“Double-unofficial” 50 in 50

[Yozhik v tumane]

Auston Matthews has scored 49 goals in the last 49 games, which is remarkable of course, but it’s also spurred debates on the main boards if he by scoring in the next game should be recognized as an “unofficial” 50 in 50 scorer. Of course, the “unofficial” 50 in 50 feat is known to be scoring 50 in the first 50 games of a player’s (as opposed to his team’s) season, as Cam Neely did scoring 50 goals in the 49 games he was fit to play in 1993-94, but the counter-argument is “since when does an unofficial record have criteria?”.

This piqued my interest. I guess I do recognize the “unofficial 50 in 50” as more official of a feat than the “50 in some later 50 (in a season)”, but mostly because these are listed on the 50 in 50 Wikipedia page, as are some near-misses, whereas there’s nothing on the players on hot streaks maintaining a goal per game pace over any span of 50 games in one season.

So I thought that perhaps we could use this thread to try and find out who the “doubly unofficial” 50-in-50 goal scorers are.

Here’s one to kick off the thread:
Teemu Selänne in 1992-93 scored 51 goals between games #35 and #84.

Click to read more...

 

[The Panther]

Fun topic!

Jari Kurri of course scored 51 goals in his first 50 games of 1984-85. So, actually he scored 51 goals in 48 games, because he didn't score in games one or two of that season.

Kurri also scored 50 goals in 50 games (exactly) between November 30th 1985 (game 21) and March 18th 1986 (game 70).

 

[The Panther]

We all know (or we should!) that Wayne Gretzky scored the "official" 50-in-less-than-50-games" three times:
-- 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)

During 1983-84, he actually scored 62 goals in 50 games at one point (Nov. 8 '83 to March 11 '84). Is that the most ever in 50 games (not counting Joe Malone)? I don't know...

(Also, in 1982-83, Wayne scored 49 goals in the last 50 games of the season, so just missed that. And in 1986-87, he had 49 goals in 51 games, so another close one. No cigar, though.)

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

Yeah, I might as well name the official and unofficial 50-in-50 scorers per Wikipedia:

Official

1944-45: Maurice Richard (50 in 50)
1980-81: Mike Bossy (50 in 50)
1981-82, 1983-84, 1984-85: Wayne Gretzky (50 in 39, 42, and 49 respectively)
1988-89: Mario Lemieux (50 in 46)
1990-91: Brett Hull (50 in 49)
1991-92: Brett Hull (50 in 50)

Unofficial

1984-85: Jari Kurri (50 in 50/53)
1992-93: Alex Mogilny (50 in 46/53)
1992-93: Mario Lemieux (50 in 48/72)
1993-94: Cam Neely (50 in 44/66)
1995-96: Mario Lemieux (50 in 50/59)

 

[Hockey Outsider]

To quote myself from a recent post on the main board:

I think the hierarchy (at least in terms of how the NHL looks at it), from best to worst, would be:

• 50 goals in a team's first 50 games from start of the season. This is the only official "fifty goals in fifty games". It's only been done eight times in history (by Gretzky 3x, Hull 2x, Bossy, Richard and Lemieux).
• 50 goals in a player's first 50 games from start of the season. I'm only aware of four more players (Lemieux 2x, Neely, Kurri and Mogilny) ever having done this. An example would be Kurri in 1984-85. He scored 50 goals in his first 50 games (but had missed three games, so it was 50 goals in 53 games at the team level).
• 50 goals in any 50 consecutive games within one season. Several players have done this (I don't have an exact count), including Esposito, Nicholls and Simmer, among others. For example, in 1971, Espo had 23 goals in his first 28 games from the start of the season. Then he scored 53 goals in the next 50 games. But that NHL doesn't count it because it isn't from the start of the season.
• 50 goals in 50 consecutive games spanning two (or more) seasons. You can find a streak like this for many of the players I already mentioned. One example of someone who isn't in any of the previous categories is Bobby Hull (who scored 50 goals in 50 games spanning his final 42 games of the 1966-67 season, and then his first eight games of the 1967-68 season). Teemu Selanne also did this, plus a lot of players from the earliest days of hockey, before the season was even fifty games long (Howie Morenz and many others).

What Matthews can potentially do would fall into the third category. Still really impressive (considering it isn't the high-scoring 1980's or early 1990's), but it's not officially 50 in 50 by the NHL's own rules.

Credit to @MadLuke for some of these observations.

 

[MadLuke]

So I thought that perhaps we could use this thread to try and find out who the “doubly unofficial” 50-in-50 goal scorers are.

It depend just how far we go in the unofficial down, taking the hierarchy above:

For the 4) here a list of player most goals in 50 consecutive played regulars games in history:

