October 22 NHL History
1953: Dick Irvin becomes the first coach in NHL history to win 600 games when the Montreal Canadiens defeat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 at Chicago Stadium.
Irvin coached two seasons with the Blackhawks and nine with the Toronto Maple Leafs when he’s hired by the Canadiens in 1940. He guides Montreal to the Stanley Cup three times, the last one in the spring of 1953.
Irvin coaches the Canadiens through the 1954-55 season, then returns to the Blackhawks for one season before retiring in 1956 with a record of 692-527-230, including 431-313-152 with Montreal.
1957: Rookie Bobby Hull scores the first goal of his NHL career to help the Blackhawks defeat the Boston Bruins 2-1 at Chicago Stadium. He beats goaltender Don Simmons at 16:00 of the first period for an unassisted goal. Hull finishes his NHL career with 610 goals.
1980: Rookie defenseman Paul Coffey scores his first NHL goal in the Edmonton Oilers’ 5-3 victory against the Calgary Flames at Northlands Coliseum. Coffey finishes his NHL career with 396 goals, second to Ray Bourque all-time among defensemen, and is inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004.
1986: Mario Lemieux scores twice in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 5-4 overtime victory against the Buffalo Sabres to reach the 100-goal mark early in his third NHL season. It’s the seventh straight win from the start of the season for the Penguins, one short of the NHL record (at that time) shared by Toronto (1934-35) and Buffalo (1975-76).
Exactly six years later, Lemieux gets his 28th NHL hat trick and has two assists for a five-point night in Pittsburgh’s 9-6 victory against the Detroit Red Wings at the Civic Arena.
1999: Grant Fuhr becomes the sixth goaltender in NHL history to win 400 games when Derek Morris scores 20 seconds into overtime to give the Flames a 3-2 road victory against the Florida Panthers.
2002: Patrick Roy of the Colorado Avalanche ties Terry Sawchuk‘s NHL record for career appearances by playing in his 971st game, a 3-3 tie against the Oilers at Pepsi Center. He finishes his career with 1,029 appearances, then an NHL record.
On the same night, Cliff Ronning scores in overtime to give the Minnesota Wild a 4-3 victory against the Flames. The victory ends an 18-game winless streak in overtime (0-11-7) for the Wild, dating to March 2001.
