Through the Nineteen Eighties, the Edmonton Oilers epitomized offense. From the 1981-82 season by 1985-86, they scored a median of 5.29 objectives per recreation. They peaked within the 1983-84 season, placing up a whopping 446 objectives in 80 video games, a 5.58 goals-per-game common. Opposing groups couldn’t cease them, however may solely attempt to restrict the injury by containing them. It hardly ever labored.
The group featured phenomenal expertise: Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, Glenn Anderson, Jari Kurri, Paul Coffey, and Grant Fuhr in objective. The group set just about each scoring file that stands, routinely racking up 400 objectives each season.
The Oilers maintain the file for the highest-scoring NHL recreation within the fashionable period. On Dec. 11, 1985, they defeated the Chicago Blackhawks by a rating of 12-9. Surprisingly, Gretzky didn’t have any objectives within the recreation, however he did register seven assists, a single-game NHL file. The Oilers additionally maintain the file for many objectives scored whereas shutting out an opponent. On Nov. 8, 1985, they smoked the Vancouver Canucks by a rating of 13-0.
Sufficient about group success. This text is concerning the gamers to have cracked the 50-goal mark.
Wayne Gretzky
8-Time Member of the Oilers’ 50-Purpose Membership
Scored 51 objectives in 79 video games in the course of the 1979-80 season.
Scored 55 objectives in 80 video games in the course of the 1980-81 season.
Scored 92 objectives in 80 video games in the course of the 1981-82 season.
Scored 71 objectives in 80 video games in the course of the 1982-83 season.
Scored 87 objectives in 74 video games in the course of the 1983-84 season.
Scored 73 objectives in 80 video games in the course of the 1984-85 season.
Scored 52 objectives in 80 video games in the course of the 1985-86 season.
Scored 62 objectives in 79 video games in the course of the 1986-87 season.
Wayne Gretzky scored 378 objectives in his final season taking part in in a pee-wee league in Brantford, Ontario, which foreshadowed his NHL dominance. He didn’t simply be a part of the NHL’s 50-goal membership, he was its President. He reached the mark eight instances with the Oilers and after being traded to the Los Angeles Kings, “The Nice One” additionally posted a 54-goal season in 1988-89.
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In his first full NHL season, Gretzky punched his first ticket into the 50-goal membership. He scored 51 objectives and tied Marcel Dionne for the scoring race however misplaced the Artwork Ross Trophy as a result of Dionne had extra objectives. He then rattled off seven straight 50-plus-goal seasons and received seven consecutive scoring titles.
In his third season, Gretzky shattered Phil Esposito’s file of 76 objectives by lighting the lamp 92 instances. He was a one-man goal-scoring machine, demolishing the quickest to attain 50 file, engaging in it in 39 video games as a 20-year-old. He poured in 4 objectives in his thirty eighth recreation (in opposition to the Kings), then added 5 objectives in his thirty ninth recreation, a 7-5 win in opposition to the Philadelphia Flyers. The fiftieth objective was an empty-netter with solely three seconds remaining. His teammates mobbed him on the ice whereas followers cheered on a feat that possible won’t ever be duplicated.
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“The one factor about Wayne, is that when he received one or two objectives early within the recreation, he actually turned hungry,” stated teammate Mark Messier.
“All of us went out with the nice intent of checking the heck out of him,” stated Flyers nice Bobby Clarke. “He received 5 [goals that night]. He most likely may’ve received seven. It was an exceptional efficiency.”
That season, Gretzky scored 50 objectives earlier than another participant had even reached the 30-goal mark.
He scored 50 objectives in 50 video games two extra instances in his profession. In 1983-84, he scored his fiftieth objective within the group’s forty second recreation and the next yr scored his fiftieth objective within the group’s forty ninth recreation. All thrice he achieved the feat he did so by scoring at the least a hat trick within the deciding recreation.
Throughout his 50-goal-plus seasons, roughly 69 p.c of his objectives got here at even energy, 21 p.c on the facility play and 9 p.c shorthanded. Roughly 11 p.c of his tallies have been game-winning objectives.
After Gretzky retired, the NHL retired his No. 99 to make sure nobody else would ever put on it. His skating, stickhandling and capturing have been second to none and he’s arguably the perfect participant within the historical past of the sport. He was inducted into the Hockey Corridor of Fame in 1999.
