Some of the Most Unattainable NHL Records in History

Hockey is a game about numbers and as a result the NHL has some extraordinary records for scoring and goaltending. Players like Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Patrick Roy set the bar so high that some of their records will never be challenged. Gretzky especially has done laps around the competition so it's likely that most of his records will never fall. I thought it would be interesting to look back at some of the most unattainable records in the history of the NHL. I could have Gretzky listed for every single one, but in the interest of disparity, let's mix it up a bit. Who knows, if I am right this article might be still relevant 50 years from now!

Single Season Record for Goals

Wayne Gretzky: Edmonton Oilers - 92 goals in 1981-82

Gretzky was just 21 when he scored his recording breaking 92 goals in the 82-82 season. Unbelievably he averaged 1.15 goals a game, an unheard of pace. Since then, only Brett Hull (86), Mario Lemieux (85) and Gretzky again (87) have even come within a sniff of the record. With goaltenders bigger, faster and just plain better today than ever it's no wonder that Alexander Ovechkin is the active player with the most goals in a season. He scored 65. It's obvious that this record may never be even close to challenge ever again.

Single Season Record for Assists

Wayne Gretzky: Edmonton Oilers - 163 assists in 1985-86

This is another single season record that no one has come close to in the last 20 years. In fact, no active player has compiled more than 96 assists in a single season (Joe Thornton). Chalk it up again to a change in the style of play and better goaltending, but with players scoring fewer goals it's easy to see why this record might be harder to break than Gretzky's single season goals mark. Heck, no one active player has even had more than 132 POINTS in the last 20 years!

Career Record for Wins

Martin Brodeur: New Jersey Devils - 602 wins

Martin Brodeur is a freak. He's still one of the best goaltenders in the game and will continue to add to his record amount of wins for at least a few more years. With the nearest active goaltender more than 200 wins behind (Chris Osgood at 396 and he isn't even a starter anymore) Brodeur has at least a few more seasons to distance himself from his peers and make this record even more unattainable. This is especially true with the NHL being a revolving door for goalies and more teams going with a platoon goalie duo these days.

Career Record for Shutouts

Martin Brodeur, New Jersey Devils - 110 shutouts

Sensing a trend here? Gretzky and Brodeur have a lockdown on the record books. Brodeur has more than twice as many shutouts as the active leader (Roberto Luongo with 51) and still had 9 last year at age 37. That's the 4^th most he's put up in his career. It's evident that Brodeur is like a fine wine and is only getting better with age. With the NHL trying to improve scoring it's only a matter of time before even the best goalies are dying for a handful of shutouts let alone 100!

Career Record for Penalties in Minutes (PIM)

Dave "Tiger" Williams: Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, Hartford Wailers - 3966 PIM

Chris Chelios is the active leader in penalty minutes yet is more than 2000 behind Williams. He's also 48 and could retire at any minute. Donald Brashear is still playing and has a few good seasons left for sure, but at 2600+ PIMs and counting, he'd need a 7 year run of 200 PIM seasons to even come close to Tiger. That would make him 45 and he hasn't had more than 166 PIMs in his last 5 seasons. Needless to say, we will likely never see someone put up the PIM numbers with such Gretzky-like precision so you can bet on Williams' record standing for a long, long, time (unless of course the Hanson brothers make a comeback!).

All data collected from www.hockey-reference.com