Is Canadiens Caufield On Pace To Overtake Hall Of Famer?
Can Cole Caufield become only the second Montreal Canadiens player to score 60 goals?
Is Canadiens Caufield On Pace To Overtake Hall Of Famer?Montreal Canadiens forward Cole Caufield has ten goals in the season's first 12 games and is on pace for 68, which could be a new franchise record.
In 1977-78, Hall of Famer Guy Lafleur became the first and only player in Canadiens history ever to reach 60 goals. He's maintained his place at the top of the mountains for almost half a century.
During his historical campaign, Lafleur only tallied eight goals in 10 games, which equaled a 0.80 goals-per-game pace, while Caufield is slightly ahead of that average at 0.83.
As Caufield remains one of the top scorers in the NHL, let's examine the pace he'd need to maintain over the coming months to become the second Montreal skater to reach 60 and surpass Lafleur, based on his production in 1977-78.
- October 1977 - eight goals in ten games (0.80 GPG)
- November 1977 - eleven goals in twelve games (0.91 GPG)
- December 1977 - eight goals in twelve games (0.66 GPG)
- January 1978 - ten goals in twelve games (0.83 GPG)
- February 1978 - nine goals in thirteen games (0.69 GPG)
- March 1978 - eleven goals in fourteen games (0.78 GPG)
- April 1978 - three goals in five games (0.60 GPG)
Overall, Lafleur scored 0.76 goals per game. Caufield is ahead of that pace and has four extra games to surpass the legend's season totals since the Canadiens only played 78 games in 1977-78, and today's schedule features 82 games.
Besides capturing the Stanley Cup in 1978, Lafleur won the Hart, Art Ross, and Lester B. Pearson awards with 132 points. If Caufield can score 60 goals and still collect 30 assists, he could become the first Canadiens skater to reach 100 points in a season since Mats Näslund in 1985-86, when the Swedish forward finished with 110 points in 80 games.
Even though Caufield's final totals may not challenge any of these milestones, there is a standard for him to chase, and thus far, he's been up to the challenge.
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