Dallas goaltender Ed Belfour has posted a 1.96 goals-against average in 52 games this season. He is only the fifth puckstopper in NHL history to have played 40 or more games in nine consecutive seasons while maintaining a sub-3.00 goals-against average. The goalies who preceded “the Eagle” are all Hall of Famers:
Goaltender Teams Seasons
Cecil ”Tiny”
Thompson Boston/Detroit 12 (1928-29 to 1939-40)
Glenn Hall Detroit/Chicago 11 (1955-56 to 1965-66)
George Hainsworth Montreal/Toronto 10 (1926-27 to 1935-36)
Jacques Plante Montreal 9 (1954-55 to 1962-63)
Ed Belfour Chicago/San Jose/ Dallas 9 (1990-91 to 1998-99)
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BACKFIRE
Blackhawks right winger Tony Amonte short-circuited the Avalanche power play by scoring a short-handed goal in both games of a home-and-home series last weekend. The goals were the 10th and 11th surrendered by the Avalanche this season while “enjoying” the man advantage to catapult Colorado past Florida (10) and Los Angeles (10) for a share of the league-worst mark with Pittsburgh (11).
THE FINNISH-ER
Mighty Ducks right winger Teemu Selanne became the first player to score 40 goals this season in a 5-2 loss Sunday to Florida in Anaheim. The “Finnish Flash” has scored 18 goals in his last 19 games to raise his season share to 21.7 percent of his team’s goal production. Should Selanne score a quarter of the Ducks’ goals again this season, he will join Brett Hull as the second player in the modern era to accomplish this feat in back-to-back seasons. Below are all the modern-era players with at least 25 percent of their team’s goals in a season:
Player Team Year Goals Percentage
Brett Hull St. Louis 1990-91 86 of 310 27.7
Teemu Selanne Anaheim 1997-98 52 of 205 25.4
Brett Hull St. Louis 1991-92 70 of 279 25.1
Maurice Richard Montreal 1949-50 43 of 172 25.0
Peter Bondra Washington 1994-95 34 of 136 25.0
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