fullName	goals	assists	points	games	start_date	end_date
Joe Malone	82	16	98	50	12/19/1917	3/6/1920
Newsy Lalonde	77	23	100	50	12/22/1917	3/3/1920
Babe Dye	75	19	94	50	1/17/1921	1/13/1923
Cy Denneny	69	18	87	50	2/28/1920	3/4/1922
Wayne Gretzky	66	78	144	50	10/31/1981	2/19/1982
Mario Lemieux	62	64	126	50	3/20/1993	11/18/1995
Frank Nighbor	59	34	93	50	2/25/1918	1/8/1921
Brett Hull	59	34	93	50	11/13/1990	3/9/1991
Alexander Mogilny	59	26	85	50	11/22/1992	3/20/1993
Maurice Richard	57	31	88	50	2/26/1944	2/17/1945
Cam Neely	56	24	80	50	3/27/1993	3/7/1994
Punch Broadbent	53	21	74	50	2/18/1919	2/15/1922
Phil Esposito	53	47	100	50	12/13/1970	4/4/1971
Howie Morenz	52	14	66	50	11/26/1929	12/11/1930
Teemu Selanne	52	36	88	50	12/29/1992	10/6/1993
Mike Bossy	51	34	85	50	10/12/1980	1/26/1981
Corb Denneny	51	20	71	50	2/18/1919	12/28/1921
Reg Noble	51	20	71	50	12/19/1917	2/4/1920
Jari Kurri	51	52	103	50	10/11/1984	2/3/1985
Bernie Nicholls	51	55	106	50	10/9/1988	1/31/1989
Bobby Hull	50	26	76	50	12/21/1966	10/28/1967
Charlie Simmer	50	38	88	50	10/14/1980	1/26/1981

Joe Malone all time record and Gretzky best for the post 20s is not a surprise for anyone I think, so are the Hull, Richard, Neely, Selanne, Bossy.

Bernie Nicholls 51 in 50 during the 1988-1989 season could be an example of what you are looking for (unlisted case), maybe I could change my code so it need to be in the same season

NHL Stats

The official source for NHL Stats including skaters, goalies, teams stats and more.

www.nhl.com

He had 50 in 49 the game if we look at it like that:

NHL Stats

The official source for NHL Stats including skaters, goalies, teams stats and more.

www.nhl.com

Rob Brown was shooting for 33% in that windows.....

 

[MadLuke]

Charlie Simmer seem an other case:

NHL Stats

The official source for NHL Stats including skaters, goalies, teams stats and more.

www.nhl.com

1980-10-14 was is team second game

He scored 50 goals in his team game #1 to #51, has close to a miss you can get to be on the very rare list of official 50 in 50.

Considering the era he played in and never scored above 56 (and only 2 50 goals seasons) he would stand out among the Richard/Bossy/Gretzky/Lemieux/Brett Hull quite a bit (5 players that are usually in the conversation to be in the group of the 6-7 best goalscorers of all time)

 

[Strangle]

An official 50 in 50 is about speed running 50 goals, in respect to how old the season itself is.

50 in 66 or whatever is fantastic. It’s not 50 in 50. Even if you did go scoreless in the first 16 games.

50 in your last 50 games is amazing. It’s not as amazing as an official 50 in 50 though.

It’s like when speed runners do segmented runs of video games. It’s cool, it shows you have some skills at speedrunning the game, but you didn’t do it right. It proves that you could theoretically speed run it, but it doesn’t prove that you’ve done it.

Hitting 50 with 32 games left or more, is different than hitting it with 10 games left.

 

[Big Phil]

I think it is nice to look at the strings of goals a player scores through a particular point of the season, but it still doesn't make it an official thing. Rocket did the first one in 1945. Why do we talk about 50-in-50 with such reverence? It is because that was all the games they played that year. Rocket didn't have the luxury to do what Matthews has done this year and start off slow and then turn it on. He had just 50 games to do this. This is why Bossy and Gretzky's records are thought of so highly, they did it in the same manner Richard did.

 

[The Panther]

It depend just how far we go in the unofficial down, taking the hierarchy above:

For the 4) here a list of player most goals in 50 consecutive played regulars games in history:

fullName	goals	assists	points	games	start_date	end_date
Joe Malone	82	16	98	50	12/19/1917	3/6/1920
Newsy Lalonde	77	23	100	50	12/22/1917	3/3/1920
Babe Dye	75	19	94	50	1/17/1921	1/13/1923
Cy Denneny	69	18	87	50	2/28/1920	3/4/1922
Wayne Gretzky	66	78	144	50	10/31/1981	2/19/1982
Mario Lemieux	62	64	126	50	3/20/1993	11/18/1995
Frank Nighbor	59	34	93	50	2/25/1918	1/8/1921
Brett Hull	59	34	93	50	11/13/1990	3/9/1991
Alexander Mogilny	59	26	85	50	11/22/1992	3/20/1993
Maurice Richard	57	31	88	50	2/26/1944	2/17/1945
Cam Neely	56	24	80	50	3/27/1993	3/7/1994
Punch Broadbent	53	21	74	50	2/18/1919	2/15/1922
Phil Esposito	53	47	100	50	12/13/1970	4/4/1971
Howie Morenz	52	14	66	50	11/26/1929	12/11/1930
Teemu Selanne	52	36	88	50	12/29/1992	10/6/1993
Mike Bossy	51	34	85	50	10/12/1980	1/26/1981
Corb Denneny	51	20	71	50	2/18/1919	12/28/1921
Reg Noble	51	20	71	50	12/19/1917	2/4/1920
Jari Kurri	51	52	103	50	10/11/1984	2/3/1985
Bernie Nicholls	51	55	106	50	10/9/1988	1/31/1989
Bobby Hull	50	26	76	50	12/21/1966	10/28/1967
Charlie Simmer	50	38	88	50	10/14/1980	1/26/1981

Joe Malone all time record and Gretzky best for the post 20s is not a surprise for anyone I think, so are the Hull, Richard, Neely, Selanne, Bossy.

