Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar made history Thursday night in Columbus, and the NHL’s PR account on X wasted no time spelling it out.
After scoring his 30th goal of the season and adding two assists in the 7–3 Avs win over the Blue Jackets, Makar became just the fifth defenseman in NHL history to post a 30-goal, 60-assist campaign.
The league's PR team marked the occasion with a post featuring Makar holding a commemorative puck with a white tape labeled “30th goal”—in a historic caption.
“Cale Makar had three points for the @Avalanche tonight, reaching the 30-goal and 60-assist mark in the process. ”
In the process of making personal history, Makar helped his team clinch a postseason berth for the eighth consecutive year as the Avs gear up for another deep postseason run.
The NHL made sure to bring back the names of those who were part of the group Makar joined on Thursday, a list that features just four other names who hit both marks in a single season.
Bobby Orr did it five times, Denis Potvin three, Ray Bourque once, and Paul Coffey achieved the feat four times while being the last man to do it, in 1988–89, until Makar matched him.
Makar’s 30th goal came on a power play late in the second period, off a pass from Nathan MacKinnon.
The Avs alternate captain now sits at 90 points, tying his career high from last season and becoming the first defenseman since Coffey and Al MacInnis in the early 1990s to record back-to-back 90-point years.
Makar is also the first defenseman to score 30 goals in a season since Mike Green in 2009 and the ninth to hit that number.
The blueliner is the favorite (with -1800 odds, per Vegas insider) to win his second Norris Trophy award as the Avalanche will soon start their run toward winning their second Stanley Cup championship in four seasons.
