VICE Sports Q&A: Darryl Sittler Reflects on His Record-Setting 10-Point Game

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For Darryl Sittler and the Toronto Maple Leafs, Feb. 7, 1976 appeared as though it was going to be just another ordinary game against the Boston Bruins. At the end of the first period, Sittler had two assists and the Leafs were winning 2-1, but by all accounts it seemed to be business as usual at The Garden. After the first intermission, however, something transpired on the ice that changed the hockey world. In an offensive tour de force, Sittler scored three goals and added two assists in the second period, setting a new franchise record for most points in a period. More importantly, his performance in the middle frame also put him within striking distance of the NHL record for most points (eight) scored in a single game. Originally set by Maurice "Rocket" Richard in 1945, and later tied by Bert Olmstead in 1954, Sittler had the chance to make history, and as the third period commenced, he did not disappoint. Within 44 seconds of puck drop, Sittler scored another goal to tie the record and later added two more tallies to set a new benchmark that remains unparalleled to this day.

Since enshrining himself into the NHL's history books, 11 players have reached the eight-point mark in a single game, but Sittler's record remains. He finished that 1975-76 season with 41 goals and 59 assists, becoming the first Leafs player to reach the 100-point milestone. Sittler, who played five more seasons in Toronto before finishing his career in Philadelphia and Detroit, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1989 with 1121 points, including 484 goals.

We recently had the chance to talk to Sittler about his historic game as we reflect on the 40th anniversary of his tremendous achievement. The transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

VICE Sports: What would a typical game-day routine look like for you?

Darryl Sittler: Normally when you have game day at home, you have a morning skate and you'd be on the ice around 10:30 AM. I was living out in Mississauga [just west of Toronto] at the time so I'd drive in, do the morning skate, shower up, head back home to have a pregame meal and then have a nap in the afternoon and then go back down for the game. That day, going home from the rink in the morning, Wendy [his late wife] would have a pregame meal ready for me, but she had been out doing a bunch of things and running errands and was behind schedule and I was behind schedule so I just went and grabbed some Swiss Chalet chicken and basically ate it out of my car on the way to my house so I could get a good nap in in the afternoon. So, changed my routine a little bit, but I'll always remember that change up.

Did anything happen to stick out for you prior to the game that week?

What had happened before that, sometime during the week—an article came out and in Harold Ballard fashion he had mentioned to the media if only we could find a good centre to play between Lanny [McDonald] and Errol [Thompson]. And I obviously was the guy that was playing between them so it was a little shot towards me. Saturday night we played the Bruins and the record still stands 40 years later.

After the first period you had two assists, so were obviously having a good game. But at what point during that matchup did you start to think you were having an exceptional night?

I didn't give it too much thought until after the second period. Our statistician, Stan Obodiac, who took care of the press notes and he'd been around for a long time, he comes down to me and says, 'Hey Darryl, I don't know if you know it or not but if you get one more point tonight you'll tie Rocket Richard's record from back in the 40s.' I knew I was having a good game with seven points, but I had no idea what the record was, so there was a lot of buzz in the building. When you're playing an Original Six team in Maple Leaf Gardens it's always a bigger game, so to speak, than an expansion team—that in itself created some buzz and that was the first game that Harold Ballard put a new horn in the building so whenever you scored a goal this loud horn would go off, so that was all new. And then I went out in the third period and everything just fell into place. Scored a couple goals, one to tie the record and another to go ahead. And on that last goal, if you recall, I was behind the net and I was trying to pass the puck out to Erroll Thompson who was breaking into the slot area. A defenceman had blocked the pass and redirected it through Reece's legs and [I] kind of threw my hands up in the air and couldn't believe it was happening. I had 10 shots on goal that night. There were other games I had 10 shots, but the puck had eyes and it went in.

When the statistician came up to you in the second intermission, did that affect your mindset at all?

No, it didn't change me at all. I was just so happy we were beating the Bruins at home and having a good game. I've always been the type to just go out there and play my best, whether you are winning or you're losing. I just loved the game so much and scoring and being successful on the ice. Just continued on what I was doing before. In all honesty, there were other times in my career where I thought I had played just as good of a game, but some of the scoring chances didn't go in. Whereas on that night most of my scoring chances went in and that's why it's a record.

It was certainly an historic night for Boston's goalie as well, albeit for different reasons. Can you comment on his play?

