The Most Unbreakable NHL Records
What are the most unbreakable records in the NHL? If you google this, you will likely be bombarded by a list of Wayne Gretzky records. While I will briefly list some of the Great One's unbelievable achievements, I want to put more focus on some of the more obscure and under the radar records. For this list, both individual and team records will be included. The records taken into consideration took place since the post-expansion era of 1967.
Wayne Gretzky - Various Records
Wayne Gretzky holds a landslide of records that will likely never be repeated. To avoid sounding like a broken record and listing records that you have already heard of before, here are what I think are the most interesting Gretzky records that will never be broken:
Most goals in a season (92), most assists in a season (163) and most points in a season (215).
Most career hat-tricks (50)
Fastest to reach 50 goals in a season (39 games)
Longest point streak (51 games)
These are just some of the many records held by Gretzky that are unlikely to be broken. Due to how the game was played in the 80s and early 90s and how scoring in the NHL is lower is the present day, many of Gretzky's records are safe.
Chicago Blackhawks - Most Empty Net Goals Scored in One Game
On April 5, 1970, in the final game of the 1969-1970 NHL season, the Chicago Blackhawks scored five empty net goals in one game against the Montreal Canadiens, which is two more than second place, which is three goals shared among multiple teams. How five empty netters in one game was even able to occur is a long story, and to hear about the full story you can check out a Slapshot Bets’ article on this record here, but as a quick summary, the first tie-breaker in the standings at the time was goals for, and the Canadiens needed to score three goals in order to surpass the New York Rangers and qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They pulled their goalie numerous times in attempt to score three, not worrying about how many goals they would allow. Because goals for on its own is no longer a factor in the tie-breaking procedure, this record is unlikely to ever be broken.
Bobby Orr - Defenseman Winning Four Major Trophies in One Season
In addition to Orr scoring the iconic game winner to bring Boston their first Stanley Cup since 1941, that same season in 1969-1970, Orr won four major trophies, cleaning up nearly every trophy he could have possibly achieved. As a defenceman, Orr won the Art Ross Trophy, the Hart Trophy, the Norris Trophy, and the Conn Smythe Trophy. It is also important to not that the Pearson Award that is voted on by the players as the most outstanding player was not yet invented, but it is likely Orr would have won that too. Gretzky in 1985 and Lemieux in 1993 also won four major trophies, however, it has been notoriously difficult for defensemen to win trophies where forwards are also eligible, such as the Art Ross or Hart trophy, making it very unlikely that winning four trophies in one year as a defenseman will ever happen again.
Charlie Simmer - Longest Goal Streak
While Charlie Simmer's goal scoring streak is the 4th longest of all time at 13 games, the top three longest scoring streaks all took place from 1917-1922. Therefore, in the modern era, Charlie Simmer holds the longest goal scoring streak that will likely never be broken. This streak took place from November 24, 1979 until December 27 of the same year, which equates to over an entire month of non-stop scoring. In this stretch of 13 games for the L.A Kings, Simmer scored a total of 17 goals and added 13 assists. In this time, the Kings had a record of 7-4-2, the 2 representing ties. Charlie Simmer finished the season with 56 goals and 101 points, which was 1st on the team in goals and 2nd on the team in points.
Although Mario Lemieux and Dave Lumley were only one game away from tying this record, Selanne in the 97-98 season at 11 games is the only time since that a player has come close to tying the record. In fact, the longest goal scoring streak in the 21st century belongs to Nikita Kucherov, Elias Lindholm, and Connor Brown at "only" eight games long, although Brayden Point did have a nine game scoring streak during the 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs. Due to an overall decrease in goals scored compared to the 1980s, and because no one has reached 10 games in a row since the 90s, it is very unlikely that the goal scoring streak record will be broken.
New York Islanders - 19 consecutive Playoff Series Wins
The Islanders won four consecutive Stanley Cups from 1980-1983, and then finally lost in the finals of 1984. This journey resulted in 19 consecutive series wins. Since then, the closest any team has come to that feat was the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2020-2022 with 11 consecutive series win. Winning five straight Stanley Cups in today's NHL to eclipse this record is seemingly impossible with the level of parity and how balanced the league is. In any given year, you could give the argument that about half of the teams in the playoffs could realistically win the Stanley Cup. With how difficult that would be to do five years in a row, not to mention with the salary cap, it is likely that no team will ever surpass the record of 19 series wins in a row.
