For Hartikainen, Winter & Spring Are The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

I've previously written about the change in Teemu Hartikainen's game once winter rolls around and thought the announcement of his #9 ranking in the Top 25 Under 25 was a good time to update those numbers.

He's credited the change in his game to more energy after leaving the military, and jokingly credited spring with his revival.  He and Bruce matched dry wits when he explained why it took him so long to be named rookie of the month:

I don’t know, culture, language, everything together, it took me 30 or 40 games to get comfortable, so now I know exactly what I have to do if I want to go up. Now it’s so much better than before, for instance I was confused with what the coach was saying, it was such a big difference for me.

The trend continued in 2010-2011...

First up are his pre-December numbers by season:

Followed by his post-December 1st numbers by season:

And finally, his career totals by time period:

Once he settles in after dealing with whatever developmental difficulty he's currently facing, Hartikainen takes off.  His shots increase by 35%, his points by 60%, his goals by 62% and he improves his +/- by +32.

Even a promotion to the NHL didn't slow his springtime assault as he totaled 5 points in 12 games.  He's played in three different leagues during this time frame, so it's useful to compare apples to apples.  We can do that by smoothing these numbers out with NHLE projected over 82 games to show the same stark contrast between Autumn and Winter-Spring:

I've compiled the developmental difficulties he's faced over the last three years, but he's continued to grow as a player no matter the circumstance.  Regardless of which team Teemu begins the 2011-12 season with, immediately following training camp, that team should flip Teemu's calendars forward to December.