In An NHL Without Wayne Gretzky And Mario Lemieux

There’s no question that the National Hockey League’s record books are dominated by Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. Between the two, they own the top 12 single season performances in total assists, the top 13 point totals and three of the top four goal totals. What if neither had existed? What would the record books look like today?

·         Steve Yzerman would hold the points record with 155 points

·         Bobby Orr would still hold the record for most assists in a season

·         Brett Hull would hold the record for most goals

Of course, the butterfly effect would be in effect and guys like Jari Kurri, Bernie Nicholls, Ron Francis, Jaromir Jagr and Paul Coffey, although stars, may not have had such great numbers without the help of the Great One and Super Mario. And, of course, this is purely hypothetical as time travel has not been invented yet.

Gretzky will most likely forever hold the record for goals, assists and points in a season. His 92 goals in 1981-82 are pretty much untouchable, although Brett Hull made a pretty good run at it in 1990-91. If the two greats had never played the game, the record for most goals in a single NHL season would belong to Hull at 86 while playing for the St. Louis Blues.

Following ten goals behind would be a trio of players at 76 goals. Phil Esposito owned the record before Gretzky with his 76 goal performance with the Boston Bruins in 1970-71, a mark that was at the time thought to be unbeatable. Alexander Mogilny of the Buffalo Sabres and Teemu Selanne of the Winnipeg Jets both scored 76 in 1992-93. Mogilny’s total is a Buffalo Sabres record. Selanne still holds the record for most goals by an NHL rookie.

Wayne Gretzky’s record of 163 assists in 1985-86 is 61 more than the next non-dynamic duo mark. Bobby Orr would be our record holder with the 102 assists he accumulated during the 1970-71 season. The 102 is still a team record and the most by any defenseman in NHL history. Orr is the only player other than Gretzky and Lemieux to top 100 assists in a single season.

Close behind with 97 assists is another Boston Bruin. Adam Oates achieved this total in 1992-93. Ironically, the third highest total belongs to Joe Thornton with 96. Joe played the first half of the 2005-06 season with the Bruins before being traded to the San Jose Sharks.

Take away the top thirteen point totals in NHL history, including Gretzky’s record 215 in 1985-86 and you’re left with Steve Yzerman as the leading man. Yzerman totaled 155 points in 1988-89 with the Detroit Red Wings. That was good enough for just third in the race for the Art Ross Trophy as Lemieux had 199 and Gretzky had 168.

Phil Esposito’s 152 points in that magic 1970-71 Boston Bruins season stands the test of time and would be the second best without the duo. Bring out the asterix for numbers three and four. Bernie Nicholls totaled 150 points in 1988-89 with the help of Wayne Gretzky and Jaromir Jagr had 149 in 1995-96 with the help of Lemieux. The next two on the list would be Pat Lafontaine with his 148 points with the Buffalo Sabres in 1992-93 and Mike Bossy with 147 with the New York Islanders in 1981-82.

6 St. Louis Blues With 100 Point Seasons

The St. Louis Blues entered the National Hockey League for the 1967-68 season along with five other teams, doubling the league in size. It took until the 1980-81 season before the Blues had a player surpass the 100 point plateau in a single season. Six different players to date have accomplished the feat in St. Louis history, two have done it four times and one has done it twice. 1993-94 was the last time a Blues player surpassed 100.

Bernie Federko

Bernie Federko was the first ever St. Louis Blues player to reach 100 points in a season. Bernie accomplished the feat a total of four times over his career with St. Louis. In 1980-81, he totalled 104 then topping that with 107 in 1983-84. He added 103 in 1984-85 and 102 the following season. In the first three years, he finished ninth in the NHL for points. In 1985-86, his 102 points weren’t good enough to make the top 10.

Federko played with St. Louis from 1976-77 to 1988-89 after being the seventh overall pick by the club at the 1976 NHL Amateur Draft. In junior hockey, he was awarded the Brownridge Trophy as the WHL’s top scorer, accumulating 187 points with the Saskatoon Blades. The Brownridge Trophy has since been renamed the Bob Clarke Trophy.

Brett Hull

Brett Hull also surpassed 100 points four times as a member of the Blues. In four consecutive seasons, starting in 1989-90, he accomplished the feat. In 1990-91, he recorded 131 points with the help of 86 goals. The point total is a St. Louis Blues record and the 86 goals is the second highest total in NHL history, behind Wayne Gretzky’s 92. In 1989-90, Hull has 113 points, in 1991-92 it was 109 and in 1992-93 he totalled 101.