Edmonton Oilers - 16-2 Playoff Run
The Oilers’ amazing Stanley Cup run in 1988 resulted in just two losses, a loss total so low for a champion that we will likely never see this record tied or eclipsed. This is a slightly bold prediction, since in just the last decade or so, the 2012 L.A. Kings had a record of 15-2, and the 2022 Avalanche were once 14-2. Both of these teams won the Stanley Cup going 16-4, but came very close to matching the 88 Oilers. Ultimately, these two examples are outliers when it comes to Stanley Cup Champion dominance, and even they suffered four losses. Because of this, it is unlikely that the 88 Oilers will ever be matched, let alone overthrown by a champion with just one loss.
Ranking of Stanley Cup Champions with the fewest losses
Mario Lemieux - 5 goals in 5 Different Ways
On the evening of New Years Eve in 1988, Mario Lemieux didn't just score five goals in a game, but all five of his goals were scored in unique ways. He started off with an even strength goal, then scored a shorthanded goal, and topped off his first period hatrick with a powerplay goal. In the second, Lemieux scored another shorthanded goal, but was simultaneously a penalty shot goal. Finally, Lemieux topped off his magical night with an empty net goal with just a second left in the game, giving the Penguins the 8-6 win over the Devils. For good measure, Lemieux also had time to add in three assists for an eight point game, but let's review why this situation will probably never happen again.
First of all, five goal games are very rare, especially in today’s NHL. While there have been more instances in recent years, as it has happened four times in the past six seasons, that is still a very small quantity compared to the 1980s and early 1990s. Secondly, to do this, a player must be very well rounded, good enough to be on the team's powerplay and penalty killing units. Thirdly, penalty shots are extremely rare, and more often than not are stopped by the goaltender. What are the odds that a player in the midst of a 5 goal game will get this opportunity, let alone capitalize on it? Finally, the game must be close enough, despite one player scoring four goals, that the opposing team will pull their goalie and try to tie the game. All of these factors make this incredibly difficult to achieve.
One example that may have come "close" was on Nov. 20, 2009 in a game between the Flyers and the Sharks. Dany Heatley had scored at even strength, on the powerplay, and shorthanded. However, that was it. The rare penalty shot did not occur, and the game was 6-3 with five minutes left, too far out of reach for the Flyers to pull their goalie. Despite this being a "close" occurrence, it was still very far away.
Grant Fuhr - Most Games Played in a Single Season (Goalie)
In the 1995-1996 season, Grant Fuhr played in 79 games for the Blues. Martin Brodeur came close to matching this a few times, but Fuhr stands alone at the top of this category, achieving 30 wins, 28 losses, and 16 ties in the process. (Note that his record does not perfectly add up to his games played due to goalies getting credit for a game played when there is a goalie pull, while simultaneously the replacement goalie usually doesn’t receive a loss on his record.) Although the 48 win record held by both Braden Holtby and Martin Brodeur is impressive, the fact that this record was tied as recently as 2016 shows that there is a chance it can be broken. However, it is very unlikely that a goaltender will play almost an entire season in today's NHL. Teams have realized how important it is to pace themselves and give their starter frequent rest in order to reduce fatigue and the chances of injury. Since the 2013 lockout, only four times has a goaltender played 70 games or more in a single season. Cam Talbot in 16-17 and Braden Holtby in 14-15 have the most, at 73 games played. In the 21-22 season, the top 3 most played goaltenders were Juuse Saros, Connor Hellebuyck, and Thatcher Demko respectively. Saros got injured towards the end of the season, resulting in Nashville being swept in round 1, and the latter two and their teams missed the playoffs. In the 23-24 season, the top two goalies with the most games played, Juuse Saros and Alexander Georgiev respectively, did not reach the 65 game mark. Because it is largely accepted now that backup goaltenders are very important, it is highly unlikely we will see a goaltender reach 79 games played ever again.
Ironically, Fuhr only played in one full playoff game in 1996 before getting injured quickly into game 2. Fuhr was out for the remainder of the playoffs, and backup Jon Casey took charge of the net, doing a great job to bring the Blues a goal away from reaching the Western Conference Finals.
Brian Boucher - 5 Game Shutout Streak
In the 2003-2004 season, Brian Boucher of the Phoenix Coyotes had a stretch of 332:01 without allowing a goal. That is five whole games and then some without allowing a single goal. While there have been a small handful of goalies since then to reach the 230-250 minute mark without allowing a goal, resulting in anywhere from two to four shutouts in a row, reaching the five consecutive shutout mark, and eclipsing 330 minutes without allowing a goal, seems extremely unlikely to happen again. Part of why this likely won't happen again is due to scoring being higher than it was back in the 03-04 season when Boucher achieved this feat, while the other is simply due to the fact that it is such a difficult milestone to achieve.
Top 5 longest shutout streaks since saves were tracked.
