Teemu Selänne

[Eye of Ra]

He is most famous for his Anaheim years, but he did spend 4 years on Jets.

What do you guys remember of him?

Is he the best forward that has ever played for Jets?

Playing style, same as he had in Ducks?

Click to read more...

 

[sipowicz]

Dale Hawerchuk was the best forward ever to play for the Winnipeg Jets 1.0

 

[GNP]

I'd like the Jet's try to sign Selanne this year --if he'd come back and play? The same sort of thing Toronto did with Patrick Marleau. Because there is already 2 Finns playing for the Jets, he just might do it-- if the money was big enough to entice him. I'd love to see it. It would push us over the top.

 

[Jetfaninflorida]

I'm pretty sure he skates faster than Hendricks.

 

[204hockey]

i would emulate his famous goal in my basement while listening to the game on the radio as a kid. he was my hockey idol. ppl used to call me little teemu

 

[kanadalainen]

Selanne and Hawerchuk shared deft puck handling skills and ability to release a quick shot in tight, but Selanne was a another kind of player. Of course Selanne's rookie season was way over the top. He was fed by Phil Housely, so it was ridiculous. More goals than any other Jets player (76) and 132 points. This city was beside itself.

That year, he faced a media mob before every away game. He generated interest with his hockey ability, but also his human side - his ability to give a good interview was among the best too, and he drew a lot of fans in different cities.

In his first few years, Selanne's trademark was his incredible speed - if you gave him room for three strides, he was then in the clear - gone - and virtually no D could catch him. A killer player.

When I was very young, I did a couple of years of training in Toronto before arriving in the 'Peg. I recall sitting on the TTC subway, reading The Hockey News and the article's slavish praise for the three "new" Jets of that time - Selanne, Zhamnov, and Keith Tkachuk. Think about that for a minute.

 

[Ducky10]

Selanne was the best pure goal scorer the Jets ever had, I'd stop short of calling him the best forward as that encompasses a lot of other things.

He had one of the quickest first steps in all of hockey, he could beat you so quickly from a standstill. Him and Bure were two of the best I've ever seen.

 

[RageQuit77]

The Comeback of Selänne would be very cool Jets product, IMO. One game, as Captain, playing some spare minutes as 13th Forward reserve, and some minutes in PP and PK.

No, that cannot happen. There are no enough "class" to make that happen.

 

[Adam da bomb]

Selanne was the best pure goal scorer the Jets ever had, I'd stop short of calling him the best forward as that encompasses a lot of other things.

He had one of the quickest first steps in all of hockey, he could beat you so quickly from a standstill. Him and Bure were two of the best I've ever seen.

Better than Laine?

 

[jets2020champs]

I remember his second year during training camp, he stuck around later and practiced his backhand. During the season, when he was driving to the net on his backhand, I noticed he would surprise goalies with his backhand.

 

[FonRiesen]

Selanne was my hockey hero growing up - I was too young to remember the Hawerchuk years.

Selanne was electric - others have already described him well here, but the biggest thing for me was that he could score at any time. His goal celebrations were epic - he brought a pure joy to the game that isn't that common.

I was devastated when he was injured in his sophomore year - if he hadn't severed his Achilles tendon his career would have been even more impressive.

If you want to get a taste of his rookie year, you can check out YouTube for the documentary "The new boss" - his rookie season blows away everyone else's in history, AINEC. Of course, he was 22 at the time, so he had a bit of an advantage!

 

[NotCommitted]

Better than Laine?

Very different type of player and at Laine's age he was probably playing in Jokerit juniors or something

When he was playing in the Jets, especially his rookie season, every morning before going to school started with teletext page 230 or something (might remember wrong...) to check sports results and whether Selänne scored 1, 2 or 3 goals and if he happened to have any assists to go with them. Going by memory alone, I'd say his average totals per game were 2+1, though back then that would have meant 168 goals and 84 assists, which is approaching 80s Gretzky territory... can't really tell much about how he played, because pretty much the only NHL coverage I got exposed to was those teletext statlines and a weekly highlight show.

 

[boyko10]

235!

 

[tomi2]

Dale Hawerchuk was the best forward ever to play for the Winnipeg Jets 1.0

Selanne was arguably better than Dale. Hull is of course the best player that ever played in Winnipeg.

