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As Ovechkin nears the NHL goals record, the hockey world leans in to savor the moment

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As Ovechkin nears the NHL goals record, the hockey world leans in to savor the moment

Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals celebrates after scoring against the Philadelphia Flyers on April 16, 2024, in Philadelphia. He’s now in his 20th season in the NHL.

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WASHINGTON — Step into Washington’s Capital One Arena, and the number 895 pervades every curve of the concourse — there’s even a stack of exactly that many pucks, topped by a goal horn waiting for a certain historic moment to blare.

It’s the magic number in hockey this spring: the number of career goals it will take for Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin to break one of the most significant records in National Hockey League history.

When the sport’s all-time great, Wayne Gretzky, retired in 1999, he left the NHL having scored 894 goals in his regular-season career, 93 more than any player before him. To many, Gretzky’s record seemed like it might never be broken.

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The crowd of spectators, players and team mates applaud as Wayne Gretzky of the New York Rangers waves in salute on his retirement after the National Hockey League (NHL) game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on 18 April 1999 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, United States. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

Wayne Gretzky waves to the crowd at New York City’s Madison Square Garden after his last game in the National Hockey League, against the Pittsburgh Penguins on April 18, 1999.

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Ovechkin, with 888, is on the brink. He only needs six more goals to tie Gretzky’s record — and seven to set a mark of his own. The chase has come to loom large over every Capitals game, broadcast and hockey front page.

“He amazes me night in, night out. I mean, he truly is the best,” Capitals goalie Charlie Lindgren said after a February game in which Ovechkin scored three goals, the cheers of the delighted Washington crowd growing more deafening with each score.

Even Ovechkin’s teammates were starstruck that night — and every night, as the record draws nearer. “You can’t deny how special this is,” Lindgren said. “I’m trying to soak it in every single chance I can.”

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“Russian machine never breaks”

The career goals record, along with the career points record (in hockey, a statistic that counts both goals and assists), are the two most significant records in the sport, according to hockey historian Andrew Podnieks.

“As the game progresses, and [with] the quality and the skill and the coaching and the styles of play, fewer and fewer records — those big records — are going to be broken,” he said. “Those are the kinds of records, when Ovechkin retires, that will stand the test of time.”

From the start of his career, Ovechkin has always been a threat to score. But scoring capability alone is not enough to claim a record like this. It’s the combination of skill and Ovechkin’s remarkable longevity that has made claiming the record possible.

Early in his NHL career, Ovechkin took a hard shot to his foot and had to be helped off the ice. The next day, he had completely recovered. When a surprised reporter inquired, Ovechkin famously replied, “Russian machine never breaks.”

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 26: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals looks on before playing against the New York Rangers in Game Three of the First Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Capital One Arena on April 26, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

At 39, Ovechkin might not blaze across the ice like he used to, but he’s already scored 35 goals this season and is tied for fourth-most league-wide — even though a broken fibula sidelined him for more than a month.

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That durability has never been more salient. In his 20th season in the league, Ovechkin has already scored 35 goals — tied for fourth-most league-wide. Nevermind that he was sidelined for more than a month after a leg-on-leg hit in a November game left him with a broken fibula.

“Scoring goals is a difficult task, and if you look at everybody’s career arc, goal scoring goes down as you get older. It’s a fact of life,” Podnieks said.

The years are visible on Ovechkin, who at 39 moves slower on the ice these days. His unruly brown hair has turned grey, and he has lost a tooth and a half. He moves more slowly than he once did, drifting down the ice when the younger Ovechkin more often barreled toward the goal.

Yet he has scored more goals this year than the season when he was 25. Had he not broken his leg, he might have scored 50 this year.

“That’s just mind-boggling,” Podnieks said.

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“Ovi’s office”

Ovechkin’s consistency as a scorer is due in part to his trademark move — a one-timer slapshot from the left side of the ice. That shot is especially deadly during the power play, when his Capitals are up a man while an opposing player sits in the penalty box.

