Selanne connected 34 seconds into the second period on his fifth shot of the game, scoring into a wide-open net during a power play with goalie Craig Anderson out of position after a furious scramble in front of the crease.
Either way, Selanne is one of the greatest Finnish players ever and seems like a shoo-in to make the Hockey Hall of Fame. After the jump, I’ll provide a timeline of Selanne’s career.
Anaheim Ducks right wing Teemu Selanne, of Finland, holds the puck from his 600th NHL hockey goal, after the Ducks defeated the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 in an NHL hockey game in Anaheim, Calif., on Sunday, March 21, 2010. Selanne scored early in the second period, and became the 18th player in league history to reach the milestone. (AP Photo/Bret Hartman)
AP
* - Interesting factoid to start things off: Selanne originally wanted to wear No. 8 but his future coach Randy Carlyle already had that number. Then again, that bit of trivia was taken from Wikipedia so administer your grain of salt.* - That didn’t impede Selanne’s progress at all, however, as he famously scored an incredible 76 goals and 132 points in his rookie season. Hitting that mark is particularly special since he and Alex Mogilny are the last two players to score at least 70 goals in one season.
* - The next few years were a little rocky, with injuries and the lockout curtailing his production. Selanne eventually would be traded to the new Mickey Mouse organization in Anaheim.
* - Selanne had a great run in what would be his first stay with the Ducks, even if the team didn’t have much beyond him and Kariya at the time. Among his honors were an All-Star Game MVP and a Rocket Richard trophy.
* - Eventually the Finn was traded to the San Jose Sharks in 2001. Let’s just say that things did not go very well with the Bay area team.
* - Way back in 2003, Selanne agreed to join forces once again with Kariya ... this time with the mighty Colorado Avalanche! I once compared this situation to Karl Malone and Gary Payton joining Kobe Bryant and Shaq for the Lakers. Oddly enough, the Kariya-Selanne experiment was an even bigger letdown than Payton-Malone.
* - After a lockout year that included knee surgery, it looked like Selanne was done. Brian Burke didn’t think so and signed the Finn to very reasonable contract to return to Anaheim. He had such a great rebound season that he won the Bill Masteron trophy in 2005-06.
* - Selanne had two fantastic seasons back with Anaheim, scoring 90 and 94 points. Of course, in 2006-07 he also was an important part of the Ducks’ dominant Stanley Cup victory.
* - The last two years haven’t been kind to the winger injury-wise, but he’s still been pretty solid all things considered (90 points in his last 110 games isn’t too shabby).
It’s been a career of dramatic highs and lows for “The Finnish Flash” but I think he should be remembered as a graceful, swift skater with one of the deadliest releases the league has ever seen. I wouldn’t mind seeing one more year out of Teemu, either. Feel free to share some of your favorite memories of the great sniper.