 

[StiffSquid]

Finnish flash. I wish Laine had his skating lol

 

[Carbooja]

Let Uncle Teukka Salami Explain to our Finnish Friends the difference between Selanne and the Winnipeg Jets Legend Dale Hawerchuk.

Teemu holds a record that may take a long time to break, and he is an amazing player worthy in the hall of fame.
You also need to thank Phil Housley for for that amazing season as Teemu was able to take many of his amazing passes and end up at the net with a goal.

He is much like Laine, one of the game's best goal scorerers, and like Selanne will end up in the Hall of Fame just like Selanne and Hawerchuk.

But this is why Hawerchuk is considered the best Winnipeg Jet:



After Hours: Wayne Gretzky & Dale Hawerchuk - Sportsnet.ca

Hawerchuk basically carried the team in the 80's, it wasn't a matter of someone feeding Dale, or making plays for him to score, it was Dale carrying the team against the mighty Oilers and the Flames.

Think about that for a second.

One of the best teams in NHL history and you get to see them 4 times a season if not more, then again in the playoffs.

What Hawerchuk often going head to head with Gretzky was amazing.

 

[DowntownBooster]

I'd like the Jet's try to sign Selanne this year --if he'd come back and play? The same sort of thing Toronto did with Patrick Marleau. Because there is already 2 Finns playing for the Jets, he just might do it-- if the money was big enough to entice him. I'd love to see it. It would push us over the top.

As much as I'd like to see Selänne play for Winnipeg again, I know it won't happen. He knew that it was time to retire when he did. Teemu had a long career spanning 21 seasons in the NHL and is 47 years old. I think the desire to play again is long gone outside of alumni games. I'm glad we had the opportunity to watch him play as he was truly one of the best ever.

 

[GNP]

As much as I'd like to see Selänne play for Winnipeg again, I know it won't happen. He knew that it was time to retire when he did. Teemu had a long career spanning 21 seasons in the NHL and is 47 years old. I think the desire to play again is long gone outside of alumni games. I'm glad we had the opportunity to watch him play as he was truly one of the best ever.

I did not know Selanne was 47 years old. If that's the case, "your very right"--he's to old now for even a 1 year comeback. To bad, as it be fun to see him play with his fellow Finns. Thanks for the heads up Downtown Booster !!!

PS- I thought Selanne was around 40- 42 years old--looks good for his age.

 

[NotCommitted]

I did not know Selanne was 47 years old. If that's the case, "your very right"--he's to old now for even a 1 year comeback. To bad, as it be fun to see him play with his fellow Finns. Thanks for the heads up Downtown Booster !!!

Selänne was already 40 for the full 2010-2011 season when he put up 31+49=80 in 73 games... that was not too bad for a 40 year old In a way his performance the next year was even more impressing, though he put up only 60+ points, but he led the team with that. The Ducks were horrible that season, I felt so bad for Teemu because he was trying to carry the team by himself as a 41 year old winger. Played with so much heart and seemed about the only Duck doing so.

Fun fact - after turning 35, Selänne played 572 games, 232+274 for 506 points, 0.88 P/GP. That's would make a pretty decent career for someone who entered the league at 25 and retired at 33...

Btw I believe he retired at just the right time, during his last season it started to look like he was beginning to lose his hands, fumbling the puck a lot more than he used to and his shot wasn't looking that accurate either. Of course it's possible it wasn't age but a minor injury or something, but it really looked like he might have fallen off a cliff the next season if there was one more year. He still put a good performance for Team Finland in the olympics though, when he got to play top line minutes.

Sadly besides the awesome rookie season, I always felt his time in the Jets was a bit of a "could've been" thing, because of injuries, the shortened lockout season and the eventual trade. But there's always that rookie season.

 

[Afterburner]

Selanne was so much fun to watch, he was one of the reasons I started to love hockey as a kid. Anytime I stepped onto the ice I pretended I was him. He had such great energy and was such an amazing talent and you could tell he loved being here.

 

[tntkid]

I wonder when the Jets induct Teemu into the Jets hall of fame and hang his banner.

Hope they put a 13 on it.

 

[Jets4Life]

Selanne was arguably better than Dale. Hull is of course the best player that ever played in Winnipeg.