Associated: Toronto Maple Leafs’ 50-Purpose Scorers
Mark Messier
Member of the Oilers’ 50-Purpose Membership
Scored 50 objectives in 78 video games in the course of the 1981-82 season.
Mark “the Moose” Messier had one 50-goal season and got here up shy twice, with 47- and 48-goal seasons. He was equal elements energy, toughness, playmaker and scorer. On prime of that, he was a pure chief, making him some of the full gamers of his era.
The facility ahead scored 50 objectives in 1981-82, his third season, doubling his output from the earlier yr. Of his 50 objectives, 40 got here at even energy and 10 have been scored on the facility play. Three tallies have been game-winners. It was the identical season Gretzky put up his mind-boggling 92 objectives.
Messier is taken into account one of many biggest NHL gamers of all time. Throughout his profession, his groups sipped from the Stanley Cups six instances, he collected two Hart Trophies and was named to 5 All-Star groups. A bodily marvel, taking part in in 76 video games in his closing season as a 43-year-old, he’s the one participant to captain two franchises to the Stanley Cup. His quantity is retired by each the New York Rangers and Oilers. The NHL additionally created a management award and named it the Mark Messier Trophy. He was inducted into the Hockey Corridor of Fame in 2007.
Glenn Anderson
2-time Member of the Oilers’ 50-Purpose Membership
Scored 54 objectives in 80 video games in the course of the 1983-84 season.
Scored 54 objectives in 72 video games in the course of the 1985-86 season.
Glenn Anderson grew up in Burnaby, British Columbia and was chosen 69th by the Oilers within the 1979 Entry Draft. He joined the Oilers for 58 video games within the 1980-81 season and scored 30 objectives as a rookie. The next season, he made headlines with 105 factors, ending among the many prime ten scorers within the league.
Throughout his two 50-goal seasons, roughly 67 p.c of his objectives got here at even energy, 27 p.c on the facility play and 6 p.c shorthanded. Greater than 18 p.c of his tallies have been recreation winners. He was constantly close to the highest of the NHL in scoring and thrived within the playoffs, scoring extra time winners and game-clinching objectives in every of the Oilers’ 5 marches to the Stanley Cup between 1984 and 1990.
Simply earlier than the 1994 Playoffs, Anderson was traded to the Rangers for Mike Gartner. There, he joined Messier and different ex-Oilers in successful one other Stanley Cup. He was inducted into the Hockey Corridor of Fame in 2008, and his quantity 9 was retired by the Oilers on Jan. 18, 2009.
Jari Kurri
4-Time Member of the NHL’s 50-Purpose Membership
Scored 52 objectives in 64 video games in the course of the 1983-84 season.
Scored 71 objectives in 73 video games in the course of the 1984-85 season.
Scored 68 objectives in 78 video games in the course of the 1985-86 season.
Scored 54 objectives in 79 video games in the course of the 1986-87 season.
Jari Kurri was an unbelievably gifted objective scorer who performed with Gretzky or in his shadow for a lot of his profession. Collectively they created some of the deadly combos in NHL historical past, obliterating scoring information and wowing crowds. He was a grasp of one-timing a cross and burying it within the internet.
Born in Helsinki, Finland, Kurri started his profession with the Oilers in 1980-81. In 1983-84, his third season, he turned the primary Finnish-born participant to achieve the 50-goal mark. It highlighted a stretch by which the Oilers received 4 Stanley Cups in 5 seasons.
He adopted up his breakout yr with three straight seasons of sniping success with 71, 68 and 54 objectives. He nonetheless holds the file for many objectives in a single season by a proper winger.
Throughout his 50-goal-plus seasons, roughly 71 p.c of his objectives got here at even energy, 21 p.c on the facility play and eight p.c shorthanded. Almost 15 p.c of his tallies have been game-winning objectives.
Although he scored objectives at will, with a laser of a shot he was additionally considered among the best defensive forwards within the NHL. Although he by no means collected a lot {hardware}, it was solely as a result of most of it went to Gretzky.
Kurri completed his profession as the best scoring European-born participant in NHL historical past. He tallied 601 objectives, 797 assists and 1,398 factors. Within the playoffs, he scored 106 profession objectives and 233 factors, rating third all-time behind solely Gretzky and Messier. He was inducted into the Hockey Corridor of Fame in 2001.
