Since Alex Ovechkin has completed his quest to break the NHL’s most famous record, I have been speculating on the opposite — some of the least famous records in the game of hockey. I thought now would be a fun time to explore the weird and obscure records and accomplishments in NHL history. They might never receive the attention of a goal-scoring record, but they play a part in hockey lore all the same.
Fastest Goal in a Game That Ended 1-0
The 21,204 fans who packed the United Center on Nov. 2, 2014, to watch the Chicago Blackhawks take on the Winnipeg Jets probably expected an offensive showcase when Winnipeg’s Michael Frolik scored on the second shot of the night, just 20 seconds into the game. However, the remaining 59:40 could not have been further from that possibility. The two teams combined for 58 more shots — 25 from the Jets and 33 from the Blackhawks — but no one found the net again, making Frolik’s goal the earliest in any game with a 1-0 final score.
A former Blackhawk himself, Frolik scored 34 goals as a Jet and 159 in his NHL career. To him, that goal might stand out as a game-winner against his former team — but it also stands out as the only goal in perhaps the most unlikely 1-0 game of all time.
Longest Stretch of Play Without a Whistle
One of the unique elements of hockey is how play can be continuous, with potentially only the end-of-period buzzer to interrupt the flow. Most other sports are far more segmented, cut up into at-bats or plays from scrimmage. Even other back-and-forth sports, such as lacrosse and water polo, get broken up by a shot clock. The NHL has no such mechanism in place, allowing for long stretches with no stopping point.
The longest uninterrupted stretch I could find in a game came on March 11, 2014, during the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2-0 home win over the Washington Capitals. In the first period, after an offside call with 19:21 remaining, the teams played non-stop hockey until the clock read 5:36, for a total of 13 minutes and 45 seconds with no breaks. The run included nine shots on goal and 15 hits and finally ended when Capitals goalie Jaroslav Halak saved a shot from the Penguins’ Taylor Pyatt.
Ironically — or perhaps appropriately — the next whistle came just 26 seconds of play later, with another one 18 seconds after that. Hockey is weird sometimes.
Most Penalty Minutes Issued in One Period
Many games have featured large brawls resulting in the referees handing out large amounts of penalties, but nothing in NHL history compares to the third period between the Ottawa Senators and Philadelphia Flyers on March 5, 2004. After just 10 penalty minutes in the first two periods, a series of fights gradually escalated in the final minutes of the third. In total, players received a whopping 409 penalty minutes in the period, including 14 fighting penalties; 12 players received game misconducts. To put that number in context, the New York Islanders are the NHL’s least-punished team this season. They’ve accrued just 441 penalty minutes and took 78 games to get there.
Related: NHL’s All-Time Records: The B-Sides
Among those picking up fighting majors were both starting goalies, Philadelphia’s Robert Esche and Ottawa’s Patrick Lalime. Jason Spezza of the Senators led all players in penalty minutes with 35, while Donald Brashear led the Flyers with 34.
Of the records listed here, this one feels the most unbreakable. The style of play in hockey today allows for the possibility that all the other marks can be topped. With the NHL’s decreased emphasis on fighting and the rules installed since 2004 to prevent late-game brawls, we may never again see discipline enacted the way we did that night.
Fastest Goal in a Stanley Cup Final Game
This record has less to do with the statistic itself and more with the circumstances under which it was accomplished. The events began on May 22, 1988, when Glenn Anderson of the Edmonton Oilers scored 10 seconds into Game 4 of the Cup Final against the Boston Bruins. Then, late in the second period, with the game tied 3-3, the power cut out in the Boston Garden. After the NHL unsuccessfully attempted to restart the game, the league declared that it would be wiped out and replayed only if necessary at the end of the series, as per the bylaws they had in place. However, the league’s rules also state that individual statistics in canceled games still count, meaning the record for the earliest goal in a Stanley Cup Final game occurred in a game that doesn’t exist.
Edmonton won the subsequent game, completing the rare five-game sweep and giving Anderson one of his six career championships. As he lifted the Cup, he also carried home a fascinating record, even if he can’t point to the game where it happened.
Gordie Howe Hat Trick and Actual Hat Trick in the Same Game
A hat trick is, of course, when one player scores three goals in the same game. A Gordie Howe hat trick is the act of scoring a goal, recording an assist and getting into a fight in the same game. Thanks to sleuths on the internet, we can determine how many times a player has done both in a single contest — a Gordie Howe hat trick hat trick, if you will.
All we need to do is find every game in which a player scored at least three goals, posted at least one assist and received at least five penalty minutes, then filter out the games that didn’t include a fighting major. In total, it’s happened 19 times, most recently by Joe Thornton in 2002. Paul Coffey is the only player to do so twice, managing the accomplishment in 1985 and 1988. Of the players on the list, Brian Sutter has the most career Gordie Howe hat tricks with 15.
Several trends emerge from an examination of the list. After a 12-year period with none from 1958-1970, the feat happened six times in the next seven years. It also occurred nine times in the 1980s, including three in 1982 alone, but only twice since then with none in the last 23 years.
The ultimate achievement will come when two players do this in the same game by fighting each other. We’ll probably need a memorable name for that, and I welcome any and all suggestions.
Obscure Accomplishments Highlight the Beauty of Hockey
Obvious records, such as Ovechkin’s goal chase, will always get the most attention from the sports world, but the more random records can also provide tremendous joy and excitement. They can turn a random game into a small slice of NHL history. None of the players discussed here went into the games planning to set marks in the ways that they did. They might not have even been aware of their feats. But in some strange ways, they created their own unexpected spaces in the hockey record books.
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