Cam Neely didn't do it in his teams first 50 games and everyone seems to credit him with the feat. Only became an issue when Matthews did it unofficially.
IMO the "rules" are meaningless. What matters is that it's an indication of being able to score at an insane rate for a sustained period of time. A goal per game for 10 games is one thing but for 50 is crazy. To me, that's what makes it significant and for that, any 50 games in a row will do.
This is a blatant lie though.
The credit goes to Neely goes as far as putting him as a footnote along with Kurri, Mogilny, and Lemieux x2 as players who did it in their first 50 personal games, which is not what Matthews did when he performed his own symphony.
So, you’re lying through your teeth saying everyone seems to credit Neely with the feat.
The actual true statement here is that no one ever harped on about similar past occurrences to the way Matthews did it, until his fans did so, in part because we’re starved as fans for anything resembling the accomplishment and the days of some 70 goal campaigns.
In the end, most, particularly Matthews fans, are taking it all a bit too seriously. No one gets anything for doing it “officially”. It’s basically just a fun thing to follow and honor the first time a player potted 50 while also only having 50 team games available to him.
I can promise you that if Matthews does it or ever does it “officially”, the same folks will be thumping their chests about it because suddenly it’s more “legit.”
