You Never Forget Your First Goal Quiz

Answer: Charlie Conacher

Charlie Conacher was a dominant scorer in the 1930s, leading the NHL in goals five times and winning two Stanley Cups with the Maple Leafs in 1932 and 1933. Known as "The Big Bomber" for his powerful shot, he amassed 224 goals in 461 games, a remarkable rate for his era. Conacher was a key member of the Leafs' "Kid Line" and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1961. Conacher came from an incredibly athletic family.

His brothers Roy and Lionel also earned induction to the Hall of Fame.

Answer: Maurice Richard

Maurice "Rocket" Richard rewrote the league's goal scoring record book during his career. He became the first NHL player to score 50 goals in a season (1944-45), and the first to reach 500 career goals. He led the league in goals five times, and is the namesake of the NHL's award given annually to the league's top goal scorer (the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy, or Rocket Richard Trophy).

His goal scoring prowess guided the Canadiens to eight Stanley Cups (1944, 1946, 1953, 1956-60). Richard became a folk hero in Quebec, a feeling most infamously expressed during the riot in response to Richard's season-ending suspension in 1955.

The suspension was seen by French-Canadians as an attack on their culture by the Anglophone league executives. At the time of his retirement in 1961 he was atop the all-time goal scoring leaderboard and was immediately inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Answer: Gordie Howe

Gordie Howe, "Mr. Hockey," played an astonishing 26 NHL seasons, primarily with the Detroit Red Wings, winning four Stanley Cups (1950, 1952, 1954-55) and six Hart Trophies as league MVP. He retired with 801 goals, 1,049 assists, and 1,850 points, and held the NHL's all-time scoring record until Wayne Gretzky surpassed it. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1972, eight years before he played his final NHL game at the age of 51. Durability and toughness defined Howe's game, with the "Gordie Howe Hat Trick" (goal, assist, fight in the same game) named in his honour.

Answer: Bobby Hull

Bobby Hull earned the nickname the "Golden Jet," for his blazing speed and long blond hair. After becoming the all-time leading scorer for the Chicago Blackhawks with 604 goals and winning the Stanley Cup in 1961, Hull signed a monumental 10-year contract with the Winnipeg Jets of the upstart World Hockey Association in 1972 that contained a $1 million signing bonus; unheard of money in NHL player salaries of the era. Hull led the Jets to three championships in the WHA and was named the MVP twice, totaling 913 career goals across his pro career.

He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1983.

Answer: Phil Esposito

Bruins legend Phil Esposito was the first NHL player to score 100 points in a season (1968-69) and set a then-record with 76 goals in 1970-71, finishing his career with 717 goals and 1,590 points. He won two Stanley Cups (1970, 1972) in Boston and five Art Ross Trophies as the league's leading scorer. Inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1984, Esposito's larger-than-life personality matched his dominance as a power forward. After finishing his career with the New York Rangers, Esposito went on to help launch the Tampa Bay Lightning franchise and served as their first General Manager.

Answer: Wayne Gretzky

There was not much that Wayne Gretzky did not accomplish in his career. "The Great One," held nearly every major NHL scoring record at the time of his retirement in 1999, and many still stand to this day. Gretzky won the Hart Trophy as the league's most valuable player 9 times, 10 times he lead the league in scoring. Gretzky scored an unfathomable 200 points in four separate seasons. Gretzky led the Oilers to four Stanley Cup championships, and at the international level guided Team Canada to two Canada Cup championships - the top international tournament of his era. Gretzky was immediately inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1999, and his #99 jersey was retired league-wide.

Answer: Mario Lemieux

So much of the success of the Pittsburgh Penguins success can be attributed to Lemieux. He won two Stanley Cups (1991-92) as a player and three more (2009, 2016-17) as its owner, amassing 690 goals and 1,723 points despite battling injuries and multiple fights with cancer.

He won three Hart Trophies (including in 1996 after missing the entire previous season to treat Hodgkin's lymphoma) and six Art Ross Trophies. In 1988, Lemieux ironically recorded an even strength, power play, shorthanded, penalty shot, and empty net goal in the same game, the first and only to accomplish such a feat.

After a three-year retirement where he purchased the Penguins out of bankruptcy court to keep them in Pittsburgh, Lemieux returned to the Penguins in 2000 at the age of 35 and showed no sign of age.

He notched four points in his first game, and 76 points over 43 games that season.

Answer: Brett Hull

Bobby's son, Brett Hull used a lethal one-timer to score 741 NHL goals over 20 seasons in the NHL, retiring as the third-highest goal scorer at the time. His 86 goals in the 1990-91 season with the St. Louis Blues remain one of the highest single-season totals in NHL history, and earned him the Hart Trophy. Hull won two Stanley Cups (1999 with Dallas, 2002 with Detroit), including scoring the controversial Cup-winning goal in overtime of Game 6 vs Buffalo in 1999 where his skate appeared to be within the Sabres crease. Hull joined his father in the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.

Answer: Alex Ovechkin

Ovechkin scored in his NHL debut and many many games more on his way to breaking Wayne Gretzky's career goals scored mark of 894, which he accomplished in 2025. At a time when league scoring was nowhere near its record highs, Ovechkin led the league in goal scoring nine times, recording 9 50-goal seasons, and 13 40-goal campaigns for the Washington Capitals. Ovechkin was named playoff MVP in 2018 when the Capitals won the franchise's first Stanley Cup. Ovechkin's career goal total could have been much higher if he did not lose one and a half seasons to a league labour stoppage, and then close to a full year with condensed schedules due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Answer: Auston Matthews

Auston Matthews burst onto the scene with 40 goals in his 2016-17 rookie season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, winning the Calder Trophy. Matthews recorded four goals in his first career game in Ottawa in 2016 the first player to do that in their debut since the league's inaugural season in 1917. Matthews did not slow down much after that, later setting a U.S.-born player record with 69 goals in 2023-24 when he lead the league in goals scored for a third time. That same season Matthews also broke a mark he previously set for the most goals scored by a Toronto Maple Leaf in a single season.