"When you get older, you can look back and see highlights and special goals and it doesn’t feel so bad that you were the one that gave them up … but I’ve given up a couple of special ones this year. [I allowed Connor] McDavid’s first goal, I think we’re gonna see that when I’m 80-years-old on a device that’s the new TV." - Kari Lehtonen, 19 goals allowed

"Every goal he scores is pretty amazing most of the time. [The one I most remember] might have been the first time he scored on me, I don't know if it was my first or second year, but they were on a 5-on-3 and he was posted up on his side. He got the pass and one-timed it and I remember it was a perfect shot. It went right off the corner piece and in on my blocker side. I remember hardly being able to see the puck. ... I remember thinking that you have to be at least 50-percent lucky to stop him when that shot comes in." - Reimer

"In the NHL, I can tell that he is the best [Russian] of all time. I really respect lots of players that have played in the league, the Russian players [like Sergei] Fedorov and [Pavel] Bure, those guys, the top guys who were superstars in the league. Ovi passed all of them." - Semyon Varlamov, 1 goal allowed

"I think it’ll be hard to beat Gretzky. It’s tough to compare generations, I think, because the game is so different. Every five years or so, the game changes and even more every 10 years. He’s definitely going to go down as one of the best shots, one of the best goal-scorers in the history of the game." - Leclaire

"I think you have to look at it contextually a little bit. The past 10 years hasn’t exactly been a goal scoring Mecca. To get to 50 [goals] now is a little like getting to 60 or 70 back in the 1980s where some of the greatest goal scorers had been. He’s only, what, 30 or 31? So obviously guys slow down when they get older, but with the passion and the energy that he plays with, he could have another five, six, or seven strong goal-scoring years and that will put him in the conversation for greatest goal-scorer of all time." - Cory Schneider, 3 goals allowed

"He’s going to be at the top, obviously. ... We’re all talking about [Jaromir] Jagr right now. Jagr is at, what, 731 goals I believe [735 now]? Ovechkin could play another seven or eight years scoring close to 50 a year. You’re talking another 300 goals. He could easily get to 800 by the time it’s all said and done and that will be way up there with the best goal-scorers in the NHL." - Biron

"Obviously the big one [I remember] was the highlight-reel one last year. I remember he beat the defenseman clean -- which is fine, it happens -- in a mini-breakaway and he pulled it across to his backhand. I swore I was with him, blocker right on him and he somehow got it elevated back through my arm under the bar and in. The move was fantastic, but the finish was something I didn’t think many guys could do. That’s probably number one that sticks out in my mind." - Schneider

"Everybody has a lot of respect for him. He’s been a machine. I don’t know how many he had in his first season, but if you can score 50-plus goals a few seasons, or a bunch of seasons in a row, that tells you a lot of good things about the guy." - Halak

"The one thing I really admire about him is the passion. The way he shows up every night. He’s a great leader. The hardest part is to do it over and over in hockey or in any sport. For him to do it every year like he’s been doing is amazing." - Bernier

"We had a pretty good veteran group ... when he first came in. I feel like we had a small part in him starting off his NHL career the way he did. Obviously he’s continued to do it." - Kolzig

"Every year it will get tougher and tougher because we’re all getting old. But Ovi looks like he’s in great shape, taking care of himself. I’m sure he’s going to get 700 goals the way he’s playing, maybe more. Who knows? Maybe he’ll beat Gretzky. Ovi, good luck." - Varlamov

"I was in Atlanta and we played against him a lot. He seemed like he’d get one or two every night against me. I think I was leading there for who he scored the most against for a long time. And then I unfortunately I got traded to the west [laughs]. I hope I’m not on the top of that list anymore." - Lehtonen

***

You're in luck, Kari. How fitting that the goalie that Ovechkin, the greatest goal-scorer of his generation, has beaten more than any other is largely seen as the greatest netminder of his era. Let's allow him the final word.

"Over the 10 years, he’s adjusted his game. Everybody does, because you change as a person, you change physically and you understand the game better. Especially as a goal scorer, it’s more about placement, being in the right spot, reading the game. That way you save a lot of energy and not skate around and hit everybody all of the time. He still does that, but he doesn’t do it as much. He’s matured a lot. ... I don’t know how long he’ll play for, but he’s a great asset to the league." - Henrik Lundqvist, 20 goals allowed