This morning I noted that “On this date back in 1998, Dale Hunter had three helpers and reached the 1,000 point plateau, becoming the first – and still only – player in NHL history with 1,000 points and 3,000 PIMs in a career.”
Maruk commented that Huntsy may be the only member to ever enter that exclusive club, and while you never say never… he’s probably right. A quick glance at the active Top 100 in points and PIMs makes you realize that it’s unlikely anyone currently playing is going to reach the double milestone, but let’s take a look at just how unlikely.
We’ll be very generous and assume everyone’s career per game totals for points and PIMs stay constant (which would obviously be increased production for most if not all of these guys), which yields the following results, in which “Games” and “Seasons” represent the number of games and 82-game seasons the player would need at that pace to achieve both milestones:
| Player | Points | PIMs | Games | Seasons |
| Chris Chelios | 948 | 2,877 | 89.7 | 1.1 |
| Gary Roberts | 906 | 2,549 | 214.6 | 2.6 |
| Keith Tkachuk | 1,011 | 2,139 | 440.4 | 5.4 |
| Owen Nolan | 821 | 1,737 | 792.6 | 9.7 |
| Chris Gratton | 567 | 1,636 | 905.4 | 11.0 |
| Darcy Tucker | 445 | 1,337 | 1,048.5 | 12.8 |
| Rob Blake | 728 | 1,578 | 1,050.7 | 12.8 |
| Bill Guerin | 793 | 1,550 | 1,074.9 | 13.1 |
| Chris Pronger | 586 | 1,417 | 1,097.0 | 13.4 |
| Ed Jovanovski | 417 | 1,260 | 1,214.6 | 14.8 |
Think Darcy Tucker has another 13 seasons in him? Me neither. Interestingly, Chelios is the only player who would hit the 3,000 PIM mark before he reaching 1,000 points (which, of course, Tkachuk already has). And in case you were wondering, Sean Avery will need another 1,871 games (22.8 seasons) to join the club. I’ll take the under.
As for the current Caps team, here’s a look at how long it will take some of them:
| Player | Games | Seasons |
| Chris Clark | 2,204.0 | 26.9 |
| Alexander Semin | 2,841.9 | 34.7 |
| Sergei Fedorov | 3,302.0 | 40.3 |
| Donald Brashear | 3,753.7 | 45.8 |
| Mike Green | 4,065.6 | 49.6 |
| Michael Nylander | 4,928.6 | 60.1 |
| Alexander Ovechkin | 4,200.2 | 51.2 |
| Brooks Laich | 7,105.4 | 86.7 |
| Nicklas Backstrom | 9,102.0 | 111.0 |
| Karl Alzner | * | * |
Those stars next to Alzner’s name? They’re for infinity, as in Alzner will never get to both milestones because he has yet to commit a penalty in the NHL.
So what do you think? Will anyone ever again rack up 1,000 points and 3,000 penalty minutes in the NHL and join Dale for a celebratory cigar, or is he destined to be the only member in as exclusive a club as exists in hockey history?