Not bad, Auston Matthews, but the record for most points in an NHL rookie debut still belongs to Nanaimo's Al Hill… https://t.co/kNVbzL2PmV pic.twitter.com/teCh1Ycwv9
— Greg Sakaki (@BulletinSports) October 13, 2016
Toronto Maple Leafs rookie phenom Auston Matthews had quite a debut, but it wasn’t the best ever. A Nanaimo hockey player, Al Hill, still holds the record for most points in his first NHL game.
Matthews, the No. 1 overall pick in this past spring’s NHL Draft, scored four goals Wednesday as his Leafs lost 5-4 in overtime to the Ottawa Senators in the season opener in the nation’s capital.
The four goals established a new NHL record, but the record for most points in a rookie debut still belongs to Hill, who scored five points (two goals and three assists) in his first game with the Philadelphia Flyers on Feb. 14, 1977. Hill had a winning debut, as his Flyers beat the St. Louis Blues 6-4 that night.
Hill was inducted in the Nanaimo Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.