One season in the NHL in which a hockey player scores 40 or more goals is routine for a player like Alexander Ovechkin. This mark has been surpassed 623 times in the history of the overseas elite league. This was not uncommon, especially during the 1970s and 1980s.
The 2019-20 season saw five players crack the 40-goal mark in the NHL regular season, even though the season was interrupted by a coronavirus outbreak. Last season, when teams played only 56 games, Auston Matthews was even able to reach that milestone.
Once in a while, however, somebody shows up to score more than forty goals in a single season, and then you never hear about them again in that context. Some manage to do it early in their careers, and others find the right chemistry with their teammates and manage to double their usual number of goals. In the chapters below, you will find the 20 most surprising 40-goal scorers in NHL history.
Miroslav Šatan has spent 14 seasons in the NHL and played for five clubs. His fondest memory is probably the 1998/99 season in Buffalo, in which he cracked the 40-goal mark once. The Slovak forward was extremely productive throughout his career. That year he was 24 years old and part of a very young team. At the time, there were four of the Sabres’ top scorers who were twenty-four years old or younger. He and Dominik Hasek managed to take Dallas, an underestimated team, to the finals. In the decisive series, however, the Texan players were luckier.