List of NHL players with 500 goals Information & List of NHL players with 500 goals Links at HealthHaven.com

For ice hockey players in the National Hockey League (NHL), scoring 500 regular season goals is considered a highly significant achievement.

As of the completion of the 2008–09 season—the 91st regular season of the National Hockey League—a total of 41 different players have scored at least 500 regular season goals in their NHL career.

A 500 goal career was first achieved in 1957–58, the 41st season of the NHL, when Maurice Richard scored his 500th goal in his 863rd lifetime game played.

[edit] Season achievements

The 2006–07 NHL season saw the largest number of players (five) achieve their 500th goal. A total of four players scored their 500th goal in the 1995–96 season.

Starting with Maurice Richard's achievement in the 1957–58 NHL season, the greatest stretch between 500 goal scorers was the eight seasons between Gordie Howe in the 1961–62 season and Bobby Hull in the 1969–70 season.

[edit] Player achievements

The shortest number of NHL games required to reach the mark was 575, set by Wayne Gretzky. Second quickest was Mario Lemieux, achieving the mark in his 605th game.

Of the 41 players to score at least 500 goals in their career, 17 reached the mark in fewer than 1000 career games played.

Of those on the list, Lanny McDonald came closest to 'not' achieving 500 goals—reaching the mark with only four games remaining in his final NHL season. Similarly, Joe Mullen scored his 500th goal with only ten games remaining in his final season.

Four players have scored their 500th goal on an empty net: Wayne Gretzky, Mike Bossy, Jari Kurri and Keith Tkachuk.

Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy is the only net minder to 'allow' more than one opponent to tally their 500th career goal: Steve Yzerman in 1996, Joe Mullen in 1997 and Brendan Shanahan in 2002. A contributing factor for this statistical coincidence will be Roy's record for most games by a goaltender, at 1029.

Mats Sundin scored his 500th goal in overtime, winning the game for the Toronto Maple Leafs. In that one goal, he finished off a hat trick, scored one of his league-leading 15 overtime goals while being short-handed, and earned his 500th career NHL goal.

[edit] Team achievements

A total of 20 different franchises have had a player score their 500th goal while playing for the franchise.

The Detroit Red Wings have had five different players score their 500th goal while playing for the team. The Chicago Blackhawks and Montreal Canadiens both had four players achieve the mark while with the team.

To date no team has had the coincidence of multiple players reaching 500 goals on the same team in the same season. The 2001–02 Detroit Red Wings were the first team to have three 500+ goal scorers on the roster (Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille), and would finish the season with four players in the exclusive club after Brendan Shanahan joined them at the 500-goal plateau. Yzerman, Hull, Robitaille and Shanahan are four of only eleven players with 650 or more goals in NHL history.

[edit] 500-goal scorers

Legend: Team – Team for which the player scored their 500th goal; Game no. – Number of career games played when 500th goal was scored; Date – Date of 500th goal; GP – Career games played; G – Career goals.; Active players currently in the NHL are listed in boldface.