His preference for that particular spot on the ice — around the left face-off circle, stick raised, ready to slap the puck into the net — was evident early in his career. Before long, commentators and fans were calling it his “office.”

WASHINGTON DC, DC - APRIL 23: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals skates against the Montreal Canadiens in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Verizon Center on April 23, 2010 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Ovechkin skates against the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals of the 2010 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs.

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“That is not a play that ages you easily,” Podnieks said. “You can stand there when you’re 50 years old, and if someone puts the puck on your stick and you’ve got a great shot like he’s got, it’s going to go in the net.”

Even when opponents know it’s coming, they struggle to stop it, said Capitals forward Anthony Beauvillier, who played against Washington for years before being traded to the Capitals this spring.

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“It’s so hard to score goals in this league the way he’s been doing it over and over and over again, with guys knowing exactly where he’s going to stand in the power play, and still being able to get it off and score a goal from there,” Beauvillier said.

Ovechkin’s career has seen the NHL reach new heights after its low point

Ovechkin is no stranger to pressure, or to the spotlight of an entire league. He entered the NHL at its lowest point: the lockout of 2004–’05, when union negotiations between the team owners and players grew so acrimonious that an entire season of hockey was wiped away.

It remains the only time in major North American professional sports that a labor dispute erased a whole season. At the time, there was serious anxiety about whether attendance and viewership could recover.

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 1: Alexander Ovechkin, the Washington Capitals 2004 first round draft pick, is introduced at a press conference September 1, 2005 at the MCI Center in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

Ovechkin went No. 1 in the 2004 draft, signing with the Washington Capitals. He didn’t begin his NHL career until 2005, because a labor dispute wiped out the 2004-’05 season.

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Hopes rested on the shoulders of two young phenoms who entered the league the year the lockout ended: Sidney Crosby, the divine 18-year-old Canadian drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins, and of course, Ovechkin, the bruising 20-year-old from Moscow.

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It was billed as a rivalry for the ages, and TV broadcasts played it up, hoping to lure back hockey fans and spark the league back to life.

Two other players so young might have wilted under the pressure. But not Crosby and Ovechkin, said the historian Podnieks. “They welcomed the attention, and they thrived on the attention, and they thrived on the rivalry,” he said. “These two young … players really did take the league and drive the energy and the enthusiasm after the lockout.”

A dozen games to go

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin, of Russia, hoists the Stanley Cup after the Capitals defeated the Golden Knights in Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals Thursday, June 7, 2018, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)

The Washington Capitals took their first Stanley Cup on June 7, 2018, knocking out the Golden Knights in Game 5 in Las Vegas. Ovechkin, the team captain, later won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs.

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Twenty years later, Ovechkin has performed beyond any Washington fan’s loftiest dreams. He helped reverse the fortunes of a long-suffering franchise and brought the team its first Stanley Cup, in 2018.

Now, skating into the twilight of his career, his current contract is set to expire after the end of next season. It could be his last. Barring injury or unexpected early retirement, he is essentially certain to claim the goals record for himself, whether it comes this spring or next fall.

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The Capitals have 12 games left to play this regular season. The NHL plans to start bringing Gretzky and Commissioner Gary Bettman to every Capitals game, to have them both on hand for the historic moment when it comes.

Ovechkin says he won’t feel any disappointment if the chase stretches into the fall. “It’s life. You can’t change it, so it is what it is,” he told reporters at practice last week.

His teammates say they will enjoy this ride while it lasts.

“I’ve never seen a guy so hungry. Some guys score and they go, ‘OK, I had a good night.’ He comes back to the bench, and he’s asking if he can go out again right away,” said forward Tom Wilson. “It’s been an amazing journey watching him do what he can do.”

