Scoring 50 goals in one season is one of the most celebrated individual achievements in the National Hockey League (NHL).
He also shares the record for most 50-goal seasons with Mike Bossy and Alexander Ovechkin, each having reached the milestone nine times in their careers.
[4] Maurice Richard averaged a goal per game for Montreal in 1944–45 and surpassed Malone's record of 44 late in the season.
Richard faced opponents who repeatedly elbowed, hooked and held him in an effort to prevent him from reaching 50.
[1] Early in the 1960s, Chicago Black Hawks teammates Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull began experimenting with curved blades, noticing that different bends made shots more unpredictable for goaltenders.
[12] Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders joined Richard as the second man in NHL history to score 50 goals in 50 games in 1980–81.
[12] Bossy, who had set a league rookie-scoring record with 53 goals in 1977–78, surpassed the 50-goal mark in each of his first nine NHL seasons.
[22] Only five players reached the 50-goal mark between 1999 and 2004: Pavel Bure, Joe Sakic, Jaromir Jagr, Jarome Iginla, and Milan Hejduk.
Following the 2004–05 lockout that cancelled the season, the league introduced numerous rule changes designed to increase scoring.