NHL Hockey Trivia: Stan Mikita

Stan Mikita is one of the most decorated Chicago Blackhawk to ever play in the National Hockey League. Between 1959 and 1980, Mikita was an ever-present force in a Black Hawks uniform. After all, he spent his entire NHL career with Chicago. Test and expand your hockey trivia knowledge of Stan Mikita with the following four trivia questions.

Q. How many times was Stan Mikita a ‘triple crown’ winner, taking home the Lady Byng, Art Ross and Hart Trophies all in the same season?

A. Mikita was a triple crown winner twice. He is the only NHL player to accomplish this and certainly the only NHL player to do it in consecutive seasons. In both 1966-67 and 1967-68, Stan won the Byng, Ross and Hart. He won the Byng in 1966-67, accumulating just 12 PIM. Just two years before, Mikita was a completely different player, sitting out 154 minutes in penalties.

In 1966-67, Stan totalled an NHL record (at the time) 97 points over 70 regular season games. He finished with 17 points more than teammate Bobby Hull, who finished in second. Hull led the league in goals with 52 while Mikita was second with 35. Stan obviously led the league with his 62 assists, 13 more than Phil Goyette of the New York Rangers.

In 1967-68, the first year of the 12 team National Hockey League, Mikita dropped to 87 points on 47 assists and 40 goals over 72 games. Stan led the league with just three more points than Phil Esposito of the Boston Bruins. He came within four goals of league leader Bobby Hull and placed fourth for assists behind Esposito, Rod Gilbert and Alex Delvecchio. All four were within two assists.

Q. In 1966-67, Stan Mikita totalled 97 points. At the time, he tied an NHL record. Who did he share the NHL record for most points in a single season with?

A. Just the season before, Mikita’s teammate, Bobby Hull, set the league mark with 97 points. After the 1968-69 season, these numbers would become just distant memories with Phil Esposito shattering the mark with 126 points. Esposito would increase the record to 152 points in 1970-71 and that would be considered unreachable until a kid named Wayne Gretzky came along in the 1980’s.

Q. In 1980, the Chicago Black Hawks retired Stan Mikita’s jersey number. What number did he wear during his NHL career with Chicago?

A. Stan Mikita’s number 21 was retired at the start of the 1980-81 season. It was just a year after his final season in the National Hockey League. Mikita wore number 21 right from 1958-59 when he appeared in just three games with Chicago while still a junior with the St. Catherines Teepees of the OHA.

Q. In what year was Stan Mikita inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame?

A. Mikita was part of the HHOF class of 1983. Joining him was long-time teammate in Chicago, Bobby Hull and goaltending great Ken Dryden. Harry Sinden was inducted the same year in the builder category.

Season	Team	Lge	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1956-57	St. Catharines Teepees	OHA	52	16	31	47	0
1957-58	St. Catharines Teepees	OHA	52	31	47	78	0
1958-59	St. Catharines Teepees	OHA	45	38	59	97	0
1958-59	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	3	0	1	1	4
1959-60	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	67	8	18	26	119
1960-61	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	66	19	34	53	100
1961-62	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	70	25	52	77	97
1962-63	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	65	31	45	76	69
1963-64	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	70	39	50	89	146
1964-65	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	70	28	59	87	154
1965-66	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	68	30	48	78	58
1966-67	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	70	35	62	97	12
1967-68	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	72	40	47	87	14
1968-69	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	74	30	67	97	52
1969-70	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	76	39	47	86	50
1970-71	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	74	24	48	72	85
1971-72	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	74	26	39	65	46
1972-73	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	57	27	56	83	32
1973-74	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	76	30	50	80	46
1974-75	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	79	36	50	86	48
1975-76	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	48	16	41	57	37
1976-77	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	57	19	30	49	20
1977-78	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	76	18	41	59	35
1978-79	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	65	19	36	55	34
1979-80	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL	17	2	5	7	12
	NHL Totals		1394	541	926	1467	1270

Evolution Of The NHL Scoring Record

Wayne Gretzky’s record for most points in a single National Hockey League season has stood for nearly three decades. Some say it’s unbreakable, but as with any record in professional sports, it will seem unbreakable until the day it’s broken.  Through time, the record stood at an ‘unbreakable’ level 16 times since the creation of the NHL in 1917-18.

