When The Great One, the one and only Wayne Gretzky himself, says you can do something, you better believe it’s true. Gretzky believes that the Tampa Bay Lightning sniper Steven Stamkos has a real chance of scoring 50 goals in the first 50 games of the season.
Keep in mind, this is high praise coming from a Canadian deity like Wayne Gretzky. Gretzky himself scored 50 goals in 39 games, a record that will likely never ever be approached, that’s why they call him the Great One and that’s why he was put into the Hockey Hall of Fame pretty much the exact second his skates were un-tied in his final game.
It’s no small feat what Stamkos is trying to accomplish. There’s a handful of players that played in the NHL that have actually accomplished the feat. The list includes Brett Hull, Mario Lemieux, Mike Bossy, The Great One, and of course Rocket Richard. Unofficially, there only 3 other players who acheived the feat, as they scored 50 goals in 50 games, but failed to reach the mark in their team’s 50th game and that’s it. Stamkos is on the verge of history.
Stamkos, the former first overall pick in the 2006 NHL entry draft still has a way to go, he currently has 21 goals in 22 games, but many believe he has a good shot at it, with the speed, endurance, and skills he possesses. Sportsbooks should be getting those odds up on Stamkos, will he score 50 goals in his team’s first official 50 games?
