Believe it or not, there are actually some individual NHL
records not owned by Wayne Gretzky. Of course, you have to look to categories
that Wayne didn’t involve himself in like penalties and defenseman scoring.
Test and expand your knowledge of the NHL’s single season
individual records with these four trivia questions.
Q. Who holds the record for the most goals in a single NHL
season by a defenseman?
A. No, it’s not Bobby Orr. Paul Coffey broke Orr’s record of
46 goals during the 1985-86 season when he put 48 past opposing goaltenders. Coffey
and Orr are the only defensemen to score 40 or more in a single season with
Coffey doing it twice and Orr just the once.
The only current blue liner to surpass 30 in a season is
Mike Green of the Washington Capitals, scoring 31 in 2008-09. The list of
defensemen throughout the history of the NHL scoring 30 or more in a season is
slim with just Doug Wilson, Kevin Hatcher, Ray Bourque, Denis Potvin and Phil
Housley added to Coffey, Orr and Green.
Q. With 76, what player holds the record for the most goals
by a rookie?
A. Teemu Selanne of the Winnipeg Jets broke Mike Bossy’s
previous record by a whopping 23 goals in 1992-93. Selanne, Bossy and Joe
Nieuwendyk are the only first year NHL players to surpass the 50 goal plateau.
In a weird twist of fate, Selanne did not share the league
lead in goal scoring in 1992-93. Alexander Mogilny of the Buffalo Sabres also
scored 76. Mogilny was in his fourth year in the National Hockey League and
nearly doubled his previous career high of 39 goals, set the previous year.
Mogilny would surpass the 50 goal plateau just once more in his career while
Selanne would do it just twice more.
Q. Who holds the record for the most points in a single
season by a defenseman?
A. No, it’s not Paul Coffey! Bobby Orr won the Art Ross
Trophy as the NHL’s leading point getter in 1970-71 with 139 points. Orr still
remains the only defenseman to win the Art Ross. Coffey came within one point
of the record with 138 in 1985-86.
Just five defensemen in NHL history have topped the 100
point plateau. Along with Coffey and Orr, Denis Potvin, Al MacInnis and Bryan
Leetch have accomplished the feat. Leetch was the last to do it with 102 points
way back in 1991-92, over 20 years ago.
Q. What 1970’s super goon holds the record for the most
penalty minutes in a single season?
A. Dave ‘The Hammer’ Schultz sat out 472 minutes in the
penalty box during the 1974-75 season. This number amounts to nearly eight
whole hours in the sin bin! Paul Baxter was the next closest challenger with
just 409 minutes in 1981-82.
Current member of the Calgary Flames, Brian McGrattan, holds
the American Hockey League record with 551 PIM in 2004-05 with the Binghamton
Senators. Joel Theriault, a fourth round pick by the Washington Capitals in
1995, holds the CHL record with 573 PIM in 1995-96 in a QMJHL season split
between the Halifax Mooseheads and Drummondville Voltigeurs.
