Mike Hoffman is chasing an NHL record, but the details are a little sketchy to him.



The Senators rookie has scored 20 goals this season -- all of them at even strength. He's the only player in the NHL to reach the 20-goal plateau without scoring a single goal on the power play. So I asked him if he knew what the NHL record was for the most goals in a single season without scoring on the power play.



"No, I have no idea what the record is. I'm guessing it's around 30 or 35," Hoffman said.



While Hoffman may be oblivious about the details of the record, the man who holds the mark is well aware of his obscure place in NHL history.



"Yeah, it's one of those really influential records, right?" Doug Smail joked over the phone. "But yes, I am aware I have the record."



In the 1984-85 season, Smail scored 31 goals for the Winnipeg Jets and astonishingly, not as single one came on the power play. That Jets team was the first one in NHL history to boast six different 30-goal scorers - Dale Hawerchuk (53), Paul MacLean (41), Laurie Boschman (32), Brian Mullen (32), Tomas Steen (30) and Smail.



"As a franchise, we were poised to take a run at the Stanley Cup that year. We had six guys score 30 goals and yet nobody was really looking at individual stats," Smail recalls.



Because that Jets roster was so deep, Smail was never used on the power play. "I didn't get a sniff on the PP," laughs Smail. "I was used as a checker and a pure neutralizer. And when you play that role, the goals you get are a bonus."



Smail scored three shorthanded goals that season, but the rest came in even-strength situations. A couple of seasons later, in 1986-87, Smail once again registered a 25-goal season in which he did not score a single power-play marker.



In recent years, only a couple of players have come close to threatening Smail's record. In 2008-09, Alex Burrows of the Vancouver Canucks had 28 goals without scoring on the power play. Mike Donnelly of the Los Angeles Kings came the closest in 1991-92 with 29 goals without scoring once on the power play.



Hoffman says that the 30-goal plateau is certainly within his reach -- although he's not too worried about how the goals come for him.



"I don't know, we'll have to see I guess. I'm still 11 away (from Smail's record), so who knows what can happen," Hoffman said. "Obviously, my goal now is to try and hit 30, so if it happens to be a few on the power or play or a few at even strength, I'm just going to take them however I can get them."



For his part, Smail has enjoyed holding onto this strange piece of NHL trivia for the past 30 years, but says he will have no hard feelings if Hoffman eclipses his mark this season.



"Anybody that achieves any record, they deserve a good bottle of wine to celebrate with. It would be awesome, so if he did it -- that's just fantastic," says Smail.