Thread for Obscure NHL-Records

[Tarantula]

I would love to see 2 SH in 4 secs, even if the Home timekeeper was a bit tardy flipping the clock it still happened damn fast. Game in Que, non?

 

[Ceremony]

Most career games with at least 50 saves in a game since 1955

Semyon Varlamov, not Sergei

 

[The Panther]

From linked thread posted above by RGB:
Best +/- career average (82 game season) since 1959 (min. 400 games)

#	Player	Teams	Active	GP	Career +/-	Average +/-
1	Bobby Orr	Bos/Chi	1955-79	657	+ 582	+ 72,63
2	Larry Robinson	Mtl/LA	1972-92	1364	+ 722	+ 43,40
3

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

What a difference there, Orr is almost plus 1 every game of the year on average, almost 30 ahead of Larry. While this stat gets some side glances nowadays this differential is pretty staggering.

Orr's plus/minus results are obviously staggering, but I think you have to consider that his career is short, and is nearly 'all-prime, no-filler'. Comparing he and Larry Robinson (who once went +120 in a season), I don't find Orr's result necessarily more impressive, in the sense that Robinson had a really long, really consistently great career, and was never once a minus in 20 seasons.

Also, as I've said a few times, Orr's plus/minus isn't actually any better than Gretzky's over a comparable period. For example, over his nine full seasons, Orr was +564 in 621 regular season games, or + 0.91 per game. In Gretzky's first nine seasons, he was +553 in 696 games, or + 0.79 per game. The difference is in Orr's favor to the tune of 0.12 goals-per-game while at five-on-five. But when you factor in ice-time (I would assume Orr as a D-man in that era had at least a few more minutes than Gretzky, a forward, per game at ES), it's probably a dead-heat.

In the playoffs, it's even closer, where Orr was +60 in 74 games (+0.81 per game), while Gretzky was +89 in 120 games (+0.74 per game).

(Incidentally, Gretzky also had the best plus/minus of any player in history on a losing team when he was +41 in 1980-81.)

 

[JMCx4]

Not sure if this qualifies as a record, but I always found the accomplishment particularly noteworthy. On December 31, 1988, Mario Lemieux scored 5 goals vs. the NJ Devils: the first at even strength, the second shorthanded, the third on a power play, the fourth on a penalty shot & the last one an empty netter. Sounds like the script for an NHL All-Star Game.

 

[reckoning]

(Incidentally, Gretzky also had the best plus/minus of any player in history on a losing team when he was +41 in 1980-81.)

Charlie Simmer was +47 in 79-80 with the Kings, who finished with 74 points.

 

[The Panther]

Charlie Simmer was +47 in 79-80 with the Kings, who finished with 74 points.

Thank you; that's fantastic information!

I was trusting the information I saw very recently on another post (and another thread) as accurate. But clearly it wasn't.... unless there is some kind of complication with Simmer's missing 16 games (i.e., if the Kings were actually .500 in the 64 games he played, which is possible, albeit unimportant).

I thank you for the correction!

 

[VanIslander]

Marleau just scored his 104th career regular season game-winning goal tonight (7th all time), and so here's a stat you don't see everyday:

Most career GWGs (regular season and postseason COMBINED):

1. Jaromir Jagr 151
2. Brett Hull 134
3. Gordie Howe 131
4. Phil Esposito 130
5. Teemu Selanne 121
5. Brendan Shanahan 121
7. Patrick Marleau 120
8. Wayne Gretzky 115
9. Guy Lafleur 112
10. Alex Ovechkin 110

Patty is one game winner shy of top 5 all time. He had no less than 5 each of the last three seasons, so he's pretty assured of passing Selanne and Shanny. Next year he'll reach Espo and Gordie, and if he signs on for another year he'll only trail Jagr in all likelihood.

FUN FACT: Only two players are top 10 in regular season GWG totals and playoff GWG totals:

Brett Hull is 5th and 1st
Patty Marleau is 7th and 9th*

* note: he is just 3 shy of 3rd in career playoff GWGs

 

[blogofmike]

Was anyone worse than Alex Edler's -39 on a winning team?

