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List of NHL statistical leaders facts for kids

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The National Hockey League (NHL) is home to some of the world's best ice hockey players. Over the years, many amazing athletes have set incredible records in different areas of the game. This article highlights some of the top players and coaches in NHL history, as well as those who are still playing today, based on their performance up to the end of the 2022–23 season and the 2023 playoffs.

Skaters: All-Time Records

These are the records for players who have scored points, goals, or played games in the NHL. Some of these players are still active today, and their names are in bold.

Most Points in Regular Season Games

Points in hockey are earned when a player scores a goal or helps another player score a goal (an assist). Here are the top players with the most points in regular season games:

This player is still active in the NHL
This player is in the Hockey Hall of Fame
This player is not yet in the Hall of Fame, but might be one day
Further information: Point (ice hockey) and List of NHL players with 1,000 points
Rank Name Team(s) Games Played Points Points Per Game
1 Wayne Gretzky EDM, LAK, STL, NYR 1,487 2,857 1.92
2 Jaromir Jagr PIT, WSH, NYR, PHI, DAL, BOS, NJD, FLA, CGY 1,733 1,921 1.11
3 Mark Messier EDM, NYR, VAN 1,756 1,887 1.07
4 Gordie Howe DET, HFD 1,767 1,850 1.05
5 Ron Francis HFD, PIT, CAR, TOR 1,731 1,798 1.04
6 Marcel Dionne DET, LAK, NYR 1,348 1,771 1.31
7 Steve Yzerman DET 1,514 1,755 1.16
8 Mario Lemieux PIT 915 1,723 1.88
9 Joe Sakic QUE/COL 1,378 1,641 1.19
10 Phil Esposito CHI, BOS, NYR 1,282 1,590 1.24
15 Sidney Crosby PIT 1,190 1,502 1.26
16 Alexander Ovechkin WSH 1,347 1,485 1.10

Most Goals in Regular Season Games

A goal is scored when the puck completely crosses the goal line. These players have scored the most goals in regular season games.

This player is still active in the NHL
This player is in the Hockey Hall of Fame
This player is not yet in the Hall of Fame, but might be one day
Further information: Goal (ice hockey) and List of NHL players with 500 goals
Rank Name Team(s) Games Played Goals Goals Per Game
1 Wayne Gretzky EDM, LAK, STL, NYR 1,487 894 0.601
2 Alexander Ovechkin WSH 1,347 822 0.610
3 Gordie Howe DET, HFD 1,767 801 0.453
4 Jaromir Jagr PIT, WSH, NYR, PHI, DAL, BOS, NJD, FLA, CGY 1,733 766 0.442
5 Brett Hull CGY, STL, DAL, DET, PHX 1,269 741 0.584
6 Marcel Dionne DET, LAK, NYR 1,348 731 0.542
7 Phil Esposito CHI, BOS, NYR 1,282 717 0.559
8 Mike Gartner WSH, MNS, NYR, TOR, PHX 1,432 708 0.494
9 Mark Messier EDM, NYR, VAN 1,756 694 0.395
10 Steve Yzerman DET 1,514 692 0.457

Most Assists in Regular Season Games

An assist is given to up to two players who help set up a goal. These players have the most assists in regular season games.

Further information: Assist (ice hockey)
  1. Wayne Gretzky, 1,963
  2. Ron Francis, 1,249
  3. Mark Messier, 1,193
  4. Ray Bourque, 1,169
  5. Jaromir Jagr, 1,155
  6. Paul Coffey, 1,135
  7. Joe Thornton, 1,109
  8. Adam Oates, 1,079
  9. Steve Yzerman, 1,063
  10. Gordie Howe, 1,049
  11. Marcel Dionne, 1,040
  12. Mario Lemieux, 1,033
  13. Joe Sakic, 1,016
  14. Doug Gilmour, 964
  15. Mark Recchi, 956
  16. Al MacInnis, 934
  17. Larry Murphy, 929
  18. Stan Mikita, 926
  19. Bryan Trottier, 901
  20. Phil Housley, 894
  21. Sidney Crosby, 892
  22. Dale Hawerchuk, 891
  23. Nicklas Lidstrom, 878
  24. Phil Esposito, 873
  25. Denis Savard, 865

Most Games Played by a Skater in Regular Season

These players have played the most regular season games in the NHL.

