Teemu Forever: The legacy of the Anaheim Ducks' greatest player

One of the greatest sports stories in Orange County history didn't occur on a playing field. It took place, as many do in Southern California, on a freeway.

There was a young PR guy for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and a passenger in his car. The passenger remarked how dirty the car's windshield was . . . the driver paid it no mind. But his friend insisted that he couldn't see.

So the windshield wipers flicked on and nothing came out of them. Insisting that it was dangerous to drive with a windshield that clouded over, the passenger took it upon himself to clean it. With the car still moving.

With a water bottle in hand, he hung out the passenger window of the 1980s model Toyota Corolla squirted water while the wipers swished it back and forth and they continued on through traffic to the Pond of Anaheim.

That passenger? Teemu Selanne. 

How many franchise players would risk life and limb for a clean windshield? How many franchise players would even get in a 1980s Corolla?

Selanne recalled the story, ribbing the Ducks' longtime PR guy, Alex Gilchrist, while recently sitting in the middle of an Irish pub in Newport Beach. Highlights of his greatest career moments played over his shoulder on a television in the background, as he casually sipped his Guinness and reminisced about those moments with a group of writers.

His laid-back demeanor perfectly fits Orange County but if you didn't know any better, you'd think he was just a regular guy with a thick accent instead of a global hockey star. But this is part of what makes Selanne so special: He treats everyone as if they're his best friend. He's not too big or too famous or too talented for anyone, and this how he was throughout his entire Hall-of-Fame-worthy career.

"You know how sometimes you can feel just warm feelings about some people?" said former teammate and current Ducks goalie Ilya Bryzgalov. "Some people are just closed, but he's open. He opens the soul, opens the heart for you."

On Feb. 11, Selanne's No. 8 banner was raised into the ceiling of the Honda Center after a ceremony in his honor that lasted more than 90 minutes. It's the only one hanging in the rafters, and in talking to people with the organization, past and present, over the last few weeks, the consensus is simple: There really isn't anyone else who they could imagine being the first Duck to receive the honor.

That giant No. 8 is a reminder of just how great Selanne's impact was. To truly measure it, one would have to examine what he meant to Finland, Orange County and of course, to hockey as a whole.

The Finnish Flash

Jari Kurri once loaned a young kid named Teemu a car when he was in Kurri's hockey school back in Finland. 

"When he brought it back, there wasn't too much left of the tires," Kurri joked. 

A few years ago, Selanne loaned a quiet young Finn named Sami Vatanen one his many cars after he was called up to the Ducks.

"I gave him the worst one," Selanne said, laughing.

The worst one is a Mercedes Benz. Vatanen, who has the same humor as Selanne, says he has his own now but might still prefers the Benz.

Selanne grew up idolizing Kurri while Vatanen came of age looking up to Selanne. 

"I have to say, I was a little bit nervous (meeting him)," Vatanen said. "I was at Anaheim Ice and that was the first time. He was right away, a nice guy and he came to talk to me. He helped me a lot when I first got here. Of course you feel more at home, you can speak your own language and do your own things. He helped me with cars and everything like that so it was nice and easy to come here."

The Olympic run that the Finns made last year in Sochi was memorable. There were players like Sleanne playing in their final Olympics and players like Vatanen who are just getting started -- a changing of the guard. Selanne has always thrived on the bigger ice of international and European competition and his MVP performance, to go along with Finland's silver medal, brought him immense pride.

"I told the boys that most of us will have to overachieve and the rest of us will have to play at least your best in order to win a medal," Selanne said. "There was no weak link, not one."

That one final Olympic medal was one of Selanne's greatest accomplishments.

"I was just enjoying it," he said. "It was the perfect way to end."

Kurri said it best, bestowing one of the greatest honors on him in his Sunday speech, saying, "You are the greatest ambassador for Finnish Hockey and the Finnish country."

From Canada to California

Selanne was traded from the Winnipeg Jets to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim on February 6, 1996. Only 20 days after Selanne touched down in Southern Calfironia, Wayne Gretzky departed Los Angeles for St. Louis and the burgeoning hockey Southern California hockey culture was left without a star.

There was no way of knowing what Selanne would become, but Steve Rucchin, who would later be a linemate of Selanne's, knew it was something special.

"I still look back and I still remember the day that the Ducks traded for him," Rucchin said. "It was sort of a surreal feeling. I remember we were sitting around like, 'Wow, we just traded for Teemu Selanne.' And it's amazing how one guy can just change the whole psyche and thought process of a team."

Selanne bolstered that culture, helping bring new fans to the emerging franchise when he bolstered the play of the team.

"All the sudden we went from being an outside team to thinking, 'We're a playoff team,' " Rucchin said. "And the rest is history."

The fans took an instant liking to Selanne, and the best part is that he took an instant liking to them as well. He would be outside the building for hours after games signing every last piece of memorabilia, high-fiving and hugging -- Teemu is a hugger -- every last fan. 

