Teemu Selanne

Teemu Ilmari Selänne (born July 3, 1970) is a Finnish former professional ice hockey right winger. He turned pro in 1989–90 with Jokerit in the SM-liiga and went on to play 21 NHL seasons for the Winnipeg Jets, Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks, and Colorado Avalanche. Known as "the Finnish Flash," Selänne is the top Finnish scorer in NHL history and ranks among the league's all-time best. When he retired in 2014, he stood 11th in goals (684) and 15th in points (1,457). He holds multiple team scoring records for both the Winnipeg/Arizona franchise and the Ducks. Anaheim retired his number 8 in 2015. In 2017, he was named one of the NHL's 100 Greatest Players, and on June 26 of that year, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as the second Finn, after Jari Kurri.

Selänne was selected 10th overall by the Jets in the 1988 NHL entry draft but stayed in Finland. He led the SM-liiga in scoring during Jokerit's 1991–92 Kanada-malja championship season before moving to North America. His rookie NHL season in 1992–93 saw him set league records with 76 goals and 132 points, earning him the Calder Memorial Trophy. He reached 50 goals in a season three times and topped 100 points four times. Selänne played in ten NHL All-Star Games, was named to four postseason All-Star teams, and won the first Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy in 1998–99 as the league's top goal scorer. He received the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy in 2005–06 for perseverance and dedication, and won the Stanley Cup with the Ducks in 2007.

Internationally, Selänne was a longtime member of the Finnish national team. He played in five World Championships (winning a silver and a bronze), three Canada Cup/World Cup tournaments, and six Olympics, earning three bronze medals and a silver in 2006. He is the all-time leading scorer in Olympic men's hockey with 43 points. A national star in Finland, he is the subject of a top-grossing biographical documentary there. He was inducted into the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2017.

Selänne was born in Helsinki, Finland, on July 3, 1970, to Liisa Viitanen and Ilmari Selänne, who divorced in the late 1980s. He has a twin brother, Paavo, and another brother, Panu. The family lived in Rauma for a time before settling in Espoo when Teemu was about five. As a youth, he played hockey, bandy, and association football.

He competed alongside Paavo in hockey and football, but his brother later focused on field hockey, becoming a member of Finnish and European championship teams. Small as a child, Teemu developed a competitive drive to improve. He eventually joined Jokerit's junior squad in Helsinki. As a young adult, he attended business school for two years, served a mandatory year in the Finnish Defence Forces, and worked for three years as a kindergarten teacher while with Jokerit.

His visits to Helsinki's children's hospital led him to co-found the Godfathers' Foundation, which raises money for ill children.

Selänne spent three years in Jokerit's junior program, capping it in 1987–88 with 43 goals and 66 points in 33 games and a Finnish Junior A championship. That performance led the Winnipeg Jets to draft him 10th overall in 1988. He attended Jets training camp but returned to Finland for military service. After junior hockey, he joined Jokerit's senior team in the 1.

Divisioona in 1988–89, scoring 69 points in 35 games. The team moved up to the SM-liiga in 1989–90, but Selänne missed most of the season with a leg injury, managing 12 points in 11 games. In 1990–91, he played a full season, scoring 33 goals and 58 points in 42 games, and won the Raimo Kilpiö trophy as the league's most gentlemanly player. His best SM-liiga season came in 1991–92, when he recorded 62 points in 44 games, won the Aarne Honkavaara trophy as top goal scorer with 39 goals, added 17 points in ten playoff games, and scored the winning goal as Jokerit won the Kanada-malja championship.

The Jets initially let European draft picks develop at home, but by 1991 they worked to bring Selänne to Winnipeg. Unsigned when he decided to play in North America for 1992–93, he was a restricted free agent. The Calgary Flames signed him to a three-year, $2.7 million offer sheet—$1.5 million more than the Jets offered. Winnipeg matched it. Selänne debuted on October 6, 1992, with two assists in a 4–1 win over the Detroit Red Wings. He scored his first NHL goal two nights later against San Jose's Jeff Hackett. He notched his first hat trick in his fifth game and had 11 goals in his first 12 games. That season, he recorded 16 multi-goal games, including four hat tricks and a four-goal game, breaking the NHL rookie goal record.