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 23: Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals celebrates after teammate Jakob Chychrun scored a goal against the Edmonton Oilers during the first period at Capital One Arena on February 23, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

The Caps have a dozen games left this regular season. The NHL plans to start bringing Wayne Gretzky to all the games so that he’ll be there for the inevitable moment when Ovechkin breaks his career goals record.

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Three more people charged with damaging Reflecting Pool after Trump’s multimillion-dollar restoration | CNN Politics

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Three more people charged with damaging Reflecting Pool after Trump’s multimillion-dollar restoration | CNN Politics

Three more people have been criminally charged with destruction of property at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.

Officers say they detained Cameron Thiers, Sophie Dennison-Gibby and Justin Carreno one Saturday afternoon in June and described in court documents witnessing them peeling and removing pieces of blue paint from the Reflecting Pool.

One officer “witnessed Carreno reach down into the reflecting pool and pull up a piece of the blue paint,” according to the court documents.

The officer who detained Dennison-Gibby “found 1 additional piece of the reflecting pool liner” in her purse, the documents said.

All three incidents were recorded on the officers’ body worn cameras, they said in the court documents.

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Several “partnering law enforcement agencies assigned to the Reflecting Pool” working with US Park Police were involved in detaining the two men and one woman — including officers from Texas, Oklahoma, Montana and California.

One of the officers said in court documents that Thiers “admitted to removing a piece of blue sealant from the Reflecting Pool and still had it in his hand when I made contact with him.”

The three defendants were arraigned in court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charges of destruction of property with a value less than $1,000. The judge ordered them to stay away from the Reflecting Pool.

Lawyers for Thiers and Dennison-Gibby declined to comment. CNN has reached out to Carreno’s attorney.

If found guilty of destruction of property, the defendants could be fined up to $1,000 and face a maximum of 180 days behind bars.

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The New York Times first reported that three additional people had been charged with damaging the Reflecting Pool.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that vandals caused major damage to the pool by gashing the lining after his administration spent more than $14 million on renovations, though he has not provided evidence to support that claim. The officers who charged Carreno, Thiers and Dennison-Gibby did not accuse them of gashing the lining.

Former Olympic canoeist David Hearn was indicted by a grand jury in Washington, DC, last week for allegedly damaging the Reflecting Pool. Hearn — unlike Carreno, Thiers and Dennison-Gibby – was charged with destruction of property with a value of more than $1,000 which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, if convicted. He is set to be arraigned in court Thursday.

Crews began draining the Reflecting Pool over the weekend to make repairs, according to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, for the second time in three months.

The move comes after weeks of problems – algae blooms, green-hued water, a chipping bottom and the administration’s allegations of vandalism – that have plagued the iconic landmark, making its woes the subject of national interest.

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Supreme Court financial disclosures reveal how their books add to their income

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Supreme Court financial disclosures reveal how their books add to their income

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett speaks at the Reagan Library on Sept. 9, 2025, in Simi Valley, Calif. Barrett discussed and signed copies of her new book, Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and Constitution.

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Even as the Supreme Court was handing down one legal thunderbolt after another last week, the justices were quietly releasing their annual financial reports. Justice Samuel Alito was the only sitting justice to request an extension, which he has done for 15 years. The disclosures do not give a complete account of the justices’ total income and wealth, but they give insights into their concertgoing, guest professorships and even their involvement in youth sports.

In addition to their salaries, much of the justices’ reported income came from their book deals. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson led the pack earning more than $1.1 million last year for a total of roughly $4 million since her memoir, Lovely One, was published in 2024.

Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett and retired Justice Anthony Kennedy also reported income from published books. Earnings from their books ranged from $849,000 for Barrett, to $300,000 for Gorsuch and $88,000 for Sotomayor, whose books include her 2013 autobiography and five children’s books. Justice Clarence Thomas, who previously earned $1.5 million for his 2007 memoir, listed no publisher payments last year, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, one of 13 co-authors of a 2016 legal treatise, also received no payments last year. Kavanaugh is said to be working on a memoir but he listed no payments for the anticipated book. Alito does have a book coming out in the fall, but with his financial report still outstanding, there is no data on how much he was paid for the work in 2025.