Joe Malone of the Montreal Canadiens held the mark first for most points in a single National Hockey League campaign. All he had to do to accomplish this was lead the league in scoring in its inaugural season. Assists were not recorded in that first year but Malone’s total of 44 goals in 20 games was in itself a pretty amazing feat and set the standard. To put that amount into perspective, applying that goal scoring pace over the present day 82 game schedule would produce 180 goals.

Malone broke his own record two years later while playing for the Quebec Bulldogs. Playing four more games than in 1917-18, Joe added four more points for 48 in 1919-20. This record would stand until the 1927-28 season when Howie Morenz of the Montreal Canadiens would total 51 points. However, Morenz’s total was accomplished over a much longer 43 game games.

Outside of Boston Bruins fans, the name Cooney Weiland is not overly well known. However, Weiland, while playing for the Boston Bruins during the 1929-30 season, shattered Morenz’s record with 73 points in 44 games. That season, six players would better the 51 point plateau. As for Weiland, he would go on to a respectable eleven season NHL career but would never get higher than the 38 point mark again in his career.

Over a decade would pass before Weiland’s mark would be surpassed. With the aid of an expanded 50 game schedule, Doug Bentley tied the record with 73 points in 1942-43. The following season, Herb Cain of the Boston Bruins would increase the record by nine points to 82 in 48 games. Just three short years later, Cain would be sent down to the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League where he would finish out his professional hockey career.

The legendary Gordie Howe would be next to set the mark. It would take Mr. Hockey 22 more games than Cain to add four points to the record. In 1950-51, Howe had an even 43 goals and 43 assists for 86 points. The following season, Howe would equal the mark and the season after that, 1952-53, Howe would increase the record by nine points to 95.

The record jumped just a single point in 1958-59 as Dickie Moore of the Montreal Canadiens would total 96 points in the same 70 games as Howe. The record would increase by the same increment in the mid 1960’s as teammates Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita of the Chicago Blackhawks would each get 97 points in 1965-66 and 1966-67 respectively.

The late 1960’s brought expansion to the NHL and doubling the size of the league overnight, increasing the length of the schedule and watering down the talent was catalyst to a new level of offense. Phil Esposito came into his own during the 1968-69 season and provided the Boston Bruins with 126 points. Two seasons later, Esposito would increase the record to 152 points, a number that most thought could never be broken.

Along came a kid from Brantford, Ontario, Canada and the league’s record books were never the same. Wayne Gretzky, in just his second season in the NHL, provided the Edmonton Oilers with 164 points. The following season, the impossible was accomplished with The Great One’s 92 goals, 120 assists and 212 points. The 212 points would be eclipsed by none other than Wayne Gretzky himself during the 1985-86 season when he had 215 in 80 games, but the 92 goals stands as an NHL record today.

Is the record breakable? Of course it is. The game has changed and the offensive numbers have dropped since the mid 1990’s but things can change on a dime. A simply amazing player could emerge. Rule changes could provide a more offensive game. Retraction or expansion could significantly affect the level of talent. Just as Joe Malone’s record was thought unbreakable ninety years ago, Gretzky’s might falsely be thought of as unbreakable today.

NHL Hockey Trivia: Darryl Sittler

Darryl Sittler is one of the greatest legends in the history of the National Hockey League’s Toronto Maple Leafs. Sittler is a Hockey Hall of Fame member that has certainly left his mark on the game. His record of ten points in a single game that was set in 1976 against the Boston Bruins still stands today. Test and expand your hockey knowledge with the following four hockey trivia questions and answers.

Q. When Darryl Sittler was traded from the Philadelphia Flyers to the Detroit Red Wings for the start of the 1984-85 season, what player, who would play over 1,000 career NHL games, went in the other direction?

A. Sittler was traded to Detroit for an unproven youngster named Murray Craven. Philadelphia got the best of the deal with Sittler playing just 61 games with Detroit before retiring. Craven played 1,071 regular season NHL games with the Red Wings, Flyers, Hartford Whalers, Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks.

Joe Paterson also went to the Flyers in the deal. Joe played just six games for Philadelphia in 1984-85 and five more with the club in 1985-86 before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings. Paterson, who played his junior hockey for the same OHL team as Sittler, appeared in 291 NHL regular season games between 1980-81 and 1988-89 with the Red Wings, Flyers, Kings and New York Rangers.

Q. In 1977-78, Darryl Sittler finished third in the race for the Art Ross Trophy with 117 points. Who finished first in the NHL that season?

