Wing- Teemu Selanne
This picture may be the perfect snapshot of Ducks hockey in the 90’s. There was only one player that gave Paul Kariya a run for his money. That was Teemu Selanne.
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Both men were incredible talents and watching them play together was a thing of beauty. So much speed, skill, and goal-scoring prowess and they just seemed to feed off each other. It was a match made in heaven.
Selanne was the perfect compliment to Kariya in every way, even in their personalities. The two remain best friends to this day. Ducks fans didn’t get to witness Selanne’s 76 goal rookie campaign as he did it with the Jets but boy did they many goals after. Selanne ended his Duck career with the following stat line:
457-531-988 in 966 games played, 12 points shy of 1000 with the Ducks. These numbers have him first all-time in Anaheim in games played, goals, and points. His PPG of (182) also tops Ducks all-time lists and it’s not even close.
Selanne helped the Ducks show, on a national stage, the Mighty Ducks were going to make big hockey moves. They weren’t comfortable being the NHL’s cute Disney project. Selanne brought an added star power element and made sure the Ducks weren’t a one trick pony, with only Kariya. They became a dynamic duo, a trend that would repeat itself down the road, and one the Ducks want to continue to model.
The following video says it all, these two were magic on the ice. Knowing where each other would always be, they were able to set each other up for pretty goal after pretty goal. They put the league on notice and showed this “expansion team” was no joke.
Who do you think the 1990’s All-Decade Ducks team is? Did we miss someone? Let us know in the comments or on Facebook/Twitter!