Every season, a select number of National Hockey League players move up the record books and reach significant benchmarks in their careers.
Last year, we witnessed Detroit Red Wings defenceman Nicklas Lidstrom get to 800 assists and 1,000 points, Ottawa Senators forward Alex Kovalev score his 400th goal and, of course, Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils appear in his 1,000th game and become the first goalie to surpass 600 wins.
History could be made on several fronts on opening night of the 2010-11 season in October.
Four NHLers might reach 1,000 points, two will surpass 900 points, 14 will get to 700 points, four will reach 500 assists and eight could score their 100th power-play goal.
In fact, there are over 50 players that could obtain new historic milestones this coming season, including the likes of Sergei Gonchar, Alex Ovechkin, Ryan Smyth and Chris Osgood.
Of those 50, there are three players you should keep the closest eye on: Mark Recchi, Jarome Iginla and Joe Thornton.
Currently sitting at 1,485 points with 194 power-play goals, Recchi is poised to become just the 13th player in history to reach the 1,500-point plateau and the 15th to score 200 power-play goals in a career.
As for Iginla, he's one of the four players approaching 1,000 points, but it will take another solid season for him to get the 80 points he needs for the milestone. Iginla also needs just nine goals for 450, 21 assists for 500 and 13 goals with the man advantage to reach 150.
Thornton also is on the verge of reaching 1,000 points, sitting at 931 entering next season. When Big Joe records his 66th assist of the 2010-11 campaign, he'll also become the 49th player ever to hit the 700-assist mark.
And while he's at it, Thornton may as well score the 15 goals he needs for 300.
Here's a look at the full list of NHLers that have the chance to make history during the 2010-11 campaign:
Milestone chases
Forwards/Defencemen
(Player's current total in paranthesis)
| Name | Points | Goals | Assists | PP goals | Game-winners | PIMs | Games |
| Mark Recchi | 1,500 (1,485) | | | 200 (194) | | 1,000 (998) | |
| Alex Kovalev | 1,000 (990) | | 600 (578) | | | | |
| Daniel Alfredsson | 1,000 (992) | 400 (375) | | | | | |
| Joe Thornton | 1,000 (931) | 300 (285) | 700 (634) | | | | |
| Jarome Iginla | 1,000 (920) | 450 (441) | 500 (479) | 150 (137) | | | |
| Jason Arnott | 900 (873) | 400 (383) | 500 (490) | 150 (135) | | | 1,100 (1,099) |
| Ray Whitney | 900 (869) | 350 (324) | 550 (545) | 100 (94) | | | 1,100 (1,072) |
| Marian Hossa | 800 (770) | 400 (363) | | | | | |
| Ryan Smyth | 750 (713) | 350 (332) | 400 (381) | | 50 (49) | | 1,000 (987) |
| Marc Savard | 700 (696) | | 500 (491) | | | | |
| Sergei Gonchar | 700 (684) | | 500 (482) | 100 (92) | | | |
| Patrick Marleau | 700 (693) | | | 100 (97) | | | |
| Saku Koivu | 700 (693) | | | | | | |
| Cory Stillman | 700 (688) | | | 100 (96) | | | |
| Martin St. Louis | 700 (679) | | | | 50 (48) | | |
| Shane Doan | 700 (678) | | | | 50 (48) | | |
| Todd Bertuzzi | 700 (668) | | 400 (395) | | | | |
| Chris Pronger | 700 (661) | | | | | | |
| Steve Sullivan | 700 (660) | | | | 50 (49) | | |
| Andrew Brunette | 700 (660) | | | | | | |
| Ilya Kovalchuk | 700 (642) | | | | | | |
| Michael Nylander | 700 (679) | | | | | | |
| Pavel Datsyuk | 600 (592) | 200 (198) | 400 (394) | | | | |
| Roman Hamrlik | 600 (590) | | | | | | |
| Alex Ovechkin | 600 (529) | 300 (269) | 300 (260) | 100 (91) | | | 400 (396) |
| Ed Jovanovski | 500 (467) | | | | | | |
| Todd Marchant | 500 (490) | | | | | | |
| Mike Knuble | 500 (482) | | | | | | |
| Tomas Kaberle | 500 (482) | | | | | | |
| Henrik Zetterberg | 500 (475) | | | | | | |
| Jason Spezza | 500 (475) | | | | | | |
| Tomas Holmstrom | 500 (469) | | | | | | |
| Dany Heatley | | 300 (299) | | | | | |
| Scott Gomez | | | 500 (477) | | | | |
| Brian Rafalski | | | 400 (392) | | | | |
| Bryan McCabe | | 150 (138) | 400 (362) | | | 1,700 (1,698) | 1,100 (1,068) |
| Ian Laperierre | | | | | | 2,000 (1,956) | 1,100 (1,083) |
| Brian Rolston | | | | 100 (91) | | | |
| Vinny Lecavalier | | | | 100 (90) | | | |
| Danny Briere | | | | 100 (89) | | | |
Goaltenders
| Name | Wins | Losses | Shutouts | Saves | Shots against | Games |
| Chris Osgood | 400 (396) | | | | | |
| Roberto Luongo | 300 (270) | | | 17,000 (16,849) | | |
| Tomas Vokoun | 250 (240) | 250 (239) | 50 (38) | | | 600 (575) |
| Dwayne Roloson | 200 (190) | | | 13,000 (12,934) | 15,000 (14,220) | |
| Ryan Miller | 200 (187) | | | 9,000 (8,945) | 10,000 (9,351) | |
| Henrik Lundqvist | 200 (177) | | | 9,000 (8,580) | 10,000 (9,351) | |
| Marc-Andre Fleury | 150 (148) | | | 8,000 (7,837) | 9,000 (8,645) | |
| Cam Ward | 150 (138) | | | 7,000 (6,861) | 8,000 (7,578) | |
| John Grahame | 100 (97) | 100 (86) | | | | |
| Martin Brodeur | | | | 25,000 (24,790) | | |
| Nikolai Khabibulin | | | | | 20,000 (19,376) | 700 (696) |
Coaches
| Name | Games | Wins |
| Ron Wilson | 1,300 (1,255) | 600 (582) |
| Jacques Martin | 1,200 (1,180) | 600 (556) |
| Marc Crawford | 1,100 (1,069) | |
| Joel Quenneville | 1,000 (999) | 550 (535) |
| Lindy Ruff | 1,000 (984) | 500 (483) |
| Paul Maurice | 1,000 (987) | 450 (424) |