I don't think [Dave] Reece had a bad game, I looked back on some of the goals and they were pretty good shots just inside the post. A couple were from far out, but back in those days they very seldom pulled the goalie. That was kind of the mentality of the coach, even if a goalie was struggling throughout the night you kind of let him go through it and put the other goalie in the next game. Gerry Cheevers was in the World Hockey Association playing in Cleveland [Crusaders] and that team folded so the Bruins had signed him and brought him back to Boston and this was one of his first games back and he was sitting on the bench. The Bruins wanted to save his debut for the Boston Garden on Sunday night at home.

Did you do anything memorable after the game to mark the occasion?

At the end of the game, there was a bit of a celebration. Nothing too crazy. We all went out after, well, not all of us, but the guys that lived in Mississauga, we went out with our wives after the game to Bobby Rubino's to have some ribs and go home for a good night sleep as we were back in Maple Leaf Gardens the next day—it was one of the few nights where we played Sunday at home. We played Minnesota the next night and it ended up being a 4-1 game for us so it was a totally different game than the night before.

You actually ended up having a pretty big 1976 as you also scored five goals in a playoff game and you scored the golden goal for Canada at the Canada Cup. How do these rank for you?

The 10-point record is an individual record that still stands today and I always thought that Wayne Gretzky or Mario Lemieux would beat it and I always wanted to see those guys have a good chance at tying it or breaking it. A number of guys have scored eight points. But because it was Hockey Night in Canada done coast to coast in a Leafs uniform against an Original Six team it got a lot of people watching that game.

The playoff game, we were playing the Flyers, we obviously had a big rivalry with the Flyers at that time, they were coming off a couple Stanley Cup teams and they were the Broad Street Bullies. So to score five goals against Bernie Parent and keep the playoff series alive meant a lot.

Canada Cup, that sticks out for me most in my mind because back then, I was 26 years old and I had the chance to try out for Team Canada and there were no guarantees you'd make the team. You go to training camp and you work hard all summer with the idea that you'd stick around with the team. You hear it from so many players that, and it's so true, when you represent your country the intensity, the pride, and the emotion that comes with it, it's unexplainable until you get there and you're experiencing it. In the end, I was playing left wing with Marcel Dionne and Lanny McDonald. Vladimir Dzurilla—the goalie for the Czech team—he had a fantastic tournament and I think everybody going into the Canada Cup thought it would be the Russians and Canada in the final, but the Czechs with their goalie playing so well and young guys like [Peter] Stastny, ended up getting to the final. The goal itself was one of those goals where we knew from talking amongst ourselves that Dzurilla was one of those guys who challenged you and came way out of the net when you're coming down the wing, and that's kind of how the play broke. I put the puck through the defenceman's leg and went around him and looked up and Dzurilla was coming out of his net so I moved to my left and slid it into the empty net, so to speak. That was my highlight, never was fortunate to be on a Stanley Cup team, so to be on a championship team with the best players from Canada in 1976 was my highlight.

Did you happen to watch Sam Gagner's eight-point performance with the Edmonton Oilers a few years ago?

That was out in Edmonton, so with the time difference I was already in bed and when I got up in the morning that was the first thing I had heard on the sports the next morning that Sam Gagner had eight points. They compared it and brought it up to my record in 1976. But again, if you said one person's name to get eight points would it have been Sam Gagner? No, but it happened to him. So we can all sit here and say it could be Patrick Kane or [Alex] Ovechkin or [Sidney] Crosby or whoever, but it could be somebody else.

Do you think your record will stand the test of time and, if not, how do you think you'd react if it is broken?

I always say never say never because things happen in sport and that's what makes them so fantastic because the unthinkable can happen. Look at what happened to me. So can it happen to someone else? Sure. The percentage chance is pretty small, just the number of goals scored in the game and the goaltenders, their equipment is a little bit bigger now than it was back then. The checking part of the game is a little different now than it was back then. So could it happen? Yeah. I'd be honoured to share it with them. What my reaction would be, I'm not sure, but I beat Rocket Richard's record and I had great respect for the Montreal Canadiens and Richard's record. Did doing that make me a better player than him? No. He was a great player—I just happened to have a lucky night where everything went my way and I just happened to have the record that still stands today. And if that happens to somebody else I'd look at it the same way. I'd think that that guy had a great night and I'd be proud and happy for the person.