Most Goals Scored in Every NHL Arena

Gordie Howe scored the most goals on home ice, with 430 at Olympia Stadium.

While browsing through the Baseball Reference website, I noticed it was possible to make a list of players with the most home runs at each ballpark. I wondered, could such a list be made for the most goals scored at each National Hockey League arena? It turns out that making a list is possible, with some difficulty. There is no resource for hockey as thorough as Baseball Reference and Retrosheet are for baseball.

I have made this list by using a few different resources. Baseball Reference’s sister site Hockey Reference has game information going back to the 1987-88 season. Its “play finder” can be used to produce a list of games in which a player scored at least one goal, at home, while playing for certain teams. The goals can then be added up, in cases where the player has multiple-goal games.

For seasons before 1987/88, the most useful tool is the Hockey Summary Project. HSP has game logs for the 1917-18 to 1925-26 seasons, and 1952-53 to the present, as well as for 1938-39, 1942-43, and the Philadelphia Quakers’ 1930-31 season. It’s time-consuming, but easy enough to go through all the game logs and counting the goals.

For the seasons missing from the HSP, the only resource is the game logs in newspaper reports. Through Google News‘ archive, I found game results using the Montreal Gazette, the Ottawa Citizen, the Border Cities Star/Windsor Daily Star, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pittsburgh Press, the Calgary Daily Herald/Calgary Herald, and the Saskatoon Phoenix/Saskatoon Star-Phoenix.

This list also counts goals scored by players who were playing a road game for a different team. As one notable example, Wayne Gretzky’s total in Edmonton includes the goals he scored while playing for Los Angeles. Sometimes, goals have been subtracted when a player scored at a home game away from their usual home rink. This includes, for example, the “neutral site” games of the early 1990s, and the NHL Premiere games in Europe.

I have included only regular season NHL games, from 1917-18 to the present, played a team’s regular home rink. I haven’t included all the “neutral” sites in this list, as they generally don’t have a top scorer, only a long list of players who scored one or two goals. In future posts I will include all the other arenas used for regular-season games. I will also go into greater detail with top-10 lists for each arena.

The list is up-to-date as of the games of April 7, 2012, the end of the 2011-12 regular season.