A. Guy Lafleur of the Montreal Canadiens won the Art Ross Trophy with 132 points. Bryan Trottier of the New York Islanders took second spot with 123 points. The three were the only ones to surpass the 100 point plateau that season.

It was the second and last time Darryl would reach the 100 point plateau. He totalled exactly 100 in 1975-76 over 79 games with the Maple Leafs. The 100 points placed him ninth in the race for the Art Ross Trophy.

Q. With what OHA team did Darryl Sittler record 99 points for in 1968-69?

A. Darryl was a member of the London Knights for three years from 1967-68 to 1969-70. 99 points was his highest single season total in the junior league and was accomplished over 53 games on 34 goals and 65 assists. He finished third in the OHA that season behind only Rejean Houle of the Montreal Junior Canadiens and Marcel Dionne of the St. Catherines Black Hawks.

In his third and final year with London, Sittler scored 42 and assisted on 48 for 90 points over 54 regular season games. He was the team’s leader by far with 24 more points than Dan Maloney. He tied Bobby Lalonde of the Montreal Junior Canadiens for sixth in goal scoring. Darryl was also tied for seventh in assists and held the sixth spot for total points.

Q. In what year was Darryl Sittler inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame?

A. Sittler entered the Hall of Fame in 1989. The only other two players to be inducted that season were Herbie Lewis, a member of the Detroit Cougars / Falcons / Red Wings in the late 1920’s and 1930’s and Vladislav Tretiak, the great Russian goaltender.

NHL Hockey Trivia: Guy Lafleur

Guy Lafleur was a huge part of the Montreal Canadiens dynasty during the 1970’s in the National Hockey League. He played with the Canadiens from 1971-72 until 1984-85. He came out of retirement and played three more seasons from 1988-89 to 1990-91.

Test and expand your hockey trivia knowledge of Guy Lafleur with the following four trivia questions.

Q. How many times did Guy Lafleur win the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL’s leading point-getter?

A. Lafleur won the Art Ross three times consecutively, 1975-76, 1976-77 and 1977-78. His point totals in those seasons were 125, 136 and 132 respectively. This was right in the middle of a six year stretch of 100+ point season for Guy that spanned from 1974-75 to 1979-80.

In 1975-76, Lafleur finished with a six point edge over Bobby Clarke of the Philadelphia Flyers. That year, he neither led the league in goals or assists. The following year, Guy’s cushion over second place increased to 14 points, this time finishing ahead of Marcel Dionne of the Los Angeles Kings. He once again did not lead the NHL in goals but did lead in assists. In 1977-78, Bryan Trottier of the New York Islanders was second best, nine points behind. Lafleur led the National Hockey League in goals with 60.

Q. Guy Lafleur finished his NHL career off playing for what team?

A. When Lafleur made his three year comeback from 1988-89 to 1990-91, he played his first year with the New York Rangers and his final two with the Quebec Nordiques. In the two seasons in Quebec, Lafleur managed just 39 and 59 games with twelve goals in each season.

Q. When Guy Lafleur was taken first overall by the Montreal Canadiens in the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft, who was second overall?

A. Always a rival of Lafleur’s in the scoring race, Marcel Dionne was selected second overall in the 1971 NHL Amateur Draft by the Detroit Red Wings. Lafleur came out of the QMJHL where he played for the Quebec Remparts. Dionne was a Quebec born hockey dissident, playing in the OHA for the St. Catherines Black Hawks. When Guy won his three Art Ross Trophies, Marcel Dionne was never very far behind. The bulk of Dionne’s success came while playing for the Los Angeles Kings. The two played together for the Rangers in 1988-89.

Q. What was the highest single regular season goal total during Guy Lafleur’s NHL career?

A. He scored 103 and 130 goals in his final two seasons with the Quebec Remparts of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Guy Lafleur’s NHL single season best was not nearly as high as those totals but still quite respectable. Lafleur scored 60 goals in 1977-78. At the time, Guy was just the fourth player in NHL history to reach 60 goals in a single season. He was the second Montreal Canadien to reach the plateau with Steve Shutt scoring 60 the year before.

The 130 goals stood as a QMJHL single season record until 1983-84. That year, Mario Lemieux of the Laval Voisins topped the mark with 133 goals. Lemieux played in seven more games.

