Montreal Canadiens' 50-goal Scorers

The Montreal Canadiens have employed some of the game's best goal scorers, Hall of Famers like Howie Morenz, Maurice Richard, Guy Lafleur, Bernie Geoffrion, and Jean Beliveau.

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The first NHL player to score 50 goals in a single season was Richard, who netted 50 goals in 50 games in 1944-45. Since then, many NHLers have scored 50 goals, considered one of the greatest accomplishments in a single season.

Despite everyone else's achievements, the 50-goal mark will always be associated with Richard and the Canadiens. That's why the NHL created the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy, awarded to the league's top goal scorer every season.

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Today, we look at which Montreal players besides Richard have joined the exclusive 50-goal club.

Maurice Richard

50 goals (1944-45)

As mentioned, Richard became the first player in NHL history to score 50 goals and the first to do it in 50 games. During his historic season, he had a five-goal game against the Detroit Red Wings (Dec. 28, 1944) and finished the year with four hat tricks.

The Hall of Famer scored at least one goal in 34 contests to set the single-season goal record unmatched for 15 seasons when Geoffrion netted 50 in 1960. By the time he retired in 1960, Richard was the only player to score 500 goals (544) in league history.

Bernie Geoffrion

50 goals (1960-61)

Montreal native Geoffrion had a magical season in 1960-61, tying the legendary Richard with the second-ever 50-goal season in NHL history. That year, he registered three hat tricks and 11 games with at least two goals. In 64 games, he lit the lamp in 36 contests to edge out Beliveau for the team's scoring title with 95 points.

Guy Lafleur

53 goals (1974-75), 56 goals (1975-76), 56 goals (1976-77), 60 goals (1977-78), 52 goals (1978-79), 50 goals (1979-80)

Thirty years after Richard set the franchise record with 50 goals, Lafleur became the team's all-time leading scorer and the first skater to net more than 50 with 53 goals in 1974-75.

However, that was only the beginning of his legendary tenure. He would net 56 goals in the following two seasons and establish a career-high with 60 lamplighters in 1977-78. After that career year, he scored 52 and 50 goals over the subsequent two campaigns, the last time the Hall of Famer would reach the plateau.

During these six years, Lafleur recorded 11 of his 19 career hat tricks, which doesn't include two he had in the postseason. From 1975 to 1978, he won the Art Ross Trophy as the scoring leader and the Lester B. Pearson Award (now Ted Lindsay Award) as MVP voted by his peers.

Steve Shutt

60 Goals (1976-77)

Steve Shutt is a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame and has his name engraved on the Stanley Cup five times. However, outside of the most passionate Canadiens fans, many may have forgotten that he became the first skater to score 60 goals, beating Lafleur by a season.

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Shutt had two hat tricks during the 1976-77 season and tallied at least two goals in 14 contests. He lit the lamp in 44 games, finishing second to Lafleur in scoring with 105 points.

Pierre Larouche

50 goals (1979-80)

Pierre Larouche played five seasons in Montreal, collecting 110 goals in 236 games. Interestingly, he tallied half of them in a single season, 1979-80, when he became the fifth Canadiens player to reach 50. That year, he had a four-goal game against the team that drafted him, the Pittsburgh Penguins (Oct. 25, 1979), and another hat trick. Larouche scored two goals in 10 games and had one in 37 contests.

Stephane Richer

50 goals (1987-88), 51 goals (1989-90)

The last Canadiens player to score 50 goals in a single season is Ripon, QC, native Stephane Richer, who achieved the feat in 1987-88 and 1989-90. As a two-time 20-goal scorer, he erupted for 50 in 1987-88 before dropping to 25 in 1988-89.

Following that season, Richer set a career-high of 51 goals in 1989-90, marking the last time a skater from Montreal reached the magical 50-goal milestone. That season, he had two hat tricks and two goals in 12 games. Moreover, he tallied at least one goal in 37 games while leading the team in scoring with 91 points.

Since Richer's 51-goal season, no one has tallied more than 40 in a single year, with Brian Bellows (1992-93) and Vincent Damphousse (1993-94) the only ones to come close to 50.

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