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Anaheim Ducks retire Teemu Selane’s jersey

By Scott Allen

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Teemu Selanne spent almost all of his 21-year NHL career with the Anaheim Ducks

Teemu Selanne, arguably the best player in the history of the Anaheim Ducks franchise, saw his jersey retired by the team on Sunday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim.  Teemu Selanne’s jersey is the first jersey retired by the franchise.

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Selanne was with the Ducks for the better part of his career wearing the number 8 jersey.  He also spent time with the Winnipeg Jets, San Jose Sharks, and Colorado Avalanche.  It was with the Ducks though he made the most noise in the NHL.

With the Ducks, Selanne had 457 goals and 531 assists for a total of 988 points.  He finished his career with 684 goals and 773 assists for a total of 1,457 points.  Quite an impressive resume and definitely deserving of a jersey retirement.

The ceremony took place before the Ducks game Sunday night against the Jets.  How appropriate.  The Jets were his first NHL team.  Selanne spent 21 years in the NHL, dating back to 1992.  His professional career started in 1989.

Selanne spent two tours of duty with the Ducks.  After the Jets traded him to the Ducks in 1996, he was with them until the 2000-2001 season when he was traded to San Jose.  He was with the Sharks for two plus seasons and then went to Colorado for one season.  Then he has his second tour with the Ducks, where he spent the last eight seasons with them before his 2014 retirement.

Selanne was also a great postseason player.  He was a part of 13 playoff teams in his 21 seasons.  He scored 44 goals and had 44 assists for a total of 88 postseason points.  Adding to his long career of achievements, Selanne has also been a part of six Olympics of his native Finland, including the 2014 team where he had four goals and two assists.  He had a total of 21 goals and 21 assists in Olympic play.  If nothing, he is very consistent.

After following teams like the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes since 1996, there was definitely no tears shed here for a player that was rough on the Coyotes.  He had 38 goals and 39 assists against the Coyotes alone, so although I didn’t like watching him against the Coyotes I sure respected the game he brought.

Many former players were hand on Sunday night to help celebrate the career of Selanne.  Amongst those who attended were Chris Pronger, Jean-Sebastian Giguere, Scott Niedermayer and Jari Kurri.  That list in itself is impressive.  It clearly shows how much Selanne and his game were loved.

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