Who Has the Most Hat Tricks in NHL History?

We all know that Wayne Gretzky is the NHL’s all-time leading scorer, but did you know that he also holds the record for the most hat tricks in league history? That’s right, The Great One has 50 career hat tricks, which is 10 more than the next closest player, Mario Lemieux.

Wayne Gretzky

Wayne Gretzky is by far the NHL’s all-time leader in hat tricks with 50. The Great One was so dominant that his nearest competition, Mario Lemieux, is more than 20 hat tricks behind him. Gretzky’s 50 hat tricks also account for almost 10% of his entire goal scoring output.

Gretzky’s eight hat tricks

Wayne Gretzky holds the NHL record for the most hat tricks in a career with eight. He accomplished the feat in just 719 games, an average of once every 90 games. The “Great One” recorded his first hat trick on February 15, 1981, against the Philadelphia Flyers and his last on December 19, 1988, against the New Jersey Devils. He also had two hat tricks in a single season: one in 1983-84 and one in 1985-86.

Gretzky’s hat trick against the Flyers

On December 31, 1987, Wayne Gretzky had one of the most impressive hat tricks in NHL history. He started the game against the Philadelphia Flyers with two goals in the first period, then added a third goal early in the second. The Flyers were a tough team, but Gretzky’s hat trick helped the Oilers win 5-3.

Mario Lemieux

With 10 hat tricks in his NHL career, Mario Lemieux has the most hat tricks of any player in NHL history. Lemieux’s first hat trick came on December 31, 1988, against the New Jersey Devils, and his most recent one came on April 22, 1996, against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Here’s a look at all of Lemieux’s hat tricks.

Lemieux’s ten hat tricks

Mario Lemieux recorded ten hat tricks in his NHL career, the most in league history. He accomplished the feat in just 706 games, an astonishing rate of one every 71 contests. Wayne Gretzky is second on the NHL’s all-time list with eight, while Jaromir Jagr is third with seven.

Lemieux’s hat trick against the Oilers

On December 31, 1988, Lemieux scored three goals in a 6–3 Pittsburgh Penguins victory against the Edmonton Oilers. All three goals were scored in the third period and were unassisted. This was the sixth hat trick of Lemieux’s career.

Brett Hull

Brett Hull is a former professional ice hockey player who is considered one of the greatest goal scorers of all time. He played for several teams during his career, most notably the St. Louis Blues and the Dallas Stars. He is currently the co-owner of the NHL’s Arizona Coyotes. Hull is also one of the few players in NHL history to have scored 50 goals in 50 games.

Hull’s nine hat tricks

Brett Hull is a former professional ice hockey player who played for the St. Louis Blues, Dallas Stars, Phoenix Coyotes and Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He is currently the co-general manager of the St. Louis Blues. He is notable for being one of the greatest goal scorers in NHL history, as well as being one of only a handful of players to score 50 goals in 50 games. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.

Hull began his NHL career with the Blues in 1986 and played there for 11 seasons. He tallied 52 goals as a rookie and followed that up with 86-goal, 131-point campaigns in each of his next two seasons. He scored 70 or more goals in five consecutive seasons from 1988–89 to 1992–93, including an NHL-record 72 goals during the 1990–91 season. He won the Stanley Cup with Dallas in 1999.

In terms of hat tricks, Hull is second all-time with nine, behind only Wayne Gretzky (11). His nine hat tricks are tied for the most in a single season with Mario Lemieux (1992–93) and Steve Yzerman (1988–89).

Hull’s hat trick against the Flames

A hat-trick occurs when a player scores three goals in a single game.
Hull achieved his first hat-trick against the Calgary Flames on December 19, 1988. He went on to score two more goals in the game, for a total of five goals. This was the first time in NHL history that a player had scored five goals in a single game.

Mike Bossy

Mike Bossy is a retired professional ice hockey player who played for the New York Islanders for his entire career. He is considered one of the greatest goal-scorers of all time and is one of only nine players in NHL history to score 50 goals in 50 games. Bossy is also the only player in NHL history to score 50 goals in 50 games more than once. In total, he has nine hat tricks, which is the most in NHL history.

Bossy’s eight hat tricks

Mike Bossy is a former professional ice hockey player who played for the New York Islanders from 1977 to 1987. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest goal-scorers of all time, and is one of only nine players to score 50 goals in 50 games. He also holds the record for most hat tricks in a single season, with eight.

Bossy’s hat trick against the Islanders

On January 10, 1982, Mike Bossy had a hat trick against the New York Islanders. It was his fourth hat trick of the season and the eighth of his career. Bossy is the only player in NHL history to have four hat tricks in one season.

Jari Kurri

Kurri was the fifth leading scorer in NHL history when he retired and is still (as of 2019) the leading scorer among Finnish-born players. In addition to his five Stanley Cups, he is the only Finn to have won the Lady Byng Trophy and to have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Kurri’s seven hat tricks

Kurri’s seven hat tricks are the most by a Finnish-born player in NHL history and tied for seventh-most among all players. Kurri is one of four players in NHL history with at least seven hat tricks and 500 goals, joining Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Mike Bossy. He is also one of six players in NHL history with at least seven hat tricks and 1,000 points, joining Gretzky, Lemieux, Bossy, Mark Messier and Dino Ciccarelli.

Kurri’s hat trick against the Blues

On January 10, 1988, Jari Kurri became the first player in NHL history to record four hat tricks in a single season. Kurri’s fourth hat trick came against the St. Louis Blues, in a game that the Edmonton Oilers would go on to win 8-4.

Kurri would finish the 1987-88 season with an NHL-leading 76 goals, and his four hat tricks helped him tie Wayne Gretzky’s single-season record for most hat tricks.