 

[JMCx4]

Back in 2011, Bleacher Report published this list of noteworthy & off-the-wall (or off-the-boards?) NHL records by teams & players: NHL Records: The 13 Oddest Records in NHL History

IMO, they saved the oddest for last-est ...

Most Shorthanded Goals on a Single Penalty

Shorthanded goals are a very rare occurrence in the NHL.

It isn't very often that you see a team that has one fewer player on the ice than the other team get a good scoring chance, let alone score a goal.

Well, somebody forgot to tell that to the Boston Bruins that on April 10th, 2010.

On this evening, the Bruins scored an NHL record three goals on the same penalty kill.

To make it even better, this was all on a carry over portion of a penalty from a previous period, so they didn't have the full two minutes to score all these goals.

 

[SealsFan]

Defenseman Mike McMahon with 0 goals on 144 shots with Minn/Chi in 68/69 is all the more amazing considering he scored 14 in his previous year with the expansion North Stars!! How do you suddenly lose the scoring touch like that?

Perhaps not obscure but it was at the time and it irked me -- in 74/75, Gilles Meloche had 6 assists for the Seals (and I recall 2 in one game) which at the time was the NHL record for assists by a goalie in a season. Apparently I was the only one who noticed because there was no mention of it in The Hockey News or any media for that matter. Of course, it's since been broken by Grant Fuhr.

Speaking of Meloche, I was surprised to see he didn't make the top ten for average shots allowed in a season, although he probably wasn't that far behind the #10 spot which was 36 shots. It was common to hear "Meloche faces 45 shots a night for the Seals" back then and I did track the SOG and it wasn't as bad as they made it sound, more like in the 33, 34 range for the average. But a lot of those shots were quality scoring chances since the Seals weren't all that great when it came to clearing the slot. Pretty amazing though to see the amount of rubber Gumper was facing on those Ranger teams...

 

[The Panther]

Marleau just scored his 104th career regular season game-winning goal tonight (7th all time), and so here's a stat you don't see everyday:

Most career GWGs (regular season and postseason COMBINED):

1. Jaromir Jagr 151
2. Brett Hull 134
3. Gordie Howe 131
4. Phil Esposito 130
5. Teemu Selanne 121
5. Brendan Shanahan 121
7. Patrick Marleau 120
8. Guy Lafleur 112
9. Alex Ovechkin 110
10. Bobby Hull 109

Doesn't Gretzky have 115?

 

[VanIslander]

I forgot to calculate him as his regular season total is only 91 but he has a great playoff total to push his number high.

 

[Vanzig]

How about the NHL Record among Lefgt Wingers for
MOST CAREER POINTS in Playoff’s.
BRIAN PROPP is the Highest Scoring LW in NHL Playoff History with (64-84-148) and Passed BOBBY HULL during the Minnesota North Stars Cinderella Run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1991. PROPP Scored the Historic Game Winning Goal against Chicago’s DOMINK HASEK in the 1991 Playoffs.
For me it is 1 of the Best UNDERRATED Playoff Records Ever and BRIAN PROPP has held it for 25+ Years and he Holds 5 other NHL RECORDS for a Total of (6) NHL RECORDS, Not Bad for a 2 way defensive and Ofensive specialist.

 

[VanIslander]

How about the NHL Record among Lefgt Wingers for
MOST CAREER POINTS in Playoff’s.
BRIAN PROPP is the Highest Scoring LW in NHL Playoff History with (64-84-148) and Passed BOBBY HULL during the Minnesota North Stars Cinderella Run to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1991. PROPP Scored the Historic Game Winning Goal against Chicago’s DOMINK HASEK in the 1991 Playoffs.
For me it is 1 of the Best UNDERRATED Playoff Records Ever and BRIAN PROPP has held it for 25+ Years and he Holds 5 other NHL RECORDS for a Total of (6) NHL RECORDS, Not Bad for a 2 way defensive and Ofensive specialist.