Bernie Nicholls 51 in 50 during the 1988-1989 season could be an example of what you are looking for (unlisted case), maybe I could change my code so it need to be in the same season

NHL Stats

The official source for NHL Stats including skaters, goalies, teams stats and more.

www.nhl.com

He had 50 in 49 the game if we look at it like that:

NHL Stats

The official source for NHL Stats including skaters, goalies, teams stats and more.

www.nhl.com

Rob Brown was shooting for 33% in that windows.....

I don't think this is entirely correct, though, because as I noted above, Jari Kurri scored 50 goals in a 48-game period during 1984-85.

I don't believe your list is only from the start of the season, is it?

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

Alright, here we go. I think the following are every double-unofficial 50-in-50 season, including the official and unofficial 50-in-50 scorers, and counted from the first through the last goal of their earliest 50-in-50 streak that season. How awesome it would be if Matthews becomes the first new addition to this list in more than a quarter of a century.

1944-45 Maurice Richard #3 through #50: 50 goals in 48 games *
1970-71 Phil Esposito #22 through #70: 50 goals in 49 games ***
1980-81 Mike Bossy #2 through #50: 50 goals in 49 games *
1980-81 Charlie Simmer #2 through #51: 50 goals in 50 games ***
1981-82 Wayne Gretzky #3 through #39: 50 goals in 37 games **
1983-84 Wayne Gretzky #1 through #42: 50 goals in 42 games *
1984-85 Wayne Gretzky #3 through #49: 52 goals in 47 games *
1984-85 Jari Kurri #3 through #50: 51 goals in 48 games **
1985-86 Jari Kurri #21 through #70: 50 goals in 50 games ***
1987-88 Mario Lemieux #4 through #51: 50 goals in 48 games ***
1988-89 Mario Lemieux #2 through #44: 50 goals in 43 games *
1988-89 Bernie Nicholls #3 through #52: 51 goals in 50 games ***
1989-90 Brett Hull #24 through #73: 50 goals in 50 games ***
1990-91 Brett Hull #1 through #49: 50 goals in 49 games *
1991-92 Brett Hull #1 through #50: 50 goals in 50 games *
1992-93 Alexander Mogilny #1 through #46: 50 goals in 46 games **
1992-93 Mario Lemieux #1 through #50: 53 goals in 50 games **
1992-93 Teemu Selänne #25 through #74: 50 goals in 50 games ***
1993-94 Cam Neely #1 through #44: 50 goals in 44 games **
1995-96 Mario Lemieux #2 through #50: 50 goals in 49 games **

There were a few ways to go about compiling the "twice unofficial" 50 in 50 scorers (most goals in 50 games, fewest games to 50 goals, etc). I decided to go with the earliest 50 in 50 stretches I could find on the players' seasons, as it seems the most apt when figuring out the moment a player managed the feat.

Some near misses:
1971-72 Phil Esposito #15 through #64: 49 in 50
1982-83 Wayne Gretzky #23 through #72: 49 in 50
1982-83 Lanny McDonald #29 through #78: 48 in 50
1986-87 Wayne Gretzky #2 through #49: 48 in 48
1986-87 Mario Lemieux #2 through #52: 50 in 52
1988-89 Steve Yzerman #13 through #52: 50 in 52
(For curiosity's sake) 2005-06 Jonathan Cheechoo following the Thornton trade, #25 through #81: 49 in 57

* Official 50-in-50 scorer
** "Unofficial" 50-in-50 scorer
*** "Double-unofficial" 50-in-50 scorer

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

it really goes to show what a bonkers fluke the late 80s/early 90s was in terms of high end talent coinciding with optimum scoring conditions. in seven years, eight different players had runs where they scored a goal/game over the equivalent of more than half a season.


adding two 40+ goal/game stretches:

1987-88 Mario Lemieux #4 through #51: 50 goals in 48 games ***
1988 — yzerman, jan 30 – dec 22: 48 in 48 +
1988-89 Mario Lemieux #2 through #44: 50 goals in 43 games *
1988-89 Bernie Nicholls #3 through #52: 51 goals in 50 games ***
1989-90 Brett Hull #24 through #73: 50 goals in 50 games ***
1990-91 Brett Hull #1 through #49: 50 goals in 49 games *
1991-92 Brett Hull #1 through #50: 50 goals in 50 games *
1992 — bure, feb 17 – nov 23: 45 in 45 ++
1992-93 Alexander Mogilny #1 through #46: 50 goals in 46 games **
1992-93 Mario Lemieux #1 through #50: 53 goals in 50 games **
1992-93 Teemu Selänne #25 through #74: 50 goals in 50 games ***
1993-94 Cam Neely #1 through #44: 50 goals in 44 games **


+ interrupted by season-ending injury plus offseason
++ interrupted by offseason



some other runs i found looking for 40 in 40s:

kevin stevens has a 48 in 51 and 51 in 55 stretch from the end of the 92 season to the midway pt of 93

nieuwendyk has a 31 in 30 stretch in his rookie year

wendel clark has a 31 in 31 stretch if you count his last two games of the '93 series against LA to the 1/3 mark of the next season

robitaille has 30 in 31 and 27 in 30 runs stretching from (1) the end of the '88 season to the beginning '89 and (2) end of '93 to beginning of '94

 

[Matsun]

Ovechkin nearly had 50 in 50 over 2 seasons. Between 2013-03-17 and 2013-12-10 he had 48 in 50 games while Corey Perry was in second in this period with 26 in 52. Also lead in points with 69 to Pat Kanes 61 (Kane had 52 games). Probably one of the most dominant goalscoring streaks ever. Most of the talk during 13-14 was about Ovechkins terrible defense (and it was bad) so the streak might have been underrated.

