This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox. Good morning! I caught you some beads. We start with football first this morning, as the country’s biggest sport had a surprisingly busy day yesterday.

While in the Hall of Fame’s famed Stick Storage Centre, which holds more than 4,000 sticks, the oldest dating to 1875, Ovechkin was fascinated with an old, wooden one with a long flat blade. It belonged to Maurice Richard, who held the NHL goal record with 544 before Howe passed him on Nov. 10, 1963.

Alexander Ovechkin is well on his way to doing what once was unthinkable and breaking Wayne Gretzky’s record for most goals scored in the National Hockey League. But on his pursuit to the record, NHL on TNT analyst Darren Pang had some comments about Ovechkin that raised eyebrows.

It was never a question of whether Gretzky would score on any given night—only how often. Growing up in Caledon, Ontario, as a hockey fan, I knew I had to be the first to shout “I’m Gretzky!” when playing pond hockey with friends.

It won't be long now. Alexander Ovechkin notched the 885th goal of his career on Wednesday, leaving him 10 away from breaking Hockey Hall of Famer Wayne Gretzky's all-time record (894).