January 29, 1985: Bryan Trottier Joins The 1,000 Point Club

     On January 29, 1985, New York Islanders centre Bryan Trottier became just the 19th man in the history of the NHL to score 1,000 points in his career. The milestone came on a night in front of a home crowd in Uniondale, New York. The Islanders fell into a 4-0 hole, before Trottier scored 2 goals and sparked his team to a 4-4 tie with Minnesota North Stars.

     With his team down but not out, Trottier scored both his goals in the second period to give the team new life. The first was a power play goal that he tipped in when Denis Potvin shot him a quick pass. The second was a thing of beauty, it happened with the team down a man, Trottier poled the puck away from Bob Rouse, then skated stride for stride down the ice with the Minnesota defenseman, at the last second Rouse tried to break things up with a stick check but he wasn't stopping Trottier who faked out the goalie Rollie Melanson then flipped in a backhander. One helluva a way for him to record his 1,000th point. Duane Sutter and John Tonelli each tallied a goal in the third that led to the tie.

     After the contest Trottier was more concerned with his team falling behind then having to overcome the deficit rather than his own personal achievements. Although he did say "I was just happy to score the goal. I'll let people that are good at describing things describe it. But I will always remember it. I'll reflect on the 1,000 points and be thankful to play with these guys on a good team."

     Trottier would score 1,425 points total before his career came to a close. He was a Stanley Cup Champion 4 times with the Islanders, then won it two more times late in his career as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. In 1997 he was honored as one of the greatest to ever lace up a pair of skates when he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. A true legend of the game Trottier's 1,425 points ranks 16th on the all time list and it is safe to say he will always remember the day that he tallied the 1,000 point of his career.

Check out Trottier's career numbers here: http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/t/trottbr01.html