He just broke Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goal scoring record today. Was there a lot of hype in the US on when he would break the record?
He just broke Wayne Gretzky’s NHL goal scoring record today. Was there a lot of hype in the US on when he would break the record?
Comments
Yes
Of course. It’s been a long hype train leading up to it too.
I wouldn’t say he’s super famous, honestly. Most hockey players aren’t.
I know who he is because I like hockey and watch the NHL, but a lot of the time athletes in general don’t end up getting that famous unless they reach an insane status.
Yes…for sure.
Amongst Hockey fans, yes. Amongst non hockey fans, no probably not.
I, for one, had a dog named Sidney and a cat named Alex.
If someone wasn’t into sports or just hockey specifically, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’d never heard of him.
Famous, but not uber famous. My non-hockey-watching friends know his name and that’s about it.
Only to hockey fans.
If you don’t follow Hockey then you likely never heard of him before today.
For hockey fans yes but there is a massive drop off in popularity from NFL/MLB/NBA to the NHL. Crosby is probably the only NHL player the average person could even name.
Never heard of him
Never heard of him before this thread. But my only involvement with hockey is through local minor league games.
Who?
Anyone who has a remote interest in sports is definitely aware of him.
Hockey fans – yes
General sports fans, probably know who he is
People on the street-no
Only among hockey fans, which are a minority among professional sports fans here in the US.
Among people who watch hockey, yes. To everyone else, probably not.
I don’t watch hockey so the only hockey-related name I do know is Wayne Gretzky.
If someone doesn’t pay attention to hockey or several sports, then they probably aren’t very familiar with him. Personally, I’m glad he broke Gretzky’s record.
As famous as any NHL player is today.
Who’s that?
Besides someone like Shaq, I wouldn’t recognize any sports / celebrity if they walked past me
Most of the population wouldn’t recognize his name probably
Hockey isn’t necessarily popular enough nationwide so that it’s stars are treated as big celebrities, but if you asked a sports fan to name a hockey player, he would probably be one of the ones named.
Among hockey fans, yes, unfortunately. I wish he didn’t play here.
Where I am, yes because DC is right across the river. Nationally, I don’t think so. Hockey is the 4th sport here so among a smaller group of people.
To hockey fans, yes. In general, probably not really.
I know who he is and I dislike hockey, so he’s known.
Who?
As long as you’re at least vaguely familiar with sports, yes.
It’s on sports news today, but it is not “big news” otherwise. Hockey is a distant 4th to football basketball, baseball.
I play hockey as does my son, so it’s big news in our circles
I think most people who don’t know hockey, but do know sports could probably recognize his name
If you like hockey yes. Otherwise not so much.
Most of my friends even the ones who like sports aren’t big on hockey.
Rarely follow hockey (only current player I can name is Connor Bedard b/c from Chicago). Thought Ovechkin retired already, lol.
Not really. Hockey isn’t that popular. I’ve heard the name, but couldn’t pick him out of a police lineup.
No idea who that is
Never heard of him. We are a soccer and basketball household.
Idk about the US, he’s certainly famous in Canada
Generally, I’d say no. But it’s a binary: if you know hockey at all, then you know him. If you don’t, then you don’t. I don’t think he has the name recognition among non-fans that Wayne Gretzky has.
Nope. I like hockey, but don’t watch it very often like I do football, so I don’t actually know any current players.
In the DC area he is pretty well known due to advertising for the Capitals
Hockey isn’t broadly popular compared to many other sports in the US. It definitely has a strong fan base. But it’s fairly regional and is somewhat limited to certain demographics. So while Ovi is definitely the most famous active player, I’d imagine that only half the country is familiar with him. In contrast, someone like Patrick Mahomes would likely have 80-85 percent recognition.*
That being said, most American sports fans in are aware of him and have heard about the record. It just doesn’t cross over to non-sports fans as much.
*don’t take these stats seriously. I’m just making educated guesses
Sports fans know him and he certainly bubbled up to the regular news cycle in last couple days. Not as famous as he should be but hockey is the 4th tier pro sport in the US. It shouldn’t be, but it is
I’ve never heard of him, but I don’t follow hockey.
Sports fans yes. General public, not even close to famous.
I’d bet 99% of Americans wouldn’t recognize him in person. I’m a pretty big sports fan and he’s probably one of like 5 NHL players I could name.
I know who he is.
But even though I don’t watch hockey, I like sports, so I’m already in those spaces.
Know he name but most people don’t follow hockey in my area in the PNW.
Who?
Yes. I know who he is and I don’t watch sports much less hockey
I live in DC, and my reaction today was, “what the hell, didn’t he retire like 4 years ago?”
Not super famous, but anyone who knows anything about hockey knows who he is
Hockey fans – absolutely
Big sports fans – know of him
Everyone else – have no idea who he is
If I looked at the name I think I would have guessed he was a tennis player or that I just didn’t know him at all.
Yes, he is well known. Hockey is not the most popular sport in the US, but I’d say he’s common knowledge.
He made the front page of WaPo, Chicago Trib, and NYTimes.
Only if you’re into Hockey.
Who?