Further information: Games played
  1. Patrick Marleau, 1,779
  2. Gordie Howe, 1,767
  3. Mark Messier, 1,756
  4. Jaromir Jagr, 1,733
  5. Ron Francis, 1,731
  6. Joe Thornton, 1,714
  7. Zdeno Chara, 1,680
  8. Mark Recchi, 1,652
  9. Chris Chelios, 1,651
  10. Dave Andreychuk, 1,639
  11. Scott Stevens, 1,635
  12. Larry Murphy, 1,615
  13. Ray Bourque, 1,612
  14. Nicklas Lidstrom, 1,564
  15. Jarome Iginla, 1,554
  16. Alex Delvecchio, 1,549
  17. Johnny Bucyk, 1,540
    Shane Doan, 1,540
  18. Brendan Shanahan, 1,524
  19. Matt Cullen, 1,516
  20. Steve Yzerman, 1,514
  21. Mike Modano, 1,499
  22. Phil Housley, 1,495
  23. Wayne Gretzky, 1,487
  24. Rod Brind'Amour, 1,484

Special Types of Goals in Regular Season Games

Hockey has different ways to score goals depending on the situation.

Power Play Goals

When a team gets a penalty, they have to play with one less player. The other team then has a "power play" and an advantage. These players have scored the most goals during a power play.

Further information: Power play (sporting term)
  1. Alexander Ovechkin, 299
  2. Dave Andreychuk, 274
  3. Brett Hull, 265
  4. Teemu Selanne, 255
  5. Luc Robitaille, 247
  6. Phil Esposito, 246
  7. Brendan Shanahan, 237
  8. Mario Lemieux, 236
  9. Marcel Dionne, 234
  10. Dino Ciccarelli, 232

Short-Handed Goals

A team is "short-handed" when one of their players is in the penalty box. Scoring a goal while your team has fewer players on the ice is very difficult and exciting! These players have scored the most short-handed goals.

Further information: Short-handed
  1. Wayne Gretzky, 73
  2. Mark Messier, 63
  3. Steve Yzerman, 50
  4. Mario Lemieux, 49
  5. Butch Goring, 39
    Dave Poulin, 39
    Jari Kurri, 39
  6. Sergei Fedorov, 36
  7. Theoren Fleury, 35
    Dirk Graham, 35
  8. Pavel Bure, 34
    Derek Sanderson, 34
    Marian Hossa, 34

Overtime Goals

If a game is tied after the normal three periods, there's an extra "overtime" period to decide the winner. In the NHL, the first team to score in overtime wins the game instantly! These players have scored the most overtime goals.

  1. Alexander Ovechkin, 24
  2. Jaromir Jagr, 19
  3. Sidney Crosby, 18
  4. Ilya Kovalchuk, 17
    Brad Marchand, 17
  5. Max Pacioretty, 16
    Patrik Elias, 16
    Daniel Sedin, 16

Skaters: Playoff Records

The Stanley Cup playoffs are a special tournament after the regular season where teams compete for the Stanley Cup. These are some of the top records set during these exciting playoff games.

Most Points in Playoff Games

Further information: Point (ice hockey)
  1. Wayne Gretzky, 382
  2. Mark Messier, 295
  3. Jari Kurri, 233
  4. Glenn Anderson, 214
  5. Sidney Crosby, 201
  6. Jaromir Jagr, 201
  7. Paul Coffey, 196
  8. Brett Hull, 190
  9. Doug Gilmour, 188
    Joe Sakic, 188
  10. Steve Yzerman, 185

Most Goals in Playoff Games

Further information: Goal (ice hockey)
  1. Wayne Gretzky, 122
  2. Mark Messier, 109
  3. Jari Kurri, 106
  4. Brett Hull, 103
  5. Glenn Anderson, 93
  6. Mike Bossy, 85
  7. Joe Sakic, 84
  8. Maurice Richard, 82
  9. Claude Lemieux, 80
  10. Jean Beliveau, 79

Most Assists in Playoff Games

Further information: Assist (ice hockey)
  1. Wayne Gretzky, 260
  2. Mark Messier, 186
  3. Ray Bourque, 139
  4. Paul Coffey, 137
  5. Sidney Crosby, 130
  6. Nicklas Lidstrom, 129
  7. Doug Gilmour, 128
  8. Jari Kurri, 127
  9. Sergei Fedorov, 124
  10. Jaromir Jagr, 123

Most Games Played by a Skater in Playoff Games

Further information: Games played
  1. Chris Chelios, 266
  2. Nicklas Lidstrom, 263
  3. Mark Messier, 236
  4. Claude Lemieux, 234
  5. Scott Stevens, 233
  6. Guy Carbonneau, 231
  7. Larry Robinson, 227
  8. Glenn Anderson, 225
  9. Kris Draper, 222
  10. Bryan Trottier, 221

Goaltenders: All-Time Records

Goaltenders are the players who guard the net and try to stop the puck from going in. Here are some of their impressive records.

