- Mar 4, 2023
- 932
- 1,946
Just a neat stat I saw the other day. Maybe it puts Bedard into better light in the midst of his sophomore slump he's having. But either way, no one else has done it since 2000. And to be honest, I am trying to think of the players that did do this ever. It is likely that Celebrini joins them in this group next year.
But Patrick Kane didn't do it as he turned 20 in the fall of 2008. He did accomplish this in his first two seasons, but he wasn't still a teenager. Going back to the early 1990s and while Jagr turned 20 in February of 1992 he didn't do it either, nor in his first two full seasons as he was turning 20. So my thought is who did this in the 1980s.
Gretzky as always is the obvious answer here. He did it in his first season alone. But he's always the exception. So by my count the only other players in NHL history to do this other than Crosby, Bedard and Gretzky are: Hawerchuk, Francis, Yzerman and Turgeon. That's it. Because who else is there? Who enters the NHL at 18 and scores right away like that? No one in the 1970s simply because the draft was at 20 years old then. Gilbert Perreault I am sure is on people's minds, but he obviously wasn't in the NHL at 18. Bobby Hull is actually surprisingly close to this, if you look at his first two seasons. But he did turn 20 in January of 1959 so even then it wouldn't count. Stamkos had an early birthday where he turned 20 too, but even his first two seasons he doesn't have the assists. Thornton, Lecavalier, MacKinnon, just didn't have as good as first two seasons as Bedard has had. Malkin was 19 when he entered the NHL.
So yeah, I am counting 7 players in NHL history that have done this, and despite a lot of criticism his way one of them is Bedard.
But Patrick Kane didn't do it as he turned 20 in the fall of 2008. He did accomplish this in his first two seasons, but he wasn't still a teenager. Going back to the early 1990s and while Jagr turned 20 in February of 1992 he didn't do it either, nor in his first two full seasons as he was turning 20. So my thought is who did this in the 1980s.
Gretzky as always is the obvious answer here. He did it in his first season alone. But he's always the exception. So by my count the only other players in NHL history to do this other than Crosby, Bedard and Gretzky are: Hawerchuk, Francis, Yzerman and Turgeon. That's it. Because who else is there? Who enters the NHL at 18 and scores right away like that? No one in the 1970s simply because the draft was at 20 years old then. Gilbert Perreault I am sure is on people's minds, but he obviously wasn't in the NHL at 18. Bobby Hull is actually surprisingly close to this, if you look at his first two seasons. But he did turn 20 in January of 1959 so even then it wouldn't count. Stamkos had an early birthday where he turned 20 too, but even his first two seasons he doesn't have the assists. Thornton, Lecavalier, MacKinnon, just didn't have as good as first two seasons as Bedard has had. Malkin was 19 when he entered the NHL.
So yeah, I am counting 7 players in NHL history that have done this, and despite a lot of criticism his way one of them is Bedard.