Source: records.nhl.com
Jonathan Cheechoo & Jari Kurri - The Hat-tricks of Hat-tricks Against a Single Team
Probably the most obscure record on this list that not many are aware of, the 05-06 Rocket Richard winner, Jonathan Cheechoo, had 56 goals, including five hat-tricks. Of these hatricks, three of them came against the Anaheim Ducks. What is fascinating about this obscure statistic is that even among the greatest goal scorers; Gretzky, Lemieux, Bossy, Ovechkin, etc, none of them have pulled off a "hat-trick of hat-tricks", recording three hat-tricks against one team in a single season. The 05-06 Ducks were by no means a bad team; in fact, they made it to the Western Conference Finals and won the Stanley Cup the following year. This record is mostly pure coincidence rather than some sort of dominant matchup, as Cheechoo was held pointless in four out of eight games against the Ducks during this season, but made up for it with 10 goals and three assists in the other four games. This record is safe due to how the scheduling is now. With 32 teams in the league and a more balanced schedule, teams will play opponents outside of their division a maximum of three times, and within their own division a maximum of four times. Because of this, a player would need to score hat-tricks in either 75% or 100% of all games against a team in a single season just to match this record. On the other hand, Cheechoo had eight opportunities, since during the period of 2005-2008, division opponents played each other eight times in a single season.
Although Cheechoo is the only player to do this in the regular season, Jari Kurri is the only player who has done this in the playoffs. In the 84-85 Western Conference Finals, Jari Kurri of the Oilers recorded three hat-tricks against the Chicago Blackhawks, including one four goal game. This is arguably even more impressive than Cheechoo since Kurri did this in fewer games, however, deciding who had the more impressive accomplishment is subjective. Points against Kurri is that the 1980s had more goals being scored, and Kurri's 10 goals in the three games were in the midst of 25 Oilers goals, meaning he had contributed to under half of the Oilers total goals. On the other hand, in the three games that Cheechoo had hat-tricks, he was responsible for nine out of 16 goals, more than half. Regardless, in the 21st century, there has only been one occurrence of a player scoring multiple hat-tricks in a series. This was Johan Franzen of the Red Wings in 2008 in a series against the Avalanche. Due to the rarity of this, it is unlikely Jari Kurri's record will be broken.
Boston Bruins - The Penalty Kill Hat-trick
In the second last game of the 2009-2010 season, the Boston Bruins hosted the Carolina Hurricanes. Late in the first, a penalty was taken, giving the Hurricanes 102 seconds, or 1 minute and 42 seconds, of powerplay time to start the 2nd. However, the Bruins would strike shorthanded 32 seconds in, giving the Canes 1 minute and 10 seconds to recover and score. Instead, the Bruins took that as an opportunity to score another shorthanded goal with 21 seconds left on the powerplay. Only 15 seconds later, and with just six seconds left on the powerplay, the Bruins scored again, making it three shorthanded goals on a single penalty kill.
Although there have been instances since of two goals on a single penalty kill, like Tobias Reider scoring two himself 58 seconds apart in 2014, three goals is other worldly. What is especially find fascinating about this Bruins record is that all three goals were scored rather late. You would think in order to score three goals on a penalty kill, the first goal must have been scored early. Instead, the first of the three goals was scored almost half-way through the powerplay. What also makes this record too difficult to repeat is the fact that scoring shorthanded goals is typically caused by either an error, or an aggressive penalty kill. Blunders that result in a scoring chance for the opposing team are unlikely to occur multiple times in a single powerplay, and an aggressive penalty kill runs the risk of being scored on more easily. Because of this, it will be extremely unlikely to see this happen again.
Sam Gagner - 11 Points in 3 Consecutive Periods
To finish off this list is another obscure stat that not many people have heard about. Although it would be easy to say Darryl Sittler's 10-point game record will never be broken, I wanted to dig a bit deeper than that. In early February of 2012, The Edmonton Oilers played the Chicago Blackhawks, beating them 8-4. However, all eight of these goals came in periods oneand two, and Sam Gagner was in on all eight of them. He would finish the game with four goals and four assists. The following game against the Detroit Red Wings, Sam Gagner had three points in the first period, including a goal with less than one second left. This resulted in 11 points in three consecutive periods, something that will likely never happen again considering Gagner is also the first, and so far only player, to reach eight points in a game since Lemieux in his "5 goals in 5 different ways" game.
While this is not an official stat since it spans across multiple games and ultimately has too much grey area to really be taken seriously as a record, it is still an occurrence of something that is very unlikely to happen again in the NHL.
There are many other records out there that are unlikely to be broken, but these are some that I felt were more obscure and not talked about enough. If you enjoy hockey articles that dive deep into niche topics, consider subscribing so you can stay up-to-date on any new articles and blog posts.