 

[MadLuke]

I don't think this is entirely correct, though, because as I noted above, Jari Kurri scored 50 goals in a 48-game period during 1984-85.

I don't believe your list is only from the start of the season, is it?

The difference would be one list being the most goal in 50 games not the less game to reach 50 goals which could be more common.

Not like noted it is category #4 of the message just above.

 

[MadLuke]

Ovechkin nearly had 50 in 50 over 2 seasons. Between 2013-03-17 and 2013-12-10 he had 48 in 50 games

Pavel Bure has well 2 times he topped at 48 in 50 (with the Canucks and with the Panthers later on)

 

[quietbruinfan]

Charlie Simmer seem an other case:

NHL Stats

The official source for NHL Stats including skaters, goalies, teams stats and more.

www.nhl.com

1980-10-14 was is team second game

He scored 50 goals in his team game #1 to #51, has close to a miss you can get to be on the very rare list of official 50 in 50.

Considering the era he played in and never scored above 56 (and only 2 50 goals seasons) he would stand out among the Richard/Bossy/Gretzky/Lemieux/Brett Hull quite a bit (5 players that are usually in the conversation to be in the group of the 6-7 best goalscorers of all time)

Simmer missed an empty netter in Boston in an afternoon game-on a day he had two I think. Edit, he actually had three....... Bossy scored 50 in 50 later that night.

 

[MadLuke]

To quote myself from a recent post on the main board:

I think the hierarchy (at least in terms of how the NHL looks at it), from best to worst, would be:

• 
  
• 50 goals in any 50 consecutive games within one season. Several players have done this (I don't have an exact count), including Esposito, Nicholls and Simmer, among others. For example, in 1971, Espo had 23 goals in his first 28 games from the start of the season. Then he scored 53 goals in the next 50 games. But that NHL doesn't count it because it isn't

After doing #4, if we look at #3, who achieved like Matthews to score 50 in a stretch of 50 games that was in an single season, not cut by a summer break.

Number of goals in their best consecutive run, it add Mogilny, Esposito, Kurri, Nicholls, Simmer and now Matthews to the group.

Wayne Gretzky	66
Brett Hull	59
Mario Lemieux	59
Alexander Mogilny	59
Phil Esposito	53
Mike Bossy	51
Jari Kurri	51
Bernie Nicholls	51
Maurice Richard	50
Charlie Simmer	50

For the repeater:
Kurri did it in 85 and 86
Hull did it 90, 91, 92
Gretzky did it in 82, 84, 85
Lemieux did it in 88, 89, 93, 96

One way to say it, Matthews did something that never occurred in the last 30 year's would it not be of Lemieux during a special season on a special team.

That was only done in the highest scoring era of the 80-93 or by Esposito playing with Orr, Richard during the war year or Lemieux on the 1996 Pens super powerplay.

 

[TheStatican]

I thought of making this exact list and I posted a thread about it on the main board. My post got moved into the Auston Matthews 51 in 50 thread where it'll eventually be buried under a sea of replies and threads so figured I'd repost it here.

I see that the relevant stretches have already been covered but figured I'd add my neatly categorized lists along with some previously unlisted near misses that I've found to the discussion.

It seems that Auston Matthews is only the 13th player to score 50(+) in any 50 game stretch within a single season and this feat was only been achieved within 21 individual player seasons, 22 if playoff games in the same season is counted.

Official 50 in 50 (8 times) - from the start of the season in the teams first 50 games
50 in 50 - 1944-45 Maurice Richard
50 in 50 - 1980-81 Mike Bossy
61 in 50 - 1981-82 Wayne Gretzky - 50th scored in 39th game
60 in 50 - 1983-84 Wayne Gretzky - 50th scored in 42th game
53 in 50 - 1984-85 Wayne Gretzky - 50, 51, 52 scored in 49th game
54 in 50 - 1988-89 Mario Lemieux - 50th scored in 44th game
52 in 50 - 1990-91 Brett Hull - 50th scored in 49th game
50 in 50 - 1991-92 Brett Hull

near misses(within 1 or 2 games);
50 in 52gm - 1965-66 Bobby Hull - scored #48 in the 50th game
50 in 51gm - 1980-81 Charlie Simmer - scored #47,48 & 49 in the 50th game
50 in 51gm - 1988-89 Bernie Nicholls - scored #48 in the 50th game

Unofficial 50 in 50 (5 times) - from the start of the season in the players first 50 games
51 in 50 (team's 53rd game) - 1984-85 Jari Kurri
54 in 50 (team's 53rd game) - 1992-93 Alexander Mogilny - 50th scored in his 46th game
53 in 50 (team's 72nd game) - 1992-93 Mario Lemieux - 50th scored in his 48th game
50 in 50 (team's 66th game) - 1993-94 Cam Neely - 50th scored in his 44th game
50 in 50 (team's 59th game) - 1995-96 Mario Lemieux

near misses(within 1 game);
50 in 51gm(team's 54th game) - 1987-88 Mario Lemieux - scored #48 in the 48th game, but didn't score in games 49 & 50

