Most unlikely NHL Regular Season Record to ever break...

[billybudd]

I wonder if any NHL player will ever play 87 regular season games in a season (record is Carson/Kudelski with 86). Seems like an awful lot of odd things would need to happen to break this record (first of which being that a player would need to be traded to a hockey club with a whopping 5 games in hand on the old club). Or the NHL would need to change the number of games, which would be incredibly difficult when Don Fehr's running the union.

 

[The Panther]

Wow, that Dave Schultz one is pretty tough to beat. That's got to be it for non-scoring individual stats. . .

With the season scoring ones, I'll always say the Gretzky 163 assists in one season. Just forget it. In some future revamped-NHL era, I can actually imagine someone scoring 93 goals, or (less likely) hitting 200+ points, or scoring points in 52-straight games, etc., but I cannot see how anyone could even get anywhere near 163 assists. Let's put it this way, in the highest-scoring era, on the highest scoring team, Gretzky himself never got anywhere near that except in one season.

Likewise, for career marks, the Gretzky assists total would seem to be impenetrable.

How about the Wild scoring two goals in 3 seconds in 2004? Is it even physically possible to beat that?

 

[Thenameless]

Gretzky and 163 assists. Even he was never really close to that mark. The closest non Gretzky year is 114

Yes, I agree with this. If we leave out obscure records, and only go with more significant ones, this one seems very, very difficult to break. He got more than 2 assists per game, not just 2 points per game, 2 assists per game. Imagine going into a hockey game and spotting the other team two goals, telling them that our best player ISN'T going to get the goals, but he'll help his lesser teammates enough to still win. That's kind of awesome if you think about it.

 

[Big Phil]

Bill Mikkelson's plus/minus of -82

Yeah, that's safe. You think to yourself that the 1975 Capitals were horrible anyway and other players on that team would be similar but that isn't so. Greg Joly was -68 Mike Marson was -65, the next worst and then no one worse than -54. So Mikkelson's sort of stands out on that team. Just looking at the Capitals, add their players up and they are a combined -1076. Here is the stunner, Mikkelson had that stat playing just 59 games!

 

[Big Phil]

I dont know if we’ll ever again see a defenseman win the Norris, Ross and Hart in the same season.

Orr did it twice.

When you look at history and see that only one player did it then it makes it seem less likely. Especially if that player is Orr. Karlsson had that fine 2016 season where he finished 4th in scoring, 2nd in Norris voting and 9th for the Hart. He arguably wins the latter two if the Sens made the playoffs that year. So even the best bet in the NHL do to that since Coffey isn't even all that close.

With Coffey the closest he came was in 1986. Wins the Norris, 4th in Hart voting and 3rd in scoring. Of course, Gretzky demolished him and everyone else in scoring that year so he wasn't really close himself.

Wow, that Dave Schultz one is pretty tough to beat. That's got to be it for non-scoring individual stats. . .

With the season scoring ones, I'll always say the Gretzky 163 assists in one season. Just forget it. In some future revamped-NHL era, I can actually imagine someone scoring 93 goals, or (less likely) hitting 200+ points, or scoring points in 52-straight games, etc., but I cannot see how anyone could even get anywhere near 163 assists. Let's put it this way, in the highest-scoring era, on the highest scoring team, Gretzky himself never got anywhere near that except in one season.

Likewise, for career marks, the Gretzky assists total would seem to be impenetrable.

How about the Wild scoring two goals in 3 seconds in 2004? Is it even physically possible to beat that?

Doug Gilmour still holds the record when his Blues got two goals in two seconds vs. the Bruins back in the 1980s. He just literally took a clean shot off the faceoff after the Bruins scored a goal and it went into the empty net. The Blue Jackets and Wild did the exact same thing in 2016.

That being said this was after an opponents goal, not their own. But yeah, two seconds could happen again if you think about it. A team scores to make it 3-2 late in the game (say 20 seconds left) the other team automatically pulls their goalie prior to the faceoff and the centre shoots it in off the faceoff. But it is physically impossible to ever score faster than two seconds, so that will never be beat, ever. Tied, but not beaten.

