Kiefer Sherwood is on the precipice of greatness and is just about to hit someone right off of it.
With 10 hits against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night, Sherwood brought his total to 383 hits on the season. That tied the NHL record set by his former teammate, Jeremy Lauzon, just last season and there are still 13 games remaining.
With his next hit, likely on Saturday against the New York Rangers, Sherwood will set the all-time record for most hits in a season.
To be clear, the NHL only started recording hits in the 2005-06 season, leaving out 87 seasons of NHL history. It's entirely possible that someone in the past might have had more hits in a season than Sherwood. There are big names like Gordie Howe and Scott Stevens, who were known for their physical play, but it could have been a player who wasn't a star, like Craig Ludwig or Bryan Marchment.
Still, Sherwood is on pace to break the record by over 70 hits. It seems safe to say that even with the rest of NHL history included, this would be a season for the ages for Sherwood.
Sherwood's consistency has been an impressive aspect of his season. He's had fewer than three hits in a game just once all season, when he had two hits against the San Jose Sharks on December 23, a game in which he also scored a goal. That includes the game on January 23 against the Edmonton Oilers when he left the game with an injury after just 6:10 in ice time — he still had three hits in those six minutes.
Most of the time, Sherwood is getting a lot more than three hits, recording six or more hits in over half of his games this season. He has seven games with 10+ hits, hitting a season and career-high 12 hits on October 22 against the Chicago Blackhawks. That's the most hits by any NHL player in a game this season and it tied Luke Schenn for the most hits ever in one game by a Canuck.
But what's most impressive about Sherwood is that he isn't just throwing hits. Sherwood has set career highs in goals and points with 15 goals and 29 points in 65 games. Even in that 12-hit game against the Blackhawks, Sherwood recorded two assists.
"The puck is more important than the hit," said Sherwood to V.I.A. back in December. "I need to make plays — it's not just about hitting, right?” said Sherwood. “But when I get in on the forecheck and use my speed and drive my feet, that's when I can impose. It's not necessarily about maybe me getting the puck, but maybe my linemate or the D."
Sherwood has shown a lot more skill than your typical bottom-six forward, not only scoring goals with his heavy shot but also setting up teammates with some pretty incredible passes.
Along the way, Sherwood has shown a lot of class. Unlike some other players that might rack up a lot of hits, Sherwood has an immense amount of respect for his opponents and for the game itself.
“I don't want to throw anyone under the bus. There's certain guys around the league that I think are dirty hitters,” said Sherwood. “I'm hitting more to wear them down or set them up for later on in the game, or to get that puck back.
“I respect the guys; it's a gentleman's game. I don't want to take anyone out if I can, but I do want to be mean and I want to get under guys' skin. I do think it's on the hitter to deliver the hit in a safe spot, and not necessarily go up high.”
That's why Sherwood was so upset about Jason Dickinson's hit on Filip Chytil in the March 15 game against the Blackhawks. Dickinson received neither a penalty nor supplemental discipline, while Chytil has yet to return to the Canucks' lineup and didn't travel with the team on their current road trip.
"There’s a reason that guy didn’t play the rest of the game,” said Sherwood after the game. “It’s unnecessary. I didn’t like it. No one liked it. Once the game’s out of hand, we’re not going around trying to kill guys. I get you’re frustrated and you’re pissed off, but we’re not taking liberties on 98 [Connor Bedard] or their young guys. You’ve got to play hard but, at the same time, you’ve got to respect the game."
Sherwood respects the game and the game appears to respect him right back. With one more hit, he'll go into the record books.