Associated: Montreal Canadiens 50-Purpose Scorers
Craig Simpson
Member of the Oilers’ 50-Purpose Membership
Scored 56 objectives in 80 video games in the course of the 1987-88 season.
Craig Simpson, who was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins in November 1987 within the Paul Coffey commerce, ended the 1987-88 NHL marketing campaign with 56 objectives, 43 of them with Edmonton. That yr, for essentially the most half, he performed on a line with Messier and Anderson.
Simpson potted his fiftieth objective in opposition to the Buffalo Sabres on March 15, changing into the primary participant in NHL historical past to attain 50 objectives over a season performed with multiple group. He completed second in objective scoring, behind Mario Lemieux that yr.
Of his 56 objectives, 34 got here at even energy and 22 with the person benefit. Eight objectives have been recreation winners.
Simpson, who suffered a decrease again harm and ended his profession whereas taking part in for the Sabres, is the final Oiler to achieve the 50-goal milestone. Since then, he’s loved a profitable profession in hockey broadcasting.
Leon Draisaitl
3-Time Member of the Oilers’ 50-Purpose Membership
Scored 50 objectives in 82 video games in the course of the 2018-19 season.
Scored 55 objectives in 80 video games in the course of the 2021-22 season.
Scored 52 objectives in 80 video games in the course of the 2022-23 season.
Leon Draisaitl was drafted third total in 2014 by the Edmonton Oilers. He made the Oilers’ roster out of coaching camp and performed 37 video games for the group that yr, chipping in 9 factors. The next season, 2015-16, Draisaitl scored 19 objectives to go along with 32 assists for 51 factors in 72 video games. He bested that in 2016-17 with 29 objectives and 48 assists whereas showing in all 82 video games. Throughout that season, he turned the primary Oiler participant since Messier in 1990 to have six-straight multi-point video games.
After one other very respectable season (70 factors), the 6-foot-2, 214-pound ahead had a breakout yr, pouring in 50 objectives and 55 assists for 105 factors in the course of the 2018-19 season. It was ok to rank 4th total in NHL scoring and second in objectives, trailing solely Alexander Ovechkin (51 objectives in 81 video games). He turned the ninth Oiler to attain attain the 100-point mark in a season.
The German sniper’s forty eighth and forty ninth objectives got here within the 81st recreation, a 3-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks. Within the season finale, Draisaitl potted his fiftieth in a 3-1 win in opposition to the Calgary Flames on the highway. The milestone objective was the primary of the sport and was rifled by Mikko Koskinen, glove aspect.
Draisaitl is barely the second German-born participant within the NHL to attain 50 in a season–the opposite was Dany Heatley, who achieved the mark in each 2005-06 and 2006-07.
Of Draisaitl’s 50 objectives that magical season, 31 got here at even energy, 16 on the facility play and three shorthanded; 5 of them have been recreation winners. He had a red-hot 21.6 capturing share.
Following Draisaitl’s 50-goal marketing campaign, the NHL skilled two shortened seasons as a result of COVID-19 pandemic. Then, in the course of the 2021-22 season, the Oilers ahead choose up the place he left off pre-pandemic with a 55-goal efficiency.
Of his 55 objectives, Draisaitl recorded 24 on the facility play, one shorthanded, and one other 11 of the game-winning selection, together with one in extra time. He additionally completed with a scorching 19.8 capturing share.
Draisaitl adopted that up with one more 50-goal efficiency in the course of the 2022-23 season, when he recorded 52 whole tallies.
What number of extra 50-goal seasons will we see from Draisaitl? Likelihood is he’ll hit the half-century mark a pair extra instances in Edmonton.
Connor McDavid
Member of the Oilers’ 50-Purpose Membership
Scored 64 objectives in 82 video games in the course of the 2022-23 season.
In his eighth season with the Oilers, Connor McDavid lastly hit the 50-goal plateau. He reached the 60-goal mark as effectively, ending with 64 objectives, plus one other eight in 12 playoff video games.
It was good to see the 2023 Hart Trophy Winner breakthrough from a goal-scoring perspective. He eclipsed 40 thrice prior, however by no means actually flirted with 50. Scoring 64, although, is a press release.
Of his 64 objectives, 21 got here on the facility play and one other 4 have been of the shorthanded selection. McDavid additionally registered 11 game-winners, together with two in extra time.