As for the other things you mentioned, Crosby just ended an 11 game scoring streak the other day and the best we've seen in 25 years is Crosby himself with 25 back in 2011. Breaking that 51 game streak is nearly impossible since even Gretzky needed an empty net goal with few seconds left on the clock in Chicago to keep it going.

 

[Spirit of 67]

Glenn Hall. 502 consecutive GP by a goalie.

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

51 game point streak will stand the test of time. So will 215 points

 

[The Panther]

I didn't know that about Gilmour (for some reason, I thought the two-goals-in-two-seconds thing was goals for two different teams). Certainly no one is beating two seconds! Or the Bill Mosienko hat-trick!

As for the other things you mentioned, Crosby just ended an 11 game scoring streak the other day and the best we've seen in 25 years is Crosby himself with 25 back in 2011. Breaking that 51 game streak is nearly impossible since even Gretzky needed an empty net goal with few seconds left on the clock in Chicago to keep it going.

The thing is, Mario came close to matching Gretzky's 51-game point streak. Hull and Mario came close to matching Gretzky's 92 (and 87) goals (as, perhaps, M.Richard, Bobby Hull, Ovechkin would have done in similar scoring environments). Mario came close to matching Gretzky's 200 point seasons.

But nobody -- not even Gretzky himself -- has come remotely close to 163 assists.

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

I didn't know that about Gilmour (for some reason, I thought the two-goals-in-two-seconds thing was goals for two different teams). Certainly no one is beating two seconds! Or the Bill Mosienko hat-trick!

The thing is, Mario came close to matching Gretzky's 51-game point streak. Hull and Mario came close to matching Gretzky's 92 (and 87) goals (as, perhaps, M.Richard, Bobby Hull, Ovechkin would have done in similar scoring environments). Mario came close to matching Gretzky's 200 point seasons.

But nobody -- not even Gretzky himself -- has come remotely close to 163 assists.

I think it's literally impossible to score two goals in two seconds. The clock and timing was def off.

 

[Big Phil]

I think it's literally impossible to score two goals in two seconds. The clock and timing was def off.

It happened though. Right off the faceoff in the old Boston Garden Gilmour got a clean shot towards the net right after the puck dropped. It was a normal type of shot you always see go into the empty net. And it was two seconds. Maybe it was 2.4 seconds, who knows, but either way the official time was still two seconds. As long as it is under 3.0 seconds it will be registered as two seconds.

For the life of me I can't find the Gilmour clip on Youtube, but here is the Islander one that happened in three seconds. Same idea and this was even a lost faceoff.



Gilmour did the same thing except it was a clean shot directly towards the net right from the faceoff. So yeah, two seconds is possible but IMPOSSIBLE to break. But here is the official boxscore from that game:

Flyers History - Philadelphia Flyer Game Summary

 

[Big Phil]

The thing is, Mario came close to matching Gretzky's 51-game point streak. Hull and Mario came close to matching Gretzky's 92 (and 87) goals (as, perhaps, M.Richard, Bobby Hull, Ovechkin would have done in similar scoring environments). Mario came close to matching Gretzky's 200 point seasons.

But nobody -- not even Gretzky himself -- has come remotely close to 163 assists.

Exactly, the 163 assists is the hardest of Gretzky's records. Even harder than the 50-in-39. Even Lemieux himself only had 114 assists and along with Orr is the only other player with 100 assists. Oates, Thornton are players that we think of as all-time great playmakers and they never did more than 97 and 96 respectively. Crosby and Forsberg never hit 90. Jagr either. We'll see if McDavid can ever touch 100 assists. As you said, even Gretzky was like 30 assists behind 163 his next best outing.

You tend to look at the records that have been around forever, and there is a reason they have been. Joe DiMaggio's 56 game hitting streak and Ted Williams being the last to hit .400 come to mind from 1941.

 

[RageQuit77]

Hard to imagine that any rookie ever would score 76 or more goals, without dramatic changes to the rules of game, schedules, and/or equipment. It's difficult to believe that anyone could do that anymore, rookie, veteran, or elite.

