Gordie Howe hat trick

A Gordie Howe hat trick is a variation on ice hockey's hat-trick. It is accomplished when a player collects a goal, an assist, and a fight in the same game. It is named after Hall of Famer Gordie Howe.

Gordie Howe on an early Chex hockey card

The term was coined by a 1950s New York sportswriter, although Howe himself only accomplished the feat twice in his five-decade career.[1] Howe's son Marty once remarked, "The Gordie Howe hat trick should really be a goal, an assist and a cross-check to the face. That might be more accurate."[2]

Incidences

The first known Gordie Howe hat trick was achieved by Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman Harry Cameron of the Toronto Arenas on December 26, 1917 in a 7–5 win against the Montreal Canadiens.[3]

Howe himself accomplished his first Gordie Howe hat trick on October 11, 1953, when he scored a goal, assisted on Red Kelly's goal, and fought the Toronto Maple Leafs' Fernie Flaman. The second occurrence was on March 21, 1954, once again versus the Maple Leafs. Howe scored the opening goal, assisted on two Ted Lindsay goals, and fought Ted "Teeder" Kennedy.[4]

Multiples

The "Double Gordie", involving two players who each tallied a goal and an assist and then fought each other, has occurred on two occasions:

On April 9, 1981, during a play-off game between the Minnesota North Stars and the Boston Bruins, Bryan Maxwell and Bobby Smith of the Minnesota North Stars and Brad Park of the Boston Bruins all got Gordie Howe Hat Tricks. Smith and Park fought each other.[5][6] Park also scored one goal and three assists. The North Stars won the game 9–6.

Debut Variations

A Gordie Howe hat trick that included a player's first NHL goal occurred on November 19, 2014, when Steve Pinizzotto was called up by the Edmonton Oilers and he made his 2014–15 season debut against his previous team, the Vancouver Canucks.[7][8][9]

On December 29, 2018, Tyler Lewington of the Washington Capitals, playing in just his second career NHL game, against the Ottawa Senators, became the only player to complete a Gordie Howe hat trick with all three components being NHL career firsts, including his first assist on a goal by Tom Wilson and his first fight against Zack Smith.[10]

Leaders

Although he played a record 2,421 professional hockey games, Gordie Howe himself only achieved two "Gordie Howe hat tricks" in his NHL career.

The all-time leader in Gordie Howe hat tricks is Rick Tocchet with 18. Tied for second are Brendan Shanahan (who would later become the NHL's chief disciplinarian) and Brian Sutter, with 17.[11] The active leaders are Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara and Sharks forward Joe Thornton with five.

References
  1. "Six-time NHL MVP Gordie Howe celebrates 80th birthday with family". thehockeynews.com. Canadian Press. 30 March 2008. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  2. Fox, Luke (10 June 2016). "The great myth of the Gordie Howe hat trick". sportsnet.ca. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  3. Shea, Kevin; Wilson, Jason (2016). The Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club: Official Centennial Publication. McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 9780771079290.
  4. Going inside the “Gordie Howe Hat Trick”
  5. "Flyers History - Philadelphia Flyer Game Summary". www.flyershistory.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-06-28.
  6. "Gordie Howe Hat Trick: Season in Review; 1980-81". gordie-howe-hat-trick.blogspot.ca. Retrieved 2016-06-28.
  7. "IN DEPTH: Persistent Pinizzotto". Edmonton Oilers. 2014-11-23. Retrieved 2014-11-23.
  8. "PINIZZOTTO GOES GORDIE HOWE IN 1ST GAME". Sportsnet. 2014-11-19. Retrieved 2014-11-19.
  9. "Former Canuck Pinizzotto gets rare Howe hat trick". The Province. 2014-11-20. Archived from the original on 2014-12-23. Retrieved 2014-11-20.
  10. "Washington Capitals hold on to beat slumping Ottawa Senators". sportsnet.ca. December 29, 2018. Retrieved June 24, 2019.
  11. Forbes, Andrew (20 April 2020). "The Gordie Howe Hat Trick". The Hockey Writers. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
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