I pimped that fact when profiling my ATD franchise draft team this summer, which had the most potent two-way 3rd line: Propp - Forsberg - Iginla

 

[Vanzig]

I pimped that fact when profiling my ATD franchise draft team this summer, which had the most potent two-way 3rd line: Propp - Forsberg - Iginla

Wow what a friggin line that would be (propp- forsberg - iginla)
ALL 3 could play defensive and offence

 

[reckoning]

Was anyone worse than Alex Edler's -39 on a winning team?

Dave Christian was minus-40 for Winnipeg in 81-82, but I don't know if they count as a winning team since they finished right at .500.

I personally wouldn't count Elder as the record-holder because Vancouver was only above .500 due to loser points. The worst mark on a team with a legitimate winning record was Dan Quinn at minus-37 on the 88-89 Pens.

 

[The Panther]

... Dan Quinn at minus-37 on the 88-89 Pens.

Yikes! 94 points on a winning team, and he's -37?

In fairness to Quinn, the Pens that year were terrible defensively and actually allowed 2 more goals than they scored. Also, Quinn scored nearly 50% of his points on the power-play. The Pens that season had 491 power-plays!

 

[oilersblue]

Hockey Reference lists all the NHL awards players were nominated for during their career (even the fifth place votes), so I decided to dig up who played the most NHL games without ever being nominated for an all-star game or an NHL award. The leader by far is Luke Richardson, a stay-at-home defenseman to the core.

1. Luke Richardson (D) - 1,417 games
2. Sean O'Donnell (D) - 1,224 games
3. Eric Nesterenko (F) - 1,219 games
4. Marc Bergevin (D) - 1,191 games
5. Rob Niedermayer (F) - 1,153 games
6. Hall Gill (D) - 1,108 games
7. Jason Chimera (F) - 1,107 games
8. Garry Unger (F) - 1,105 games
9. Jay Wells (D) - 1,098 games
10. Chris Gratton (F) - 1,092 games

Defensive defensemen don't get much love from award voters, unless they have one good offensive season that puts them in Norris or all-star game consideration. Also, Ken Daneyko would be second on this list if he hadn't received the Masterton.

It's actually pretty amazing to be a forward and play that long without any sort of nomination, as almost every forward gets at least one vote for the Byng or Selke at some point in their career. Poor Garry Unger had three 80 point seasons and didn't even get an all-star game nod! Also, the Selke only existed after Nesterenko played (he probably would have gotten a ton of nominations if it was around when he was playing).

The current active leader for defensemen is Trevor Daley and for forwards it's Kyle Brodziak.

 

[reckoning]

Hockey Reference lists all the NHL awards players were nominated for during their career (even the fifth place votes), so I decided to dig up who played the most NHL games without ever being nominated for an all-star game or an NHL award. The leader by far is Luke Richardson, a stay-at-home defenseman to the core.

1. Luke Richardson (D) - 1,417 games
2. Sean O'Donnell (D) - 1,224 games
3. Eric Nesterenko (F) - 1,219 games
4. Marc Bergevin (D) - 1,191 games
5. Rob Niedermayer (F) - 1,153 games
6. Hall Gill (D) - 1,108 games
7. Jason Chimera (F) - 1,107 games
8. Garry Unger (F) - 1,105 games
9. Jay Wells (D) - 1,098 games
10. Chris Gratton (F) - 1,092 games

Award voting results on hockey-reference are not complete. The award-voting thread on this board is more accurate.

Nesterenko received All-Star votes in a couple of seasons. Unger got All-Star votes at centre in three different seasons. Niedermayer has received a handful of Selke votes.

 

[oilersblue]

Award voting results on hockey-reference are not complete. The award-voting thread on this board is more accurate.

Nesterenko received All-Star votes in a couple of seasons. Unger got All-Star votes at centre in three different seasons. Niedermayer has received a handful of Selke votes.