Hawerchuk was the best Winnipeg Jets player of all-time. Not taking anything away from Selanne, but Ducky led the team, and was the franchise player by a long shot from the minute he took to the ice in 1981. Selanne had the incredible rookie season, but Ducky was arguably the best all around player. Bobby Hull was 33 when he came to Winnipeg, and his best years were behind him. The only reason he managed to score so many goals in the WHA is because of Ulf and Anders as his linemates, and the fact that the WHA was a weaker league, and the talent pool was eroded, with as many as 32 pro teams in the mid 70s.

 

[sting13]

Hawerchuk was the best Winnipeg Jets player of all-time. Not taking anything away from Selanne, but Ducky led the team, and was the franchise player by a long shot from the minute he took to the ice in 1981. Selanne had the incredible rookie season, but Ducky was arguably the best all around player. Bobby Hull was 33 when he came to Winnipeg, and his best years were behind him. The only reason he managed to score so many goals in the WHA is because of Ulf and Anders as his linemates, and the fact that the WHA was a weaker league, and the talent pool was eroded, with as many as 32 pro teams in the mid 70s.

Talent pool eroded compared to now is not quite true. Most of the time the WHA did not have 14 teams, second rosters sizes were smaller in both leagues. Only dressing 11 forwards. Anders and Ulf also put up better numbers with Bobby than with the Rangers. They were a good line on a good team that was just as good as any NHL team. Sure Bobby was better because of the Swedes but Teemu would never had 76 goals if Housley was not feeding that puck up.
Ducky had Big Mac and Mullen and a great second line centre (Steen) behind him and Norris trophy winner on D in Caryle. It's really hard to compare different decades as the game changed so much. For example how many more goals could Teemu scored if he played the same time as Ducky and Hull when the goalies had the little pads and waved a stick at the puck?

 

[NotCommitted]

Hawerchuk was the best Winnipeg Jets player of all-time. Not taking anything away from Selanne, but Ducky led the team, and was the franchise player by a long shot from the minute he took to the ice in 1981. Selanne had the incredible rookie season, but Ducky was arguably the best all around player. Bobby Hull was 33 when he came to Winnipeg, and his best years were behind him. The only reason he managed to score so many goals in the WHA is because of Ulf and Anders as his linemates, and the fact that the WHA was a weaker league, and the talent pool was eroded, with as many as 32 pro teams in the mid 70s.

Hard to argue against that and I don't know why I would even want to I mean Selänne only played 1 full season as a Jet, one injury shortened one, 1 lockout season and he was traded in the middle of his last season. Also Selänne wasn't a great all-around player ever, not until his mid to late 30s at least. But from Jets he went on to be the franchise player in Anaheim. Hawerchuck played mostly before I knew anything about NHL other than it existed and Kurri played there - I checked some simple stats and I didn't realize Hawerchuck was that good offensively, I mean over the length of his career he was top-5 in scoring, and if you take first 10 years of his career he was only behind Gretzky. For Selänne first 15 seasons and first 10 seasons, he was 4th and 3rd. Hawerchuck seems to fly a bit under the radar as far as all time greats go, at least in terms of recognition by more casual hockey fans like myself (at least away from North America). I mean personally, I knew his name and knew he was a very good player in his time, but I didn't quite realize how good he must've been until I looked him up.

 

[Gm0ney]

Let Uncle Teukka Salami Explain to our Finnish Friends the difference between Selanne and the Winnipeg Jets Legend Dale Hawerchuk.

Teemu holds a record that may take a long time to break, and he is an amazing player worthy in the hall of fame.
You also need to thank Phil Housley for for that amazing season as Teemu was able to take many of his amazing passes and end up at the net with a goal.

He is much like Laine, one of the game's best goal scorerers, and like Selanne will end up in the Hall of Fame just like Selanne and Hawerchuk.

But this is why Hawerchuk is considered the best Winnipeg Jet:



After Hours: Wayne Gretzky & Dale Hawerchuk - Sportsnet.ca

Hawerchuk basically carried the team in the 80's, it wasn't a matter of someone feeding Dale, or making plays for him to score, it was Dale carrying the team against the mighty Oilers and the Flames.

Think about that for a second.

One of the best teams in NHL history and you get to see them 4 times a season if not more, then again in the playoffs.

What Hawerchuk often going head to head with Gretzky was amazing.

BTW: Back in the 21 team era, teams used to play their divisional rivals 8 times per season. So 8 games against the Oilers, 8 games against the Flames.