<P> Scoring 50 goals in one season is one of the most celebrated individual achievements in the National Hockey League (NHL). In 1944--45, Maurice Richard became the first player to score 50 goals in a season . Bernie Geoffrion became the second player to reach the milestone 16 years later in 1960--61 . Fifty - goal seasons increased in frequency during the 1970s and 1980s as offense increased across the league . By 1980, it had been reached 24 times in NHL history; the plateau was reached 76 times in the 1980s alone . </P> <P> Wayne Gretzky scored his 50th goal in his 39th game in 1981--82, the fastest any player has done so . He also shares the record for most 50 - goal seasons with Mike Bossy, each having reached the milestone nine times in their careers . A record fourteen players exceeded 50 goals in 1992--93, after which offence declined across the league, and with it the number of players to reach the total . For the first time in 29 years, no player scored 50 goals in 1998--99 . Ninety - one unique players have scored 50 goals in any one NHL season, doing so a combined 186 times . </P> <P> Joe Malone scored 44 goals for the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL's inaugural season of 1917--18--a season with a twenty - game schedule . It was a record that stood nearly 30 years . The introduction of the centre red line and permission of forward passing out of the defensive zone in 1943 increased scoring; six players scored 30 goals in 1943--44, the first time in league history so many players reached that total in one season . Maurice Richard averaged a goal per game for Montreal in 1944--45 and surpassed Malone's record late in the season . He was as obsessed with reaching the 50 - goal mark as his opponents were with preventing it . Richard faced opponents who repeatedly elbowed, hooked and held him in an effort to prevent him from reaching 50 . As a result, he scored only seven goals in his final 13 games . Richard scored his 50th goal, in 50 games, in the third period of Montreal's final game of the season against the Boston Bruins . The league introduced the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy in his honour in 1999, and the Canadiens donated the physical trophy . </P>

How many nhl players have scored 50 goals in a season