BUT... THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!
Last week Danny Jansen made Major League Baseball history when he played for both the Toronto Blue Jays and the Boston Red Sox in the same game.
How did it happen? Well, the game began on June 26th, with Jansen in as catcher for the Jays, but play was suspended after just one inning due to bad weather. The game was scheduled to be completed on August 26th, but in the meantime Jansen was traded to the Bo Sox. So, when play resumed Jansen was suited up for the other team.
Not only that, but Jansen was actually at bat when the game was originally suspended, meaning that when the game resumed this month, Jansen was both the batter and the catcher in the same at-bat. Wild!
That got me thinking about impossible NHL stats. So, prepare to have your mind blown.
NATHAN HORTON SCORED IN A GAME HE DIDN'T EVEN PLAY IN.
On April 9, 2014 the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Dallas Stars 3-1 with the help of a Nathan Horton goal. The strange thing is that Horton never played in the game. Zero shifts, zero time on the ice. He wasn’t even in the lineup.
What happened there? On March 10th of that year, the Stars and Jackets met in Dallas for one of their scheduled regular season matches. Nathan Horton scored in the first period, but shortly after, Stars forward Rich Peverley collapsed on the Dallas bench. It was a very scary moment, and the game was stopped and rescheduled for a month later.
When the teams met again in Dallas on April 9th, all stats were scrubbed as if the first game never happened and the game started from the beginning. But, because the Jackets were leading at the time the first game was stopped, they started the game with a 1-0 lead — Horton’s goal. But Horton was scratched from that game due to injury, and, in fact, never played another NHL game again. Still, he is credited for the goal on the official box score.
So, not only did Nathan Horton score in a game he didn’t play in, but he got his last NHL goal long after he played his last NHL game.
SEAN MONAHAN PLAYED 83 GAMES IN AN 82 GAME SCHEDULE
Most NHL players start the season with the goal of trying their very best for the full 82-game schedule. But last year, Sean Monahan went above and beyond playing 83 games.
Monahan started the season with the Montreal Canadiens, but was traded late in the season to the Winnipeg Jets who had a game in-hand on the Habs. Monahan ended up playing 49 games for the Canadiens and 34 games for the Jets, for a total of 83 games played.
This has actually happened a few times over the years.
Jimmy Carson and Bob Kudelski both played 86 games in ‘92-’93 and ‘93-’94 respectively — two more games than the then 84-game schedule (the NHL played 84 games from 1992–1994) allowed for. Bill Guerin, Rem Murray, and Tyson Barrie all managed to play 85-game seasons — that’s three extra games each!
MATT MURRAY WON THE STANLEY CUP AS A ROOKIE - TWICE
Late in the 2015-2016 NHL season, goaltender Matt Murray made his big league debut with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Murray became the Pens’ starter after Marc-Andre Fleury suffered a season-ending concussion, and he led Pittsburgh all the way to their fourth Stanley Cup Championship.
But, Murray hadn’t played enough games in the regular season to shake the rookie label, so when Crosby and Co. repeated as champs the following season, Murray was still considered a rookie.
WAYNE GRETZKY SET AN NHL SCORING RECORD SEVEN YEARS AFTER HIS RETIREMENT
Here at Keener Jerseys there’s no debate that Wayne Gretzky is the absolute GOAT. But, if there was any doubt, how ‘bout the fact that The Great One set his last NHL scoring record seven years after he hung up his skates for good.
At the time of his retirement in 1999, Wayner ranked second in all time points-per-game. Number one on that list was Gretzky’s greatest rival, number 66, Le Magnifique, Mario Lemieux. But in 2000, Super Mario came out of retirement and played five more seasons. And while Lemieux was still dominant on the scoresheet, by the time he retired for good in 2006 his points-per-game had slipped below Gretzky’s 1.92 points-per-game mark.
And so, Wayne Gretzky added yet another NHL scoring record to the pile.
LARS ELLER SCORED A GOAL FROM THE BENCH
Lars Eller rhymes with “lucky feller”, which is kind of appropriate because on October 12, 2013, the Montreal Canadiens centre scored a goal against the Vancouver Canucks while sitting on his butt drinking water on the bench.
Eller was the last player for the Habs to touch the puck for the Habs before a mix-up between Canucks D-man Dan Hamhuis and Canucks legend Roberto Luongo resulted in the puck crossing the Canucks’ goal line.
By the time the puck entered the net, Eller had been off the ice for at least 10 seconds.
Lars Eller does the unthinkable!
RYAN MILLER POSTED A WIN WITH NO SAVES
One of the most dominant goaltenders of his time, Ryan Miller, was once credited with a zero-save win. In January of 2018, Miller came into a game versus the Winnipeg Jets in relief of Ducks starter, John Gibson. With just 6:40 remaining in regulation, Miller faced no shots, and the game went to overtime, where he again faced no shots.
Miller was forced to make some big stops in the ensuing shootout, but shootout saves are not counted in the official NHL stat line. So, Miller picked up the win with zero official saves.
nhl stats - NOTHING'S IMPOSSIBLE!
Just when you think you’ve seen it all, the NHL provides us with something new. It’s what makes hockey the greatest game on the planet, and it’s why I just can’t stop thinking about it.
And I gotta put my thoughts somewhere, so every week I send out this newsletter chock full of deep-dives, musings, and meditations on hockey jerseys and hockey culture. If you want to hear my thoughts on the next impossible stat just subscribe to the 4 Shots with Keener newsletter so you don’t miss out. It’ll get sent out to your inbox every Friday, and it’s free.
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See you next week!
