So far: what is the best individual NHL feat of the 21st century?

[MadLuke]

Didn't Gretzky win it at 19 with 164 points in 1980-81?

Turned 20 middle of that season.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Turned 20 middle of that season.

Gotcha, so it's basically a fairly narrow range of players that Crosby falls into that could even be eligible in their 2nd NHL season. Probably more trivia than a best in the 21st century kinda feat. Gretzky is the closest anyone came in their first season.

 

[MadLuke]

Gotcha, so it's basically a fairly narrow range of players that Crosby falls into that could even be eligible in their 2nd NHL season. Probably more trivia than a best in the 21st century kinda feat. Gretzky is the closest anyone came in their first season.

Yes and in many sports that get included, say the NFL, do they have a scoring title ? and does the 3 years out of high school rules make it possible to be less than 20 at the end of any season ? Caleb Williams is 23.

Not sure how it work in the MLB but it is quite rare to play as teen, young phenom Bryce Harper turned 20 before the end of the playoff his rookie season I think.

What sports with a scoring tile would that left where it is a remote possibility, just the NBA realistically ? And only the rookie season, I imagine.

This is quite trivia-isshh and as a french speaking person I never knew before that trivia that the word teen was used that way, in a litteral way like that in the English world, we always use it to mean adolescent here, which obviously exclude professional adult athlete.

 

[WarriorofTime]

Yes and in many sports that get included, say the NFL, do they have a scoring title ? and does the 3 years out of high school rules make it possible to be less than 20 at the end of any season ? Caleb Williams is 23.

Yes, NFL is too old. You have to be like 21 minimum due to being 3 years out of high school.

NBA has 1-year done and explicitly 19 to be draft eligible for the last 20 years or so, and it was only about a decade prior to that where it wasn't just the norm to stay in school through most or all college eligibility. Prep to Pro was a pretty small window of time.

Not sure how it work in the MLB but it is quite rare to play as teen, young phenom Bryce Harper turned 20 before the end of the playoff his rookie season I think.

MLB does theoretically draft high school players but even the very best high school players need time in the Minors. Youngest player on a 2024 MLB opening day roster was over a year older than Bedard, who had already played almost all of the 2023-24 NHL season by then, and the 2nd youngest guy was a year older than that guy. Alex Rodriguez, thirty years ago, is the last player that made their MLB debut while still 18 (appearing in a game as a mid-season callup a couple weeks before his 19th birthday), and he was optioned back down prior the work stoppage and split the following season between MLB and Minor Leagues.

What sports with a scoring tile would that left where it is a remote possibility, just the NBA realistically ? And only the rookie season, I imagine.

Yes, an NBA player would have to win the scoring title in their rookie year as they must be 19 in the calendar year of the draft. Based on the Gretzky mid-season criteria, their birthday would need to fall in a narrow window as well. Kevin Durant is the youngest NBA scoring champion in history, winning in 2009-10, he turned 21 a month prior to the first regular season game that year, which was his third year in the NBA. Wilt Chamberlain and Elvin Hayes won the scoring title as Rookies, but were already 23 by then as they (like everyone else) played four years of college.

This is quite trivia-isshh and as a french speaking person I never knew before that trivia that the word teen was used that way, in a litteral way like that in the English world, we always use it to mean adolescent here, which obviously exclude professional adult athlete.

That's pretty interesting on the language piece. Yes, native english speakers typically use "teen" literally (a person aged 13-19).

 

[Dingo]

Karlsson's 101 point season, and also his finishing 4th in points/leading in assists season were very rare feats.

 

[MadLuke]

That's pretty interesting on the language piece. Yes, native english speakers typically use "teen" literally (a person aged 13-19).

Being from the external show a bit the strangess of it, actual litterally would be 10-19, so there some notion of adolescent versus child that get apply to teens but they call 17-18-19 years old teens in a way we would not.

 

[PrimumHockeyist]

It was. It was one of those annoying records where the player that has it almost needs an asterisk beside his name because you know it is a fluke. Boucher was not a great goalie, he was on a lousy team that year and his record that season was 10-19-10. It reminds me if Columbus had gotten that record the 1993 Pens own of 17 straight wins. In 2017 they had 16 in a row and it would have just been irritating to see the 1993 Pens lose to a franchise that has quite frankly done nothing of note in its 25 year existence. Luckily they fell a game short. But Boucher's record has always been similar to something like that.