NHL Hockey Trivia: Bobby Orr

Arguably the best defenseman to ever play the game of hockey, Bobby Orr is a legend in NHL history. Orr played with the Boston Bruins and Chicago Black Hawks over an injury shortened career that spanned from 1966-67 to 1978-79.

Test and expand your hockey trivia knowledge of Bobby Orr with the following four trivia questions.

Q. In 1969-70 and 1974-75, Bobby Orr became the only defenseman to ever win which NHL award?

A. With 120 points in 1969-70 and 135 points in 1974-75, Orr remains the only defenseman to ever win the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s top point-getter. Interestingly, his highest point total was 139 in 1970-71 but he came a distant second to teammate Phil Esposito and his 152 points that season.

The 139 points does still stand as an NHL record for most points in a single season by a defenseman. Paul Coffey came within a point of that mark in 1985-86. Playing for the Edmonton Oilers, Coffey scored 48 goals and assisted on 90 over 79 games. The 48 goals does stand as a National Hockey League record, eclipsing the 46 the Orr put up in 1974-75 with the Bruins.

Q. In what hockey card set was the Bobby Orr rookie card featured in?

A. The Bobby Orr rookie card was number 35 of the 1966-67 Topps series. The card has a book value of $3000, according to Beckett Hockey Monthly. Orr’s RC is by far the most valuable hockey card in the set. Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings is a distant second with a book value of $200.

Q. What was the first major NHL award won by Bobby Orr?

A. Bobby Orr won the Calder Memorial Trophy in 1966-67 as the NHL’s top rookie. Orr scored 13 goals and totalled 41 points that season in 61 games, a far cry from his offensive explosiveness in the 1970’s.

Boston teammate Derek Sanderson won the award the following year. It would then be until the 1979-80 season before another member of the Bruins would be named rookie of the year in the NHL. In 1979-80, it was Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque. Sergei Samsonov and Andrew Raycroft have been the only Boston players to win the Calder Trophy since.

Q. In what year did Bobby Orr win the Lou Marsh Award?

A. Bobby Orr was the 1970 recipient of the Lou Marsh Award. The Lou Marsh is handed out each year to the top athlete in Canada. Bobby is one of eight NHL players to win the Lou Marsh. The other seven include Wayne Gretzky, Sidney Crosby, Rocket Richard, Phil Esposito, Bobby Clarke, Guy Lafleur and Mario Lemieux.

8 NHL Players To Win The Art Ross Trophy In Consecutive Seasons

The Art Ross Trophy has been handed out to the regular season points leader in the National Hockey League each season since 1947-48.  Over the 61 years since the trophy was first awarded, eight players have captured the trophy in consecutive years.

Gordie Howe – Detroit Red Wings

Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings became the first NHL player to accomplish this rarity. Howe won the trophy four times consecutively from 1950-51 to 1953-54. Over his great playing career, Gordie would take home the award twice more, both while playing in Detroit.

Dickie Moore – Montreal Canadiens

Shortly after, Dickie Moore of the Montreal Canadiens was awarded the Art Ross Trophy twice in a row. Moore led the league with 84 points in 1957-58. The next year, he increased the NHL record to 96 points while winning his second Art Ross. Moore’s record would stay in the books until 1965-66 when Bobby Hull of the Chicago Blackhawks bettered it by a single point. Hull won three scoring championships over his career, however, never consecutively.

Stan Mikita – Chicago Blackhawks

Bobby Hull’s teammate with the Blackhawks, Stan Mikita, was the next player to lead the National Hockey League in points over consecutive seasons. Mikita did it twice. The first pair occurred during the 1963-64 and 1964-65 seasons. The second time was immediately following Hull’s record performance, 1966-67 and 1967-68. In 1966-67, Mikita would equal Hull’s 97 points.

Phil Esposito – Boston Bruins

The late 1960’s and early 1970’s brought several new expansion teams to the NHL. The original six teams weren’t willing to share the Art Ross and didn’t give it up until 1978-79. With expansion came a lot more scoring. Phil Esposito of the Boston Bruins was awarded the Art Ross in four straight seasons from 1970-71 to 1973-74. His point totals of 152, 133, 130 and 145 over those four years shattered the previous scoring marks of Mikita and Hull.

Guy Lafleur – Montreal Canadiens

Guy Lafleur of the Montreal Canadiens replaced Esposito as the NHL’s premier point-getter in 1975-76 and won the Art Ross three years consecutively, playing for what is arguably the best hockey team to ever play.

