Craig Laughlin has said many times, including a few on our airwaves, that when he was diagnosed with his heart issue and needed to have surgery, his goal was to be back for the Buffalo game at the end of March, and he hoped to be on the call when Alex Ovechkin broke the all-time record.
Mission accomplished on both, as he did indeed return that day, which began a string of Ovi scoring in five straight games that will continue into Thursday…the last, of course, being the record-breaker on Sunday in Long Island.
So yeah, Locker would love to see 1K, and we hope he's around for a long time but it could be even longer after that before anyone approaches whatever Ovi ends with...but he does wish, in retrospect, the record came in DC.
“I'm sort of disappointed when I look back at it. I wish he would have established it at home, because I tell you, Friday night, it was the biggest event, the loudest building, even more so than the playoffs,” Laughlin said. “In the playoffs, you as a fan are sitting there and you're tense, and you don't want to cheer – you’re focused and you're stone cold. But in this, trying to celebrate Alex Ovechkin, you are cheering every time he hits the ice, you're feeling the love, you're giving him emotion, there's energy and enthusiasm. All things considered, I thought was the best sporting event I've ever seen at Capital One. It was absolutely something to behold.”
Listen to Laughlin’s entire visit with the Junkies above!