Whatever direction hockey takes, seldom is there resistance.

Directive can dictate change, but for the most part, the sport's organic, season-to-season growth is borne out of success. When one team takes the lead in the NHL, 29 others attempt to mimic their process.

For this reason we see few stylistic matchups - unlike many other sports. There is some variance from conference to conference, and sometimes personnel determine style, but teams are largely trying to achieve a similar product. One can hope that a skill-based, up-tempo, puck-moving style is indeed the direction that the current's headed.

The systems that coaches and tacticians use work to acculturate players. In turn, idiosyncrasies fade, and players end up performing the same tasks, while talent determines the effect.

Then there's Alex Ovechkin, forever swimming upstream.

The greatest goal-scorer of a generation is on the brink of reaching another checkpoint en route to becoming the greatest ever.

On Monday night in Montreal, Ovechkin notched his third point of the night, and 999th of his career, scoring with an unorthodox, sling-style, one-touch wrist shot from his home on the power play. It was the 544th goal of his illustrious career, matching him with Maurice "Rocket" Richard, the Canadiens legend that lends his name to the trophy Ovechkin's monopolized over the past decade.

Wednesday night, with a national audience against longtime rival Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ovechkin has a chance to pass Richard, and become the first player in his era to record 1,000 points in less than 12 seasons.

Done his way, like he always has.

This isn't a Ovechkin-versus-Rocket debate (though if it was, we would point out that Ovechkin required 99 fewer games to score his 544th goal, and has seven times the 50-goal seasons), because the nonconforming Washington Capitals superstar is simply incomparable.

No one else has such an endless reservoir of sheer force. No one else is predictable, yet unstoppable. No one else has resisted compromise quite like Ovechkin, or scored with similar flair, distinctiveness, and dynamism.

Like the bad seed, but in the best possible way.

To scratch the surface of what he's accomplished in 11-plus seasons:

• Ovechkin has ascended to 29th in history with 544 goals. Only Mike Bossy and Mario Lemieux have a better per-game goal rate among those ahead of him.
• His seven 50-goal seasons are tied for the most all time with Bossy and Wayne Gretzky.
• He owns a share of the NHL record for overtime goals.
• If he continues to produce near his career average, he should pass Dave Andreychuk for the all-time record in power-play goals before his contract expires in 2021.
• He's produced a minimum of 32 goals every season throughout his entire career. He's on pace for 39 this season.

Like all great players, Ovechkin's production will begin to dip in the latter half of his career. But if he maintains a reasonable level of consistency, and his body continues to hold up (he's missed fewer than 10 games in a season in 11 straight years, which just five others have done), his place in the annals of NHL history will be undeniable.

But it's not too early to declare him one of, if not the, most impactful goal-scorers ever. In arguably the most difficult era to score, he has 178 more goals than the next-best sniper, and the most points since entering the league in 2005.

Using data, we can make certain inferences and draw loose comparisons when examining the impact of players from different generations. One that flatters Ovechkin in particular is adjusting for scoring trends in specific seasons, which already puts him on the cusp of the top 10 in goal scoring.

But let's face it: This is an evolving species. And with human advancement and, maybe more importantly, the furtherance of technology, the athletes we watch today (with some exceptions, of course) are the greatest, and most capable, that we've seen.

So as Ovechkin towers over his peers as goal-scoring greats did in the past, what other interpretation is there to make, really?

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