March 18, 1945: The Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins, 4-2 at the Boston Garden, in the last game of the NHL's 50-game regular season. Maurice Richard, the Canadiens' right wing known as the Rocket, scored his 50th goal of the season.
He had broken the previous single-season record, 44, set by a previous Canadiens star, Joe Malone, in the 20-game season of 1918. Like Richard's "50 in 50," it was set in a year with a manpower drain caused by the military draft for a world war. Neither Malone nor Richard was drafted: In Richard's case, it was due to a broken ankle he'd suffered in his rookie season, 1942-43.
Richard played on a forward line with center Elmer Lach and left wing Hector "Toe" Blake, which was nicknamed the Punch Line. Although the Canadiens didn't win the Stanley Cup in 1945 (the Toronto Maple Leafs did), they won it the year before, and the year after. Blake would later coach a Canadiens team with Richard, in his last 5 seasons in the NHL, and his brother Henri Richard, in his 1st 5, to 5 straight Stanley Cups.
Richard never scored 50 goals again, despite the NHL extending its schedule to 60 games in 1947 and 70 in 1950. But he raised the NHL's career goalscoring record from 324 to 544 by the time he retired in 1960.
And 50 goals in a season, even with the expanded schedule, wasn't done again until 1960-61, the season after Richard retired, but his ex-teammate, the Canadiens' Bernie "Boom-Boom" Geoffrion. Bobby Hull of the Chicago Black Hawks raised it to 54 in 1966, Phil Esposito of the Bruins to 76 in 1969, and Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers to 92 in 1982.
In 1981, Mike Bossy of the New York Islanders scored 50 goals in the season's 1st games. He finished the season with 68 goals in 79 games. In 1982, Gretzky got to 50 in the 39th game of the season, finishing with 92 in 80. He also got 50 in his 42nd game in 1984, and his 50th in his 49th in 1985. Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins scored 50 in his 46th game in 1989. Brett Hull of the St. Louis Blues, Bobby's son, did 50 in 49 in 1991, and 50 in 50 in 1992. Through the 2021-22 season, no player has done 50 in 50 or fewer since.
In 1999, the NHL created the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy, given to the League's leading goalscorer. The Art Ross Trophy, for the leading scorer -- goals plus assists -- had been in place since 1948. Richard never won it, due to low assist totals. In an interview for the NHL's 75th Anniversary video in 1991, he admitted, "I wasn't a great player. I was a great scorer." He died in 2000.
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March 18, 1945 was a Sunday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. The NBA hadn't been founded yet. There were 2 other NHL games that day, meaning that the entire "Original Six" was in action:
* The New York Rangers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-5 at the old Madison Square Garden. Sweeney Schriner had 2 goals and an assist. The Rangers came back from deficits of 3-0 and 4-2 to take a 5-4 lead, before Lorne Carr tied the game in the 3rd period. Both Schriner and Carr used to drive the Rangers crazy while with the New York Americans, who folded in 1942. The Rangers got goals from 6 different players: Joe Shack, Hank Goldup, Walt Atanas, Fred Hunt, Fred Thurler, and, with 1 second left in regulation to win it, Grant Warwick.
* And the Chicago Black Hawks beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-3 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit. Bill Mosienko scored 2 goals for the Hawks.
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