The goal-starved Chicago Blackhawks picked up a proven scorer last week, signing Peter Bondra to add some punch and work the power play. The 38-year-old veteran, who had been nursing a groin injury that dated to last season, made his Chicago debut Tuesday night and netted his 499th career goal in a 3-2 Blackhawks win over St. Louis. He is a goal shy of becoming the 37th player in NHL history to reach the 500 plateau. In 1,045 career games, Bondra has scored 0.48 goals per game, an average that currently ranks 16th among the members of the 500-goal club. It may surprise you to learn that the goals-per-game leader among this elite group is Mike Bossy (0.76), though Mario Lemieux (0.75) and Wayne Gretzky (0.60) are not far behind. Among the 500-goal members who also have posted a higher average than Bondra are the two Hulls -- Brett and Bobby -- as well as Phil Esposito, Maurice Richard, Marcel Dionne, Guy Lafleur and two active players, Jaromir Jagr and Teemu Sellanne. That's pretty good company for Bondra, who will look for No. 500 when the Blackhawks host Detroit on Thursday night.