So I think McDavid's 42 points is right up there.

As mentioned Mario's comeback in 2000. Being out of the NHL for 3.5 years and then coming back and being Mario again. Getting three points in his return. Not that I wasn't already waiting for the 2002 Olympics but that night he came back and is the night I figured we had Gold locked up!

Correct me if I wrong, but didn't Lemieux assist on his first shift at 33 seconds I think. Did that ever set a tone. I can't remember wanting to see a player succeed as I did with Lemieux after he came back.

 

[The Panther]

Gretzky tied with Dionne at 19 in his first NHL season.

Not 21st century.

 

[FissionFire]

Not 21st century.

I know, look at the post I quoted stating Crosby is the only teenager in history to do it. Gretzky did it as well.

 

[MadLuke]

I know, look at the post I quoted stating Crosby is the only teenager in history to do it. Gretzky did it as well.

the post was about winning the scoring title, something Gretzky did not do according to the arguably strange rule of the scoring title race the NHL as in place.

 

[blundluntman]

Giguere's .992 sv% against Minnesota in their 03 series might be the craziest goalie stat line of all time.

 

[Midnight Judges]

Karlsson's 101 point season, and also his finishing 4th in points/leading in assists season were very rare feats.

He was on the ice for 139 goals against that season without doing much penalty killing at all. That is a generationally poor defensive result. Karlsson's Norris win was a total farce IMO. Some folks blame his putrid defensive stats entirely on the Sharks situation, except if you watched, his play in his own end was shockingly bad (and still is). The following year he went to Pittsburgh and didn't make the team any better - which vindicates the idea that his Sharks point totals came with a significant offsetting downside, and he wasn't actually anywhere near the best all around defenseman.

 

[MadLuke]

I think Karlsson is one of the best ever at exploding the number of significant event on the ice, which is extremelly good for a bad team, but not necessarily interesting for a good one.

He achieved to be +0 on the Sharks and playing a lot, which is really good, scoring up to 3.45 goal per 60 when the other defensive payer were around 2-2.5, got scored as much.

A team like the sharks take a deal, no brainer... his Senators (with an even better version of Karlsson) back in the days as well...

 

[CaptBrannigan]

Isn’t it generally accepted that one of those assists in Gagner’s 8 point night is very questionable? I recall there being some debate at the time that if he didn’t already have a chance at the record that night that it wouldn’t have been given.

Question isn’t posed as an attempt to mitigate the achievement.

Edit: a quick internet search and reading the articles and watching the videos seem to confirm that the assist on the Whitney goal is an egregiously bad scoring decision.

 

[Crosby2010]

Correct me if I wrong, but didn't Lemieux assist on his first shift at 33 seconds I think. Did that ever set a tone. I can't remember wanting to see a player succeed as I did with Lemieux after he came back.

Correct. And he scored a goal midway through the 2nd. Actually didn't have a non-multi point game until his 7th game. Oh Mario, why the heck weren't you around from 1997-'00? We missed you, and we would have had Olympic gold medals in 1998 as well!

 

[GMR]

Niedermayer's 2007 Smythe.

People are still talking about that one.

 

[Dingo]

He was on the ice for 139 goals against that season without doing much penalty killing at all. That is a generationally poor defensive result. Karlsson's Norris win was a total farce IMO. Some folks blame his putrid defensive stats entirely on the Sharks situation, except if you watched, his play in his own end was shockingly bad (and still is). The following year he went to Pittsburgh and didn't make the team any better - which vindicates the idea that his Sharks point totals came with a significant offsetting downside, and he wasn't actually anywhere near the best all around defenseman.

nice.

he broke 100pts.

and that wasnt his best season, as the rest of my post mentions.

So.. i dunno.... cry.

 

[jigglysquishy]

McDavid leading in goals and assists in the same season

Ovechkin leading the league in goals 9 times

Lidstrom threepeating the Norris twice

Pronger 3 Conn Smythe worthy runs on 3 separate teams

Some less heralded ones
Price 3 GA in 5 games at the 2014 Olympics
Lemieux dominating the league at the ~40 GP mark in 2002-03
Kucherov 30 points in back to back playoffs
Jagr 66 points at age 44

 

[The Panther]

McDavid leading in goals and assists in the same season

Really, it's probably this. Almost no one talks about it, but this is one of the rarest feats in the entire history of hockey.