Pure goal scorers. Yuck. Goalies can't help but not like them.

	Jarome Iginla leads the league in goals (16) and points (31).

They are the ones that shake your confidence. You know who they are because they're sitting right there at the top of the NHL leaderboard. They're on a mission to get to 50 goals a season, maybe more.

They know where you are in the net. Are you leaning one way? Are you cheating glove side? They have a sixth sense. They know the dimensions of the net by feel and practice. They could score in the dark and likely put it in off the crossbar if you challenged them to.

Sure, there are playmakers that rack up points, but they are the passers of the puck. Goalies don't care who is passing the puck -- you can't stop the pass. No, goalies are trying to stop the shooter. The sniper.

Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames
Remember Cam Neely? Who doesn't. He was a powerful skater, he was strong on his feet and hard to knock off the puck. He was a right-handed shooter who drove to the net with passion. The closest to him in the NHL right now is Jarome Iginla, the Stars first-round pick in (11th overall) in 1995 who was traded to Calgary for Joe Nieuwendyk before he played a game in the NHL. He leads the NHL goal-scoring race with 16. He is a bull to take down because he has a solid center of gravity and a willingness to take a hit to make a play. He uses a wrist shot from in close, which is a hard shot to pick up in traffic. I can't count how many times have I seen this guy slide in from the corner and snap it high glove on the short side. He carries his elbows high and protects the puck, giving himself just enough time to get the shot off. He will score 50 at some point in his career soon.

Jeff O'Neill, Carolina Hurricanes

	O'Neill

Some scorers are born with the ability to turn on the red light. Mike Bossy comes to mind as a GREAT pure scorer. The puck is on his stick and then it's in the net. It's that simple. I am sure from the time he wore skates at the age of 5 he could beat goalies. Some players develop into goal scorers, like Carolina's Jeff O'Neill. He's not a natural, like Bossy. At the major junior level with Guelph, he never broke the 50-goal barrier. His best NHL season was last year when he scored 41. He is difficult to stop because he shoots the puck hard -- every time. He keeps his hands out in front of the puck, making it difficult to detect where it is aiming. Although, like most right-handed shots, he goes high glove a lot. He is also a very good skater, which means he can get to the holes, take the pass and let 'er rip. It usually ends up in the net.

Mark Parrish, New York Islanders

	Parrish

There are plenty of scorers that are opportunistic. They're better than everyone else at figuring out where they should be before the rest of the skaters on the ice do. They slide in and -- bang! -- the puck goes from their stick into the net. They may not be the best skaters or the strongest shooters, but they have the knack, they have the gift. I love these guys -- as much as a former goalie can. When I broke into the NHL, Buffalo had a player named Ray Sheppard. Could he score. Mark Parrish of the Islanders has that same knack, but with more tenacity on the puck. This guy can score. He went to St. Cloud State for two years before joining Seattle of the WHL. After scoring 27 goals in 35 collegiate games in 1996-97, he scored 54 goals in 54 games the next year in Seattle. In time he will score 50 goals for the Islanders, I'm sure of that. He is a right-handed shot who can feel where the goalie is. He senses the goalie leaning one way, so he fires it against the grain to the opposite side. He is calm in tight quarters. He doesn't have "happy hands" when there is commotion going on around him. If Team USA needs a finisher for the Olympics, this is the guy.

Patrik Elias, New Jersey Devils

	Elias

The Devils have a nice scorer in Patrik Elias. He is similar to O'Neill in the way he's climbed up the goal-scoring ladder. Both players have gotten better at finishing each season. The key to Elias, it seems, is his chemistry with his linemates, Jason Arnott and Petr Sykora. They cycle the puck down low better than any line in the NHL. With that comes quick plays down low. Elias has a creative mind and is patient with the puck. He doesn't make a bad decision. He's a left-handed shot who can toe drag the puck to his backhand as well as anyone. In tight, he's good at getting the puck up high and in a hurry, thanks to a nifty toe curve on his blade.

Brendan Shanahan, Detroit Red Wings

	Shanahan

Some athletes were born to shoot the puck. Certainly, one that comes to mind is the Wings' Brendan Shanahan. He is in the top five in goals and, like three of the four above him in this column, shoots the puck right-handed. They are tougher to stop in my opinion. They get the goalie to drop his glove at the last moment and then fire it high glove side or low, against the grain, to the stick side. Shanny has been influenced by the great game of box lacrosse, which is Canada's national sport. It is played in a hockey rink, without the ice. You play the off side, so if you are a right shot you play the left side. Shanny plays hockey this way -- he's a right-hander that plays left wing. This means that he one times a lot of pucks. He is 6-foot-3, but plays lower to the ice. He uses a low lie on his stick and has the ability to get down on a cross-ice pass, making it difficult for a goalie to detect where it's going to go. He also has some finesse to his shot, the puck rolls from the heel to the toe of the stick blade when he sends a wrister to the far side. When he wants to play a meaner, go-to-the-net type of game, it backs off the defense and gives him more space should he all of a sudden switch to play on the perimeter. He is a two-time 50-goal scorer and could get back to that number again this season.

While these are the NHL's top goal getters, so far, look for veterans like Brett Hull, Mario Lemieux, Tony Amonte and Pavel Bure to join the ranks by year's end.

Darren Pang, a former goaltender with the Chicago Blackhawks, is a hockey analyst for ESPN.