Wayne Gretzky – Edmonton Oilers

The game of hockey changed drastically in 1979-80 as Wayne Gretzky first skated in the league. In just his second season with the Edmonton Oilers, Gretzky won the Art Ross and bettered Phil Esposito’s record with 164. Gretzky went on to win seven in a row with the Edmonton Oilers, setting the NHL record for points in a single season during the 1985-86 season with 215. Gretzky would also win consecutive Art Ross trophies as a member of the Los Angeles Kings in 1989-90 and 1990-91. He would win one more time in his career for a total of 10.

Mario Lemieux – Pittsburgh Penguins

Mario Lemieux challenged but could not eclipse Gretzky’s mark of 215 points. However, he did win the Art Ross consecutively on three different occasions. He neared Gretzky’s record with 199 points in 1988-89, the second of his first two in a row. He would capture the Art Ross in 1991-92 and 1992-93 and then again in 1995-96 and 1996-97.

Jaromir Jagr – Pittsburgh Penguins

Lemieux’s teammate on the Pittsburgh Penguins, Jaromir Jagr took home the Art Ross four times consecutively from 1997-98 to 2000-01. Jagr won the trophy five times during his NHL playing career. Jagr, to date, is the last to win the award in straight seasons.

Hockey Trivia: Bobby Hull of the Chicago Black Hawks

Perhaps the greatest goal scorer in the history of the National Hockey League, Bobby Hull, along with Stan Mikita, wowed them in Chicago throughout the 1960’s. There were two distinctive parts to the Golden Jet’s professional hockey career:  The National Hockey League and the World Hockey Association. As an indicator of his success and popularity, the Bobby Hull rookie card from the 1958-59 Topps series is worth a whopping $3000.

This article deals with Bobby Hull’s career in the National Hockey League. Test and expand your hockey trivia knowledge of Bobby Hull’s NHL accomplishments with these four trivia questions.

Q. Despite having eleven more total points in his rookie season, who did Bobby Hull finish second to in the 1957-58 Calder Memorial Trophy voting?

A. Frank Mahovlich of the Toronto Maple Leafs won the Calder in 1958. Ironically, both players were still in their teens and straight out of junior. Typically, back in the day, a player spent several years in the minor pro leagues before behind brought up to take one of the scarce NHL jobs.

With the Black Hawks in that first year, at the age of just 18, Hull scored 13 goals and assisted on 34 for 47 points while playing the full 70 game schedule. Mahovlich, a year older than Hull, totalled 36 points on 20 goals and 16 assists over 67 games for the Maple Leafs.

Q. Bobby Hull was a five time 50+ goal scorer in the National Hockey League. In which year did Bobby score his NHL career high 58 goals?

A. 1968-69 saw Hull create a new NHL goal scoring record. Bobby’s 58 goals would stand as a record for just two seasons before Phil Esposito shattered the mark in 1970-71 with 76. Hull was on pace for 58 in 1965-66 but missed five games and scored just 54.

His last 50 goal season in the NHL came in 1971-72 when he scored exactly 50 for the Blackhawks. In the WHA, Bobby exploded for 77 goals over 78 games with the Winnipeg Jets in 1974-75.

Q. From 1957-58 until the end of 1971-72, Hull played exclusively with the Chicago Black Hawks. Which two teams did he play for in his final NHL season?

A. After the WHA merged with the NHL for the 1979-80 season, Hull followed the Winnipeg Jets as they switched leagues. After 18 games with the Jets, Bobby jumped ship to the Hartford Whalers where he played another nine games before retiring.

Q. Better known for his offensive abilities, in what year was Bobby Hull awarded for his gentlemanly play with the Lady Byng Trophy?

A. Hull won the Byng in 1964-65 while sitting 32 minutes in the penalty box over 61 regular season games. He was also awarded the Hart Memorial Trophy that same year as the NHL’s most valuable player.

In a five year stretch from 1963-64 to 1967-68, Chicago dominated the Lady Byng. Ken Wharram won the trophy the year before Hull. Stan Mikita went from king of the sin bin early in his NHL career to a two time winner of the Lady Byng in 1966-67 and 1967-68.

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.