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The only two sitting justices who have not written books are Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Elena Kagan.

Many justices also earned income from teaching at law schools. Roberts reported income from New England Law, located in Boston, and Gorsuch reported teaching income from George Mason University in Virginia. Thomas taught classes at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., and Barrett and Kavanaugh taught at Notre Dame Law School. Barrett graduated from the school and began teaching there 23 years ago; Kavanaugh has family connections to Notre Dame.

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Manhattan Building’s Columns Buckled Beneath New Addition, Images Show

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Manhattan Building’s Columns Buckled Beneath New Addition, Images Show

At least two structural columns buckled and failed in a 37-story office tower in Midtown Manhattan on Tuesday, prompting evacuations of nearby streets and buildings. While city officials asserted that the tower was in no danger of collapsing completely, outside engineers said further failures in the structure could not be ruled out.

A pair of columns that failed completely were part of the tower’s existing structure. A New York Times review of images and videos from inside the building has found that several floors were added atop these columns.

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City officials said in a news conference on Tuesday that the building was continuing to move, while they simultaneously assured the city that the building would not suffer “total collapse.” “The way this building is constructed, it’s a steel-frame building,” John Esposito, a chief in the Fire Department in New York, said at the afternoon news conference. “So, it would not be a total collapse. It would be more of a localized collapse.” Still, he said, “that remains our concern, that it’s moved.”

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Engineers said that the movement itself was cause for concern. In a properly designed steel building, they said, loads should redistribute quickly to surviving structural supports if columns failed.

Joe DiPompeo, a former president of the Structural Engineering Institute at the American Society of Civil Engineers, said that if the structure had been overloaded, he would expect any movement “to happen very quickly,” rather than gradually.

“Generally when a column buckles, it’s a sudden failure,” Mr. DiPompeo said. He said that a full collapse remained unlikely given the redundancies built into the building codes.

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Engineers often refer to the most dangerous possibility as a progressive collapse, a process in which structures near the initial failure become overstressed and also fail, potentially bringing down the building if the sequence continues. While unlikely, it cannot be ruled out, Mr. DiPompeo said.

Footage recorded from inside the building shows at least two structural columns appear to have failed completely, Mr. DiPompeo said. Other nonstructural, interior walls — or at least the metal “studs” that were in place to hold them up — also appear to have deformed.

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“The only way that really happens is if the floor above them dropped. It looks like the floor above could have dropped a foot or two, which is obviously not a good situation,” Mr. DiPompeo said.

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The 37-story building is in the process of being converted from office space into residential units. Four new floors and a large vertical portion were added onto the existing building in recent months. The vertical portion consists of a stack of over a dozen new floors cantilevered out over the existing building below.

Engineers said that there was nothing inherently wrong with adding residential floors or the cantilevered section above the columns that failed, as long as the original structure and the modifications had properly accounted for the added weight and wind loads.

“The cantilever alone doesn’t change anything,” Mr. DiPompeo said, but it does put additional load on the columns underneath — a factor that should have been reflected in the design.

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Nathan Berman, managing principal and founder of MetroLoft, the developer overseeing the conversion, said on Tuesday that “this incident is nothing more than a typical construction mishap.”

He said two columns near the northwest corner of the tower had bent under the weight of additions to the building above, most likely because those columns had not been properly reinforced, though he said an investigation would determine the cause. The rest of the columns, he said, “picked up the weight.” He estimated the affected floors above the failed columns had sagged by a maximum of four inches.

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Mr. Berman said that he expected the problems to be fixed and the project to be completed with, at most, a slight delay.

On Tuesday evening, installation of temporary shoring was set to begin shortly, in order to help stabilize the 20th and 21st floors of the building.

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