Hull was originally drafted in the sixth round of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft by the Calgary Flames. He played with St. Louis from 1987-88 to 1997-98. Brett was awarded the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP in 1990-91 for his stellar performance.

Adam Oates

Adam Oates twice recorded more than 100 points in a season with the Blues, 1989-90 (102) and 1990-91 (115). He would accomplish the feat twice more with the Boston Bruins, topping out at 142 points in 1992-93. Oates was undrafted and started out his NHL career with the Detroit Red Wings. Adam played for the Blues from 1989-90 to 1991-92.

Doug Gilmour

Doug Gilmour contributed 105 points in 1986-87, finishing fifth in the NHL. Gilmour played with St. Louis from 1983-84 to 1987-88 after being a late seventh round pick by the club at the 1982 NHL Entry Draft. He topped 100 points twice more in his career, both times with Toronto, topping out at 127 points in 1992-93. Gilmour earned the Eddie Powers Trophy in the Ontario Hockey League after a 177 point performance with the Cornwall Royals.

Craig Janney

Craig Janney had a 106 point season in 1992-93. The total didn’t even place in the top ten that season, with Mark Recchi’s 123 points holding down tenth spot. Janney played with St. Louis from 1991-92 to 1994-95. He was originally a first round pick of the Boston Bruins in 1986.

Brendan Shanahan

Brendan Shanahan was the last St. Louis player to crack the 100 point plateau. In 1993-94, Shanahan reached 102 points and finished eighth in the NHL. Brendan played for the Blues from 1991-92 to 1994-95. He was originally a second overall pick by the New Jersey Devils in 1987.

Hockey Trivia: St. Louis Blues Retired Numbers

The St. Louis Blues entered the National Hockey League for the 1967-68 season, along with five other teams which doubled the NHL in size. The Blues immediately made their mark, making it to the Stanley Cup finals in their first three seasons, something they have not done since.

The team has officially retired the jersey numbers of six players and unofficially has honoured three others. Test and expand your knowledge of St. Louis Blues retired number hockey trivia with the following four questions.

Q. Number 24 is retired by the St. Louis Blues for what player?

A. Bernie Federko was the seventh overall pick in the 1976 NHL Entry Draft by the Blues. Federko played with St. Louis from 1976-77 to 1988-89 and was team captain in his final year with the club. His final year in the National Hockey League was spent with the Detroit Red Wings. Over the summer of 1989, Bernie, along with Tony McKegney, was traded to Detroit for Adam Oates and Paul MacLean. He was elected into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2002, way too long after retiring.

Q. The Blues retired number 2 in honour of what defenseman?

A. Al MacInnis was the 15^th overall pick of the Calgary Flames in the 1981 NHL Entry Draft. McInnis played for the Blues from 1994-95 to 2003-04. In 1990-91, while still a member of the Flames, Al totalled 103 points. The point total makes one of just five defensemen in National Hockey League history to reach the 100 point plateau. The other four are Bobby Orr, Paul Coffey, Denis Potvin and Brian Leetch. Al was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007.

Q. Number 3 is retired by the St. Louis Blues in honour of which player?

A. Bob Gassoff played just four years with the Blues before his life was cut short due to a fatal motorcycle accident in the off-season after the 1976-77 season. The third round pick by St. Louis at the 1973 NHL Amateur Draft, Gassoff played in 245 regular season NHL games, all with the Blues. He scored just 11 goals and totalled 58 points but filled a specific role with 866 penalty minutes.

Q. St. Louis retired number 8 to recognize what player?

A. Barclay Plager was an original St. Louis Blue, getting his start in the NHL with St. Louis during their inaugural season, 1967-68. He played with the team until the end of the 1976-77 season and was part of the team’s coaching staff until his death in 1988 from cancer. From 1972-73 to 1975-76, Plager served as team captain. After four years of junior hockey in the OHA with the Peterborough Petes, Barclay’s pro career started in 1961-62. He played several years of minor pro hockey in the EPHL, AHL, CPHL and WHL before catching on with the Blues.

 

3 NHL Players With Multiple 70 Goal Seasons

In the National Hockey League, the 50 goal plateau has been equalled or surpassed over 190 times. The 60 goal plateau was met for the 38^th time in 2007-08 when Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals scored 65. However, only eight players have reached the 70 goal milestone with just three doing it on more than one occasion. These three players accomplished this feat in the short era between 1981-82 and 1990-91.

Wayne Gretzky

As would be expected, Wayne Gretzky leads the way, surpassing 70 goals in a single NHL season on four separate occasions as a member of the Edmonton Oilers. His first time was a 92 goal performance in 1981-82. That total remains as the NHL record for most goals in a single season. The second highest single season total also belongs to Gretzky, 87 goals in 1983-84. Rounding out his four 70+ goal seasons are 71 in 1982-83 and 73 in 1984-85.