I’d recognize the name as “oh, a hockey player”, but that’s it. I’m aware he just broke a significant record.
I know little about sports and next-to-nothing about hockey, but I live in the Washington, DC area so his name pops up a lot in local media.
I’ve heard the name on PTI for 20 years, so I’ve known of him. But I couldn’t tell you what he looked like or what team he played for. I knew of his goal record coming up and whatnot.
I think so. I’d say him and Crosby are the only active NHL players a non-hockey or even non-sport fan would know.
He’s famous among people who follow hockey. Not a whole lot of people follow hockey. It’s got a little more than half the viewership numbers of baseball and like five times less than the NFL. It’s the least popular major sport aside from soccer.
Depends who you ask and where. I’m from the dc Maryland area and a huge caps fan. He’s a big deal here.
Yeah radio guy Elliott Seagal out of DC and Richmond makes sure we all know! Closest professional hockey team so known in area.
I live in the DC area. He’s HUGE here.
Putin’s stooge is about as famous as current NHL players get in the US. So, those of us that like hockey know who he is, and people who don’t watch hockey don’t.
Since you’re a kiwi..
They’re not Richie McCaw or Dan Carter famous, but they’re pretty popular. Hockey isn’t the most popular sport here, but i would consider it a part of the big 4. (NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL).
I woke up to watch Ovi play this morning because I wanted to be able to watch a record be broken that might not be broken again in my lifetime. I’m glad I did.
Who?
If you’re a hockey fan, which is the 4th or 5th most popular sport in the country.
Edit: I bet if I asked my co-workers, like 5% of them would know who he is. Teacher in California in a city with an NHL team, for context.
Not in the normal sense of the word famous. Obviously he’s well known among hockey fans, but most sports fans aren’t hockey fans, although I’d guess most sports fans would recognize his name, but not so much his accomplishments. Among the general population his name would most often not be known.
Maybe not the most famous, but yeah he’s a pretty big name. Hockey isn’t the biggest sport, but it is a big sport and he’s definitely well-known among hockey fans.
He is now.
I’ve heard of him And for some reason I thought he played for the Blackhawks like 15 years ago but nope he didn’t lol But yeah I’ve definitely heard of him
Minor celebrity. He’s not well known outside of hockey circles. Sports fans probably recognize his name, but hockey is one of those sports you never hear about unless you’re looking for it…and most people don’t look for it. You can’t avoid knowing NFL or NBA stars.
In any case, no, there was not a lot of hype.
¡¿Quién?!
Nope. He’s known among hockey fans and maybe sports fans who may follow a lot of hockey fans (like me).
Who?
If you said his name to someone I’d guess maybe 1/5 of the people would know who he is
I think he’s definitely in the general sports zeitgeist. If you keep up with the best sports leagues in the US you know who he is.
There’s definitely been a lot of hype in sports media, even outside of hockey circles. I don’t know how familiar he is generally to non-hockey/non-sports fans though.
I think it depends greatly on where in the U.S. you are.
In Detroit? He’s fairly well-known. There are large, active hockey communities throughout Michigan, however.
In, say, Nevada, though? I’d be willing to bet much less so.
If you follow hockey, yes. If not, you might have heard of him.
I don’t follow hockey at all and I know who he is. If you’re great in almost any sport in the US, chances are we know your name even if we don’t follow the sport.
I don’t even watch hockey, and I know who he is.
No, I (53M) have never heard of him.
Who?
Among hockey fans he is.
Who?
Who?
As far as famous athletes go, hockey athletes are probably further down on the popularity scale.
Who?
I can’t even name anyone who played in the last Superbowl, and what we call football here is our most popular sport. 🤷🏻♀️
Hockey fans know him. There’s dozens of us.
He is, but hockey players are much less well known than other 3 major sports (NFL, NBA, MLB).
By hockey player standards yes.
I wouldn’t expect the average non hockey fan to know much or anything about him unless they recently heard about his exploits
Only if you follow hockey.
20 years of Ovechkin and Crosby. They will both finish in the Top 10 of scoring. Mutiple major awards, Stanley Cup winners and the face of the league simultaneously for the entirety of their careers. The average American doesn’t follow hockey. They have no idea these guys exist.
The NHL has done a horrendous job of marketing these 2. They still are doing a horrendous job of marketing thier players. The current best players are McDavid and Matthews, but they are nowhere to be found by Americans
No, I don’t know who this is
I only know if him from that Putin controversy and because the Caps are rivals with the Canes.
I follow the football and MLB mostly so I’ve never heard of Ovechkin til recently due to all the publicity of him breaking Gretzky’s records.
As a Minnesotan, these responses are a surprise to me too lmao. I think if I asked 50 people on the street who Ovechkin is, I’d probably get about 25 “of course”, 10 “yes” 10 “I’ve heard of him” and 5 “who?”
I don’t follow hockey, and even I know who he is. I think I saw a couple things online about him getting close to the record, then I saw a headline earlier today about him breaking it.
Nope. He should have begged Taylor Swift for a date like Travis Kelce did. Pretty much the only way an NHL player would get nationally famous these days.