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Teemu Selanne is 40 years old but he shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, he keeps moving up the NHL's all-time scoring list.
The Ducks winger tied Bobby Hull for 15th place when he scored his 611th goal. Hull's total doesn't include the 303 he scored in the WHA but it is yet another significant milestone for Selanne. Considering he has a team-leading five goals this season, Selanne figures to continue adding to his lofty totals.
"I know who Bobby Hull is," Selanne said. "I've met him many times. I could never imagine that I'm going to score more goals than him. Obviously, it's a great milestone."
The list of names Selanne has passed in recent seasons on the goals scored chart is impressive and includes Maurice Richard, Guy Lafleur, Mike Bossy and Jari Kurri. Selanne grew up in Finland wearing a pair of Lafleur-model skates and idolizing Kurri, his countryman.
"Once in awhile, when I see that (list), I stop to think a little bit," Selanne said. "It's more unbelievable. When you look back at your career and the numbers, obviously it's a good feeling. Like I've said before, good things happen when you play a long time and when you play with a lot of good players. It's just a combination of all of those."
Rypien Remorseful
Canucks forward Rick Rypien knows his reputation took a big hit last week when he grabbed a fan in Minneapolis while leaving the ice after receiving a game misconduct penalty. He was suspended for six games and won't return until November 6 for a game against the Red Wings.
However, Rypien was remorseful when speaking to reporters for the first time about the incident.
"I know what I did was wrong," Rypien, who declined to discuss the possibility of the fan, 28-year-old James Engqvist, pursing legal action against him.
Canucks coach Alain Vigneault again defended Rypien's character, if not his actions.
"Rick made a mistake, and those are the consequences," Vigneault said. "Anybody who would know Rick the person, he is a real quality individual that is a real honest person that wants to become the best player he can become. It hasn't been easy on him, but in our mind he's got the full support of myself, my coaching staff, his teammates and the organization, and we're going to continue to support him."
White To Follow In Redden's Footsteps?
The Rangers got some salary cap relief during training camp by waiving veteran defenseman Wade Redden to the minor leagues. Now they are trying to find a way to get more cap help and their target is veteran forward Todd White.
White is making $2.6 million this season and his cap number is $2.375 million. The 35-year-old, who was acquired from the Threshers in the summer, has been a healthy scratch in over half the Rangers' games this season.
"I've got to figure out what I'm going to do with Todd White," coach John Tortorella said. "I don't have him in a spot that I'm certainly giving him a fair chance to show me what he has. I don't know what he is as a player. I think when you put him in spots and different situations, that really isn't fair to him. I don't think he has a ton of confidence in his play, and I have a little bit to do with that as far as the spots I've put him in and how I've spotted him in certain areas. I'm concerned about the speed. I've talked to him about that. But I don't think I've given him a fair shake. I've been very honest with Todd about that. We'll try to figure out how to give him a better opportunity, if we can."
Mitchell Advises Morneau
Kings defenseman Willie Mitchell is a bit of an expert on concussions. He missed a good chunk of last season with the Wild because of one.
Thus, Mitchell has served as an unofficial medical adviser to Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, who missed the second half of baseball's regular season and the postseason after suffering a concussion in July.
"He's a really, really passionate guy and he loves the game of baseball, and his experience was almost identical to mine," Mitchell said. "He has his injury, starts to feel a little bit better, wants to start doing stuff and wants to help out the team because he cares. It was the best time of year, the stretch run, the playoffs, he tries and he couldn't do it. And it's not just being able to do it, but it's that stress of not being able to do it because you care so much that doesn't allow you to get better. Being done was a big stress reliever, and getting into his offseason home and not having everybody everyday asking, 'How's your head? How's your head? How's your head?' You've got to get yourself to a place where you're stress-free. For me, it was walking a riverbank in the middle of nowhere or it could be sitting on a beach or sitting in your log cabin up north."
John Perrotto is an author of Puck Prospectus. You can contact John by clicking here or click here to see John's other articles. | 
On The Beat (11/06)
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