1967-68 NHL East Division Team Leaders

The 1967-68 National Hockey League season marked the addition of six new teams. Normally, expansion increases offense due to the watered down product on the ice. In 1967-68, that wasn’t really so. Stan Mikita won the Art Ross Trophy for the second year in a row but with ten less points than in 1966-67. Bobby Hull of the Chicago Black Hawks led the league with 44 goals. It was one of only five times from 1965-66 to the present when the goal scoring leader had less than 50 goals.

Stan Mikita – Chicago Black Hawks

Stan Mikita, obviously, led the Chicago Black Hawks with 87 points. Mikita played his entire NHL career with the Black Hawks from 1959-60 to 1979-80, contributing a total of 1,467 regular season points and winning the Art Ross Trophy four times. As for the Black Hawks, the team finished fourth in the newly formed East Division and lost to the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup semi-finals.

Phil Esposito – Boston Bruins

Phil Esposito was in his first year with the Boston Bruins after coming over from the Black Hawks and his offensive juices were just starting to run. He led the Bruins with 84 points and finished second in the NHL behind Mikita. In the coming seasons, Esposito would win the Art Ross Trophy on five occasions between 1968-69 and 1973-74. Boston qualified for the post season for the first time since 1959 but lost in the first round.

Gordie Howe – Detroit Red Wings

Gordie Howe led the Detroit Red Wings with 82 points and placed third in the league. Howe had been a Red Wing since the 1946-47 season and would play with the club until the end of 1970-71. Detroit had a dismal season in 1967-68, finishing last in the East Division and out of the post season. In fact, just the Oakland Seals finished with a worst record in the NHL that season with 47 points to Detroit’s 66.

Jean Ratelle – New York Rangers

Jean Ratelle led the New York Rangers, a team that had a great regular season, finishing just four points behind the Montreal Canadiens for first overall. Yet, the Rangers were upset in the opening round by Chicago, a team that finished fourth in the East. Ratelle’s 78 points placed him fourth in the National Hockey League. Jean had just one more point than long time Rangers teammate Rod Gilbert.

Jean Beliveau – Montreal Canadiens

Jean Beliveau led the Montreal Canadiens with 68 points while playing in just 59 of Montreal’s 74 regular season games. Beliveau played his entire NHL career with Montreal, from 1953-54 to 1970-71. He won the Art Ross Trophy in 1955-56. Jean led the Habs to a Stanley Cup victory by sweeping the Bruins in the first round and taking the Black Hawks in five in the second round before sweeping the St. Louis Blues to capture the championship.

Mike Walton – Toronto Maple Leafs

Mike Walton led the Toronto Maple Leafs with just 59 points. Toronto went from winning the Stanley Cup in 1966-67 to not qualifying for the post season in 1967-68. Walton played in the NHL from 1965-66 to 1978-79 with the Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, Vancouver Canucks, St. Louis Blues and Chicago Black Hawks. Mike also played three years in the World Hockey Association with the Minnesota Fighting Saints and was awarded the Bill Hunter Trophy as the WHA’s top scorer in 1973-74.

 

5 Vancouver Canucks With 100 Point Seasons

The Vancouver Canucks entered the National Hockey League for the 1970-71 season, along with the Buffalo Sabres. In their first NHL amateur draft, the Sabres went for offense, selecting Gilbert Perreault and the Canucks went the defensive route picking Dale Tallon. Since 1970, the Canucks have continued with a low key offense. Just five different players have crossed the 100 point line in a season with one player doing it twice. The team’s single season individual record for points is a paltry 112.

Pavel Bure

Pavel Bure was the first of the Vancouver Canucks to finish a regular season with more than 100 points. He is also the only Vancouver player, to date, to do it twice. In 1992-93, just his second year in the league, Bure scored 60 and assisted on 50 for 110 points in 83 games. The following season, he scored 60 again and assisted on 47 for 107 points in 76 games.

Vancouver’s sixth round pick at the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, Bure didn’t finish in the top 10 for points in 1992-93 but placed fifth in 1993-94. His 60 goals in 1993-94 led the league. Pavel played with Vancouver from 1991-92 to 1997-98, earning the Calder Trophy in his first year as NHL rookie of the year. He played in the NHL until 2002-03 with the Florida Panthers and New York Rangers. Twice with Florida, he led the league in goals, earning the Rocket Richard Trophy.