Mid season 50 in 50 (8 times) - 50 or more goals in any 50 game stretch within one season, other than the players and seasons already listed in the previous two categories
53 in 50(50 in 49) - 1970-71 Phil Esposito (game 30 to 78) finished with 76 goals in 78 games
50 in 50(49 in 49) - 1980-81 Charlie Simmer (game 2 to 51) finished with 56 goals in 64 games
50 in 50(50 in 49) - 1885-86 Jari Kurri (game 23 to 71) finished with 68 goals in 78 games
52 in 50(50 in 48) - 1987-88 Mario Lemieux (game 4 to 51) finished with 70 goals in 77 games
51 in 50(50 in 49) - 1988-89 Bernie Nicholls (game 3 to 52) finished with 70 goals in 79 games
50 in 50(49 in 47) - 1989-90 Brett Hull (game 24 to game 73) finished with 72 goals in 80 games
51 in 50(50 in 47) - 1992-93 Teemu Selänne (game 27 to 76) finished with 76 goals in 84 games
51 in 50(50 in 49) - 2021-22 Auston Matthews (game 19 to 67) 58 goals and counting... in 67 games with 10 games remaining

mid season near misses(within 3 games);
49 in 50 - Wayne Gretzky 1982-83 (game 23 to 72)(50 in 51) finished with 71
49 in 50 - Phil Esposito 1971-72 (game 15 to 64)(50 in 53) finished with 66
48 in 50 - Phil Esposito 1974-75 (game 5 to 54)(50 in 51) finished with 61
48 in 50 - Lanny McDonald 1982-83 (game 29 to 78)(50 in 58)(50 in 54 if including playoff games) finished with 66
48 in 50 - Mario Lemieux 1986-87 (game 4 to 53)(50 in 52) finished with 54 in 63gm
48 in 50 - Pavel Bure 1993-94 (game 26 to 75)(50 in 55)(50 in 53 if including playoff games) finished with 60
47 in 50 - Steve Yzerman 1988-89 (game 13 to game 62)(50 in 52) finished with 65
47 in 50 - Steve Yzerman 1989-90 (game 21 to game 70)(50 in 55) finished with 62

Other situations;
50 in 50 including playoff games within the same season (1 time);
51 in 50 - Wayne Gretzky 1982-83 - (game 32 to 80 + playoff game 1)

near misses;
49 in 50 - Mike Bossy 1978-89 (game 32 to 80 + playoff game 1)(50 in 51)
47 in 49 - Mike Bossy 1982-83 (game 32 to 79 + playoff game 1 to 19)(50 in 55)
47 in 49 - Michel Goulet 1984-85 (game 28/29 to 69 + playoff game 1 to 8)(50 in 53)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Most goals within any 50 game stretch - only incudes the single best 50 game stretch within a season listed for each player. The numbers I've found for Hull and Mogilny
66 - Wayne Gretzky 1981-82 (game 13 to 62)
63 - Wayne Gretzky 1983-84 (game 8 to 57)
59 - Mario Lemieux 1988-89 (game 25 to 74)
59 - Brett Hull 1990-91 (game 18 to 67)
59 - Alexander Mogilny 1992-93 (game 16 to 64
56 - Mario Lemieux 1992-93 (game 9 to 58)
54 - Brett Hull 1991-92 (game 17 to 66)
53 - Phil Esposito 1970-71 (game 29 to 78)
53 - Wayne Gretzky 1984-85 (game 3 to 52)
52 - Mario Lemieux 1987-88 (game 4 to 53)
51 - Mike Bossy 1981-82 (game 2 to 51)
51 - Jari Kurri 1984-85 (multiple stretches)
51 - Bernie Nicholls 1988-89 (game 3 to 52)
51 - Teemu Selänne 1992-93 (game 27 to 76)
51 - Auston Matthews 2021-22 (game 18 to 67)
all others scored 50 in 50 games

Fewest games needed to reach 50 goals from the start of a season
39 - Wayne Gretzky 1981-82 official
42 - Wayne Gretzky 1983-84 official
44 - Mario Lemieux 1992-93 official (missed 2 team games during stretch)
44 - Cam Neely 1993-94 unofficial (missed 22 team games during stretch)
46 - Alexander Mogilny 1992-93 unofficial
48 - Mario Lemieux 1992-93 unofficial (missed 24 team games during stretch)
49 - Wayne Gretzky 1984-85 official
49 - Brett Hull 1990-91 official
all others took 50 games

Fewest games needed to reach 50 goals in any stretch within one season
34 - Wayne Gretzky 1983-84 50 (game 32 to 65)
39 - Wayne Gretzky 1983-84 51 (game 21 to 59) 50 (game 24 to 62) 50 (game 26 to 64) 50 (game 33 to 71) 50 (game 34 to 72) 50 (game 35 to 73)
40 - Wayne Gretzky 1983-84 52 (game 18 to 57)
41 - Wayne Gretzky 1983-84 50 (game 13 to 53) 50 (game 15 to 55) 50 (game 16 to 56)
42 - Wayne Gretzky 1983-84 51 (game 2 to 43) 50 (game 1 to 42) 50 (game 3 to 44) 50 (game 7 to 48)
43 - Wayne Gretzky 1983-84 50 (game 5 to 47) 50 (game 8 to 50) 50 (game 10 to 51)

