West Coast Bias: Ducks set for Selanne tribute

The Anaheim Duck will pay tribute to all-time great Teemu Selanne with the Winnipeg Jets in town on Sunday. (Jae C. Hong/AP)

Remember this quote if you watch the Teemu Selanne jersey retirement Sunday from Anaheim: "I’m not going to cry, for sure. Tough guys don’t cry."

Selanne has long been one of my favorite players, but I can’t say I ever thought of him as a "tough guy." Tough to defend? That much was true, especially when he was a Mighty Duck back in the mid-90’s, and Selanne and Paul Kariya would reach warp speed at about the centre-ice line, and blaze into the zone faster than any forward pairing in the NHL.

"I never found another hockey player that I ever had chemistry with like Paul," said Selanne, who was asked for another name he’d be thinking of on Sunday. "If I had to say one, it was Randy Carlyle. He still believed that I could play in this league, and he gave me a chance to come back with the Ducks and prove I could play. A couple of years later we won a Stanley Cup."

It was always such a pleasure to talk hockey with Selanne, who retired at the end of last season after 1,451 regular season games, and another 130 playoff games. He is a smart, thoughtful guy who always had a ton of time for the fans and the media. Really, he was a throwback to the old days, when players weren’t in such a hurry to leave the rink, or hide out in back rooms where the media is not allowed.

He loved to score, with 685 goals and 1,457 points, starting with that 76-goal season as a rookie back in 1992-93 with the Winnipeg Jets. "When I broke into the league there was way more offence than now," he said. "The attitude in that time was, if we score more goals than the other team we’re going to win. Now, it’s totally opposite. It’s whoever lets in the least goals is going to win the game."

Good point, actually. These days Selanne is in kick-back mode. Of course, that’s easier to do at age 44 when you’ve had career earnings in excess of $75 million.

"I don’t really miss the game that much," he said. "I miss my teammates and life around the locker room. But the games, not (as much)."

Selanne’s life revolves around his four children. Three boys who all play hockey in Southern California — Eemil, Eetu and Leevi — plus daughter Veera. He plays his share of tennis and golf as well, with no plans on getting involved with an NHL club just yet. "It’s time to relax and enjoy this no schedule life right now."

It’s fitting that the Jets will be in Anaheim on Sunday. Selanne would have played his entire career in Winnipeg, but it wasn’t meant to be. Not only did he get dealt, but then the Jets moved south to Phoenix in 1996.

"I didn’t want to leave. I was happy there, and very (ticked) off when that (trade) happened. But, it turned out to be a great thing. And Winnipeg was leaving anyway. But, I was mad."

There will be an entourage of fans from Winnipeg in the stands Sunday, for a pregame ceremony that should be emotional for Selanne.

"I have 40 people from Finland flying over," he said. "There are two biggest honours for a hockey player. One, if your jersey gets retired. And two, if you get into the Hockey Hall of Fame. The last one I don’t know yet, but this… It’s going to be a very special night for me."

•••

One more Selanne note: He never paid much respect to goalies, joking earlier in his career about how "they aren’t even real athletes," but even Selanne admitted that changed over the years, asked about which goalie was the toughest he ever faced, he named Dominik Hasek. "He didn’t have a style. He was all over the map," Selanne said. "He probably gave me the hardest time."

•••

We’re not putting a due date on Minnesota head coach Mike Yeo’s job, and in fact his GM Chuck Fletcher came out in support of Yeo on Thursday. But that snap job at practice on Wednesday? Those usually occur when a coach has run out of answers, and when that’s the case, our experience is that the press conference to announce the new coach can’t be far away.


Watch: Yeo addresses his mid-practice tirade


Yeo’s goaltending has let him down this season — the Wild has allowed a league-low 26.8 shots per game, yet only Edmonton has a worse save percentage than the Wild’s .893 — and he let his frustrations show this week. Asked about an injury that ended Darcy Kuemper’s practice on Wednesday, before knowing the diagnosis Yeo simply said it was minor "as far as I’m concerned." Turns out Kuemper couldn’t play against Chicago last night.

In that game, his Wild responded by out-shooting the Blackhawks 44-20, yet they still lost, 4-2. We love Yeo’s honesty, but this kind of behaviour loses players. And when a coach loses the room, he’s as good as gone.

•••

Well, we’ve reached the point in St. Louis that everyone saw coming. Brian Elliott is back healthy, Jake Allen is still too valuable to put on waivers, and Martin Brodeur — with an .899 saves percentage — hasn’t left anyone with the impression that he is the guy to take the Blues over the top.

At practice, Elliott has his own net at one end, while Allen and Brodeur share one at the other. "(Elliott) looks in control, he looks ready to carry a load for us," head coach Ken Hitchcock told reporters in St. Louis. "We missed him when he was out."

What happens to Brodeur? Well, how about the Wild…?

•••

When the Vancouver Canucks get Dan Hamhuis back, it will be like getting two Top 4 defenceman back in their lineup. Since Hamhuis left with a torn groin on Nov. 20, his partner Kevin Bieksa has not been nearly as effective.

"The goal is to play in a couple of games before the all-star break (Jan. 20)," Hamhuis told the Vancouver media on Thursday. "But it’s hard to say an exact game. I’ll practice with the team (Friday), will be going on the road and hopefully get into one of the games there."

Vancouver is that bubble team. They can be very effective when they’ve got all their guys, but aren’t good enough to go without Hamhuis, and by extension Bieksa, for long.

•••

With Karri Ramo (and Josh Jooris) on the injured list in Calgary, Flames fans will get a look at Joni Ortio, the Finnish goalie Calgary drafted in the sixth round in 2009 called up this week. He’s from Turku, Miikka Kiprusoff’s hometown, and when Ortio was drafted Kiprusoff was four seasons from retirement. It takes that long to develop a goalie, but Ortio was named to the AHL All-Star game this year, and although you never know with goalies, his numbers in Adirondack (2.52, .916) show that he’s still on track to be an NHL starter one day. It will be fascinating to see if the same organization can mine Turku for another 10-year starter.

•••

That’s right Oiler Fan, that was former Oil Kings GM Bob Green sitting with GM Craig MacTavish and V.P. of Hockey Op’s Scott Howson at the World Juniors — not Director of Amateur scouting Stu MacGregor. It doesn’t take a genius to look down most nights and see that only one draft pick chosen below the first round is playing for the Oilers (Jeff Petry). Anyone can pick at No. 1 overall — it’s the rest of the draft that creates organizational depth and the reason the Oilers are struggling so bad is their awful record from Rounds 2 on down. There will be a shift in responsibilities in Edmonton, at some point before the 2015-16 season begins as we’ve reported before, with Green — who built the WHL’s Oil Kings from an expansion club into a Memorial Cup champion — overseeing the amateur side.

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.