Captain Nico Hischier’s first goal in the NHL was on Oct. 19, 2017. The first-overall pick in the 2017 Draft was playing his seventh NHL game.
“It was in Ottawa, we won that game in overtime,” Hischier explained. “Nobody forgets your first goal. I think you always look back at it with a smile.
“I don’t think I went too crazy,” Hischier continued about his celebration after scoring. “I’m not a big celly guy so I don’t think I went too crazy.”
Defenseman Dougie Hamilton was playing for the Boston Bruins when he scored his first goal back on Feb. 15, 2013.
“I don’t know if I remember it more from watching on YouTube or actually live now at this point,” Hamilton shared. “It was on the power play in Buffalo. I think I made a pretty good pass back door, I just missed and I was kind of like ‘oh no, that was a good chance.’ And it ended up coming back around. The goalie was kind of out of the net and I was hoping to get it. Came back to me and I just put it in kind of an open net.
“Just so much joy after that,” Hamilton continued. “I remember my parents were in the crowd too, so it was a very cool moment. I think it’s something everyone says 'you’ll never forget it' and it’s obviously true that you’ll always remember that.”
Like his players, Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe vividly remembers his first goal in the league. He was a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning and was playing in their Nov. 5, 2000 matchup against the Washington Capitals.
“The way I recall it, we had just scored a goal,” Keefe explained. “The crowd was already pretty amped up and then I scored, on a slap shot of all things. Which the year prior I led the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) in scoring, I don’t know if I ever scored on a slap shot. So to score one down the wing, slap shot that found its way in, all on Olaf Kolzig who was coming off winning the Vezina Trophy. Yeah that was a big goal for me, big moment.
“I don’t think (Kolzig) expected it to go in,” Keefe continued. “I believe he broke his stick over the cross bar after … It’s nice to get that one. You know, one of the benefits when you don’t score many, is you remember them all.”
A moment that is full of joy and accomplishment, scoring your first NHL goal is also an opportunity to appreciate the journey to that point and the people who helped along the way.
“I think all those moments, your first game, different plays, your first goal, all that kind of stuff,” Hamilton started. “It kind of doesn’t seem real at the start. Then after a little bit, it kind of sinks in. But just trying to do your best in those times where it’s so much at once.”
“My whole journey is something that we have done together and I wouldn’t be here without them,” Bratt said on his parent’s support. “So celebrating with them afterward, just sitting down to have a dinner with them and just really try to picture what happened during the game was a cool moment.”
