Posted on 04/22/2013 5:25:12 PM PDT by MarkBsnr
Records are made to be broken. But the mark Darryl Sittler set on Feb. 7, 1976, continues to stand the test of time.
On that early February night, Sittler shattered one of the most famous marks in hockey -- Maurice Richard's record of eight points in a game, a record set by "The Rocket" in December 1944 and matched only once in the next 32 years -- by Bert Olmstead in 1954. Richard had five goals and three assists; Sittler had one more of each, scoring six times and setting up four more goals as the Toronto Maple Leafs routed the Boston Bruins 11-4.
Twitter pictorial: Sittler's 10-point night
@NHLHabes revisits all 10 Sittler points
Sittler's 10-point night came out of nowhere. The Maple Leafs entered the game in a 1-4-2 funk that had led owner Harold Ballard to call him out for a lack of production. They were barely over .500 at 21-20-11. The Bruins, on the other hand, came to Toronto 20 points ahead of the Leafs in the Adams Division standings, having won seven in a row and riding a 15-1-1 surge. Boston had gotten a boost from the goaltending of rookie Dave Reece, who posted a 7-4-2 record while backing up Gilles Gilbert before the Bruins announced that longtime goaltender Gerry Cheevers was returning from the World Hockey Association.
That meant Reece would be headed back to the minors, but not before he was on the wrong end of history.
(Excerpt) Read more at nhl.com ...
Let us hope that the Leafs have a date with Lord Stanley's cup in a few weeks.
Best Gretzky ever did was 8 points in a game....but did it like 4 times...
One relatively obscure NHL player with an interesting record is Patrik Sundstrom -- who played for Vancouver and New Jersey in a career that lasted about ten years through the 1980s. In 1988 he set a similar record to Sittler's -- most points in a playoff game, with eight. Mario Lemiux tied it a few years later, but it still stands today.
One of the most remarkable things about Wayne Gretzky isn't just the number of records he set during his career, but the durability of those records. He retired with 61 NHL records and holds 60 today -- 15 years later.
Take away all 894 goals that Gretzky scored...and he’d still be the N.H.L all time leading scorer. Yikes. He transcended the game...greatest player of any team sport ever.
Let's also give credit where credit is due, though. He played on some ridiculously talented teams that you'll probably never see again in the age of the NHL salary cap. I watched a replay of one of their Stanley Cup clinching games against Boston back in the 1980s, and their first power play unit was ridiculous. Messier moved over to left wing alongside Gretzky, Kurri dropped back to play the right point next to Paul Coffey, and Glenn Anderson played right wing in Kurri's place next to Gretzky. With Grant Fuhr in net you had SIX future Hall of Famers on the ice.
Actually, that was probably the 1987 Finals against Philadelphia I was watching. They beat the Bruins in 1988 but I think Coffey had been traded by that time.
I still remember watching the game where Gretzky scored 5 goals in the Oilers’ 39th game of the season to get to 50. that’s 50 goals in 39 games. The previous benchmark for awesomeness was the extremely rare feat of 50 goals in 50 games.
Some of it is because of the helmet rule, and some of it is because of the anti-fighting political correctness. A lot of it, though, is because the league expanded too fast and spread the talent too thin - - to cities that don't even get natural ice in the winter? (/facepalm) But mainly, the league just doesn't seem to have the character it once had - - the names flow like water from my memory: Guy Lafluer, Mike Bossy, Borje Salming (who drove teams nuts with that high pop flip thing he used to do to clear the puck), Brian Trottier, Tim Kerr, Bobby Clarke, Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Denis Potvin, Ken Dryden... on and on and on. You knew all the players, all the stars back then.
One of my favorite memories from back in the olden days was going down to the Spectrum to see the Flyers take on the Whalers. There were Gordie, Marty, and Mark Howe, all playing hockey, live, right before my eyes. It was a cool thing.
the game now ,to me, is simply unwatchable. After seeing those great Oiler teams from the 1980’s..its just too defensive now. Teams started using these “defensive systems” in the mid 90’s to try and keep up with the more talented teams and to me,ruined the game. The stars cant do what they do best. Now, they got all these crazy rules to try and open up the scoring, and its just not working. Goalie pads are just ridiculously big...i dont know..all the games look the same to me now. 2-1...3-2...awful. A scrambled mess..shoot outs...2 line passes are allowed now. Its a mess.
youre right about Gretzky...he would just always seem to be ‘there”...he would just come out of nowhere.
He played as a 17 year old here in Indianapolis for the Racers. What might have been.
Good points. I forgot to mention all the stupid rules tinkering. Teams would have figured out a way to beat the “trap” defense (thanks, Devils) eventually. And what the hell was wrong with regular season ties anyway? The system worked in the NHL for 50+ years or whatever, and I never had a problem with a regular season tie. Each team got a point, so what? The 5-minute overtime was okay, I suppose, but the shootouts? Ludicrous.
Yeah, I miss ‘70s and ‘80s hockey.
Hands down. Okay, there are arguments for Babe Ruth and Wilt Chamberlain, but nobody else. I still go with Gretzky.
I’m a Flyers fan and watching that series gave me panic attacks! It was one of the great ones! Tim Kerr, Brian Propp, Ron Hextall, Mark Howe....
i have those Canada Cups games from 1984 and 1987 on DVD...Team Canada vs the Soviets...Gretzky and Mario on the the same line..man,astonishing hockey games.
One of the greatest moments happened when the USSR’s Red Army team came to North America for the first time in 1976 and was blowing through the NHL until they faced the Stanley Cup Flyers. When Ed Van Imp leveled that Russian dude with a hip check and the Red Army team left the ice in protest, I just howled! It was “the check felt ‘round the world”. The Flyers kicked their asses. THOSE were the days.
Here’s aclip of the Flyers destroying the Red Army team. The calls are made by the great Gene Hart:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOxF_LFfq5g
HBO has a great documentary on the Broad Street Bullies teams from the 70’s. The Russians actually left the ice, but Ed Snider told em “fine..then u dont get paid”..5 minutes later they were back on the ice..too funny. Interesting title on that you tube clip..”Van Impe kills Kharlomov”....Kharlomov actually was killed a few years later in a car accident.
I was at the Spectrum a lot back then. My brother and I used to go down on a whim and buy the cheapest tickets we could find from the street scalpers. There was this couple who had season tickets down in the good seats, center ice, and they would routinely watch the 1st period from their seats and then leave and watch the rest of the game at the Spectrum's on site restaurant, the Ovations Club. I guess they would eat and drink and watch the rest of the game on TV there. Anyway, after the 1st period, my brother and I would always take those seats for the rest of the game. You can't really do that kind of stuff anymore, but like I said, "those were the days..."
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