	Player	Team	Game no.	Date	Opposing goaltender	GP	G
1	Richard, MauriceMaurice Richard	Montreal Canadiens	863	01957-10-19 October 19, 1957	Hall, GlennGlenn Hall	978	544
2	Howe, GordieGordie Howe	Detroit Red Wings	1045	01962-03-14 March 14, 1962	Worsley, GumpGump Worsley	1767	801
3	Hull, BobbyBobby Hull	Chicago Black Hawks	861	01970-02-21 February 21, 1970	Giacomin, EdEd Giacomin	1063	610
4	Beliveau, JeanJean Beliveau	Montreal Canadiens	1101	01971-02-11 February 11, 1971	Gilbert, GillesGilles Gilbert	1125	507
5	Mahovlich, FrankFrank Mahovlich	Montreal Canadiens	1105	01973-03-21 March 21, 1973	Wilson, DuncDunc Wilson	1181	533
6	Esposito, PhilPhil Esposito	Boston Bruins	803	01974-12-22 December 22, 1974	Rutherford, JimJim Rutherford	1282	717
7	Bucyk, JohnnyJohnny Bucyk	Boston Bruins	1370	01975-10-30 October 30, 1975	Belanger, YvesYves Belanger	1540	556
8	Mikita, StanStan Mikita	Chicago Black Hawks	1221	01977-02-27 February 27, 1977	Maniago, CesareCesare Maniago	1394	541
9	Dionne, MarcelMarcel Dionne	Los Angeles Kings	887	01982-12-14 December 14, 1982	Jensen, AlAl Jensen	1348	731
10	Lafleur, GuyGuy Lafleur	Montreal Canadiens	918	01983-12-20 December 20, 1983	Resch, GlennGlenn Resch	1126	560
11	Bossy, MikeMike Bossy	New York Islanders	647	01986-01-02 January 2, 1986	(empty net)	752	573
12	Perreault, GilbertGilbert Perreault	Buffalo Sabres	1159	01986-03-09 March 9, 1986	Chevrier, AlainAlain Chevrier	1191	512
13	Gretzky, WayneWayne Gretzky	Edmonton Oilers	575	01986-11-22 November 22, 1986	(empty net)	1487	894
14	Mcdonald, LannyLanny McDonald	Calgary Flames	1107	01989-03-21 March 21, 1989	Fitzpatrick, MarkMark Fitzpatrick	1111	500
15	Trottier, BryanBryan Trottier	New York Islanders	1104	01990-02-13 February 13, 1990	Wamsley, RickRick Wamsley	1279	524
16	Gartner, MikeMike Gartner	New York Rangers	936	01991-10-14 October 14, 1991	Liut, MikeMike Liut	1432	708
17	Goulet, MichelMichel Goulet	Chicago Blackhawks	951	01992-02-16 February 16, 1992	Reese, JeffJeff Reese	1089	548
18	Kurri, JariJari Kurri	Los Angeles Kings	833	01992-10-17 October 17, 1992	(empty net)	1251	601
19	Ciccarelli, DinoDino Ciccarelli	Detroit Red Wings	946	01994-01-08 January 8, 1994	Hrudey, KellyKelly Hrudey	1232	608
20	Lemieux, MarioMario Lemieux	Pittsburgh Penguins	605	01995-10-26 October 26, 1995	Soderstrom, TommyTommy Soderstrom	915	690
21	Messier, MarkMark Messier	New York Rangers	1141	01995-11-06 November 6, 1995	Tabaracci, RickRick Tabaracci	1756	694
22	Yzerman, SteveSteve Yzerman	Detroit Red Wings	906	01996-01-17 January 17, 1996	Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy	1514	692
23	Hawerchuk, DaleDale Hawerchuk	St. Louis Blues	1103	01996-01-31 January 31, 1996	Potvin, FelixFelix Potvin	1188	518
24	Hull, BrettBrett Hull	St. Louis Blues	693	01996-12-22 December 22, 1996	Fiset, StephaneStephane Fiset	1269	741
25	Mullen, JoeJoe Mullen	Pittsburgh Penguins	1052	01997-03-14 March 14, 1997	Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy	1062	502
26	Andreychuk, DaveDave Andreychuk	New Jersey Devils	1070	01997-03-15 March 15, 1997	Ranford, BillBill Ranford	1639	640
27	Robitaille, LucLuc Robitaille	Los Angeles Kings	928	01999-01-07 January 7, 1999	Roloson, DwayneDwayne Roloson	1431	668
28	Verbeek, PatPat Verbeek	Detroit Red Wings	1285	02000-03-22 March 22, 2000	Brathwaite, FredFred Brathwaite	1424	522
29	Francis, RonRon Francis	Carolina Hurricanes	1533	02002-01-02 January 2, 2002	Dafoe, ByronByron Dafoe	1731	549
30	Shanahan, BrendanBrendan Shanahan	Detroit Red Wings	1100	02002-03-23 March 23, 2002	Roy, PatrickPatrick Roy	1524	656
31	Sakic, JoeJoe Sakic	Colorado Avalanche	1044	02002-12-11 December 11, 2002	Cloutier, DanDan Cloutier	1378	625
32	Nieuwendyk, JoeJoe Nieuwendyk	New Jersey Devils	1094	02003-01-17 January 17, 2003	Weekes, KevinKevin Weekes	1242	559
33	Jagr, JaromirJaromir Jagr	Washington Capitals	928	02003-02-04 February 4, 2003	Grahame, JohnJohn Grahame	1272	646
34	Turgeon, PierrePierre Turgeon	Colorado Avalanche	1229	02005-11-08 November 8, 2005	Toskala, VesaVesa Toskala	1294	515
35	Sundin, MatsMats Sundin	Toronto Maple Leafs	1162	02006-10-14 October 14, 2006	Kiprusoff, MiikkaMiikka Kiprusoff	1346	564
36	Selanne, TeemuTeemu Selanne	Anaheim Ducks	982	02006-11-22 November 22, 2006	Theodore, JoseJose Theodore	1132	579
37	Bondra, PeterPeter Bondra	Chicago Blackhawks	1050	02006-12-22 December 22, 2006	Aubin, Jean-SebastienJean-Sebastien Aubin	1081	503
38	Recchi, MarkMark Recchi	Pittsburgh Penguins	1303	02007-01-26 January 26, 2007	Turco, MartyMarty Turco	1490	545
39	Modano, MikeMike Modano	Dallas Stars	1225	02007-03-13 March 13, 2007	Niittymaki, AnteroAntero Niittymaki	1400	543
40	Roenick, JeremyJeremy Roenick	San Jose Sharks	1267	02007-11-10 November 10, 2007	Auld, AlexAlex Auld	1363	513
41	Tkachuk, KeithKeith Tkachuk	St. Louis Blues	1055	02008-04-06 April 6, 2008	(empty net)	1134	525

[edit] Active players who are close

There are no players who have a realistic chance to reach 500 goals during the 2009–10 NHL season.

[edit] Retired players who came close

These are players who are now retired that came within 50 goals of reaching 500 for their career. They are listed with the NHL team for which they played the most games.

Player	Team	GP	G
Glenn Anderson	Edmonton Oilers	1129	498
Jean Ratelle	New York Rangers	1281	491
Norm Ullman	Detroit Red Wings	1410	490
Brian Bellows	Minnesota North Stars	1188	485
Darryl Sittler	Toronto Maple Leafs	1096	484
Bernie Nicholls	New Jersey Devils	1127	475
Alexander Mogilny	Buffalo Sabres	990	473
Denis Savard	Chicago Blackhawks	1196	473
Pat LaFontaine	New York Islanders	865	468
Alex Delvecchio	Detroit Red Wings	1549	456
Theoren Fleury	Calgary Flames	1084	455
Doug Gilmour	Toronto Maple Leafs	1474	450
Peter Stastny	Quebec Nordiques	977	450

[edit] See also

[edit] References

2005 NHL Official Guide & Record Book ISBN 0-920445-91-8.

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