January 31, 1920: Joe Malone Scores 7 Goals In a Game

January 31, 1920, 100 years ago: A player scores 7 goals in a single National Hockey League game.

Yes, it really happened. No, there were no overtimes.

Maurice Joseph Malone was born on February 28, 1890 in Sillery, Quebec, which has since been absorbed into Quebec City. A center, he played for his hometown team, the Quebec Bulldogs, and was with them when they joined the 1st professional hockey league, the National Hockey Association, for the 1910-11 season.

In 1912 and 1913, he led them to the NHA Championship. The 1912 Stanley Cup Finals were the 1st to feature 6 players on a side. Previously, there had been 7, but the position of "rover" -- essentially, splitting time between offense and defense -- was eliminated. The Bulldogs played the Moncton Victorias of Moncton, New Brunswick, Champions of the Maritime Professional Hockey League, in a best-2-out-of-3 series. The Bulldogs won the 1st 2 games, rendering the 3rd unnecessary.

In 1913, they did the same to that season's MPHL Champions, the Sydney Millionaires of Sydney, Nova Scotia. No Quebec City-based team has won the Cup since.

"Phantom Joe" remained with the Bulldogs through the 1916-17 season, the NHA's last. The National Hockey League was founded, but the manpower drain of World War I meant that the Bulldogs could not field a team. Their remaining players were put in a dispersal draft, and he was claimed by the Montreal Canadiens.

In that 1917-18 season, he played all 20 games, and scored 44 goals. That's 2.20 goals per game. When Maurice Richard broke that record with 50 goals in 1944-45, it was in a 50-game season, so it was 1.00 goal per game. When Phil Esposito scored 76 in 1970-71, it was in 78 games, so it was 0.97 goals per game. When Wayne Gretzky scored 92 in 1981-82, it was in 80 games, so it was 1.15 goals per game. So Malone's record has never been approach.

Quebec City was ready to join the NHL for the 1919-20 season, with a team sponsored by the Quebec Athletic Club. So they put the Bulldogs name to rest, and registered as the Quebec Athletics. Malone was allowed to join them. In the December 30, 1919 issue of the Ottawa Journal, a man identified only as a "veteran ice hockey fan" compared Malone to one of the best baseball players of the era -- but not to Ty Cobb or Babe Ruth:

This fellow Malone, he is not the fastest but he is the smoothest forward in the league. He is absolutely reliable around a net. He is a great stickhandler, and a player who never gets flurried no matter how hard the going is. What Eddie Collins is to baseball, Malone is to hockey.

On January 31, 1920, the Bulldogs played the Toronto St. Patricks, the team that became the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1927, at the Quebec Arena. Malone scored just 6:50 into the game. Reg Noble tied it for Toronto 3 minutes later. Quebec got goals from Dave Ritchie and Ed Carpenter scored later in the 1st period, but Ken Randall closed the St. Patricks to within 3-2 by the end.

Malone scored his 2nd goal just 55 minutes into the 2nd period. Charles Corbett "Corb" Denneny, brother of Ottawa Senators superstar Cyril "Cy" Denneny, got Toronto to within 4-3. Then Malone scored again, getting his hat trick. Reg Noble made it 5-4 Quebec, but Malone scored again, getting a single-period hat trick.

Early in the 3rd period, the St. Patricks got a goal from Mickey Roach, and now the Bulldogs' lead was just 6-5. Within 30 seconds, George Carey scored for Quebec and Cully Wilson scored for Toronto, to make it 7-6 Quebec. But, having already scored 4 goals in a span of 33 minutes, Malone decided it was time to put the game away. He scored with 10 minutes even left in regulation, with 8 minutes even, and again with 45 seconds to go.

Final score: Quebec 10, Toronto 6. Or, if you prefer, Joe Malone 7, Toronto 6. He ended up leading the League with 39 goals.

But even Phantom Joe couldn't offset Frank Brophy, who had the worst season any NHL goaltender has ever had, allowing 7.11 goals per game. The game in which Malone scored 7 goals was 1 of only 4 games the Bulldogs allowed all season.

The team moved to Hamilton, Ontario for the 1920-21 season, becoming the Hamilton Tigers. Malone played 2 more seasons with them, and then closed his career with 2 more seasons with the Canadiens, retiring by winning the 1924 Stanley Cup. He scored 179 goals in NHA play, and 143 in the NHL, for a total of 322 goals. He was only 34 when he hung up his skates.

He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1950, and died on May 15, 1969. In 1998, 74 years after his last game, The Hockey News ranked him 39th on their list of the 100 Greatest Hockey Players, the earliest player to make the list.

Seven goals in an NHL game has never been done again. Six goals in an NHL game has been done seven times:

* Edouard "Newsy" Lalonde had done it just 3 weeks before Lalonde's achievement, on January 10, 1920, for the Montreal Canadiens.

* Malone struck again 2 months after his 7, netting 6 on March 10, 1920.

* The aforementioned Corb Denneny did it for the St. Patricks on January 26, 1921.

* His brother Cy Denneny did it for the Ottawa Senators less than 6 weeks later, on March 7, 1921.

* Syd Howe (no relation to Gordie) did it for the Detroit Red Wings on February 3, 1944.

* Gordon "Red" Berenson did it for the St. Louis Blues on November 7, 1968.

* And Darryl Sittler did it for the Toronto Maple Leafs on February 7, 1976.