50 goals in 50 games

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50 goals in 50 games is a special achievement in the North American Ice Hockey League National Hockey League . To achieve this feat, a player must score at least 50 goals in the first 50 games of an NHL season. This mark is considered an indicator of the best strikers of all time. To see how outstanding this performance is, look at the 2003/04 and 2005/06 seasons when the top scorer only scored 41 and 56 goals in 82 games, respectively.

The NHL, however, interprets the rule for this brand in such a way that a player must score 50 goals in the first 50 games of his team and not in his first 50 games of a season. This feat has been achieved eight times by five different players.

Maurice Richard

  • 1944/45 : 50 in 50 games (50 in 50)

In the 1944/45 season the season had a game plan that provided 50 games for each team. Maurice Richard of the Montréal Canadiens succeeded this season as the first player in NHL history to reach the mark of 50 goals in 50 games. No other player should succeed in this in the following 35 years, which is why Richard is considered by many experts to be the best goalscorer of all time. But there were also critics who pointed out that several players could not take part in the season because they served for their country in World War II and the league was therefore poorly occupied. In 1999, the Maurice Richard Trophy for the top goalscorer of the NHL season was introduced in his honor .

Mike Bossy

  • 1980/81 : 50 in 50 games (50 in 50)

The New York Islanders were the dominant team in the NHL in the early 1980s, and Mike Bossy stormed into their ranks . After many experts claimed that the "50 in 50" mark would never be reached again, Bossy proved otherwise. In the 50th season game of the Islanders in the 1980/81 season , Bossy had only 48 goals in his account until five minutes before the end, but scored twice in the final minutes and was only the second player to reach the magic mark. He finished the season with 68 goals in 79 games.

Wayne Gretzky

  • 1981/82 : 61 in 50 games (50 in 39)
  • 1983/84 : 61 in 50 games (50 in 42)
  • 1984/85 : 53 in 50 games (50 in 49)

While there were 36 years between Richard and Bossy's brilliant achievement, there should be less than 365 days between Bossy and the player who accomplished the feat next. Many still praised Bossy's "50 in 50", but Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers set about pulverizing this brand in the 1981/82 season . After 37 games, he already had 41 goals. In the 38th season game of the Oilers Gretzky scored four times to increase his goal scoring to 45 goals and reached the mark of 50 goals with five goals in the next game. Richard and Bossy still needed the full 50 games to score 50 goals, Gretzky was enough 39. At this point in the season all other players were under 30 goals. At the end of the season, Gretzky set a new NHL record with 92 goals, which is still in place today.

In 1983/84 Gretzky managed to score 50 times in 42 games, in 1984/85 he needed 49 games.

Mario Lemieux

  • 1988/89 : 54 in 50 games (50 in 46)

Mario Lemieux became the second player in NHL history to score 50 goals in less than 50 games. In 1988/89 Lemieux needed 44 games to score 50 goals, but 46 games were officially noted, as the number of games his team Pittsburgh Penguins had played for this performance and Lemieux had missed two games.

Brett Hull

  • 1990/91 : 52 in 50 games (50 in 49)
  • 1991/92 : 50 in 50 games (50 in 50)

His father Bobby was one of the best strikers in the NHL, but it was Brett Hull who broke the 50-in-50 mark twice. In 1990/91 he met in the 49th game of his St. Louis Blues for the 50th time of the season, in 1991/92 he made it only in the 50th game.

Unofficial "50-in-50" shooters

There have been some players who scored 50 goals in their first 50 games of the season but their performance was not officially recognized because they didn't score in their team's first 50 games.

  • Jari Kurri of the Edmonton Oilers met in 1984/85 in 50 games 50 times, but his 50th game was already the 53rd Season of the Oilers. He scored a total of 71 goals that year
  • Alexander Mogilny of the Buffalo Sabers scored50 goals in 46 games in 1992/93 . But at the time he was missing in seven games and the Sabers had already played 53 games. After all, he was able to end the season with 76 goals.
  • Mario Lemieux scored50 goals in 48 gamesin the 1992/93 season . During the season, however, was with him cancer diagnosed and he had to sit out for 24 games. He scored his 50th goal in the 72nd game of his team. At the end of the season he had played 60 games and scored 69 goals. In 1995/96 he scored in the 50th game for the 50th time, but his team had already played 59 games.
  • Cam Neely scored his 50 goals in44 gamesin the 1993/94 season , making only Wayne Gretzky faster. Neely had struggled with injuries in the season and therefore scored the 50th goal in the 66th game of his team, the Boston Bruins .

Just missed

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Gretzky Breaks Goal Scoring Records. The Fastest to Fifty Goals. (No longer available online.) In: Edmonton Oilers Heritage. Archived from the original on April 2, 2016 ; accessed on March 12, 2019 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.oilersheritage.com
  2. ↑ Legends Of Hockey: Mike Bossy Biography. In: Hockey Hall of Fame . Retrieved March 12, 2019 .