Modern-Day (80 Game) Great Players Who Surprisingly Didn't Score 50 Goals in a Season

streitz

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Jul 22, 2018
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Broke 40/41 twice, with that stash it's a shame he couldn't pot 9 more


OT- on the list the only 2 that surprise me are Savard and Lindros. rest i always thought of as playmakers.
 
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vadim sharifijanov

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Oct 10, 2007
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rick tocchet. guys like that in the era he played usually have a career year where they hit 50. tocchet was in the high 40s a couple times but both times missed enough games to fall short.

on the flipside, the most unlikely 45 goal scorer: adam oates.
 

The Panther

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Mar 25, 2014
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Tokyo, Japan
Although not an official answer, can I mention Mike Gartner? The guy had 15 or 16 thirty-goal seasons, and only once did he ever hit 50 (1984-85). And in that season, he scored exactly 50. This, despite 708 career goals! That's kind of insane, but speaks to his consistency.

I think Peter Stastny was already mentioned, but, although he was a playmaker, it's rather surprising he didn't hit 50 at least once. He was the 2nd highest-scoring player of the 1980s and had five 40+ goal seasons that decade (in fact, four 46+ goal seasons!).
 

Normand Lacombe

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Jan 30, 2008
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Surprised that Brian Propp never hit 50 goals or 100 points in his career. Most Propp scored in a season was 44 goals and he recorded 97 points twice.
 
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Iron Mike Sharpe

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Dec 6, 2017
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Gilbert Perrault - topped out at 44 in 75-76. Linemate Rene Robert also topped out at 40.
Yvan Cournoyer only hit 47.
Frank Mahovlich 49.
Paul Coffey 48.
Jean Ratelle 46.
Dave Taylor peaked at 47 in 72 games.
Wendel Clark hit 46 in 64.
 
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psycat

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Oct 25, 2016
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There have been a lot of highly skilled European players that I think could have easily broken 50 but didn't for various reasons. A few that come to mind initially:

Alex Kovalev (44)

Kent Nilsson (49)

Tomas Sandstrom (45 in 68 games)

Näslund?
 

kruezer

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Apr 21, 2002
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North Bay
It’s really just the hype. Lindros had so much damn hype that it’s caused a bias. I was a young kid when he came into the league, but part of me sort of naively assumes/falsely remembers him as being better than he was. For example in the late 90s Jagr was tearing up the league, but until recently looking back on that time in depth I would have said Lindros was the best player in the league (just based off the hype that I still remember). Hell, he probably got more coverage than Jagr, Federov and Forsberg combined, all of whom had more impressive careers than him.

While I wouldn't disagree that Jagr & Forsberg had more impressive careers than Lindros (I'd say there's a solid case either way with Federov). That said Lindros was a truly dominant scorer. Its not outrageous to this of peak Lindros as potentially better offensively than all three (and I consider Jagr a top 20 player ever). from 92-93 (Lindros' rookie year and the year Jagr broke out) until the year Philly went to the cup the top 3 PPG players over that time frame are Lemieux at 2.11 (no surprise there), Lindros at 1.47 and then Jagr at 1.43. So while I don't think Lindros was up in the Lemieux realm of players (top 5 ever) its entirely possible that Lindros if he had remained healthy could have actually meaningfully outscored Jagr over the course of their primes. 1.47 vs 1.43 is only a handful of points over an 82 game season but if we assume Lindros lost impact in the games he did play due to the injuries could he have routinely lead the scoring race by 10+ points? Maybe. So while I don't believe Lindros was on Lemieux's level its not crazy to think he was an even less healthy Crosby who I think most would view as a cut above Jagr/Forsberg/Federov.

Over the following seasons Jagr of course catches and passes Lindros in PPG, as Lindros' game deteriorated.
 

Big Phil

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Nov 2, 2003
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Savard and Perreault are the ones I immediately thought of when reading this title. When you think of Savard you think of the spinorama goals immediately, and there were lots of them. But he only had 473, yeah "only", in his career. Just three times he hit 40 in a season, surprisingly. But he was an elite playmaker.

Perreault you think of the skating and the pretty skating strides that made you happy to be a fan. But yeah, never more than 44. Hard to believe. But he let guys like Rick Martin score more. Perreault was the playmaker. 512 in his career though. Three times at least 40.
 