35 - Wayne Gretzky 1981-82 50 (game 32 to 66) coincidence? I think not
36 - Wayne Gretzky 1981-82 50 (game 12 to 47)
37 - Wayne Gretzky 1981-82 51 (game 13 to 49) 50 (game 3 to 39) 50 (game 6 to 42) 50 (game 7 to 43) 50 (game 9 to 45) 50 (game 10 to 46)
38 - Wayne Gretzky 1981-82 50 (game 4 to 41) 50 (game 19 to 56)
39 - Wayne Gretzky 1981-82 51 (game 24 to 62) 50 (game 20 to 58)
40 - Wayne Gretzky 1981-82 52 (game 16 to 55) 52 (game 35 to 74) 51 (game 22 to 61) 51 (game 25 to 66) 50 (game 14 to 53) 50 (game 26 to 65) 50 (game 34 to 73) 50 (game 36 to 75) 50 (game 37 to 76) 50 (game 38 to 77)

38 - Alexander Mogilny 1992-93 50 (game 23 to 60)
40 - Alexander Mogilny 1992-93 50 (game 15 to 54)
41 - Alexander Mogilny 1992-93 51 (game 20 to 60)
42 - Alexander Mogilny 1992-93 51 (game 18 to 59) 50 (game 26 to 67) 50 (game 27 to 68)
43 - Alexander Mogilny 1992-93 50 (game 11 to 53)

40 - Brett Hull 1990-91 50 (game 31 to 70)
41 - Brett Hull 1990-91 50 (game 27 to 67) 50 (game 28 to 68)
42 - Brett Hull 1990-91 51 (game 25 to 66)
43 - Brett Hull 1990-91 51 (game 18 to 60) 50(game 20 to 62) 51(game 23 to 65) 50 (game 32 to 74) 51(game 33 to 75) 50(game 36 to 78) 50(game 34 to 76)

43 - Mario Lemieux 1988-89 50 (game 2 to 44)
43 - Mario Lemieux 1988-89 50 (game 32 to 74)

44 - Cam Neely 1993-94 50 (game 1 to 44)

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

I thought of making this exact list and I posted a thread about it on the main board. My post got moved into the Auston Matthews 51 in 50 thread where it'll eventually be buried under a sea of replies and threads so figured I'd repost it here.

I see that the relevant stretches have already been covered but figured I'd add my neatly categorized lists along with some previously unlisted near misses that I've found to the discussion.

It seems that Auston Matthews is only the 13th player to score 50(+) in any 50 game stretch within a single season and this feat was only been achieved within 21 individual player seasons, 22 if playoff games in the same season is counted.

Official 50 in 50 (8 times) - from the start of the season in the teams first 50 games
50 in 50 - 1944-45 Maurice Richard
50 in 50 - 1980-81 Mike Bossy
61 in 50 - 1981-82 Wayne Gretzky - 50th scored in 39th game
60 in 50 - 1983-84 Wayne Gretzky - 50th scored in 42th game
53 in 50 - 1984-85 Wayne Gretzky - 50, 51, 52 scored in 49th game
54 in 50 - 1988-89 Mario Lemieux - 50th scored in 44th game
52 in 50 - 1990-91 Brett Hull - 50th scored in 49th game
50 in 50 - 1991-92 Brett Hull

near misses(within 1 or 2 games);
50 in 52gm - 1965-66 Bobby Hull - scored #48 in the 50th game
50 in 51gm - 1980-81 Charlie Simmer - scored #47,48 & 49 in the 50th game
50 in 51gm - 1988-89 Bernie Nicholls - scored #48 in the 50th game

Unofficial 50 in 50 (5 times) - from the start of the season in the players first 50 games
51 in 50 (team's 53rd game) - 1984-85 Jari Kurri
54 in 50 (team's 53rd game) - 1992-93 Alexander Mogilny - 50th scored in his 46th game
53 in 50 (team's 72nd game) - 1992-93 Mario Lemieux - 50th scored in his 48th game
50 in 50 (team's 66th game) - 1993-94 Cam Neely - 50th scored in his 44th game
50 in 50 (team's 59th game) - 1995-96 Mario Lemieux

near misses(within 1 game);
50 in 51gm(team's 54th game) - 1987-88 Mario Lemieux - scored #48 in the 48th game, but didn't score in games 49 & 50

Mid season 50 in 50 (8 times) - 50 or more goals in any 50 game stretch within one season, other than the players and seasons already listed in the previous two categories
53 in 50(50 in 49) - 1970-71 Phil Esposito (game 30 to 78) finished with 76 goals in 78 games
50 in 50(49 in 49) - 1980-81 Charlie Simmer (game 2 to 51) finished with 56 goals in 64 games
50 in 50(50 in 49) - 1885-86 Jari Kurri (game 23 to 71) finished with 68 goals in 78 games
52 in 50(50 in 48) - 1987-88 Mario Lemieux (game 4 to 51) finished with 70 goals in 77 games
51 in 50(50 in 49) - 1988-89 Bernie Nicholls (game 3 to 52) finished with 70 goals in 79 games
50 in 50(49 in 47) - 1989-90 Brett Hull (game 24 to game 73) finished with 72 goals in 80 games
51 in 50(50 in 47) - 1992-93 Teemu Selänne (game 27 to 76) finished with 76 goals in 84 games
51 in 50(50 in 49) - 2021-22 Auston Matthews (game 19 to 67) 58 goals and counting... in 67 games with 10 games remaining

mid season near misses(within 3 games);
49 in 50 - Wayne Gretzky 1982-83 (game 23 to 72)(50 in 51) finished with 71
49 in 50 - Phil Esposito 1971-72 (game 15 to 64)(50 in 53) finished with 66
48 in 50 - Phil Esposito 1974-75 (game 5 to 54)(50 in 51) finished with 61
48 in 50 - Lanny McDonald 1982-83 (game 29 to 78)(50 in 58)(50 in 54 if including playoff games) finished with 66
48 in 50 - Mario Lemieux 1986-87 (game 4 to 53)(50 in 52) finished with 54 in 63gm
48 in 50 - Pavel Bure 1993-94 (game 26 to 75)(50 in 55)(50 in 53 if including playoff games) finished with 60
47 in 50 - Steve Yzerman 1988-89 (game 13 to game 62)(50 in 52) finished with 65
47 in 50 - Steve Yzerman 1989-90 (game 21 to game 70)(50 in 55) finished with 62

