A special night is upon the people of Winnipeg and one of their once-young heroes.
Saturday evening will mark the first time in almost 16 years that Teemu Selanne will play hockey in Manitoba, where he broke into the National Hockey League as rookie in 1992-93 and took not just the city but the whole league by storm.
Drafted 10th overall by the Winnipeg Jets in 1988 — four months before the man who chose him, GM John Ferguson, Sr., was fired — Selanne was contracted by the team to begin play in its 1992-93 campaign.
Arriving in Canada, the native of Helsinki, Finland, wanted to wear No. 8, the numeral he currently sports as an Anaheim Duck, but it was already being worn by Randy Carlyle. (Ironically, Carlyle would go on to coach Selanne in Anaheim.) Instead, he settled for number 13.
If there was luck on that jersey, there was more talent inside it. For what the "Finnish Flash" accomplished in that rookie rampage in the ‘Peg endeared him to fans for life.
His trade to Disneyland was still three years away, but Selanne put up goofy statistics. The winger’s 76 goals set an all-time rookie record, dwarfing Mike Bossy’s previous mark of 53. The closest anyone has come to approaching what is looking more and more like an unbeatable figure? Alexander Ovechkin’s 52 goals in 2006, which is 24 goals shy.
Selanne added 56 assists that freshman year for a total of 132 points, shattering another rookie record (Peter Stastny’s 109), en route to capturing the Calder Trophy. He became only the second European player to lead the NHL in goals (after Jari Kurri).
What’s more, he accomplished the feat in style, waiting until only his fifth NHL game to tally a hat trick. Selanne would go on to rack up a record five hat tricks that season and an astounding 38 multipoint games. In the zone, he also put together a nine-game lamp-lighting streak that spring.
"I remember every goal that year," Selanne once told The Hockey Writers. "I remember getting, like, two, three breakaways every game. Nowadays, you get three, four the whole season? That’s pretty good."
Though he continued to produce at better than a point-per-game pace as a Jet, injuries prevented Selanne from playing another 84-game season in Winnipeg. He last graced Winnipeg ice on Feb. 4, 1996. Three days later he was traded to Anaheim, when their Ducks were Mighty. The record-breaking would continue. He is that California franchise’s all-time leader in games, goals and assists.
Flash forward to December 2011.
Even though he says that he has approached each of the last five years as his final kick at the NHL can, Selanne is in the midst of an exceptional 19th season on a struggling squad. He leads today’s Ducks in points (30) and assists (21). This is a team, it must be noted, with three young offensive stars — Corey Perry, Bobby Ryan, Ryan Getzlaf — and yet the 41-year-old Selanne is outpacing them all.
On Saturday, the classy veteran Selanne will take the dedication and passion he still has for the NHL game into the town that first fuelled it.
"All the fans make the players feel so special. It was a dream come true to start my career in Canada, and all the memories I have there are awesome," says Selanne now, stressing the importance of hockey to the people in Winnipeg. The right-winger still keeps in touch with friends in Manitoba, which helps explain his shock when he was traded to Anaheim in 1995. "You can get traded anytime, and there’s no control. When you get older and you know this business better, you can accept it better, but when you’re young and you get traded, it’s really, really tough."
The return of the 76-goal scorer will be sweet, for not just the city (boos? not a chance) but the player. Selanne says he spots Winnipeg Jets No. 13 jerseys in the stands of many rinks the Ducks visit.
"Right when we knew the schedule, I marked the date in my calendar (even though) I didn’t know if I could play still this year," Selanne says. "I know it’s going to be very special just to come back there and play. It’s been a long time, but the memories that I have there…" Words elude the man for a second, and not because English isn’t his native tongue.
"I’m very excited," he picks up. "I hear that building is rocking, and the people are so excited about their team and the whole situation. It’s going to be a very exciting day there. Can’t wait."