Mario Lemieux Breaks Wayne Gretzky's Scoring Record

Wayne Gretzky, the NHL's all-time leading goal scorer.

On April 3, 1988, Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins wins the NHL scoring title, stopping Gretzky’s seven-year run of the title.

Lemieux, who won he Art Ross trophy as the National Hockey League’s top scorer in 1988, did the feat with 168 points.

Lemieux also won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s Most Valuable Player, an award that he had snatched away from Gretzky after an amazing eight straight seasons of claiming that title. Lemieux went on to win the scoring title again in 1989, 1992, 1993, 1996 and 1997.

Mario Lemieux, one of the greatest NHL players of all time.

Lemieux retired from hockey at the end of the 1996-1997 season, but in 1999 he became the majority owner of the Penguins franchise and then in 2000 he delighted the Penguin faithful by rejoining the team as a player and staged a successful comeback before announcing his permanent retirement from the NHL, at age 40, in January 2006.

Lemieux played 915 regular season games and scored 690 goals, 1,033 assist for 1,723 career points.

Red Wings Retire Howe's Jersey

On March 12, 1972, that Gordie Howe had his no. 9 jersey retired by the Detroit Red Wings. 

 

Gordie Howe in the late 2000s at a Detroit Red Wings press conference.

Howe would return to playing a couple years later for the Houston Aeros of the newly formed WHA.  After the WHA went bust in 1979,  “Mr. Hockey” would return for one more year in the NHL with the Hartford Whalers.

Howe set several marks of longevity in the NHL, playing in a record 1,767 regular season games over 26 years spanning an incredible five decades. 

Gordie also held the records for most goals, assists and points in a career until Wayne Gretzky came along and broke them all. 

Gordie Howe in 1968 with the Detroit Red Wings.

Howe won four Stanley Cups, six Art Ross trophies and six Hart trophies as the league’s MVP. 

Howe is often referred to as Mr. Hockey, and is generally regarded as one of the greatest hockey players of all time.

Howe is most famous for his scoring prowess, physical strength, and career longevity. He is the only player to have competed in the NHL in five different decades (1940s through 1980s). A four-time Stanley Cup champion with the Red Wings, he won six Hart Trophies as the league's most valuable player and six Art Ross Trophies as the leading scorer. He was the inaugural recipient of the NHL Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008.

Howe's name and nickname, "Mr. Hockey," as well as his wife's nickname as "Mrs. Hockey," are registered trademarks.

During his NHL career Howe scored 801 regular season goals and 1048 assists totaling 1850 points 1767 games. In the playoffs Howe would score 68 goals and 92 assists for 160 total points in 157 games. 

In 1998, The Hockey News released their List of Top 100 NHL Players of All Time and listed Howe third overall, ahead of Mario Lemieux, but behind Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr. Of the list, Orr was quoted as regarding Howe as the greatest player.

On April 10, 2007, Howe was honored with the unveiling of a new bronze statue in Joe Louis Arena. The statue is 12 feet tall and weighs about 4,500 pounds. The man who was commissioned to create the art was Omri Amrany. The statue contains all of Howe's stats and history. Another statue of Howe was erected in downtown Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on the corner of 20th Street and 1st Ave. He is depicted wearing a Detroit Red Wings sweater. The statue has since been relocated to the Credit Union Centre.

In February 2011, various groups have proposed naming the Detroit River International Crossing bridge, a proposed bridge that will connect Detroit and Windsor by linking Highway 401 in Ontario with Interstate 75 and Interstate 94 in Michigan, in honor of Gordie Howe. Gordie Howe is a prime choice, because he is a native Canadian and his long affiliation with Detroit. This name is backed by Canadian politicians and Michigan governor Rick Snyder.

Maple Leafs' Sittler Sets NHL Record

On Feb. 7, 1976, Toronto Maple Leafs forward Darryl Sittler set an NHL record by recording ten points in a single game.  He broke the previous record of eight, which was held by both Maurice Richard and Bert Olmstead.

Playing against the Boston Bruins, Sittler scored an amazing six goals and added four assists en route to the 11-4 victory. 

Bruins’ rookie goalie Dave Reece would be on the wrong end of those 11 goals against. 

Sittler’s record still stands to this day, as a total of eight points in a single game has been reached on 12 more occasions, with Mario Lemieux being the last to do so on April 25, 1989.

With teams rarely scoring 10 goals in the current NHL, it is fair to say that Sittler’s record isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Sittler had a solid career in the OHA and later in the NHL, but is widely known for this game on the Leafs.

Sittler finished his career with 98 goals and 154 assists in the OHA for 252 points in three years with the London Nationals and London Knights. Sittler’s NHL career of 15 seasons was just as amazing over a long period of time scoring an impressive 484 goals and 637 assists for 1,121 points.

Sittler was inducted into the NHL’s Hockey Hall of Fame in 1989.

In 1991, a year after Ballard died, he rejoined the Leafs' organization as a consultant under new general manager Cliff Fletcher.

In 1998, he was ranked number 93 on The Hockey News' list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players and on February 8, 2003, Sittler's number 27 was honored by the Leafs.

Vancouver songwriters Dan Swinimer and Jeff Johnson wrote a country song commemorating Sittler's 60 birthday called "The Darryl Sittler Song".