Alex Ovechkin shatters NHL record previously set by Gordie Howe.

Alexander Ovechkin is an incredibly impressive specimen, but the mark he set tonight may truly bring into focus what a uniquely gifted player we are witnessing during our lifetimes.

On Saturday night Alexander Ovechkin recorded the 750th goal of his National Hockey League career against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Now 750 goals is an incredible milestone, one that only 3 other players in the history of the NHL have managed to achieve, but it was how Ovechkin did it that has drawn so much attention this evening.

Ovechkin has gone from 700 goals to 750 goals faster than any other player in history, and when you consider that the other 3 names on that list belong to Gordie Howe, Wayne Gretzky and Jaromir Jagr, that is a truly legendary accomplishment. So how fast was Ovechkin? Well first lets talk about how quickly the others did it.

Now of course when you've reached the 700 goal mark you are in the latter stages of your career so it would make sense that these numbers reflect the fact that these men were slowing down as they got older.

In the case of the living legend Jaromir Jagr, it required 184 NHL games for him to go from his 700th goal to his 750th goal.

The Great One, Wayne Gretzky, had previously been the 2nd fastest to do it achieving it in only 118 games.

And the record itself had previously been held by Mr. Hockey, Gordie Howe, who managed to go from 700 to 750 in just 108 games, not bad at all for what was supposed to be a guy slowing down in his career.

On Saturday night however Ovechkin shattered those numbers when he went from goal 700 to goal 750 in the span of just 79 NHL games, over 100 games faster than the aforementioned Jaromir Jagr. It is truly a testament to what a specimen Ovechkin is, even at this stage of his career, and it speaks to the freakish level of athleticism he has been able to display since entering the NHL.

I suspect that this is a record that will never be broken in my lifetime.