How topsy-turvy was the first month of the NHL regular season and the start of the fantasy season? Unheralded Phoenix goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov posted more shutouts (3) than Vincent Lecavalier, Jason Spezza, Jonathan Cheechoo, Chris Higgins, Zdeno Chara, Daniel Sedin, Milan Lucic, Nik Antropov, Derek Roy, and Ryan Getzlaf had goals … combined.

Two 18-year-old rookies, John Tavares of the Islanders and Ryan O’Reilly of the Avalanche, each scored at least 10 points, far more than some of their highly drafted veteran counterparts.

O’Reilly, fellow 18-year-old Matt Duchene (14 games, 2-5-7), and journeyman goaltender Craig Anderson (14, 10-2-2, 2.04) have Colorado, out of the playoffs last season, atop the Western Conference standings.

Nineteen-year-old Michael Del Zotto (14, 4-8-12) of the New York Rangers, the League scoring leader among rookies, is also hanging tough with the likes of Tomas Kaberle (12, 2-15-17), Dan Boyle (14, 2-11-13) and Mike Green (13, 2-10-12) in the League scoring race among defensemen.

Dustin Penner (14, 9-10-19) of the Edmonton Oilers was fourth in League scoring and more than halfway home to equaling his entire 2008-09 point total of 37 in 78 games.

There is no shortage of oddities that have defined not only the first 190 games of the NHL regular season, but the first month of the fantasy season where the goal of predicting is becoming increasingly unpredictable.

One thing that does not look out of place is Alex Ovechkin atop the NHL leaderboard for goals and points for the month of October. That Ovechkin (13, 14-9-23), on average the first pick in the vast majority of all Yahoo! fantasy drafts, placed first in scoring was one of the few things that didn’t suggest we were in the bizarro world.

Unfortunately, a dizzying amount of significant injuries to high-profile fantasy stars were a far too common sight and the overwhelming fantasy storyline from Oct. 1-31. Consider this list of All-Star-caliber talent that missed more than just a few games with injury -- Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Ilya Kovalchuk, Milan Lucic, Marc Savard, Thomas Vanek, Erik Cole, Jonathan Toews, Mike Modano, Jere Lehtinen, Johan Franzen, Valtteri Filppula, Sheldon Souray, David Booth, Justin Williams, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Andrei Markov, Jason Arnott, Simon Gagne, Daniel Briere, Sergei Gonchar, Evgeni Malkin, Joe Pavelski, Devin Setoguchi, Daniel Sedin, and Roberto Luongo.

Players most certainly drafted in fantasy that have yet to play a game include Kari Lehtonen, Patrik Elias, Phil Kessel, Marian Hossa, Fredrik Modin, Rick DiPietro, and Pavol Demitra.

Here are the Fantasy Forecaster MVPs for October:

Forward - Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles
The 22-year-old center from Slovenia was the only player other than Ovechkin to record at least 20 points in October. Punctuating Kopitar’s performance was the fact that he was, on average, the 86th pick in all Yahoo! drafts, placing him in the middle of the eighth round, a phenomenal value. He is already one-third the way to tying his 2008-09 point total (66) and on pace to obliterate his season-high of 77 points (2007-08). Kopitar (14, 10-11-21) scored at least one point in 11 of 14 games, had two multi-goal games (including his first career hat trick) and six multi-point games. He is one of five players with 10 or more goals, has 4 goals and 10 points on the power play, and recorded point streaks of six and five games. Kopitar was named the NHL’s First Star for the week ending Oct. 25 for leading all scorers with 9 points (6 goals, 3 assists) as the Kings took first place in the Pacific Division.

Defenseman - Michael Del Zotto, NY Rangers
What an incredible start to an NHL career for a 19-year-old, rivaling the arrival of former Ranger Brian Leetch in 1988. After 14 games, Del Zotto is on pace for 69 points, which would eclipse any of his three seasons in junior hockey. After going scoreless in his NHL debut, the Stouffville, Ontario, native recorded at least one point in nine of 13 games with three 2-point performances. After the conclusion of games on Oct. 31, Del Zotto led all NHL rookies in points and was tied for first in goals and second in assists. Among all skaters, he was tied for fifth in the League in power-play points (8).

Goaltender - Craig Anderson, Colorado
Now in his seventh season and with his fifth organization (two of which, Boston and St. Louis, he never made an appearance with), Anderson was the only goaltender to play every second of his team's games throughout October and the 28-year-old has lifted the Avalanche to the second best record in the NHL. He ascended to first in the NHL in wins (10) and save percentage (.939), second in shutouts (2), and third in goals-against average (2.04). Anderson set a franchise record for consecutive starts to open a season (10) and tied the League record for most wins by a goaltender in October. He made at least 30 saves in eight games (six were wins), at least 40 saves twice (1 win), and stopped Ray Whitney on a third-period penalty shot in a shootout win against Carolina. Anderson is not going to maintain a pace that would lead him to an NHL-record 58 wins, but he’s certain to top his single-season career high of 15 with Florida, achieved last season. Twice already Anderson has earned the NHL’s Second Star of the Week honors. Throughout all Yahoo! fantasy leagues, Anderson was, on average, the 37th goaltender picked, usually taken in the 15th round.

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