"If decided that, if they have been waiting two or three hours to get an autograph or a picture, I'm not rushing," Selanne said. "Obviously, it's a matter of personality because I'm always pretty open and easy to talk to, and I like to be around people. It has been very natural.

"I've always said if I can make a couple people happy with a picture or an autograph that only takes five minutes of my time, I'm more than happy to do it."

Selanne credits the way his parents raised him and encouraged him to embrace the fans in Finland. He likes to joke about how he practiced his signature as an elementary schooler, sitting in class doodling his name.

He once doodled his name on a Paul Kariya jersey belonging to a nine-year-old Huntington Beach kid named Matt Cline, who had season tickets since the team's first year in 1993. That nine-year-old is now 29, and considers himself a lifelong fan, thanks, in part, to the many nights that he waited outside of the Pond with his uncle, watching as Selanne signed for everyone.

"They got a new player that was supposed to be pretty good," Cline said. "I was young and fairly new to hockey, I didn't know much about the new player but his name was Teemu Selanne. Not only did I notice the Mighty Ducks started to become a better team but there was something else that I really noticed too: I still waited outside for autographs and the new player would stop almost every game. He would stop and sign for everyone that was waiting."

Cline carried that with him as a minor-league baseball player.

"I ended up being lucky enough to go on and play professional baseball and I took a page out of Teemu's book and would sign as many autographs as I could," he said.

Michelle Drinnenberg practically eats, sleeps and breathes Ducks hockey. She once had a boyfriend that named his dog Teemu.

Drinnenberg can recall nearly every one of Selanne's major milestones off the top of her head. She's met Teemu at fan events several times and he always remembers her and has never turned down her requests for pictures. But there's one, in particular, that still stands out in her collection.

"It was in 2006 when the Ducks played the Kings in Anaheim. I was watching the game at home when Selanne scored his 1,000th point," she said. "I then called one of my best girlfriends and we rushed over to the Honda Center. We waited after the game to see Selanne. Finally, he came out and we asked to take a picture -- but not like any normal one. My girlfriend held up a one while Selanne and I formed zeros with our fingers to signify 1,000."

The Selanne family now calls Orange County home. Two of Teemu's three sons play hockey for Santa Margarita Catholic High School while the middle son, Eetu, laces up for the Junior Kings Triple-A team. The fact that his boys are still playing in Southern California instead of at a hockey-rich boarding school on the East Coast shows just how far the sport has come in this area. Selanne himself helped build that.

The Cup and his legacy

In 2007, Selanne won a Stanley Cup. And it wasn't lost on him just how difficult it is to reach that pinnacle. Some of the best players in the world play their entire careers without winning a championship.

"It gave me peace in my mind," Selanne said. "I would trade all of my records for a Stanley Cup. People have no idea how hard it is."

Brian Hayward said that Selanne is, "The one athlete that we wish all over professional athletes could be more like." And it wasn't just because of his fan-friendly nature or the love of his country.

Selanne didn't believe in taking shifts off or phoning it in when playing lesser opponents. He was constantly working to better himself and be the player that made others better, even as the game evolved and his body sometimes didn't want to keep up.

"Satisfaction is your worst enemy," he says. 

And Selanne means it. Part of the reason he wavered with retirement thoughts like Brett Favre every summer was because he wanted to make sure he was going to be able to contribute. 

Selanne sums up jersey retirement in one word: 'Unbelievable'

READ MORE

Selanne came to Anaheim in the early stages of what has now become a model franchise. With immense respect for owners Henry and Susan Samueli, general manager Bob Murray and his staff, he's proud to see what the organization has become. 

"This is the place that players want to come play," he said. "It used to be hard to get free agents to come."

Center Ryan Kesler was anxious to come from Vancouver after he had spent his entire career there, the last few years as a captain. Players like the "twins", Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, will likely spend their entire careers in Anaheim. It speaks volumes about the organization and the type of players they build around. 

But Selanne is loved in Winnipeg, too, where his career began. Current Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau says his first night back in Winnipeg with Selanne (after the Thrashers moved the franchise from Atlanta) was one of the best moments of his career.

"I not only had goosebumps, but I had tears in my eyes," Boudreau said. "The ovation was so great and it was all for him. I was really happy for him."

Selanne is enjoying his time away from professional hockey at the moment. He plays tennis and golf daily (without throwing his clubs in the water anymore) and he's now a full-fledged junior hockey dad. The family recently rented an RV and drove up to San Jose for a tournament, so clearly his freeway antics are still very much alive and well.

Selanne said that he always wonders what his impact will be like now and years from now. Yes, he has his records and he has his trophies and the people in Toronto are likely dusting off a place for him in the Hall of Fame as we speak. But the one thing that Teemu Selanne will ultimately be remembered for is his class and generosity. He was a genuine person.  

The banner in the Honda Center says it all: Teemu Forever. Just the way it should be.