The NHL’S eldest statesman
Flying Finn is no ‘flash’ in the pan
ANAHEIM, CALIF. — Teemu Selanne was in a deep recess of Honda Center, talking about life as a 42-year-old National Hockey League star and being the chiselled, aging face of a franchise filled with hope and Stanley Cup aspirations.
Down a hall, seven 20-something men from Helsinki waited nervously. They were on a pilgrimage, their first trip to the United States, to watch Selanne play two games for the Anaheim Ducks. One anxiously held Selanne’s No. 8 jersey from Jokerit, the top team in Helsinki, where Selanne starred before scoring the first of 674 NHL goals more than 20 years ago.
Selanne is the most popular player in two lands — Finland and the vast suburban one surrounding nearby Disneyland, about five kilometres west of the Ducks’ arena down Katella Ave. He is used to the attention. And, as usual, he handled it with a deft touch and an easy smile.
“He loves life,” said his for mer teammate Scott Niedermayer, an Anaheim assistant, watching from a few feet away. “He loves it, like we all hope we could.”
Selanne is the oldest player in the league, though he does not look or play like it, his full head of hair flowing in the breeze generated by skating speed that still surprises defencemen. And while he no longer leads the Ducks in scoring — responsibility is shared among Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan, all about 15 years younger — he still leads them in charisma and popularity.
Selanne, perhaps weeks away from the end of his career, finds himself playing for what may be the best Ducks team in the franchise’s 20 years. He would know, having been part of most of those teams. The Ducks are second only to the blistering Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference standings, and 3-0 against Chicago this season. They, too, have noticed that few seem to be paying attention beyond southern California.
“That has been good for us,” Selanne said.
Anaheim is loaded with depth at forward and has a healthy goalie competition between Jonas Hiller and Viktor Fasth.
Selanne, for most of two decades, he has been as dependably routine and fruitful as a citrus tree.
“You have to be proud that you’ve been able to play all this time,” Selanne said. “It is funny that some teammates could be my sons. But you know what? I have a young mind, and those guys help me stay young.”
The persistent question, as it has been for many years now, is how long Selanne will play. He leaned heavily toward retiring after the Stanley Cup season of 200607, then returned the next January, and he still adheres to the Brett Favre school of uncertainty. Subsequent indecision has sometimes kept the Ducks waiting until September.
Teammates think he can play for years more. But Selanne does not want to put the Ducks in the uncomfortable position of not signing him (he has a one-year contract, paying him $4.5 million). He wants to leave on his own terms. Another title offers an enticing exit.
The issue for Selanne is that he is having too much fun. Besides, he has planted deep roots. Even when he retires, he will not move, having decided to spend summers in his native Finland and the rest of the year in southern California.
He has plenty to keep him busy. Selanne and his wife, Sirpa, have a five-year-old daughter and three teen- age hockey-playing sons. He could spend more time playing golf; he usually shoots in the 70s, and he wants to play each of the top 100 courses in the United States. In a couple of months, he is opening a restaurant, Selanne’s, in Laguna Beach. In September, he will be the subject of a wellpublicized Finnish documentary.
He could tend to his car collection, which once grew to 42 and is now about 25, from 1960s-era American muscle cars to several Ferraris.
All that tugs him toward retirement.
“The toughest part for me playing a long time is stealing so much away from home,” Selanne said. “The boys are growing fast. In a couple of years, my boys will start going to college. But what can you do? You have a job to do, and you enjoy that, too.”