ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Anaheim Ducks will retire Teemu Selanne’s No. 8 jersey in a ceremony on Jan. 11.
The Ducks announced plans for the franchise’s first number retirement Friday.
Anaheim will raise Selanne’s jersey to the Honda Center rafters on “Teemu Tribute Night” when they host the Winnipeg Jets, Selanne’s first NHL team.
“Teemu is our franchise icon and deserves to be the first player in club history to have his jersey retired,” Ducks owner Henry Samueli said in a statement. “His dedication to this franchise and our community is unmatched.”
Selanne retired this year after a 21-season NHL career spent mostly with the Ducks. The Finnish Flash is Anaheim’s career leader in goals, assists, games played and almost every other offensive statistical category after playing parts of 15 seasons in Orange County.
Selanne is the 11th-leading goal-scorer in NHL history with 684, and his 1,457 career points rank 15th in league history. He won the inaugural Richard Trophy in 1999 and the Masterton Trophy in 2006.
“What a great honour,” Selanne said. “The Samuelis and the entire Ducks organization have made this a very special place for me and my family. I look forward to sharing this special night with our fans, who have treated me so well for 18 years.”
Selanne spent nearly four seasons in Winnipeg with the original Jets, winning the Calder Trophy in 1993 with a rookie-record 76 goals, before he was traded to Anaheim in February 1996.
The 10-time NHL All-Star left the Ducks in another trade with San Jose in early 2001, but returned in 2005 after stops with the Sharks and the Colorado Avalanche.
Selanne and his family still live in Orange County, and he opened a popular steakhouse in Laguna Beach last year.
Selanne retired after the Ducks were eliminated in the second round of the post-season by the Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings in a grueling seven-game series.
Anaheim won the past two Pacific Division titles and finished this spring with the Western Conference’s best regular-season record, but couldn’t add a second Stanley Cup ring to Selanne’s only championship, won in 2007 with Anaheim. Selanne scored 15 points in 21 games during the Ducks’ run to their only Cup title.
Selanne also is a six-time Olympian for Finland, winning four medals. The leading scorer in Olympic men’s hockey history, he was named the MVP of the Sochi tournament in February while captaining Finland to a bronze medal.
