Teemu Selanne
Teemu Selanne
Teemu Ilmari Selänne, nicknamed "The Finnish Flash", is a Finnish former professional ice hockey winger. He began his professional career in 1989–90 with Jokerit of the SM-liiga and played 21 seasons in the National Hockey Leaguefor the Winnipeg Jets, Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks and Colorado Avalanche. Selänne is the highest scoring Finn in NHL history, and one of the highest overall; he retired in 2014 11th all-time with 684 goals and 15th with 1,457 points. He holds numerous team...
ProfessionHockey Player
Date of Birth3 July 1970
CityHelsinki, Finland
I'm always joking about it -- he's the only guy who can play 30 minutes without breaking a sweat. He's so smooth and effortless. What really surprised me is how good he is in the battles. He's so strong. It looks like he's never hurried. It's unbelievable. I had no clue how good he was.
This game is a lot about chemistry, and when three guys can find good chemistry, it makes the game so much easier. To play with Paul and Joe, it's going to be a huge pleasure for me.
He has all the tools. He has speed, he hits, he has a great shot, everything. It's fun to see a guy put it all together like that. He has made our line dangerous.
He just needed a chance. He used to get pretty frustrated in San Jose. He's the kind of guy who needs to play a lot.
Guys have accepted the roles given to them and they do not complain. They are not playing as much as they would in the NHL, but they are not complaining.
He has scored a lot of big goals. This guy has been an unbelievable part of our success.
I really believe it's pride. For the guys who are lucky enough to play on the power play, it has to be a bonus for everyone out there. Even one PP goal every day is going to be huge.
But he's very relaxed, too. He's one of the guys who smiles and says, 'Oh, is there a game today?' He puts everybody else at ease.
We have to do a little better job to shut him down. I don't think we've done a good job against him. We have to make sure he doesn't get so much room.
We showed a lot of pride coming back, especially when we got the bad break in the first period.
The silver medal, it's going to taste better a little later. But right now, it's very disappointing.
I've always looked at it as a big honor to go play for your own country, especially in the Olympics. It's honor to be there, even if it's a tougher season for us. I think in the future, you're going to see that it was great experience again.
We played the way we wanted. We were a little nervous for the first period. After that we had no problems. Everything was under control. That was a good sign.
I was hoping that this was going to happen at home in front of our own fans. Of course the big thing was that we won.