National Hockey League: Teemu Selanne with the Ducks for another year
For some time now Anaheim Ducks’ winger, 40 year old Teemu Selanne had been mulling retirement. Teemu is the most accomplished active NHL player and the all time score leader for the Anaheim Ducks and apparently, he is still not done.
Selanne signed a one-year $3.25 million deal with the Ducks on Monday.
“I thought it was going to be easy to retire. But when you think you can play and you can still play at a high level and you enjoy it, I don't see any reason why anybody who thinks that way should retire," said Selanne. Even at his age he is a dependable and formidable player. In fact any other player with the kind of scores that Selanne has been registering would cost a whole lot more than what the Ducks would be paying for him.
The Ducks’ general manager, Bob Murray, understood and acknowledged Selanne’s potential. “He's still got it. He still can fly,” he said. Murray further added that Selanne had a passion for the game and loved to score goals. “We are thrilled to have Teemu back for his 19th NHL season and 12th in an Anaheim Ducks uniform.”
Selanne is coming off an injury plagued season where he was able to take part in just 54 games. Still he managed to collect 48 points with 27 goals comparable to any young player on any other team. His goals per game average stands at 0.5, the highest among the Ducks and the eight highest in the NHL. Selanne can hold his own on the ice.
The injuries had more than just a physical effect on Selanne. “It was a message for me that it's about time to do something else but what happened after the Olympics is I was healthy and we were playing well.” He said that after returning from injuries he needed time to think about the next season. The more he thought about it, the stronger the feeling that he wasn’t done yet kept getting. His decision to retire was postponed.
Selanne was in constant contact with Murray during the off season. At the end of the 2009-2010 season he felt that the Ducks were set to win and he wanted to be a part of it if and when that happened. Before he could commit to the Ducks he needed to know what Murray had planned for the next season. Selanne had to be reassured that Murray wanted to win now and wasn’t rebuilding the team. The decisions that Murray made during the off season factored into Selanne’s decision to continue with the Ducks for one more year.
As soon as the news of Selanne’s return to the Ducks was confirmed, rumours of a Teemu Selanne and Paul Kariya reunion started to flood the web. Selanne and Kariya were teammates from 1996 to 2001. Selanne has also been lobbying for Kariya, fuelling further speculation. He said that Kariya’s contributions to the Ducks were unmistakable. He went on to say that Paul loved the city and the area. Selanne had tried to instigate talks between general manager Murray and Kariya, speaking to both on his own. “All the years I played with Paul were so exciting that it would be nice to happen again. It's their decision to find something that works for both. Of course I'm supporting that idea.”
Murray was not averse to the idea of a Kariya Selanne reunion either. He said that if the Ducks felt that Kariya would be a good fit in the organization then they would move forward. Kariya certainly would be a positive addition to Ducks but the real highlight would be Selanne.
With 606 goals so far, Selanne is only the 18th player in NHL history to reachs the 600 goals milestone. He has played 1186 NHL games with 1260 point and 3 Olympic medals to his credit.
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