Super 60s

Two different players in two different sports each scored their 60th goals of the season today.

Photo Credit: theglobeandmail.com

Lionel Messi scored a pair of goals in Barcelona's 4-1 win at Real Zaragoza giving him 38 goals in La Liga matches and 60 across all competitions. He becomes the first player in almost 40 years to score 60 goals in a season for a club in a major European league. The last player to accomplish the feat was Bayern Munich's Gerd Müller who finished the 1972-73 season with 67 goals. Müller's mark seems well within striking distance as Barcelona still has 7 games left in La Liga and at least 2 more Champions League matches.

Photo Credit: broadstreethockey.com

Meanwhile across the Atlantic 22 year old Steven Stamkos scored his 60th goal of the year for the Tampa Bay Lightning in their 4-3 overtime win over the Winnipeg Jets. Stamkos becomes just the second player (the other being Alex Ovechkin) to reach 60 goals in a season since 1996. Stamkos is just one of six players in NHL history to record two 50+ goal seasons before the age of 23. You may have heard of the others: Mike Bossy, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Joe Nieuwendyk and Alex Ovechkin.