5 more reasons to hate the lockout...

76 goals by a rookie in a single season - incredible! Of course I'm talking about none other than the 'Finnish Flash'; the great Teemu Selanne, who 20 years later, is still in the NHL.

Last season's tally of 26 goals (including this beauty) helped him ecplise Brendan Shanahan for #12 on the all time scorers list:

It's October. He should be gearing up for yet another great season. Instead we are in the midst of a lockout...... again!

Selanne, among others, is in my top 5 reasons to hate the lockout:

#1 All time greats potentially retiring: That in itself isn't an issue. All players careers have to eventually come to an end. However, it's the fact they are potentially leaving with less of a bang and more of a whimper. There is no big farewell, no mention of the fanfare that they so clearly deserve. There is no greater danger of this than with two of the most exciting hockey players of all time -  Jaromir Jagr and Teemu Selanne.

Given how much they have given to the NHL (both having eclipsed 650 goals - something only 11 other players in NHL history have done) they deserve that fanfare.

Is a lockout an appropriate goodbye to the #11 and #12 all time goal scorers? They deserve more than this!

                                      Jagr scoring his 650th goal


#2 Seen Stamkos? No, you haven't. And you may not get to this season. This is extremely  disappointing given the fact he is coming off the back of a 60 goal season, with the potential to trump that this time around! Realistically, he has 2-3 more seasons left of his goal scoring peak (work that magic Gary Roberts), yet here is 1 of them absolutely squandered. Thanks NHL and NHLPA!

Stamkos doing what he does best (just in case you have forgotten already):

#3 Crosby: He is finally healthy. Love him or hate him he is without a doubt one of the most electrifying players to watch, and is apparently at peak fitness and raring to go. Given his current injury streak odds are he's going to play in Europe and get injured again!

#4 Missing brilliant goals: Self explanatory!

#5 Rookie surprises: Who didn't enjoy Ryan O'Reilly coming out of nowhere as a 2nd round pick to stick in the NHL straight after the draft? The first non-first round pick since Patrice Bergeron in 2003-04 season.

Every season there are a whole new list of rookie storylines that come out of (almost) nowhere. Last season no-one expected Shaw to storm onto the Blackhawks roster mid-season and score 23 points in 37 games. RNH (supposedly too small for the NHL) putting up 52 points in 62 games and Craig Smith a virtual unknown outside of Predators prospects fanatics scoring 17 goals.

The most depressing part about this piece is there are so many more points to make and so many great stories that will never be told.  We can only hope this is resolved soon.

To miss out on 1 game is bad enough - to be deprived of 1,230 is unthinkable!