NHL Power Rankings: 50 Best Goal Celebrations in Hockey History

In the NFL, there is a phenomenon known as the "touchdown dance" which is ritually performed after scoring a touchdown.

While not every hockey goal is celebrated like football touchdowns are, there are some intriguing and entertaining goal celebrations in hockey.

Most players do the general fist pump, celebrate with teammates and/or jump into glass after scoring. Some players routinely have their own personal goal celebration, akin to a touchdown dance, and others' are more spontaneous.

Here are the 50 best goal celebrations in hockey history.

50. Mites' Snow Angels Celebration

The Washington Capitals host a mini hockey game for mites during their first intermission.

At one game, the mites celebrate a goal by making snow angels on the ice.

Very clever and cute.

49. Vinny Prospal

Vinny Prospal's goal reaction after scoring his first shorthanded goal a couple years back.

He celebrates as if he just scored his first career goal. It's refreshing to see someone so excited to score a goal.  

48. The Jump into the Glass

One common celebration after scoring a goal is to jump into the glass behind the net.

Georges Laraque did that after one goal.

47. The Fist Pump

The fist pump is another common goal celebration.

Danny Briere is one player that does the fist pump celebration quite well. He puts a little extra effort into it.

46. Alex Ovechkin and Sergei Fedorov

Sergei Fedorov scored the game and series winning goal against the New York Rangers in the 2009 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals.

Then, he gets mauled by teammate Alex Ovechkin.

45. Mike Green

Mike Green is so excited that he scored a goal that he forgets the wall is there.

Celebration fail.

44. Ilya Kovalchuk

Ilya Kovalchuk celebrates his goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins with the sliding fist pump move.

43. Pavel Bure

Pavel Bure scores the OT Game 7-winning goal against the Calgary Flames in the 1994 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Bure throws his gloves up in the air and joins the celebration.

42. Mike Richards and the Philadelphia Flyers

The Philadelphia Flyers celebrate Mike Richards awesome shorthanded goal against Jaroslav Halak in the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals.

41. P.K. Subban

P.K. Subban makes sure to celebrate his goals.

This time, he does a glide on the ice.  

40. Zack Bogosian

Zack Bogosian scores a goal and is so excited that his feet are moving to fast for him and he takes a tumble.

He does a little somersault and jumps back up quickly to hug his teammates.

39. Patrick Kane

When Patrick Kane scored the game and Stanley Cup-winning goal in overtime of Game 6 last year, not many people realized it right away.

But Kane did and he skated down to the other side to start the celebration.

38. Eddie Jovo

The Vancouver Canucks score a goal and the whole team is celebrating.

Even Eddie Jovo, who's in the penalty box.

37. Matt Duchene

 Matt Duchene scores a goal and celebrates by winding up and shooting.

36. Andre Dupont

Andre "Moose" Dupont celebrates one of his goals by running in place.

That's not how a moose runs....

35. Dustin Byfuglien

The monkey is finally off Dustin Byfuglien's back.

He scores a goal and then removes the monkey from his back.

34. Andrew Gordon

Andrew Gordon is so excited to get his first NHL goal under his belt, that he kisses his linemate Marcus Johannson.

33. Marian Hossa

Marian Hossa celebrates one of his goals by infusing another recreational activity: dancing.

He does a little cha-cha-cha move after scoring.

32. Joe Thornton

Joe Thornton celebrated one of his goal's by blowing kisses to the crowd.

That's a nice celebration.

31. Patrick Kane

Patrick Kane scores a goal in the playoffs against the Vancouver Canucks.

His celebration appears to be him going for a swim and then punching something.

30. Miroslav Satan

Miroslav Satan scores a goal. Before joining his teammates to celebrate, he does a little jog in place.

Is he implying that he's just getting warmed up?

29. Ilya Kovalchuk

Ilya Kovalchuk scored a power play goal.

Just so everyone's clear as to who might be to blame, Kovalchuk's celebration includes pointing towards the penalty box.

28. Brandon Dubinsky and Derek Stepan

Derek Stepan scores his first career hat trick and a big celebration is in order.

That includes a celebratory kiss from teammate Brandon Dubinsky.

27. Wayne Gretzky

Wayne Gretzky was the youngest player to score 500 goals. One would think that that accomplishment would warrant a big celebration.

However, Gretzky seems barely fazed by it.

Impressive.

26. Matt Duchene and Paul Stastny

Matt Duchene and Paul Stastny are celebrating the win more than the final goal, but their dance is cute, so it had to be included.

