is an infraction that occurs when a player shoots the puck from his or her side of the centre redline across the opponent’s goal line. This infraction is whistled down when the non-offending team touches the puck after it has crossed the goal line. If a defender can reasonably play the puck and chooses not to, or if the shooter’s team is shorthanded, icing isn’t called. When icing is indicated, the puck is faced-off in the offending team’s defensive zone and play resumes.
When was the first Zamboni used in an NHL arena?
The Zamboni is a tractorlike machine employed to resurface the ice in a rink. The Zamboni scrapes off a thin layer of ice and then applies a thin coat of hot water, which melts small imperfections in the ice before freezing to form a smooth surface. The Zamboni was invented in the 1940s by Frank J. Zamboni, who owned one of the first skating rinks in Southern California. It was first used in an NHL game at the Montreal Forum on March 10, 1955. Prior to the invention of the Zamboni, NHL arenas were cleaned and flooded between periods by workers using shovels and barrels of water.
Who holds the most records in the NHL?
With 60 NHL records in regular-season, playoff, and All-Star games, Wayne Gretzky, of course, holds the individual record of records. Upon his retirement in 1999, the Great One actually had 61 records, but two of his records were eclipsed and he got one back. Gretzky’s record of 15 overtime assists has now been passed by Nicklas Lidstrom, Adam Oates, and Mark Messier, while his record of 12 All-Star Game assists has been beaten by Mark Messier, Ray Bourque, and Joe Sakic. When Mario Lemieux came out of retirement and played more games, he lost his points-per-game-average record, which now belongs to Gretzky again at 1.921 points per game. Some of Gretzky’s loftier records, ones that will likely never be surpassed, are most regular-season goals (894), most regular-season assists (1,963), most regular-season points (2,857), most playoff goals (122), most goals in one season (92), and most assists in one season (163).
Who holds the NHL record for scoring the most goals in one game?
Joe Malone of the Quebec Bulldogs scored seven goals in one game against the Toronto St. Patricks on January 31, 1920, powering his club to a 10–6 victory. Malone, born in Quebec City, was one of the NHL’s first superstars. He won the scoring title twice, the first time being in the league’s inaugural season in 1917–18 when he racked up 44 goals in a mere 20 games for the Montreal Canadiens. His other scoring title came in 1919–20 with the Bulldogs. Malone won three Stanley Cups, two with Quebec (1912, 1913) and one with the Canadiens (1924). Perhaps not too surprising, he was also one of the first men to score a goal in the NHL, sharing that distinction with the Montreal Wanderers’ Dave Ritchie. Both Malone and Ritchie potted goals early in their respective games on December 19, 1917. Starting times for games for the era aren’t known, but Malone, a Canadien, got his goal against the Ottawa Senators early in the first period en route to beating the Sens 7–4.
What was the highest-scoring game in NHL history?
This record turns out to be a tie. On January 10, 1920, the Montreal Canadiens trounced the Toronto St. Pats 14–7. Sixty-five years later, on December 11, 1985, the Edmonton Oilers slipped by the Chicago Black Hawks 12–9. The record for most goals by one team in a single game is also held by the Canadiens, who netted 16 against the Quebec Bulldogs’ three on March 3, 1920.
Which NHL player has won the most scoring titles?
Wayne Gretzky, not too surprisingly, won 10 Art Ross Trophies (1981–87, 1990–91, 1994), the award the NHL has given for the league’s regular-season scoring leader since 1947–48. Prior to that season, a number of players such as Joe Malone, Newsy Lalonde, Bill Cook, and Charlie Conacher won the scoring title twice, but no single person earned it more times than that. The runners-up to Gretzky for Art Ross Trophies are Gordie Howe and Mario Lemieux, each with six. The Great One has also won the most Hart Trophies — nine — for most valuable player in the NHL during the regular season. Number 99 accomplished that feat eight seasons in a row from 1980 to 1987, then added a ninth Hart in 1989 after he was dealt to the Los Angeles Kings.
Who holds the NHL record for the most points in one game?
On February 7, 1976, the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Darryl Sittler racked up an incredible six goals and four assists for 10 points in an 11–4 plastering of the Boston Bruins at Maple Leaf Gardens. That record for points still stands. Centreman Sittler was the first Maple Leaf ever to hit 100 points in a season, achieving that plateau in 1975–76, then did it again in 1977–78 when he got 117.
Who is the only NHL player to win the Art Ross, Hart, and Lady Byng trophies in consecutive seasons?
Czechoslovakia-born Stanislaus Gvoth, better known as Stan Mikita, achieved this distinction in 1967 (the first to do so) and then again in 1968. Mikita played for the Chicago Black Hawks from 1958–59 to 1979–80 and won the Art Ross as scoring leader two other times (1964 and 1965). The scrappy forward had a notorious bad temper, got into numerous fights, and racked up significant penalty minutes in his career, which makes it all the more incredible that he somehow managed to win the Lady Byng twice, an award given out for sportsmanship and gentlemanly play!
What NHL player holds the record for the most 50-goal seasons?
Even when single-season scoring tallies started escalating after NHL expansion in 1967– 68, scoring 50 goals in a single season still meant something as a personal plateau, and it continues to. The Montreal Canadiens’ Maurice “Rocket” Richard was the first to do it in 1944–45, and achieved it in 50 games. Teammate “Boom Boom” Geoffrion was the second to hit the mark in 1960–61. The first player to pot more than 50 was the Chicago Black Hawks’ Bobby Hull, who got 54 in 1965–66 (Hull had earlier joined the 50-goal club in 1961–62). As to who’s recorded the most 50-goal seasons in a career, that’s a tie between Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky. Both did it nine times. However, Bossy only played 10 seasons in his career (all with the New York Islanders), while the Great One got his nine in 20 seasons with the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues, and New York Rangers. What’s more, Bossy nabbed his nine in consecutive seasons from 1977–78 to 1985–86, which is also a record, one he doesn’t share with anybody.
Who was the first NHL player to score 100 points in a regular season?
The Detroit Red Wings’ Gordie Howe almost hit 100 points in 1952–53 when he got 95, but it took more than another decade and a half before the Boston Bruins’ Phil Esposito broke the 100 barrier in 1968–69 on his way to ending up with 126 points. Of course, Wayne Gretzky blew everybody away with his remarkable feats in the 1980s, topping 200 points four times, with a record 215 in 1985–86. The Great One is still the only NHL player to score more than 200 points in one season. The Pittsburgh Penguins’ Mario Lemieux came close in 1988–89 when he managed 199 points. Incidentally, Number 99 has the most 100-point seasons (15) and the most consecutive 100-pointers (13).
Quickies
Did you know …
that Gordie Howe was 41 and in his 23rd year with the Detroit Red Wings in 1968–69 when he achieved his only 100-point season? Howe is the sole 40-year-old in the NHL to achieve this plateau. That season he ended up with 103 points. Of course, Howe went on to retire from the Red Wings in the early 1970s, then came out of retirement to play through most of that decade in the World Hockey Association, and finally returned to the NHL with the Hartford Whalers when he was 51!