Other situations;
50 in 50 including playoff games within the same season (1 time);
51 in 50 - Wayne Gretzky 1982-83 - (game 32 to 80 + playoff game 1)

near misses;
49 in 50 - Mike Bossy 1978-89 (game 32 to 80 + playoff game 1)(50 in 51)
47 in 49 - Mike Bossy 1982-83 (game 32 to 79 + playoff game 1 to 19)(50 in 55)
47 in 49 - Michel Goulet 1984-85 (game 28/29 to 69 + playoff game 1 to 8)(50 in 53)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Most goals within any 50 game stretch - only incudes the single best 50 game stretch within a season listed for each player. The numbers I've found for Hull and Mogilny
66 - Wayne Gretzky 1981-82 (game 13 to 62)
63 - Wayne Gretzky 1983-84 (game 8 to 57)
59 - Mario Lemieux 1988-89 (game 25 to 74)
59 - Brett Hull 1990-91 (game 18 to 67)
59 - Alexander Mogilny 1992-93 (game 16 to 64
56 - Mario Lemieux 1992-93 (game 9 to 58)
54 - Brett Hull 1991-92 (game 17 to 66)
53 - Phil Esposito 1970-71 (game 29 to 78)
53 - Wayne Gretzky 1984-85 (game 3 to 52)
52 - Mario Lemieux 1987-88 (game 4 to 53)
51 - Mike Bossy 1981-82 (game 2 to 51)
51 - Jari Kurri 1984-85 (multiple stretches)
51 - Bernie Nicholls 1988-89 (game 3 to 52)
51 - Teemu Selänne 1992-93 (game 27 to 76)
51 - Auston Matthews 2021-22 (game 18 to 67)
all others scored 50 in 50 games

Fewest games needed to reach 50 goals from the start of a season
39 - Wayne Gretzky 1981-82 official
42 - Wayne Gretzky 1983-84 official
44 - Mario Lemieux 1992-93 official (missed 2 team games during stretch)
44 - Cam Neely 1993-94 unofficial (missed 22 team games during stretch)
46 - Alexander Mogilny 1992-93 unofficial
48 - Mario Lemieux 1992-93 unofficial (missed 24 team games during stretch)
49 - Wayne Gretzky 1984-85 official
49 - Brett Hull 1990-91 official
all others took 50 games

Fewest games needed to reach 50 goals in any stretch within one season
34 - Wayne Gretzky 1983-84 50 (game 32 to 65)
39 - Wayne Gretzky 1983-84 51 (game 21 to 59) 50 (game 24 to 62) 50 (game 26 to 64) 50 (game 33 to 71) 50 (game 34 to 72) 50 (game 35 to 73)
40 - Wayne Gretzky 1983-84 52 (game 18 to 57)
41 - Wayne Gretzky 1983-84 50 (game 13 to 53) 50 (game 15 to 55) 50 (game 16 to 56)
42 - Wayne Gretzky 1983-84 51 (game 2 to 43) 50 (game 1 to 42) 50 (game 3 to 44) 50 (game 7 to 48)
43 - Wayne Gretzky 1983-84 50 (game 5 to 47) 50 (game 8 to 50) 50 (game 10 to 51)

35 - Wayne Gretzky 1981-82 50 (game 32 to 66) coincidence? I think not
36 - Wayne Gretzky 1981-82 50 (game 12 to 47)
37 - Wayne Gretzky 1981-82 51 (game 13 to 49) 50 (game 3 to 39) 50 (game 6 to 42) 50 (game 7 to 43) 50 (game 9 to 45) 50 (game 10 to 46)
38 - Wayne Gretzky 1981-82 50 (game 4 to 41) 50 (game 19 to 56)
39 - Wayne Gretzky 1981-82 51 (game 24 to 62) 50 (game 20 to 58)
40 - Wayne Gretzky 1981-82 52 (game 16 to 55) 52 (game 35 to 74) 51 (game 22 to 61) 51 (game 25 to 66) 50 (game 14 to 53) 50 (game 26 to 65) 50 (game 34 to 73) 50 (game 36 to 75) 50 (game 37 to 76) 50 (game 38 to 77)

38 - Alexander Mogilny 1992-93 50 (game 23 to 60)
40 - Alexander Mogilny 1992-93 50 (game 15 to 54)
41 - Alexander Mogilny 1992-93 51 (game 20 to 60)
42 - Alexander Mogilny 1992-93 51 (game 18 to 59) 50 (game 26 to 67) 50 (game 27 to 68)
43 - Alexander Mogilny 1992-93 50 (game 11 to 53)

40 - Brett Hull 1990-91 50 (game 31 to 70)
41 - Brett Hull 1990-91 50 (game 27 to 67) 50 (game 28 to 68)
42 - Brett Hull 1990-91 51 (game 25 to 66)
43 - Brett Hull 1990-91 51 (game 18 to 60) 50(game 20 to 62) 51(game 23 to 65) 50 (game 32 to 74) 51(game 33 to 75) 50(game 36 to 78) 50(game 34 to 76)

43 - Mario Lemieux 1988-89 50 (game 2 to 44)
43 - Mario Lemieux 1988-89 50 (game 32 to 74)

44 - Cam Neely 1993-94 50 (game 1 to 44)

Wow, great job, you really went the extra mile with this! Tons of interesting adds to previously shared information, kudos!