Selänne's rookie records seems pretty much untouchable now.

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

Lemieux's 13 SH goals record in a season is pretty much unbreakable. Teams don't even score that many let alone one player

Another random record. is Cogliano's three straight games with an OT winner. That one will probably never be broken

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Gretzky's 215 is untouchable.

team wise, I dont see anyone besting the Bruins' record of 3 shorties in a single 2min PK

 

[frisco]

I remember thinking in the 80's that Sawchuk's 103 shutouts was untouchable. With goalies leading the league with three a year it just seemed out of the realm of possibility but the game changed. I guess you never know.

My Best-Carey

 

[shazariahl]

Gretzky and 163 assists. Even he was never really close to that mark. The closest non Gretzky year is 114

I agree that this is definitely harder than his 92 goals, which is also almost impossible. But other players, and Gretzky himself, have had streaks where they were on pace to beat it. No one has come close to 163 assists. To put that in perspective, Gretzky's 163 assists is more POINTS than anyone has ever scored in a season except Lemieux. Lemieux only broke 100 assists once (114) and Orr did it once as well (102). No one else has broken 100 even, besides Gretzky.

Of course, if they replace the nets with soccer nets, then we'll see these records fall. That's why stuff like losing 41 road games are probably even more unbeatable. Then again, they could make it a 200 game season at some point, so maybe not. We'll have bionic players that run on batteries, so you just need to let them recharge overnight and they're good for the next game.

 

[MadLuke]

Possible rules change make any one season record type that is about a number of points or goal very possible to be broken, imagine if they extend to 3 assist on a goal, remake team have to kill their entire 2 minutes instead of stopping the powerplay after a goal, count the shootout goal in the goal total or make the 3v3 play until a goal, larger net, etc....

Having said that, the Gretzky assist record seem really a thought one, previous era type of goaltending record or Hart/Art-Ross type winning are those Gretzky is safer even if it is counter intuitive.

 

[Mayor Bee]

[deleted]

 

[tarheelhockey]

Of course, if they replace the nets with soccer nets, then we'll see these records fall. That's why stuff like losing 41 road games are probably even more unbeatable. Then again, they could make it a 200 game season at some point, so maybe not. We'll have bionic players that run on batteries, so you just need to let them recharge overnight and they're good for the next game.

This is why I think the PIM record actually is a very good candidate.

Since no player would stay in the league if he took 3 minor penalties per game, the only way to break that record would be to rack up fights and misconducts, which are gone and not coming back.

 

[Eisen]

I can`t really say. There a a lot of records that are only breakable if rule changes occur. They are all equally safe. Some really good ones have been named. One that I`d like to add is Joe Malone`s 2.2 GPG for a single season.

 

[Thenameless]

I can`t really say. There a a lot of records that are only breakable if rule changes occur. They are all equally safe. Some really good ones have been named. One that I`d like to add is Joe Malone`s 2.2 GPG for a single season.

I often wonder how that awesome record translates over an 80 game season. He'd be well on pace to obliterate the 92 anyway.

 

[Supreme King]

Gretzky 163 assists in a season. To put that record into perspective, thats more assists then any other player has scored points in a season with the exception of Super Mario.

 

[MarkusKetterer]

I often wonder how that awesome record translates over an 80 game season. He'd be well on pace to obliterate the 92 anyway.

176 goals

 

[Sprague Cleghorn]

Eddie Shores 5 fighting majors in a game

 

[thedoughboy]

Eddie Shores 5 fighting majors in a game

Even less likely to be broken, single game penalties minutes by a player.

Randy Holt- 67 penalty minutes in a single game

Per wikipedia because I'm a youngin, "After picking up a minor penalty early in the first period, Holt fought Philadelphia enforcer Frank Batheat 14:58 of the first period, picking up 20 minutes in penalties. However, Holt felt that he had been a victim of a cheap shot from Flyers' agitator Ken Linseman earlier in the game, and at the end of the first period instigated a bench-clearing brawl in an attempt to settle the score with Linseman. He was assessed a further 45 minutes in penalties for his actions during the brawl, including a triple game misconduct, bringing his game total to 67"