In National Hockey League history, fewer than a hundred, including only eight defensemen, have reached 1,000 career points. When Toronto Maple Leafs forward John Tavares turned 98e Player who committed the feat in early December is very smart who could predict the next attacker who will achieve such a feat of weaponry in the Canadian's uniform.
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In the glory days of the Glorieux it was Jean Béliveau, Frank Mahovlich, Henri Richard and Guy Lafleur who reached this plateau in the colors of CH. Lafleur was the last, on March 4, 1981, in the Habs' 9-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets at the old Montreal Forum. It's been over 40 years!
Since then, all other players with a total score of 1,000 or more who have worn the Canadian colors have done so either before or after their time in Montreal.
Denis Savard already had 1,013 points with the Chicago Blackhawks when he was traded to Montreal in the summer of 1990 for Chris Chelios and a second-round pick. After a seven-year stay with the Canadians, Bobby Smith waited until he returned to the Minnesota North Stars to score his 1,000th point and finished his career with 1,036 points. And the list goes on: Doug Gilmour was playing for Toronto when he achieved the feat, Brian Bellows was playing for Washington and Pierre Turgeon was playing for St. Louis.
Vincent Damphousse? He was with the San Jose Sharks on October 14, 2000 when he reached 1,000 points. Nevertheless, Damphousse had previously scored almost 500 points, or exactly 498, in 519 games with the Canadian from 1992 to 1999.
Alex Kovalev, then a member of the Senators, celebrates the goal that allowed him to reach 1,000 career points on November 22, 2010 in Ottawa. Photo Phillip MacCallum/Getty Images/AFP
Mark Recchi wore the Philadelphia Flyers jersey in 2001, more recently Alex Kovalev with the Ottawa Senators (2010) and finally Eric Staal with the Minnesota Wild (2019).
Gallagher: Forget it!
Among the Habs' current players, forward Sean Monahan is the one with the greatest career performance. His next point will also allow him to reach the .500 plateau at age 29. After about 715 games halfway through, the feat is already venerable.
Among other veterans, forward Brendan Gallagher has 407 points after 708 games. His current rate of 0.57 points per game suggests that Gallagher would need to play 1,740 games in the NHL to reach 1,000 points. However, only three players in history have played as many games, namely Patrick Marleau, Gordie Howe and Mark Messier.
Photo Martin Chevalier
If you look at the average performance of the last three seasons, in which he was not spared from injuries, Gallagher now scores around twenty points per season. This means that, using the Pythagorean theorem, the brave warrior may have to play until the year 2052 to reach 1000 points. He will then be 60 years old. In short, forget it!
Suzuki, Caufield, Slafkovsky?
More specifically, it might be better for CH to bet on Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield or Juraj Slafkovsky in the hope of one day appearing in the club of 1000 with a new player. These young attackers would still have to spend their entire careers with the same team, a fact that has become rather rare in modern times.
Photo Martin Chevalier
Among players under 30 in the NHL, there is obviously Connor McDavid, an exceptional player who is heading straight to 1,000 points with the Edmonton Oilers. With 894 points in 598 games, he should even achieve this in less than 700 games. Only Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Mike Bossy and Peter Stastny have done it in so few games before him.
Phil Kessel nearby
In the entire NHL, only 11 forwards have reached 1,000 points among players still active. In addition to Tavares, we're talking Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Patrick Kane, Anze Kopitar, Steven Stamkos, Eric Staal, Nicklas Backstrom, Joe Pavelski and Claude Giroux.
Striker Phil Kessel, who has 992 points, could logically be added. However, at 36, he is an unrestricted free agent and looking for a new team after helping the Vegas Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup last year.
Only 4 players scored their 1000th point in the CH jersey
Jean Béliveau – 1968*
Frank Mahovlich – 1973
Henri Richard – 1973
Guy Lafleur – 1981
*Jean Béliveau became the second player, after Gordie Howe, to reach 1,000 career points in NHL history.
Henri Richard and Jean Béliveau, in March 1996, during the ceremonies surrounding the final game at the Montreal Forum. ARCHIVE PHOTO/NORMAND JOLICOEUR/JOURNAL DE MONTRÉAL/AGENCE QMI
The penguins were spoiled
Among the six original clubs with the Canadiens, the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs each have seven players reach their 1,000th. scored a point in their team's jersey. They are the leaders in this regard, but surprisingly the Pittsburgh Penguins. Entered into the NHL in the 1967 expansion draft, the Penguins have seen such successes come and go since the early 1990s thanks to Paul Coffey, Mario Lemieux, Ron Francis, Joe Mullen, Jaromir Jagr, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
Sidney Crosby is pictured with the puck that marked his 1,000th victory on February 16, 2017 in Pittsburgh. Scored a point in a win against the Winnipeg Jets. Photo Justin Berl/Getty Images/AFP