"So, my name comes up a lot, still being the only one."

"You know, it actually turns up all the time,'' admits Hakan Loob, fielding a long-distance call from his long-ago winter base in Calgary. "When William Karlsson of the Knights was on a roll there for awhile, lots was being written in the papers here in Sweden: Will he be the second one to score 50?

Tuesday marked the 30th anniversary of Loob's 50th goal of the 1987-88 NHL season for the Flames.

He remains the only Swedish-born player to reach the magic number.

Any number of illustrious names have come up short. Peter Forsberg never did it. Nor Naslund, neither Mats or Markus. Nor Alfie. Nor Sundin. Nor Zetterberg.

And now with the official retirement announcement Monday you can cross the Sedins off the list of potentials, too.

"Absolute last game of the year,'' Loob is reminiscing. "Minnesota, at home. At the very end of the game, too. On the powerplay.

"Nieuwy had scored his 50th a couple games before and this was my last chance.

"It wasn't a usual stationary set-up play but a breakout. Sutesy (Gary Suter) came down the left side and I was kinda rushing to the net. He threw it in there and it was an open net.

"Pretty easy. But it was sweet being the 50th."

No one at the time of the strike, scored at 16:55 of the third period against North Stars' goalie Don Beaupre, could fully comprehend how historic it would become.

"I don't know how many times I'm asked the question: Am I suprised?" says Loob, back from PyeongChang, South Korea, where he worked colour commentary for Eurosport men's and women's hockey broadcasts.

"There've been a lot of good Swedish players come after me, but to be honest not a lot of natural goal scorers.

"Peter Forsberg was a great, great player, he did so many things to help you win hockey games, but he was never a pure goal scorer. The player I really did think would get the 50 was Markus Naslund in Vancouver. More of a sniper. Really great skater, good hockey sense and a fantastic shot. So I thought he might be the guy.

"The answer is: Yes and no. After I scored the 50 goaltending got so much better, so quick. All of a sudden. That's the biggest development in the game of hockey, the goaltending. In my opinion.

"You look at how many guys score 50 now? Ovechkin, he seems to be there or near every year. But other than that … it's really hard.

"The Swedes playing today … it's going to be a (Filip) Forsberg or a William Karlsson, someone like that, if someone does it."

For now, he remains the only one.

"Looking back,'' muses Loob, "it was an amazing feeling back then, being the only Swede to score 50 goals.

"Still is."