Thanks for this! Should have assumed that data was on here somewhere, this board never ceases to amaze.

So that leaves Chimera and Gratton as the all-time leaders for forwards without any award nods.

 

[a79krgm]

Thanks for your feedback. No you are correct. He had 13. I had him with a GHH in a game against Detroit on November 2, 1985. But I double checked the game, and instead of 2+1 and a fight against Kocur, he only had 2+0. I have corrected the list above.

Thanks for this. Before I saw this statistic I would have guessed that Brian Sutter would have the most Gordie Howes HTs of any player since he played on that highly productive line with Federko and Babych starting from the 78-79 season.

 

[a79krgm]

Is there a record of most empty net goals in a season? --- I might guess it would be Gretzky or Kurri since they were always setting each other up and have the good hands to score from way out. On the other hand, a guy like Zach Parise has been in a lot of close games and is usually out there protecting the lead at the end of the game.

 

[blogofmike]

Is there a record of most empty net goals in a season? --- I might guess it would be Gretzky or Kurri since they were always setting each other up and have the good hands to score from way out. On the other hand, a guy like Zach Parise has been in a lot of close games and is usually out there protecting the lead at the end of the game.

9 - Bure 2000
8 - Tkachuk 1997
7 - Lemieux 1989, Grabner 2018
6 - Gretzky 84/89/92, Tkachuk 1996, Jagr 2001, Staal 2018

 

[Robert Gordon Orr]

I almost forgot about my old thread, as there is a similar one out there. To be merged?

Goalies with most regular season fighting majors

Name	Teams	Years	games	Fights
Billy Smith	LA, NYI	1972-89	679	14
Al Smith	Tor, Pit, Det, Buf, Hfd, Col	1966-81	231	7

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Most game-opening goals in a season

Name	Team	Season	Opening Goals
Brett Hull	St. Louis	1990/91	19
Brett Hull	St. Louis	1991/92	16
Seven players			15

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Highest winning percentage on home ice in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (Min. 25 GP)

Name	Teams	Home Games	Home Wins	Winning %
Billy Carroll	NYI, Edm	40	35	87,5%
Andre Pronovost	Mtl, Det, Min	36	31	86,1%
Marcel Bonin	Det, Mtl	26	22	84,6 %

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Most goals scored in a season with a shooting percentage under 10%

Name	Team	Season	Shots	Shooting %	Goals
Paul Kariya	Anaheim	1998/99	429	9,1%	39
Bobby Orr	Boston	1970/71	392	9,4%	37
Phil Esposito	NY Rangers	1976/77	344	9,9 %	34

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Fastest two assists by a player in a game

Name	Team	Date/Opponent	Seconds between assists
Oscar Asmundson	Stl. E.	12/3/1935 vs Det	3
Hooley Smith	Mtl. M.	3/1/1931 vs Bos	4
John Ferguson	Mtl	20/2/1971 vs Chi	5

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

First Shift-First Goal - Shortest time spent on the ice before scoring first career goal

Name	Team	Date	Length of first shift before scoring
Max Comtois	Ana	3/10/2018	4 seconds
Dave Christian	Wpg	2/3/1980	7 seconds
Bob Barlow	Min	11/10/1969	8 seconds

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Players with:Minor/Major/Match Penalty/Misconduct/Game Misconduct in the same game

Name	Team	Date/Opponent	PIM's	Mi	Ma	MP	Msc	Gm.Msc
Bob Probert	Chi	12/12/1996 @ Det	44	2	2	1	1	1
Paul Holmgren	Phi	7/3/1977 vs Tor	39	2	1	1	1	1

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[yukoner88]

Surprised me too a bit, but then again, fights started for little reason more often, the clutching and grabbing was at a highpoint so that has to frustrate some people, and players were drafted for size, which shows a mindset, namely that you can bulldoze your way to a victory.

I also wonder, how many of the Gordie Howe hattricks from Coffey came from brawls breaking out in the BOA's