text: Why the Anaheim Ducks' Teemu Selanne is retiring even though the man dubbed the Finnish Flash can still play | National Post
  Why the Anaheim Ducks' Teemu Selanne is retiring even though the man dubbed the Finnish Flash can still play
  Michael Traikos | October 23, 2013 8:02 AM ETMore from Michael Traikos | @Michael_Traikos
  TORONTO — Teemu Selanne is so old that he scored 76 goals as a rookie in 1992-93 with a wooden stick in his hands and a Jofa helmet on his head. One of his teammates back then was Randy Carlyle, now the Toronto Maple Leafs' head coach, who did not even wear a helmet.
  Leafs coach Randy Carlyle plays teacher, not disciplinarian ahead of matchup with Ducks
  "Played with him," Carlyle, who later coached Selanne, said somewhat incredulously. "Imagine that. What an old bugger, that guy."
  Yes, Selanne is old. At 43, the Anaheim Ducks forward is the oldest player in the National Hockey League. He is two years older than Martin Brodeur and Jaromir Jagr. He is so old that Tuesday's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs featured three players — Hampus Lindholm, Morgan Rielly and Josh Leivo — who were not even born when Selanne famously threw his glove in the air and shot it down with that wooden stick of his.
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  And yet Selanne does not seem out of date. Maybe it is because his perpetually boyish-looking face refuses to age. Or because, through seven games this season, he already has three goals and six points. Whatever the reason, the Finnish Flash has not slowed down.
  Which raises the question: why on Earth is he walking away after this season?
  "Next question," said Selanne, flashing that childlike grin. "No, it's got to stop somewhere."
  It will stop after this season, because that is the decision he made in the summer with his wife and four children. It was a difficult decision, Selanne said, because he loves everything about the game: the competition, the travel, the dressing room atmosphere. He even loves practising.
  "Teemu's a guy that when he comes to practice, he's there to have fun," Carlyle said. "He's found a way to come to work and make it an enjoyable day. Whereas other guys look at practice as a task that is a necessary evil."
  That passion, said Carlyle, is why Selanne has lasted this long and played at such an elite level. He has played 20 seasons in the NHL and missed two-and-a-half years because of labour strikes or lockouts. He won the Calder Trophy as a 22-year-old in 1993, was the first recipient of the Rocket Richard Trophy in 1999, and finally lifted the Stanley Cup as a grizzled veteran in 2007. He is 11th on the all-time scoring list with 678 goals — five behind Jagr — and 15th with 1,436 points.
  On the ice, he is a sure-fire Hall of Famer. Off the ice it is even less of a question.
  It doesn't matter what city we're in, everything's about Teemu and what a good guy he is. You just look at that and kind of want to be where he is and model yourself after that person
  "He's a fan favourite wherever he goes," said teammate Corey Perry. "It doesn't matter what city we're in, everything's about Teemu and what a good guy he is. You just look at that and kind of want to be where he is and model yourself after that person."
  "I love that guy," said Leafs forward Joffrey Lupul, a former teammate.
  "I can't say enough good things," said Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf. "I've met him multiple times and he's just a great guy on and off the ice."
  Selanne says this farewell tour has been fun. But it is has also been emotional, because he realizes it is the last time he will be playing in these cities and arenas. That is the hardest part about retiring. Having to say goodbye to a job that brought so much joy for so many years.
  "It's funny, the older you get the more you're enjoying everything," he said. "When you're young, you're seeing things differently … I think that's why it's sort of special that I've been able to play for such a long time. It's pretty neat.
  "I enjoy this game more now than when I was 25."
  On some nights, he still feels like he is 25 out there. But there are signs that he is slowing down. It is not so much the games as it is the day after. His body does not recover as quickly as it used to.
  Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau has already sat out Selanne once this season and said he will likely not play him in back-to-back nights, or at the very least limit his minutes.
  "We've told him, if you play 68 games and they're good games, it's better than playing 82 and 20 of them you're extra tired," Boudreau said. "He's agreed to it and he understands it."
  Never too old to be a fan! One more year? #theflash http://t.co/coOpme0gD7
  — Joffrey Lupul (@JLupul) October 23, 2013
  What Selanne understands is that sooner rather than later he is going to slow down. It happens to all of us, in some form or another, regardless of talent or passion or genetics. In his final season, Wayne Gretzky scored just nine goals. Brodeur entered Tuesday night's game winless in four games.
  Maybe that is why Selanne decided this year will be his last, before his body makes the decision for him. He wanted to go out the same way he came in: with a flash.
  "He knows that he can still compete," teammate Saku Koivu said. "We're not talking about him scoring 76 goals — no one is doing that now — but the way he's playing … at the same time it's not easy to let it go because he can still play."
  "God knows anything can change," Boudreau said. "If he scores 35 this year, he's not going to want to quit, I know that much."