October: not a bad month for Teemu to take off

Well, as this season continues without much to get excited for, I thought I'd take a look at last year's goal-scorers, mostly to highlight the awesomeness that was Teemu Selanne. The table below is the listing of the top 30 goal-scorers from last season (33 goals or more), separated by what they scored in October '06 vs. what they scored over the remainder of the season. I've sorted by goals scored in October.

Player	Age 10/4/06	Conf	Oct. GP	Oct. G	Oct. G/Gm	Post-Oct. GP	Post-Oct. G	Post-Oct. G/Gm
C. Drury	30.1	East	11	10	.909	66	27	.409
M. Hossa	27.7	East	13	10	.769	69	33	.478
I. Kovalchuk	23.5	East	13	9	.692	69	33	.478
A. Semin	22.6	East	11	8	.727	66	30	.455
D. Heatley	25.7	East	11	7	.636	71	43	.606
M. St. Louis	31.3	East	11	7	.636	71	36	.507
T. Vanek	22.7	East	11	7	.636	71	36	.507
J. Pominville	23.8	East	11	7	.636	71	27	.380
S. Crosby	19.2	East	9	6	.667	70	30	.429
J. Iginla	29.3	West	10	6	.600	60	33	.550
V. Lecavalier	26.5	East	11	6	.545	71	46	.648
A. Ovechkin	21.0	East	11	6	.545	71	40	.563
S. Gagne	26.6	East	11	6	.545	65	35	.538
J. Blake	33.1	East	11	6	.545	71	34	.479
R. Smyth	30.6	West	11	6	.545	60	30	.500
M. Hejduk	30.6	West	11	6	.545	69	29	.420
E. Malkin	20.2	East	5	5	1.000	73	28	.384
J. Sakic	37.2	West	11	5	.455	71	31	.437
J. Spezza	23.3	East	11	5	.455	56	29	.518
J. Williams	25.0	East	12	5	.417	70	28	.400
O. Jokinen	27.8	East	13	5	.385	69	34	.493
J. Cheechoo	26.2	West	13	5	.385	63	32	.508
D. Sedin	26.0	West	13	5	.385	68	31	.456
M. Cammalleri	24.3	West	14	5	.357	67	29	.433
B. Guerin	35.9	West	10	4	.400	67	32	.478
A. Frolov	24.3	West	14	4	.286	68	31	.456
K. Huselius	24.3	West	10	2	.200	71	32	.451
D. Langkow	30.0	West	10	2	.200	71	31	.437
H. Zetterberg	26.0	West	11	2	.182	52	31	.596
T. Selanne	36.3	West	12	1	.083	70	47	.671

Take a look at that bottom row. Not only is Teemu the 2nd-oldest player among these top 30 goal scorers and the only western conference player to score 40 or more goals, but he did it on the strength of exactly one October goal. Starting in November, Selanne's surge began—from November 1st on, Selanne led this list (and presumably the league) both in total goals scored and goals-per-game.

I really have no idea where Teemu sits when it comes to his plans for this year. For whatever reason, I get the feeling that he is waiting on Scott to make a decision before he'll make one, which strikes me as rather odd. Generally thus far, all my retirement posts have been concerning the whereabouts of a certain Scott Niedermayer; even with forward injuries and depth issues I feel like Scott's decision is more critical to the Ducks' chances this year. Still, I really should stop neglecting Teemu. His 76 goals is the highest total for any first-year NHLer, and his 48 goals may end up being the highest total for any final-year NHLer (does anyone know how to verify that?). And heck, it may even be the highest total for any player coming out of October with one or fewer goals. Whether he retires or not, I think the evidence is pretty darn strong: the Finnish Flash has still got a scoring touch that still ranks among the league's best.

C'mon, Teemu. You've got the touch, and besides, you've only got one less goal than you did this time last year.