At the beginning of his career, no one would have expected Vic Hadfield would become the New York Rangers’ first 50-goal scorer. According to his statistics at EliteProspects.com, in juniors, he collected 25 goals in 99 games, instead focusing his efforts on roughing up opponents, earning 202 penalty minutes in two seasons. During his first stint in the minors with the Buffalo Bison, he had just five goals in 63 games, with 111 penalty minutes.
Eventually, Hadfield cracked the Rangers lineup in 1961-62 when he was 21. Statistically, it would take him six seasons in the NHL to break the 20-goal mark and only three seasons to surpass 100 penalty minutes, leading the league with 151 in 1963-64.