In case you missed it on Sunday, Teemu Selanne, retiring at season’s end, took the ice at Honda Center in Anaheim and played the final regular season game of his illustrious career. The Ducks went to great lengths to make sure that the night was a memorable one for Teemu, who has spent fifteen years over two separate stints with the team.
After the game, though, Selanne went to great lengths to make sure that the night was a memorable one for fans who have supported him during his career.
After the game was over, and all of the magic from that postgame ovation had finally died down, a pretty big group of fans waited for Teemu at the top of the ramp at the north end of Honda Center. You’ll frequently see a handful of fans there after games, because that’s where players drive out of the arena on their way home. But well after the game had ended, they had yet to see Teemu.
That’s because he was still in the building, having a late dinner at the Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 Club with his business manager, Pasi Jaatinen, and about a half dozen friends who flew in from Finland to surprise him. In fact, it’s a lot of the same guys who he brought in to watch him play in the Stanley Cup Final in 2007, and last night he didn’t know they were there until they showed up behind the glass during warmups. (via)
As Teemu finally headed out of the arena around 1:30 in the morning, he was greeted by a crowd of nearly 100 fans waiting just to bid him farewell. Selanne reportedly stuck around chatting and signing autographs for those fans, every last one of them. When asked why, his answer pretty much sums up why he’s one of the most beloved players of all-time:
“How could I not?!”
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