In the National Hockey League (NHL), the phrase "50 goals in 50 games" (50-in-50) refers to a player scoring 50 goals within the first 50 (or fewer) games of his team's season. Only five players in eight different seasons have reached the mark, most recently Brett Hull in 1990–91. Wayne Gretzky (three times) and Hull (twice) are the only players with multiple official 50-in-50 accomplishments.
Official 50-in-50 scorers
Maurice Richard
: 50 in 50 games (50-in-50)
Maurice Richard of the Montreal Canadiens was the first player in NHL history to score 50 goals in one season. He scored his 50th goal on March 18, 1945, in the 50th (and final) game of the 1944–45 NHL season on goalie Harvey Bennett of the Boston Bruins. Richard's accomplishment also broke the NHL single-season goal-scoring record; it had previously been held by Joe Malone of the Montreal Canadiens, who scored 44 goals in a 20-game season in .
Besides Richard's 50-in-50 feat, he also led the NHL in goals on four other occasions and was the league's first career 500-goal scorer. Richard never again reached the 50-goal mark in his career, even though the NHL extended its schedule to 60 games in and later to 70 games in ; Richard retired in 1960. In recognition of his achievements, the NHL created an annual award in 1999, the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy, which was donated by the Montreal Canadiens, to be presented to the top goalscorer in the league.
Richard's 50-goal season was the last until Bernie Geoffrion scored 50 goals in the 1960–61 season, also with the Canadiens. When Bobby Hull finally broke the single-season goal record with 54 goals in 1965–66, fans of the then-retired Richard, noting that Hull was playing in a 70-game schedule, demanded that the NHL continue to recognize Richard's record. Hull's fans countered that Richard had achieved his record during World War II, during which many NHLers enlisted in the military. (Richard, who was notoriously prone to injury throughout his career, was deemed unfit for service.) Additionally, the counterargument noted Richard's failure to match the record in peacetime, with the caliber of the NHL not similarly hindered, even though he played in eleven 70-game seasons.
The NHL awarded Hull the record, while at the same time recognizing Richard as the first, and to that point only, player to score 50 goals in 50 games, firmly establishing the achievement into NHL lore.
Mike Bossy
: 50 in 50 games (50-in-50)
In the 1980–81 season, Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders became only the second player to score 50 goals in 50 games, 36 years after Richard had done so. Bossy's quest for the milestone was heavily covered by the hockey press, as Bossy was unofficially competing with Charlie Simmer of the Los Angeles Kings to be the first to accomplish it since Richard. Their "competition" was intense during late January 1981, with both players participating in their 50th game on January 24, 1981: Simmer started the day with 46 goals and Bossy 48. Simmer had a hat trick against Boston, giving him 49 goals in 50 games, barely missing the mark. Making his game against the Quebec Nordiques particularly dramatic, Bossy was scoreless for much of the game but beat goaltender Ron Grahame twice within the final five minutes. He could have had 51 goals in 50 games, but passed the puck back to Bryan Trottier because he felt it was the right play and had already achieved his goal of 50 goals in 50 games. Bossy finished the season with 68 goals in 79 games played while Simmer would finish with 56 goals in 64 games.
Wayne Gretzky
: 61 in 50 games (50-in-39) : 61 in 50 games (50-in-42) : 53 in 50 games (50-in-49)
Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers broke the 50-in-50 mark less than a full year after Bossy had tied Richard. In Gretzky's 38th game of the 1981-82 season, he scored four goals, giving him 45 on the season. In his next game, on December 30, 1981, he scored a rare five goals in one game against the Philadelphia Flyers, the fifth being an empty-net goal with three seconds left in the game, to give him the record of 50 goals in 39 games. He had 50 goals before any other player had scored 30, and would finish the season with an NHL-record 92 goals, having participated in all 80 of the Oilers games. It is important to note that Joe Malone had 44 goals in the NHL's first season of 20 games.