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Edmonton Oilers’ Wayne Gretzky is shown in Nov. 22, 1984.
Wednesday, June 7, 2017 | 2 a.m.
Hockey 101
- Diving into the makeup of an NHL roster
- Line changes: How hockey substitutions work and why they’re so important
- Calculating the costs of outfitting an NHL player — it’s expensive
- An all-important primer on hockey’s icing and offsides rules
- Clappers, dekes and other hockey slang to know
- Tracking down the hats thrown onto the NHL ice following a hat trick
- Navigating the ice markings on an NHL rink
- Sin bin: How to find your way into the NHL penalty box
- Wanna fight? Some rules and etiquette for fighting in the NHL
- The Sun's Vegas Golden Knights coverage
Records like Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hit streak and Peyton Manning’s 539 career touchdown passes are engrained in the minds of fans.
All-time hockey marks typically don’t carry the same cache in sports culture. There are a couple reasons for the divide.
Most obviously, the NHL lags behind the other major professional sports in popularity. But perhaps just as significant is the singularity of ownership in the NHL record book.
Wayne Gretzky retired 18 years ago, and still holds 60 NHL records. It’s widely accepted that “The Great One” will hang on to the majority of his records for eternity.
Gretzky scored 894 goals, 93 more than anyone else, and tallied 1,963 assists, 714 more than anyone else, for 2,857 total points. Jaromir Jagr sits in second with 1,914 points, and the 45-year-old is expected to resign with the Florida Panthers to play in his 25th season next year.
But Jagr would need to play 12 more years while maintaining his career averages to surpass Gretzky, who accomplished it all in 20 seasons. Such absurdities are commonplace when it comes to Gretzky, who holds the top four highest-scoring seasons in NHL history to go with nine of the top 11 all-time.
As a general rule of thumb, if it’s an offensive record, it probably belongs to Gretzky. But what are some of the other most coveted numbers in NHL history?
Longest winning streak: 1992-1993 Pittsburgh Penguins’ 17 straight
This record actually received a fair amount of publicity this season, with the Columbus Blue Jackets threatening to break it in January. The Blue Jackets ultimately fell one game short, as a 5-0 loss to the Washington Capitals ended their win streak at 16 games. A tie ended the Penguins’ 17-game winning streak 24 years ago, as they concluded the regular season with a 6-6 contest against the New Jersey Devils. Pittsburgh couldn’t carry its historic success into the playoffs, as it failed to reach the Stanley Cup Finals after winning the previous two titles. This year’s Blue Jackets were similarly underwhelming, as the Penguins eliminated them in the first round of the playoffs.
Longest unbeaten streak: 1979-1980 Philadelphia Flyers’ 35 straight
No modern team has come as close to snapping the Flyers’ run of three straight months of earning at least a point in the standings in every game. It’s a record that should be easier to reach one day considering teams are now given a point just for reaching overtime. But the Flyers won or tied in every game of their streak, going 25-0-10 from October 14, 1979 to January 6, 1980. They went on to play in the Stanley Cup Finals, after beating Gretzky’s Oilers in the first round, but lost in six games to the New York Islanders.
Most team points in a season: 1967-1977 Montreal Canadiens’ 132
The Canadiens stand above the other teams on this list because they were able to turn an all-time great season into a championship. Many refer to the Canadiens’ 20th Stanley Cup team, out of a record 24, as the best in the history of the sport. They went 60-8-12 to arrive at the 132-point total, doing it only 80 games before the schedule was expanded to 82 games in the 1990’s. The 1995-1996 Detroit Red Wings nearly surpassed 132 points, but wound up with 131 at 62-13-7 before failing to make the Stanley Cup Finals.
Most games played: Gordie Howe’s 1,767
There’s a long-running debate about whether Gretzky or Howe is the greatest player in NHL history, and longevity is one area where the latter certainly holds an edge. Howe began his NHL career in 1946, and didn’t retire until 1980. This record appears in danger, however, as Jagr is only 57 games away from moving from fourth to first. Mark Messier currently sits in second with 1,756 games played. Including the playoffs, Messier is the all-time leader with 1,992 games to Howe’s 1,919.
Goalie version of Gretzky: Martin Brodeur
The long-time face of the New Jersey Devils’ organization might hold a greater percentage of the goalie records than Gretzky does the skaters’ records — both good and bad. Among Brodeur’s all-time marks are 1,266 games, 691 wins, 397 losses, 29,928 saves and 2,781 goals allowed. Many of his records look as firm as Gretzky’s considering he recorded 74,439 minutes, or nearly 20,000 more than leading active goalie Roberto Loungo, who’s on the Florida Panthers. Brodeur retired in 2014 after a 23-year career.
Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.
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