Fasel: “I have no doubt that Ovechkin will catch up with Gretzky”

The head of the KHL refereeing committee and honorary president of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), Rene Fasel, said that Russian Washington forward Alexander Ovechkin will definitely break Wayne Gretzky’s record.

The NHL record for most goals scored belongs to Canadian Gretzky (894), Ovechkin is 26 goals behind this figure. The Russian is completing his recovery from a broken fibula suffered on November 18 at the end of the game against Utah (6:2).

— You head the KHL referee-expert committee. What do you think about the work of a referee in the league? I assume you are aware that representatives of some clubs are, to put it mildly, unhappy with the current state of affairs.

“I can only advise these people to try to go out on the ice and judge for themselves. This is a joke, of course. But seriously, as a former judge, I can say that referees are treated the same everywhere. Perhaps with the exception of the NHL, NBA and other North American leagues: things are a little different there. But in Europe you can take football, you can take hockey, be it in Switzerland, Germany, Sweden or the Czech Republic – everywhere the referees are under fire. It’s practically part of hockey culture. Which is not very good, but nothing can be done about it.

But believe me: when I was president of the IIHF, I paid great attention to refereeing and I can say that the referees have made great progress. As for the referees in the KHL, they are at the level. They skate great, take the right position, make good decisions. You have a video viewing system. Yes, no one is immune from mistakes, sometimes strange decisions happen. But you know, players also sometimes miss on empty goals, and goalkeepers miss ridiculous goals. The same thing can happen with the referee. And if we are ready to understand the player or goalkeeper, then we must understand the referee. In the KHL, referees need a little more support. I see the conditions in which they have to work, how many nine-hour flights they make. It is very difficult to be in their place. We need to make sure that referees get a little more respect than they currently do.

— Will Ovechkin be able to break Gretzky’s record this season?

– Let’s see how quickly Alexander returns to the ice. I can’t say that I’m sure about the current season, but I have no doubt that Ovechkin will catch up with Gretzky,” Rossiyskaya Gazeta quotes Fasel as saying.

Watch live broadcasts of FONBET matches of the KHL championship on the Match TV channel, as well as on the websites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.