Why Doesn't The NHL Accept/Recognize This....

[FASTHANDS*]

Why does the NHL define scoring 50 goals in 50 games as "a player scoring 50 goals in his teams first 50 games"? And yet players who have scored 50 goals in their first 50 games are credited with it.

For instance when Jari Kurri scored 71 goals in the 1984-85 season he actually scored 50 goals in his first 50 games (it was his teams 53rd game) but he is not credited with 50 goals in 50 games.

Alexander Mogilny had 50 goals in his first 46 games (his teams 53rd game) and yet he's still not credited with it.

I personally think it's a bad rule/definition and they should be recognized for achieving such a feat.

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[Hardyvan123]

The stats that count are the ones at the end of the season.

I'm pretty sure someone has or will score 50 goals in a 50 game strech but not just from the start of the season.

At the end of the day scoring 50 goals in any segment of games is a great feat in the NHL

 

[ManOnTheMoon]

The stats that count are the ones at the end of the season.

I'm pretty sure someone has or will score 50 goals in a 50 game strech but not just from the start of the season.

At the end of the day scoring 50 goals in any segment of games is a great feat in the NHL

I think the OP means that if a player is injured and misses a few games, those missed games are still counted towards the 50 allocated to score 50 goals. IE: Jari Kurri scored his 50th goal in his 50th game, but it was his team's 53rd. That's counting from the beginning of the season, still, but because, for whatever reason, Kurri missed 3 games, those count towards his own 50 games, and he doesn't quite make the cut. (According to the way the NHL views it now.)

Anyway, I do agree it hoses players sometimes, but hypothetically, you could have a player hold off and not play in games against particularly skilled opponents to try and pad their stats. Like, if last year, a player was closing in on the 50 in 50 feat, and his team has an upcoming game against Chicago, he might either fake an injury, or ask to be scratched so he could avoid having to try to score against a tougher opponent, and in turn, he could use that space to rack up goals against a supposedly easier goalie or defense. I'm not saying I think that would happen, but I imagine that would be the NHL's logic in distinguishing between 50 goals in 50 team games, and 50 goals in a player's first 50 games.

 

[Jumptheshark]

50 in 50 means team games and not player games played--line has to be somewhere

 

[Big Phil]

Think of it like sort of an ironman streak. To do this feat you need to play in at least 50 games straight. If a player is injured/resting he has a little more juice to play a game rather than have a nagging injury he cannot nurse because he keeps playing.

 

[MXD]

Well, back in the days, there were only 50 games in the regular season, so if you'd miss, let'S say, 3 games, well, you'd have only 47 games to accomplish the feat.

 

[CTU2fan]

Well, back in the days, there were only 50 games in the regular season, so if you'd miss, let'S say, 3 games, well, you'd have only 47 games to accomplish the feat.

Yes, and that's the whole point of it. The "50 in 50" accomplishment was maintained so that the league could continue to recgonize 50 in 50 as a feat above and beyond a modern goal scorer scoring 50 goals in an 80 (or 82) game season. The idea was that a guy scoring 50 in his team's first 50 games is comparable to an old-time scorer scoring 50 in his 50 game season. So while a player scoring 50 goals in 50 games played is impressive, he actually had the opportunity to play in more games had he stayed healthy.

 

[Crosbyfan]

Why does the NHL define scoring 50 goals in 50 games as "a player scoring 50 goals in his teams first 50 games"? And yet players who have scored 50 goals in their first 50 games are credited with it.

For instance when Jari Kurri scored 71 goals in the 1984-85 season he actually scored 50 goals in his first 50 games (it was his teams 53rd game) but he is not credited with 50 goals in 50 games.

Alexander Mogilny had 50 goals in his first 46 games (his teams 53rd game) and yet he's still not credited with it.

I personally think it's a bad rule/definition and they should be recognized for achieving such a feat.

It's completely arbitrary. The NHL would be quite happy to allow you to define it however you like.

They're anecdotes not records, though there is some history behind it: The first 50 in 50 was in a 50 game season and was an actual record at that time.

 

[mrhockey193195]

What I don't understand is why it has to be 50 goals in the first 50 games of the season...what about 50 goals in the last 50 games of the season?

The record/accomplishment is completely arbitrary, in that sense. Scoring 50 goals in any 50 game stretch is absolutely astonishing. Guys like Mogilny, Neely, etc. should be grouped in with Gretzky, Lemieux, Hull, Bossy, Richard, etc, though at the end of the day it doesn't really matter.

 

[BraveCanadian]

What I don't understand is why it has to be 50 goals in the first 50 games of the season...what about 50 goals in the last 50 games of the season?

The record/accomplishment is completely arbitrary, in that sense. Scoring 50 goals in any 50 game stretch is absolutely astonishing. Guys like Mogilny, Neely, etc. should be grouped in with Gretzky, Lemieux, Hull, Bossy, Richard, etc, though at the end of the day it doesn't really matter.

I'll see if I remember correctly.

During the watered down war year of 44-45 Maurice Richard posts one of his career defining feats: 50 goals in 50 games. (the closest he would get again is 45 in 60).

When Bobby Hull broke the record the league was left in a predicament because although Hull had defeated the record it required a lot more games.

The league came up with a bit of a compromise by giving Hull the record for most goals in a season but to preserve the impact of Maurice hitting 50 in 50 they defined a record for him: 50 goals in the teams first 50 games, just as Richard had done.

That way any player wanting to measure themselves against Maurice had a much tougher job ahead of them and even today his mark has only been reached 8 times in the history of the league so it is very exclusive.