Scoring 30 goals in a single season could be a tough challenge for a hockey player. In Ottawa Senators franchise history, the team has seen many popular and talented players score 30 goals in a single season.
From Daniel Alfredsson, to Dany Heatley, to Marian Hossa, to Alexei Yashin and to even Jason Spezza for the old-school players. Today's generation will remember Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stutzle, Josh Norris and Claude Giroux each scoring 30 goals in a single season.
Despite the more popular players in franchise history, the Senators have had two 30-goal scorers that some fans might have forgotten about. Both of these 30-goal scorers helped the Senators make the playoffs and produced a big season doing so.
Two former 30-goal scorers on the Senators you forgot about
One of the 30-goal scorers was a member of the first ever Senators team to win a division title. The other one helped the Senators sneak into the playoffs as an eighth seed.
Shawn McEachern
Out of his 911 career NHL games, Shawn McEachern played 454 of them as a Senator. McEachern joined the Senators in 1996 where he spent six seasons with the team. In two of his seasons as a Senator, McEachern recorded a 30-goal season.
McEachern recorded his first 30-goal season in the 1998-99 season where he scored 31 goals. McEachern's goal scoring helped the Senators win their first ever division title in 1999. In the 2000-01 season, McEachern recorded his second 30-goal season where he scored 32 goals.
McEachern's 32 goals, 40 assists and 72 points in 2001 were career-highs for McEachern in a single season. After the 2001-02 season, McEachern spent two seasons with the Atlanta Thrashers and one season with the Boston Bruins.
Milan Michalek
Milan Michalek played in 412 games with the Senators in seven seasons. In the only season that Michalek recorded a 30-goal season, it was a special one.
The 2011-12 season was where Michalek recorded a career-high 35 goals and 60 points. Michalek's play helped him make the 2012 NHL All-Star Game. After the Senators missed the playoffs in 2011, they got in as the eighth seed in 2012, and Michalek was a big part of the team.
Although the Senators came close to eliminating the New York Rangers as an eighth seed, Michalek's season will go down as one of the most underappreciated seasons in Senators history.
Unfortunately for Michalek, his tenure in Ottawa ended when he was traded in the middle of the 2015-16 season to the Toronto Maple Leafs. After the 2016-17 season, Michalek never played an NHL game again.