25. Sidney Crosby

Sidney Crosby isn't often very expressive after scoring goals, but some goals are bigger than others.

Perhaps the biggest goal of Crosby's career came last year at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics; the OT winner that clinched the gold medal for Canada.

He threw his gloves off and braced himself for all his teammates coming at him.

24. Mike Foligno

Mike Foligno had a signature goal celebration.

He would jump up after scoring a goal, something that became known as the "Foligno Jump."

23. Ron Hextall and Philadelphia Flyers

Ron Hextall scored a goal; something goaltenders don't often do. The team's celebration is a great moment.

What's even greater though, is that that goal wouldn't be Hextall's last.

22. Alex Burrows

This goal celebration by Alex Burrows may not seem very entertaining on the surface, but it's the meaning behind it that warrants its inclusion on this list.

Burrows points to the heavens, as a tribute to his former teammate Luc Bourdon, who was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident.

21. Sidney Crosby

One of Sidney Crosby's only emotional goal celebrations was when he scored his first career NHL goal.

He jumps into the glass to celebrate; something we don't often see from Crosby.

20. Zdeno Chara

Zdeno Chara reminds fans that the goal he just scored gave him a hat trick, by pantomiming tossing an imaginary hat.

The fans gladly oblige.  

19. Peter Bondra

What some may not realize is that Chara’s imaginary hat toss was Peter Bondra’s signature hat trick celebration originally.

Bondra was fine with Chara using his move though.

18. Jaromir Jagr

Jaromir Jagr had a signature celebration when he scored; he would salute.

It really annoyed opposing teams and opposing fans.

17. Danny Markov

The bad thing about having a signature goal celebration is that when another team beats you, they tend to use your celebration against you.

Danny Markov did that to Jagr.

16. Sean Avery

Sean Avery celebrates one of his goals by doing push-ups.

Uh Sean, I thought push-ups were punishment for missing the net in practice; not a celebration for actually scoring.

15. Alex Ovechkin

Alex Ovechkin is always euphoric when he scores a goal. Some times, he expresses it more than others.

This time, he does some sort of a jig.

14. Celebration Warning

This celebration is from another league; it serves as a good lesson for other hockey players though.

This children, is why you don’t jump into the glass after scoring a goal, as it can be a very dangerous venture.

13. Artem Anisimov

Artem Anisimov celebrates his goal by reminding everyone of his good aim.

Like a bow and arrow.

12. Maxim Afinogenov

Maxim Afinogenov scores the game-winning goal for the Buffalo Sabres.

He celebrates by taking a dive.

11. Bernie Nicholls

Bernie "Pumper" Nicholls was one of the first players to have a signature goal celebration.

Nicholls' go-to celebration became known as the "Pumper Nicholl."

10. Minor League Celebration

This celebration has to be one of the coolest celebrations ever.

The crowd cheering euphorically after the goal-scorer “hits” the easy button has to be the best part.

9. P.K. Subban and Carey Price

P.K. Subban and Carey Price celebrate Subban's game-winning goal with a chest bump.

And prove why one shouldn't chest bump a goaltender.

8. Mike Bossy

Mike Bossy celebrates this goal with his impression of an 80s dance move.

Let's call it the “skating man.”

7. Travis Green and Zigmund Palffy

The New York Islanders are a very close team, as evidenced by the celebration between Travis Green and Zigmund Palffy.

The two took closeness and celebration to the next level.

6. Teemu Selanne

Teemu Selanne celebrates his goal by pretending his stick is a machine gun; rapid fire.

5. Alex Kovalev

Alex Kovalev celebrates this goal in an interesting way.

It's Kovalev's impression of Michael Jackson On Ice: the ice moonwalk.

4. Alex Ovechkin

One of Alex Ovechkin's more memorable moments was his celebration after his 50th goal a couple years back.

His stick is "too hot to handle."

3. Milan Hejduk

Diving is typically frowned upon in the NHL.

However, that's the tactic that Milan Hejduk uses to celebrate his goal.

2. Tiger Williams

Tiger Williams was famous for a lot of things and his goal celebration was one of them.

Williams would skate down the ice, riding his stick like a pretend pony after scoring.

1. Theo Fleury

Theo Fleury scored the game-winning goal in Game 6 of the playoffs for the Calgary Flames.

Obviously, it was a huge goal and deserved a celebration of the same magnitude, which it got from Fleury.