50 Goals in 50 Games - Maurice Richard

Maurice Richard

• 1944–45: 50 in 50 games (50 in 50)

Maurice "Rocket" Richard of the Montreal Canadiens was the first player to score 50 goals. He achieved the target in the 50th (and final) game of the 1944–45 season on goalie Harvey Bennett of the Boston Bruins.

Besides Richard's 50 in 50 feat, he also led the NHL in goals five times and was the league's first 500 goal scorer. Richard never managed to equal his personal best of 50 goals before retiring in 1960, this in spite of the league extending the schedule to 60 games in 1946 and 70 in 1949. In honour of his achievements, the NHL created an annual award in 1999, the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy which was donated by the Montreal Canadiens, to be presented to the top goal scorer in the league.

It would take another 16 years before the second player, Bernie Geoffrion, managed to score 50 goals in a single season. When Bobby Hull finally managed to break the record with 54 goals in 1966, fans of the then-retired Canadiens legend pointed out that Hull was playing in a 70 game schedule and demanded that the NHL continue to recognize Richard's record (similar to what Major League Baseball initially did with Babe Ruth's home run record after Roger Maris broke it under similar circumstances a few years previously).

In response, Hull's fans pointed out that Richard's record had been achieved during the Second World War (during which many NHLers enlisted in the military - Richard was deemed unfit for service) and argued that Richard's failure to match the record in peacetime (with the caliber of the NHL not similarly hindered) even though he played in eleven 70-game seasons compromised any right he might have to special consideration for the record on account of the shorter wartime schedule.

The NHL awarded Hull the record, while at the same time recognizing Richard as the first, and to that point only, player to score 50 goals in 50 games, firmly establishing the achievement into NHL lore. It would take 35 years before anyone matched Richard's feat of 50 goals in 50 games.