Arena Home Team Years Player Goals
Air Canada Centre Toronto Maple Leafs 1999-present Mats Sundin 140
America West Arena Phoenix Coyotes 1996-2003 Keith Tkachuk 98
American Airlines Center Dallas Stars 2001-present Brenden Morrow 107
Arena Gardens Toronto Arenas/St. Pat’s/Maple Leafs 1917-1931 Babe Dye 106
Aréna de Québec Quebec Bulldogs 1919-1920 Joe Malone 26
BankAtlantic Center Florida Panthers 1998-present Olli Jokinen 113
Barton Street Arena Hamilton Tigers 1920-1925 Joe Malone 30
Bell Centre Montreal Canadiens 1996-present Saku Koivu 101
Border Cities Arena Detroit Cougars 1926-1927 Duke Keats 9
Boston Arena Boston Bruins 1924-1928 Carson Cooper 29
Boston Garden Boston Bruins 1928-1995 John Bucyk 297
Brendan Byrne Arena New Jersey Devils 1982-2007 John Maclean 175
Bridgestone Arena Nashville Predators 1996-present David Legwand 100
Buffalo Memorial Auditorium Buffalo Sabres 1970-1996 Gilbert Perreault 260
Capital Centre Washington Capitals 1974-1997 Mike Gartner 228
Chicago Coliseum Chicago Blackhawks 1926-1929 Dick Irvin 17
Chicago Stadium Chicago Blackhawks 1929-1994 Bobby Hull 342
Colisée de Québec Quebec Nordiques 1979-1995 Michel Goulet 242
Consol Energy Center Pittsburgh Penguins 2010-present Evgeni Malkin 35
Cow Palace San Jose Sharks 1991-1993 Pat Falloon 28
Duquesne Gardens Pittsburgh Pirates 1925-1930 Hib Milks 50
Expo Hall Tampa Bay Lightning 1992-1993 Brian Bradley 19
First Niagara Center Buffalo Sabres 1996-present Thomas Vanek 130
Great Western Forum Los Angeles Kings 1967-1999 Marcel Dionne 288
Greensboro Coliseum Carolina Hurricanes 1997-1999 Keith Primeau 30
Hartford Civic Center Hartford Whalers 1980-1997 Ron Francis 157
Honda Center Anaheim Ducks 1993-present Teemu Selanne 236
HP Pavilion San Jose Sharks 1993-present Patrick Marleau 217
Jobing.com Arena Phoenix Coyotes 2003-present Shane Doan 97
Joe Louis Arena Detroit Red Wings 1979-present Steve Yzerman 330
Jubilee Arena Montreal Canadiens 1918-1919 Joe Malone 29
Kemper Arena Kansas City Scouts 1974-1976 Wilf Paiement 26
Long Beach Arena Los Angeles Kings 1967 Ted Irvine 3
Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Los Angeles Kings 1967 Brian Smith 7
Madison Square Garden New York Rangers 1925-1968 Andy Bathgate 154
Madison Square Garden New York Rangers 1968-present Rod Gilbert 150
Maple Leaf Gardens Toronto Maple Leafs 1931-1999 Darryl Sittler 235
McNichols Sports Arena Colorado Rockies/Avalanche 1976-1982, 1995-1999 Joe Sakic 73
Mellon Arena Pittsburgh Penguins 1967-2010 Mario Lemieux 373
Met Center Minnesota North Stars 1967-1993 Dino Ciccarelli 187
Miami Arena Florida Panthers 1993-1998 Scott Mellanby 63
Montreal Arena Montreal Canadiens 1917-1918 Newsy Lalonde 7
Montreal Forum Montreal Canadiens 1926-1996 Maurice Richard 324
Mount Royal Arena Montreal Canadiens 1920-1926 Billy Boucher 50
MTS Centre Winnipeg Jets 2011-present Andrew Ladd 18
Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum New York Islanders 1972-present Mike Bossy 315
Nationwide Arena Columbus Blue Jackets 2000-present Rick Nash 147
Oakland Coliseum Arena California Golden Seals 1967-1976 Joey Johnson 51
Olympia Stadium Detroit Cougars/Falcons/Red Wings 1927-1979 Gordie Howe 430
Omni Coliseum Atlanta Flames 1972-1980 Eric Vail 115
Ottawa Arena Ottawa Senators 1917-1923 Cy Denneny 101
Ottawa Auditorium Ottawa Senators 1923-1934 Cy Denneny/Frank Finnigan 53
Ottawa Civic Centre Ottawa Senators 1992-1995 Bob Kudelski 29
Pacific Coliseum Vancouver Canucks 1970-1995 Stan Smyl 145
Pepsi Center Colorado Avalanche 1999-present Milan Hejduk 186
Philadelphia Arena Philadelphia Quakers 1930-1931 Hib Milks 13
Philadelphia Spectrum Philadelphia Flyers 1967-1996 Bill Barber 231
Philips Arena Atlanta Thrashers 1999-2011 Ilya Kovalchuk 166
PNC Arena/RBC Center Carolina Hurricanes 1999-present Eric Staal 128
Prudential Center New Jersey Devils 2007-present Zach Parise 75
Reunion Arena Dallas Stars 1993-2001 Mike Modano 138
Rexall Place/Northlands Coliseum Edmonton Oilers 1979-present Wayne Gretzky 327
Richfield Coliseum Cleveland Barons 1976-1979 Dennis Maruk 38
Rogers Arena/GM Place Vancouver Canucks 1995-present Markus Naslund 187
Scotiabank Place Ottawa Senators 1995-present Daniel Alfredsson 222
Scotiabank Saddledome Calgary Flames 1983-present Jarome Iginla 263
Scottrade Center/Kiel Center St. Louis Blues 1994-present Pavol Demitra 124
Springfield Civic Center Hartford Whalers 1979-1980 Blaine Stoughton 18
St. Louis Arena St. Louis Blues 1967-1994 Brett Hull 202
Stampede Corral Calgary Flames 1980-1983 Kent Nilsson 76
Staples Center Los Angeles Kings 1999-present Alex Frolov 89
Tampa Bay Times Forum Tampa Bay Lightning 1996-present Vincent Lecavalier 197
TD Garden Boston Bruins 1995-present Glen Murray 101
Thunderdome Tampa Bay Lightning 1993-1996 Petr Klima 32
United Center Chicago Blackhawks 1994-present Tony Amonte 139
Verizon Center Washington Capitals 1997-present Alexander Ovechkin 170
Wells Fargo Center Philadelphia Flyers 1996-present John Leclair 135
Winnipeg Arena Winnipeg Jets 1979-1996 Dale Hawerchuk 198
Xcel Energy Center Minnesota Wild 2000-present Marian Gaborik 110