Most Games Played by a Goaltender in Regular Season

  1. Martin Brodeur, 1266
  2. Roberto Luongo, 1044
  3. Patrick Roy, 1029
  4. Terry Sawchuk, 971
  5. Ed Belfour, 963
  6. Curtis Joseph, 943
  7. Marc-Andre Fleury, 939
  8. Glenn Hall, 906
  9. Henrik Lundqvist, 887
  10. Tony Esposito, 886

Most Wins by a Goaltender in Regular Season

A win is recorded for a goaltender when their team wins the game while they are playing.

  1. Martin Brodeur, 691
  2. Patrick Roy, 551
  3. Marc-Andre Fleury, 520
  4. Roberto Luongo, 489
  5. Ed Belfour, 484
  6. Henrik Lundqvist, 459
  7. Curtis Joseph, 454
  8. Terry Sawchuk, 445
  9. Jacques Plante, 437
  10. Tony Esposito, 423

Most Shutouts in Regular Season Games

A shutout happens when a goaltender plays the entire game and doesn't let the other team score any goals. It's a big achievement!

  1. Martin Brodeur, 125
  2. Terry Sawchuk, 103
  3. George Hainsworth, 94
  4. Glenn Hall, 84
  5. Jacques Plante, 82
  6. Dominik Hasek, 81
    Alex Connell, 81
    Tiny Thompson, 81
  7. Roberto Luongo, 77
  8. Ed Belfour, 76
    Tony Esposito, 76

Most Saves in Regular Season Games

A save is when the goaltender stops a shot that would have gone into the net. These goalies have made the most saves.

  1. Martin Brodeur, 28,928
  2. Roberto Luongo, 28,409
  3. Patrick Roy, 25,800
  4. Tony Esposito, 24,761
  5. Glenn Hall, 24,611
  6. Marc-Andre Fleury, 24,400
  7. Curtis Joseph, 24,279
  8. Henrik Lundqvist, 23,509
  9. Ed Belfour, 22,433
  10. John Vanbiesbrouck, 22,203

Goaltenders: Playoff Records

Most Games Played by a Goaltender in Playoff Games

  1. Patrick Roy, 247
  2. Martin Brodeur, 205
  3. Marc-Andre Fleury, 167
  4. Ed Belfour, 161
  5. Grant Fuhr, 150
  6. Mike Vernon, 138
  7. Curtis Joseph, 133
  8. Andy Moog, 132
    Billy Smith, 132
  9. Henrik Lundqvist, 130

Most Wins by a Goaltender in Playoff Games

  1. Patrick Roy, 151
  2. Martin Brodeur, 113
  3. Marc-Andre Fleury, 92
  4. Grant Fuhr, 92
  5. Ed Belfour, 88
    Billy Smith, 88
  6. Ken Dryden, 80
  7. Mike Vernon, 77
  8. Chris Osgood, 74
  9. Jacques Plante, 71

Most Shutouts in Playoff Games

  1. Martin Brodeur, 24
  2. Patrick Roy, 23
  3. Curtis Joseph, 16
    Marc-Andre Fleury, 16
  4. Chris Osgood, 15
  5. Ed Belfour, 14
    Dominik Hasek, 14
    Jacques Plante, 14
  6. Turk Broda, 13
  7. Terry Sawchuk, 12

Coaches: All-Time Records

Coaches lead the team and decide strategies. Their records show how successful they've been in guiding their teams.

Most Games Coached in Regular Season

  1. Scotty Bowman, 2,141
  2. Barry Trotz, 1,812
  3. Joel Quenneville, 1,768
  4. Paul Maurice, 1,684
  5. Lindy Ruff, 1,631
  6. Al Arbour, 1,607
  7. Ken Hitchcock, 1,598
  8. Dick Irvin, Sr., 1,448
  9. Ron Wilson, 1,401
  10. Pat Quinn, 1,400

Most Coaching Wins in Regular Season

  1. Scotty Bowman, 1,244
  2. Joel Quenneville, 969
  3. Barry Trotz, 914
  4. Ken Hitchcock, 849
  5. Al Arbour, 782
    Lindy Ruff, 782
  6. Paul Maurice, 775
  7. Alain Vigneault, 722
  8. Peter Laviolette, 717
  9. Mike Babcock, 700

Most Stanley Cups Won by a Coach

The Stanley Cup is the championship trophy awarded to the NHL playoff winner. Winning it is the ultimate goal for any team and coach.

  1. Scotty Bowman, 9
  2. Toe Blake, 8
  3. Hap Day, 5
  4. Al Arbour, 4
    Punch Imlach, 4
    Dick Irvin, 4
    Glen Sather, 4
  5. Jack Adams, 3
    Pete Green, 3
    Tommy Ivan, 3
    Joel Quenneville, 3
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