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Normand Lacombe

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Jan 30, 2008
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Peter Stastny- More of a playmaking center, Stastny scored 40 or more goals in five of his ten seasons. His personal best was 47 goals in 75 games in the 82-83 season. Had Stastny played all 80 games that season, there was a good chance he would have hit 50.
 

goeb

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Oct 24, 2013
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Grand Rapids, Michigan
Marion Gaborik
Marian Hossa

I wonder if Hossa would've hit 50 if he stayed with the Sens into the 2005-06 season. He scored 43 with the Thrashers and took lots of shots during his time there.

Gaborik's had a few 40-goal seasons but, even when healthy, doesn't seem like he shot the puck as much as he should have. He had a great shot though but I think he also had the misfortune of playing for defensive hockey clubs during his prime years. I feel he had the talent of a 50-goal scorer and thought he may have had one in his career.
 
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Pominville Knows

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Sep 28, 2012
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Down Under
I'm surpised that the entire nation of Swedes managed to score 50 goals once.
And that it took Håkan Loob of all people to do it while still not finishing top-5 in goals that year. Craig Simpson and Jimmy Carson enjoyed that list so much better.
 
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vadim sharifijanov

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Oct 10, 2007
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Savard and Perreault are the ones I immediately thought of when reading this title. When you think of Savard you think of the spinorama goals immediately, and there were lots of them. But he only had 473, yeah "only", in his career. Just three times he hit 40 in a season, surprisingly. But he was an elite playmaker.

Perreault you think of the skating and the pretty skating strides that made you happy to be a fan. But yeah, never more than 44. Hard to believe. But he let guys like Rick Martin score more. Perreault was the playmaker. 512 in his career though. Three times at least 40.

actually, the guy i'm most surprised about never hitting 50 is darryl sittler. i don't know the 70s guys that well but among that second tier of star centers (ratelle, perreault) i felt like he was the most shootey. similar to hawerchuk, relative to stastny and savard.
 

Big Phil

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Nov 2, 2003
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actually, the guy i'm most surprised about never hitting 50 is darryl sittler. i don't know the 70s guys that well but among that second tier of star centers (ratelle, perreault) i felt like he was the most shootey. similar to hawerchuk, relative to stastny and savard.

I looked it up. Yeah, Sittler led the NHL in shots in 1978, his biggest year. He was top 10 on 8 different seasons. Perreault not once. So yeah, he certainly shot more but I was surprised it was that much.

I'm surpised that the entire nation of Swedes managed to score 50 goals once.
And that it took Håkan Loob of all people to do it while still not finishing top-5 in goals that year. Craig Simpson and Jimmy Carson enjoyed that list so much better.

That is pretty hard to believe. Loob wouldn't be the first name you would think about.
 

crobro

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Aug 8, 2008
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Gilbert Perrault - topped out at 44 in 75-76. Linemate Rene Robert also topped out at 40.
Yvan Cournoyer only hit 47.
Frank Mahovlich 49.
Paul Coffey 48.
Jean Ratelle 46.
Dave Taylor peaked at 47 in 72 games.
Wendel Clark hit 46 in 64.

Gordie Howe never hit 50
 
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Nerowoy nora tolad

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May 9, 2018
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Gladstone, Australia
Patrick Kane (46)

Kane not having a fifty season makes sense to me. He had about half of his career in an era where 50 for a top line player was a common occurence each year, then after 2013 or so the ratio of star player/2d&3d line players changed. Now only the absolute best scorers having their very best season can have a shot at 50.

Savard and Perreault are the ones I immediately thought of when reading this title. When you think of Savard you think of the spinorama goals immediately, and there were lots of them. But he only had 473, yeah "only", in his career. Just three times he hit 40 in a season, surprisingly. But he was an elite playmaker.

Savard is kind of a funny one. Everything Ive seen of him says he wasnt really a playmaker, at least not in the sense that we refer to Gretzky as one because he always thought pass before shoot, but he wasnt a goal scorer of the Bondra type of mold where scoring goals is all about the quality of your shot and hanging around the right areas on the ice. (think guys like Mickey Redmond, old Brett Hull, late career Ovechkin, maybe Bossy to an extent)

Savvy was more about getting ahold of the puck and moving it up ice & cross ice, pulling defenders to him and opening up space elsewhere on the ice, but he wasnt just limited to passing off the puck at that point as he could still deke you out or score on a clean shot. He created offence both for himself and his teammates by carrying the puck with speed and skill.

If he had wanted to score 50 in a season Savard could have done it in his sleep, but the rest of the Hawks offence at the time would have suffered when he sacrificed all the other little offensive intangibles in order to 'just' score goals.
 
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