 

[MadLuke]

That nice enough presentation to update the wikipedia page on the subject

 

[TheStatican]

An ongoing discussion on the main baords had me wondering what is the most number of times a player has had a stretch of 50 in 50 in a season. Here's what I found, top 12 listed below;

Content removed by myself

 

[tarheelhockey]

An official 50 in 50 is about speed running 50 goals, in respect to how old the season itself is.

50 in 66 or whatever is fantastic. It’s not 50 in 50. Even if you did go scoreless in the first 16 games.

50 in your last 50 games is amazing. It’s not as amazing as an official 50 in 50 though.

It’s like when speed runners do segmented runs of video games. It’s cool, it shows you have some skills at speedrunning the game, but you didn’t do it right. It proves that you could theoretically speed run it, but it doesn’t prove that you’ve done it.

Hitting 50 with 32 games left or more, is different than hitting it with 10 games left.

But unlike a video game, speed running specifically the first 50 games is not more meaningful than doing it in the last 50 games.

50 goals in the first 50 games + 10 goals in the last 32 games = 60 goal season
10 goals in the first 50 games + 50 goals in the last 32 games = 60 goal season

These are of identical value. There is no added value by starting on a specific calendar date.

As noted on the main board, the only reason for the distinction was that when Esposito notched 50-in-50 midseason in 1971, nobody noticed because nobody was tracking it. Once it was pointed out, nobody cared to notice because it was Phil Esposito and records were falling left and right, and the sort of people who care about these things tend to be traditionalists and purists who weren't prepared to use Esposito's name in the same sentence as Richard's. The idea that it had to be done in the first 50 games was arbitrarily ret-conned into the tradition, not even as an immediate response but a decade later when Bossy forced the issue to be clarified.

 

[Strangle]

But unlike a video game, speed running specifically the first 50 games is not more meaningful than doing it in the last 50 games.

50 goals in the first 50 games + 10 goals in the last 32 games = 60 goal season
10 goals in the first 50 games + 50 goals in the last 32 games = 60 goal season

These are of identical value. There is no added value by starting on a specific calendar date.

As noted on the main board, the only reason for the distinction was that when Esposito notched 50-in-50 midseason in 1971, nobody noticed because nobody was tracking it. Once it was pointed out, nobody cared to notice because it was Phil Esposito and records were falling left and right, and the sort of people who care about these things tend to be traditionalists and purists who weren't prepared to use Esposito's name in the same sentence as Richard's. The idea that it had to be done in the first 50 games was arbitrarily ret-conned into the tradition, not even as an immediate response but a decade later when Bossy forced the issue to be clarified.

It’s a “how fast can you get 50 goals” stat.

I don’t understand why people are so confused. 50 goals in your last 50 games is incredible, but it’s not the same as “holy shit we are only 39 games in and he already has 50 goals!”

 

[tarheelhockey]

It’s a “how fast can you get 50 goals” stat.

I don’t understand why people are so confused. 50 goals in your last 50 games is incredible, but it’s not the same as “holy shit we are only 39 games in and he already has 50 goals!”

I get what it is, but it’s completely arbitrary. No other meaningful stat is tracked from the beginning of the season. Nothing about goalscoring is enhanced by doing it early in the season as opposed to later.

It gets even more silly when players get disqualified if they miss the beginning of the season. Why would that be disqualifying for a personal performance metric? It’s totally arbitrary to say they’re disqualified because the first 50 games of the season hold more value. No, they don’t. Nobody thinks that is true on any topic other than trying to explain this stat.

The video game comparison doesn’t work here. The first 50 games of an NHL season aren’t the only ones that count. The whole season counts. Players and teams that can’t figure that out, usually don’t do so well in the springtime.

 

[Strangle]

I get what it is, but it’s completely arbitrary. No other meaningful stat is tracked from the beginning of the season. Nothing about goalscoring is enhanced by doing it early in the season as opposed to later.

It gets even more silly when players get disqualified if they miss the beginning of the season. Why would that be disqualifying for a personal performance metric? It’s totally arbitrary to say they’re disqualified because the first 50 games of the season hold more value. No, they don’t. Nobody thinks that is true on any topic other than trying to explain this stat.

The video game comparison doesn’t work here. The first 50 games of an NHL season aren’t the only ones that count. The whole season counts. Players and teams that can’t figure that out, usually don’t do so well in the springtime.

It’s just a special little thing, it’s not the same as how many goals someone scored in a season. All goals count.

It’s similar to saying who the first was to get to 50 goals in a season, except this record has an added time limit on it.

You could say “who cares who got to 50 goals first, it’s where you end up that matters. All goals count.” And you’d be right. But it doesn’t change when in the season someone hits 50 (earlier or later) is pretty special.

Just wait until someone does it for real, and you’ll be able to tell why doing it earlier is a special kind of cool.

It doesn’t at all take away from scoring over 1 gpg over a 50 game span. That’s just not what the record is about