Brett Hull

His father, Bobby Hull, was responsible for four of the five 50 goal performances during the 1960’s and would argue that if the schedule was the same length as now, he would also have surpassed the 70 goal plateau. Brett Hull scored 70 or more on three occasions during his career, all as a member of the St. Louis Blues. His 86 in 1990-91 is the third highest total behind the two amazing performances of Wayne Gretzky. On either side of the 1990-91 season, Hull hit or exceeded 70. In 1989-90, he scored 72 and in 1991-92, he scored 70.

Mario Lemieux

Mario Lemieux scored 133 goals and totalled 282 points with the Laval Voisins in 1983-84, his last year of junior hockey in Quebec. Although he would never reach those numbers in the NHL, he did score more than 70 goals on two occasions. In 1987-88, Mario scored exactly 70. The following season, he scored 85. Lemieux came close on two other occasions, scoring 69 goals in 1992-93 and 1995-96. What’s incredible about those two 69 goal performances is that Lemieux played just 60 and 70 games respectively. In 1992-93, Mario was on pace for a 96.6 goal season if he’d appeared in all 84 regular season games for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Unfortunately, his career was plagued with injuries and illnesses which kept him from his true potential.

Will it happen again? Things change. Coaching styles, rules, player talent are all factors that could be different in the future, bringing back the offensive game and producing 70 goal scorers again. Until that time, the legends of Wayne Gretzky, Brett Hull and Mario Lemieux will have to do.

Hockey Trivia: NHL 70 Goal Scorers

In the history of the National Hockey League, the 50 goal plateau has been met 189 times (the latest in 2010-11 with Corey Perry of the Anaheim Ducks scoring exactly 50) and the 60 goal plateau has been met 38 times. However, the 70 goal plateau truly separates the men from the boys.

Test and expand your hockey trivia knowledge of the NHL’s 70+ goal scorers with the following four trivia questions.

Q. Which NHL player was the first to surpass the 70 goal plateau?

A. In 1970-71, Phil Esposito of the Boston Bruins added 18 goals to the NHL record previously held by Bobby Hull of the Chicago Black Hawks. Esposito scored 76 goals in 78 games for the Bruins. With an additional 76 assists that season, his 152 points were also an NHL record at the time.

Q. Which NHL player is the only player to surpass the 70 goal plateau on four occasions?

A. Who else but Wayne Gretzky could accomplish this feat?! Gretzky scored 92 in 1981-82 (current NHL record), 71 in 1982-83, 87 in 1983-84 and 73 in 1984-85. Brett Hull came close. In a three year stretch with the St. Louis Blues between 1989-90 and 1991-92, Hull scored 72, 86 and 70 goals. He followed that up with two more 50+ goal performances but never would get above 60 again. Age and injuries played a factor in his reduced production but the NHL also had entered an era of boring low scoring hockey that persists today.

Q. Who is the only first year NHL player to surpass the 70 goal plateau?

A. The Finnish Flash, Teemu Selanne, scored 76 goals in 1992-93 as a rookie with the Winnipeg Jets, tying him for the NHL lead in goal scoring with Alexander Mogilny of the Buffalo Sabres. Due to injuries and NHL labour problems, it would take until 1996-97 before Selanne would exceed the 76 POINT mark again. Of course, Teemu was not your typical rookie in 1992-93. After playing pro in Finland before coming to North America, Selanne was already 22 when he scored his 76 goals, the age of third year player.

Q. Playing on a line with Wayne Gretzky could boost the offensive performance of any player. Which Los Angeles Kings player scored 70 while playing with the Great One?

A. Bernie Nicholls scored exactly 70 in 1988-89 while playing with Gretzky. Over the rest of his career, Bernie’s best goal production would be just 27. Wayne scored 54 and assisted on 114 for 168 points while Bernie added 80 assists for 150 points. Despite the high totals, neither led the NHL that year. Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins finished first with 85, Nicholls finished second, Steve Yzerman of the Detroit Red Wings finished third with 65 and Gretzky placed fourth. In points, it was Gretzky placing second and Nicholls placing fourth.

Jari Kurri is another who rode Gretzky’s coattails enroute to a 70 goal season. Kurri scored 71 in 1984-85 with the Edmonton Oilers while his linemate Gretzky scored 73. The two finished one-two in NHL goal scoring. They also finished first and second in the race for the Art Ross Trophy with Wayne totalling 208 points and Jari settling with 135.