Teemu Selanne knows a little bit about the Olympic hockey tournament. Not much, of course. He is only playing in his sixth Games, spanning, oh, 22 years.
The fact is, Selanne’s sixth Games ties him among for the most appearances in the Olympic tournament with another Finn, Raimo Helminen (1984-2002). He is the all-time leading scorer at the Olympics with 20 goals and 37 points in 31 games, passing Valeri Kharlamov (Soviet Union), Vlastimil Bubnik (Czechoslovakia) and the underrated Harry Watson (Canada) with an assist in Vancouver. In total, his five previous Olympic Games, five World Championships, and three World/Canada Cups—after it all began for him at the 1989 world juniors in Anchorage, Alaska—leave Selanne as the foremost active expert on the tournament that will hypnotize Canadians.
So we arranged for 15 minutes with the friendly Finn last month in Anaheim, with an aim to ask him about the various national teams that he has played against so many times, and how the game plan differs against each of them. At least, that was our opening question. Enjoy.
On Canada and the USA: “Same style. They play the same way. Only difference is that Canada could put in three teams of the same quality. They are the only country that could do that.”
On Russia: “We always hope that, because there is only one puck, that they’re going to be in trouble. I don’t think anyone can match their talent, but it’s a team sport. There is still only one puck.”
On Sweden: “Very deep. Veeery deep. On the big ice surface, I’m almost thinking they’re going to be, if not top, maybe a top-two favourite.”
On Team Finland: “If anyone takes us lightly, they’re in trouble. In one game, we can beat anybody. Always, our mindset is to outwork the other team. Maybe we don’t have so much talent, or so many superstars, but we don’t have same problems as Canada. They have on all four lines, guys who play 25 minutes a game (in the NHL). Every power play, every situation. Now, you play 12-13 minutes.”
(Selanne is experiencing an identical reduction in ice time in Anaheim this season. At age 43 his ice time has dipped below 14 minutes a night.)
“It’s the old story: the more you play, the better you play. There is not 20 minutes for everybody. It will hurt some guys.”
On choosing an Olympic dark horse: “I’m not sure if there is one, but (he’ll take) the Swiss. A couple of years ago, in the World Championship, they were in the final.”
On the bigger international ice: “You can’t dominate with strength and toughness. If you go for the big hit, you’re already going to be late for the next play. You can’t dump the puck. (There is) more time, more skill involved. It’s a big advantage to those of us who grew up on it. It’s harder to score. (In the NHL), if you beat someone one-on-one, you almost (always) have a scoring chance.If you beat him one-on-one coming off the boards, you are three, four steps away from the net. (On international ice), when you take the (defenceman) wide, you still have a long way to go to the net. The angles are so much worse.”
In the end, Selanne’s record number of international games over all the years have left him sure about one thing: The National Hockey League has become the great equalizer in international hockey. No longer are the Russians sending pros to play against our amateurs; no longer is half of Finland’s roster stocked with players off of Finnish Elite League rosters. “We play in the same league,” Selanne says. “We all come from here. We went to Torino, Nagano… We all come from NHL. We know they’re not better than us. If we play a better game, that night, we’re going to win.”