It's been 18 years since Selanne scored 76 goals, but the 40-year-old Finn is still going strong.
CALGARY -- There is nothing about Teemu Selanne that says 40.
His hair is thick, his game robust and he is still as happy to hang around after practice and talk to the scribes as his first days inside old Winnipeg Arena, where Selanne broke in with the Winnipeg Jets as a 22-year-old rookie.
"No grey hairs," he says, eyebrows raised, like he accomplished some great feat. "I think there's some mistake. I don't think I'm 40."
He is, then, hockey's Miguel Tejada. And on an Anaheim club that will enter the upcoming playoffs as the most dangerous Bottom 4 seed in the National Hockey League, Selanne works the No. 1 powerplay unit alongside Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry.
Both were six-years old when Selanne was scoring 76 goals as a Jets rookie.
"You'd watch him on the Don Cherry tapes," said Perry. "See him throwin' his glove up in the air, shootin' at it. I don't even know if I knew what that meant (to score 76). You thought everyone could do that. Then you grow up and realize, 35-40 goals are tough to come by. And he's still doing it. He's got more years left in him."
Asked about Perry and Getzlaf, Selanne simply smiles.
"You know, Getzy and Perry, they can't keep up," he begins.
Selanne can talk the talk, because at age 40, he can still skate the skate.
Ask Jarome Iginla, who has never known an NHL season where Selanne wasn't somewhere in his conference.
"He's never been a guy who's going to run you over. He finds other ways to be effective," Iginla said. "His speed, his shot -- he's got a great one-timer -- his hands are as good as anybody's… He finds ways to find holes, spaces and score some big goals.
"It's more than his skill. It's his instinct. And there's no question -- his skating doesn't hurt either."
Given up for dead by the Colorado Avalanche as the league went into the lockout seven years ago, Selanne had surgery to repair an ailing knee and has averaged 30 goals and 64 points in the six seasons since. (That includes an aborted 2007-08 campaign when he played just 26 games with 23 points).
This season he has become a cougar in Ducks clothing, re-writing the over-40 NHL record book with late-game heroics down the stretch that have never -- yes, never -- been seen before in this league.
-
Poll
-
Who do you think is the greatest European player in NHL history?
With yet another late goal last week, Selanne became the first player ever to score four game-tying goals in the last three minutes of regulation time in the same season. Then he had a fifth waved off Sunday night against Dallas, when teammate Saku Koivu was fingered for goaltender interference.
He is only the third 40-year old in NHL history to record a 75-point season, alongside Johnny Bucyk (1975-76) and Gordie Howe (1968-69).
"It's an exciting time right now. (The hat trick was) a special night. A lot of luck. So far so good," he says, humbly. "You have to love what you're doing. When you have fun to come to the rink, enjoy your teammates, enjoy the game it helps everybody. It's important everybody else feels the same way."
Funny, that is exactly what everyone says about Selanne, who went a stunning 18 seasons between successful penalty shots.
"He could play 10 more years in this league," said countryman Olli Jokinen, who sat inside the dressing room with Selanne before the Finns lost the gold medal game at the 2006 Turin Olympics. "He's very relaxed. He makes sure he cracks one or two jokes before the game, between the periods. He can talk about his cars two minutes before the faceoff, but when the puck drops, he's focused. You can count on him in the big games."
"The one thing he brings is instant credibility," said Ducks and Team Finland teammate Saku Koivu. "When you have a guy like that on your team, especially at a tournament like the Olympics, you know you have a player who can win you the game."
He has enjoyed the game's best passing defencemen over the years -- Phil Housley, Teppo Numminen, Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger, now Lubomir Visnovsky -- and linemates like the vastly under-appreciated Thomas Steen, Paul Kariya, Vincent Damphousse and Koivu.
Yet Selanne never had a centre like the one Jari Kurri had in Wayne Gretzky.
As he approaches the end of a career, Selanne's numbers -- 1,256 games, 634 goals, 702 assists, 1,336 points -- match up well when sacked against the highest-scoring European trained player in NHL history; Kurri: 1,251 games, 601 goals, 797 assists, 1,398 points.
Selanne, who once got a $40,200 reckless driving ticket in Finland, has averaged 1.064 points per game in an era with bigger goalies and far better defensive systems. Meanwhile, Kurri had 1.118 playing most of his time with Gretzky.
Today, you can debate over who has had the better career. By the time Selanne is done however, we're doubting that debate won't take nearly as long.
