This June 24, 2010, file photo shows John Isner of the U.S. and France's Nicolas Mahut, right, posing for a photo next to the scoreboard following their record-breaking men's singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, Pool, File)
FILE - San Francisco Giants' Barry Bonds watches the flight of his home run, his 755th, during the second inning of a baseball game game against the San Diego Padres in San Diego, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007. (AP Photo/ Kevork Djansezian, File)
FILE - Cy Young, pitcher for Cleveland Indians, throws a pitch in this undated photo in Cleveland, Ohio. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - In this March 2, 1962 file photo, Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors holds a sign reading "100" in the dressing room in Hershey, Pa., after he scored 100 points, as the Warriors defeated the New York Knickerbockers 169-147. (AP Photo/Paul Vathis, File)
FILE - New York Yankees' Joe DiMaggio singles to center in the first inning of the nightcap of a doubleheader with the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on July 2, 1941. The hit ran his consecutive hitting streak to 44 games, equaling the record set in 1897 by Willie Keeler. The Boston catcher is Johnny Peacock with Joe Rue umpiring. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - United States' Michael Phelps poses with his gold medal for the men's 4x200-meter freestyle relay swimming final at the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Tuesday, July 31, 2012. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)
FILE - Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, chat during a "Champions roudd" as preparations continue for the British Open golf championship on the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland, Monday July 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison, File)
FILE - Florence Griffith Joyner of Los Angeles, Calif., waves to spectators as she holds aloft a U.S.A No. 1 sign following her world record performance in the finals of the women's 200 meters race, Thursday, Sept. 29, 1988, Seoul, Korea. (AP Photo/Lennox McLendon, File)
Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) is greeted by Wayne Gretzky during a ceremony after he scored his 895th career goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game against New York Islanders in Elmont, N.Y., Sunday, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
FILE - Los Angeles Kings; Wayne Gretzky (99) and teammate Luc Robitaille, on ice, celebrate Gretzky's scoring his NHL career record-setting goal No. 802 against Vancouver Canucks goalie Kirk McLean during the second period of an NHL hockey game at the Forum at Inglewood, Calif., March 23, 1994. (AP Photo/Eric Draper/File)
Gretzky got his 802nd in that game and ended up with 894 when he retired in 1999.
Turns out, Ovechkin did get there, scoring from his “office” in the left faceoff circle on a power play for the Washington Capitals — the only team the 39-year-old Russian winger has played for since making his NHL debut in 2005 — during the second period of a game against the New York Islanders.
“They say records are made to be broken,” Gretzky said during an on-ice ceremony after Ovechkin moved ahead of him Sunday, “but I'm not sure who's going to get more goals than that.”
Perhaps Ovechkin's final total will prove unsurpassable, even if Gretzky's didn't. Here is a by-the-numbers look at some supposedly unbreakable records that do still stand:
Florence Griffith-Joyner has held the fastest time in the women's 100-meter dash since a breezy day at the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials, and only one other athlete has even gone faster than 10.6. Griffith-Joyner also holds the 200 record, established at the Seoul Olympics that year, and debates over the legitimacy of those two standards continue decades later.
There was plenty of talk that Tiger Woods was going to overtake Jack Nicklaus for the most major championships in men's golf, but that was before a series of injuries interrupted Woods' career. He recently had surgery for a ruptured Achilles tendon and will miss the upcoming Masters. Woods won his most recent major in 2019, ending an 11-year drought and raising his count to 15; Nicklaus retired with 18. No other active player has more than six.
Michael Phelps' dominance of the pool left the American swimmer with the most Olympic gold medals from any sport — and no one else has more than nine as of now. Phelps, who retired after the 2016 Rio Olympics, also owns more total medals than any other athlete, 28.
Joe DiMaggio's streak of consecutive Major League Baseball games with at least one hit has stood since 1941, and the closest anyone has come since then was Rose's 44-game run in 1978. Another number that might not be surpassed: Rose's 4,256 career hits. Baseball is a sport filled with numbers and, therefore, records, and another one widely deemed unapproachable is Cal Ripken’s 2,632 games in a row, more than 500 above Lou Gehrig’s previous high. The longest current active streak is below 500.
Wilt Chamberlain's single-game NBA scoring record was set on March 2, 1962, and while he said a quarter-century later, “I think it can be broken,” the closest anyone has come was Kobe Bryant's 81 in 2006.
Cy Young's career pitching wins are nearly 100 more than anyone else in MLB history and came long before the current era of limiting innings and protecting arms (his last season was 1911). There are some who think there might never be another player to get to 300 wins. The sport's active leader is Justin Verlander, who entered this year with 262 at age 42.
Barry Bonds hit more career home runs than anyone else in MLB, bettering Aaron’s total of 755 before retiring in 2007. Bonds admitted taking performance-enhancing drugs, although he said he didn’t do so knowingly. Also still around: Bonds' season record of 73 homers in 2001.
Consider this record one that simply can't be broken because the rules changed: John Isner's victory over Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon in 2010 is the longest match in tennis history, lasting 11 hours, 5 minutes until finishing at 70-68 in the fifth set. In 2022, all four Grand Slam tournaments adopted tiebreakers at 6-6 in the fifth set of men's matches and third set of women's to prevent never-ending marathons.
FILE - This June 24, 2010, file photo shows John Isner of the U.S. and France's Nicolas Mahut, right, posing for a photo next to the scoreboard following their record-breaking men's singles match at the All England Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, Pool, File)
FILE - San Francisco Giants' Barry Bonds watches the flight of his home run, his 755th, during the second inning of a baseball game game against the San Diego Padres in San Diego, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2007. (AP Photo/ Kevork Djansezian, File)
FILE - Cy Young, pitcher for Cleveland Indians, throws a pitch in this undated photo in Cleveland, Ohio. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - In this March 2, 1962 file photo, Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors holds a sign reading "100" in the dressing room in Hershey, Pa., after he scored 100 points, as the Warriors defeated the New York Knickerbockers 169-147. (AP Photo/Paul Vathis, File)
FILE - New York Yankees' Joe DiMaggio singles to center in the first inning of the nightcap of a doubleheader with the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on July 2, 1941. The hit ran his consecutive hitting streak to 44 games, equaling the record set in 1897 by Willie Keeler. The Boston catcher is Johnny Peacock with Joe Rue umpiring. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - United States' Michael Phelps poses with his gold medal for the men's 4x200-meter freestyle relay swimming final at the Aquatics Centre in the Olympic Park during the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Tuesday, July 31, 2012. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum, File)
FILE - Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus, chat during a "Champions roudd" as preparations continue for the British Open golf championship on the Old Course at St. Andrews, Scotland, Monday July 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison, File)
FILE - Florence Griffith Joyner of Los Angeles, Calif., waves to spectators as she holds aloft a U.S.A No. 1 sign following her world record performance in the finals of the women's 200 meters race, Thursday, Sept. 29, 1988, Seoul, Korea. (AP Photo/Lennox McLendon, File)
Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) is greeted by Wayne Gretzky during a ceremony after he scored his 895th career goal during the second period of an NHL hockey game against New York Islanders in Elmont, N.Y., Sunday, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
FILE - Los Angeles Kings; Wayne Gretzky (99) and teammate Luc Robitaille, on ice, celebrate Gretzky's scoring his NHL career record-setting goal No. 802 against Vancouver Canucks goalie Kirk McLean during the second period of an NHL hockey game at the Forum at Inglewood, Calif., March 23, 1994. (AP Photo/Eric Draper/File)