Alexander Mogilny

Alexander Mogilny reached 107 points in 1995-96 on 55 goals and 52 assists in 79 games. The point total tied him for ninth and the 55 goals placed him third. This was a far cry from the 76 goals and 127 points he accumulated with the Buffalo Sabres in 1992-93.

Mogilny played for the Canucks from 1995-96 to 1999-00. He was originally a fifth round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in 1988. Alex played in the NHL from 1989-90 to 2005-06 with the Sabres, Canucks, New Jersey Devils and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Markus Naslund

Markus Naslund totalled 104 points in 2002-03 on 48 goals and 56 assists in 82 games. A sign of the lack of offensive during the early part of the decade, Naslund finished just two points behind Peter Forsberg of the Colorado Avalanche in the race for the Art Ross Trophy. His 48 goals were two behind the league leader, Milan Hejduk, also of the Avalanche.

Markus was originally a draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins, taken 16^th overall in 1991. He played for Vancouver from 1995-96 to 2007-08 and in the NHL from 1993-94 to 2008-09, also appearing for the Penguins and New York Rangers.

Henrik Sedin

Henrik Sedin led the NHL in 2009-10 with 112 points, earning the Art Ross Trophy. The 112 points also topped Pavel Bure’s team record of 110 set in 1992-93. Henrik scored 29 goals and assisted on 83 in 82 regular season games for the Canucks. He finished three points ahead of both Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals and Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Henrik was the third overall pick at the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, going to Vancouver. He has played in the NHL since 2000-01 and is still currently active. His entire career to date has been spent with the Canucks.

Daniel Sedin

Daniel Sedin followed up his brother in 2010-11 with an Art Ross Trophy victory of his own. Sedin finished the year with 104 points on 41 goals and 63 assists in 82 games. Daniel was the only player in the NHL in 2010-11 to surpass the 100 point plateau. Sedin was taken second overall by the Canucks in 1999, one position ahead of his brother. He has been with the Canucks since 2000-01.

 

1965-66 NHL Team Leaders

The Montreal Canadiens dominated the 1965-66 National Hockey League season. The Habs finished first overall in the six team league, eight points ahead of second place Chicago. Montreal then swept the Toronto Maple Leafs in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs before capturing the championship in six games against the fourth seed Detroit Red Wings.

Bobby Hull – Chicago Black Hawks

Bobby Hull not only led the Chicago Black Hawks but finished atop the whole NHL with 97 points, capturing the Art Ross Trophy. Hull’s 97 points set an NHL record for most points in a season, eclipsing the previous mark of 96 set by Dickie Moore of Montreal in 1958-59.

Bobby Rousseau – Montreal Canadiens

Leading the Montreal Canadiens with a career high of 78 points and finishing tied for second in the league was Bobby Rousseau. Bobby played in the NHL from 1960-61 to 1974-75 with the Canadiens, Minnesota North Stars and New York Rangers. His next highest point total came in 1968-69 when he totalled 70 with the Habs.

Gordie Howe – Detroit Red Wings

Gordie Howe occupied a familiar spot, leading the Detroit Red Wings in points with 75. Howe was fifth in the race for the Art Ross Trophy and had just three more points than teammate Norm Ullman. However, Ullman proved more of a factor in the Red Wings reaching the Stanley Cup final with 15 playoff points compared to Howe’s 10.

Bob Nevin – New York Rangers

The New York Rangers finished last in the NHL in 1965-66, one point behind the Boston Bruins and 27 points out of a playoff position. Bob Nevin led the club with 62 points. Nevin played in the NHL from 1960-61 to 1975-76 and would only total more points on one other occasion. In 1974-75, with the Los Angeles Kings, Bob contributed 72 points. Of course, the regular season was ten games longer that year than in 1965-66.

Murray Oliver – Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins had the least goals for and the most goals against in 1965-66. Leading the way for Bruins was Murray Oliver with 60 points. Oliver played in the NHL from 1959-60 to 1974-75 with the Detroit Red Wings, Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs and Minnesota North Stars. In fact, Oliver and Bobby Rousseau were teammates with the North Stars for the 1970-71 season.

Frank Mahovlich and Bob Pulford – Toronto Maple Leafs

As was the way with the ‘Original 6’ era Toronto Maple Leafs, individual scoring numbers were never exceptionally high. In 1965-66, Frank Mahovlich and Bob Pulford tied for the team lead with just 56 points each. Dave Keon was just two points behind with 54. It was a career high for Pulford but a mediocre season for Mahovlich.