Despite scoring a league leading 56 goals while missing 16 games during the regular season, Charlie Simmer did not record a single hat trick during the 1979-80 NHL season. He did score two goals in 14 games while scoring no goals in a surprising 22 games.
Charlie tied for the league lead with Danny Gare of the Buffalo Sabres and Blaine Stoughton of the Hartford Whalers. Simmer’s linemate Marcel Dionne was three behind the trio with 53 while Wayne Gretzky and Mike Bossy tied for fifth with 51 goals each.
The following year, Simmer scored 56 goals again, this time while missing 15 games for the Los Angeles Kings. That number placed him third in the NHL, 12 behind leader Mike Bossy and two behind Dionne. He was just one goal ahead of both Gretzky and Rick Kehoe.
In that 1980-81 season, Simmer recorded three of his nine career NHL hat tricks. One of those games was a four goal affair against the New York Islanders. That game, a 7-3 Los Angeles wins, also featured goals from both Marcel Dionne and Mike Bossy.
Simmer played 712 regular season and 24 playoff games in the National Hockey League between 1974-75 and 1987-88 with the California Golden Seals, Cleveland Barons, Los Angeles Kings, Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins.
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