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Book excerpt: Selanne on Boudreau, end of NHL career | ProHockeyTalk | NBC Sports

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This excerpt from Teemu Selanne: My Life by Teemu Selanne with Ari Mennander is published with the permission of Triumph Books.&nbsp; For more information and to order a copy, please visit , , , or .***In the 81st game of the regular season, the Los Angeles Kings organized one of the finest celebrations of Teemu and gave him a personalized surfboard as a present. But because of Boudreau’s plan not to play Selanne in back-to-back games, he wasn’t in the lineup against the Kings. The Ducks were going to close out the season at home against the Colorado Avalanche the next night. didn’t play in the last game, nursing injuries and resting before the playoffs, so Teemu captained the Ducks in the last regular season game of his storied career.“It was a great honor and felt really good,” he said.The Ducks beat the Avalanche 3–2 in overtime and the crowd couldn’t get enough of Teemu, who played more than 18:00.After the game, Teemu stayed on the ice, and skated around to say goodbye and thank you to the fans. “These Ducks fans have been so special and so kind for me. I have always had so special relationship with our fans, and it feels so good to share all the great moments with them.“And then I saw [Avalanche goalie and former teammate Jean-Sebastien Giguere] Jiggy on the Avs bench, and I grabbed him and we did couple of laps together and celebrated also his career, which was ending after the season as well. Jiggy has been huge part of Ducks organization and has been very important player for the fans. And for me truly a friend and teammate with whom I had great years together. And of course, he was the Stanley Cup–winning goalie for us.”The fans appreciated seeing their favorite NHL superstars, and the crowd went wild.Selanne’s last game even managed to get Paul Kariya, who retired in 2010, to make a rare public appearance. Kariya came to the Honda Center to watch his hockey soulmate play his last regular season game.“I invited him to the game and he watched it from my suite together with another great friend, Joe Sakic. It meant a lot to me that these two guys were there,” Teemu said.Anaheim’s regular season record was the best in franchise history. The Ducks won 54 games, won their division and the Western Conference, and finished second overall in the league, behind the Boston Bruins.But Boudreau failed to guide the team past the second round. His Washington Capitals advanced to the second round twice in his four years as coach, and the Ducks had now gotten to the second round just once.They won their first two home games in the first-round series against the Dallas Stars but lost Game 3 in Dallas 3–0. The next dayTeemu woke up to receive the biggest humiliation of his career when Bruce Boudreau made him a healthy scratch in Game 4. He had been a healthy scratch once before, in a playoff game in Colorado, but this was worse. He was in Anaheim, his happy place. His home.According to Boudreau, the team needed more physicality, and Emerson Etem filled the Teemu-sized hole. The 22-year-old had played 29 regular season games for the Ducks and had 11 points.Selanne was shocked but not completely surprised, since he had been benched for long stretches during Game 3, getting only 10:00 on the ice. Boudreau had told him about the change the day before Game 4.Throughout his career, the even-mannered Selanne had never criticized a coach or even raised his voice, let alone screamed at one, but there is always a first time for everything.He waited until the other players had left the ice and skated to where Boudreau was standing.“And then I let it go. I told him exactly how I had been feeling, and I wanted to get answers why this has happened. He was trying to explain something but actually it didn’t make sense to me at all.“Bruce is a super-nice guy but there was something weird. There was something that he didn’t tell me. I told him that if he wanted to win something, he needed me. Nobody else wanted to win as much as I did. Then I dissed him. I got two years’ worth of frustration out of my system. I didn’t feel good to say these things, but I felt I had to,” Teemu said.A few years later, Boudreau and Selanne sat down over a beer to see whether they could patch things up.“I asked him to tell me what really happened. He said, ‘Teemu, the only thing I could say is it wasn’t all my decision.’ He mentioned something that the scouts and GM were part of decision-making.”Boudreau later tried to lessen the tension with Teemu.“Nobody likes hearing anything negative about themselves, so in that sense I’m a little disappointed,” Boudreau told the media. “But I understand the frustration.”“I’m sure I’m going to see him again. And listen, he was one of my favorite guys. I’ve always liked him and admired him. I don’t think anyone here has ever heard me say a bad word about him, ever. And that will continue.”The Stars won Game 4 in Dallas 4–2 and Teemu returned to the lineup for Game 5. The Ducks advanced to the second round against the Los Angeles Kings, but not much had changed in the coach’s mind.The Kings took away the Ducks’ home-ice advantage by winning the first two games in Anaheim, but Teemu still didn’t get more ice time.Eemil Selanne, then 18, took to Twitter to support his father.During the Stars series, he tweeted: “ROSTER MOVE: Bruce Boudreau has been reassigned to Norfolk Admirals (AHL).” He later deleted the tweet, but the message was already out there. The Selannes were on the warpath.Sirpa was just as upset on social media, telling her Facebook friends the Ducks were going to be in big trouble.The Ducks won three straight games against the Kings, first 3–2 with Selanne scoring what would be the last goal of his career, and then 2–0 and 4–3.The Ducks had a chance to clinch the series, but the Kings won Game 6 at home 2–1.Game 7 was either going to be a great triumph for the Ducks or the last game of Teemu’s career. He didn’t give any interviews the day before the game because he didn’t want to distract the team.“I didn’t want anybody starting to think too much about some player’s maybe last game or stuff. It’s not about that, you know. It’s all distractions. The focus should be this game, and only this game,” he said after the morning skate.The game turned out to be Teemu’s last. . .and the furthest thing from a Ducks triumph. The Kings scored three unanswered goals in the first period. Teemu texted Sirpa, Syvahuoko, and his friend Mike Pagano during the first intermission: “[F—–g] joke.”Los Angeles won 6–2, sending Selanne into retirement bitter and frustrated.He did get the farewell he deserved, though, as he was on the ice for the last 1:00 of play and the entire crowd, both Kings and Ducks fans, gave him a standing ovation. Both teams stayed on the ice after the game to pay their respects to the 43-year-old legend.“I always remember the Kings players staying on the ice and clapping. It was so classy from their side. It was emotional and it was not the way I was thinking of going out. It was an emotional and melancholic moment. The Kings players were classy, every single one of them came to congratulate me on a great career,” Teemu recalled.He kept it together on the ice, but as he stepped off it and high-fived fans on his way to the tunnel, he saw his son Leevi in the crowd and burst into tears.“I realized it was truly the end. I had to calm myself down for a while before going into the dressing room,” he said.Afterward, he spoke with the media patiently, but he kept his emotions to himself.“It’s been a fantastic journey and I could never have imagined, not even in my wildest fantasies, that I’d get to have a career like this. It’s hard to understand that something I’ve done since I was a kid has now come to a sudden stop.“There’s nothing wrong in the relationship between Bruce Boudreau and me. We just have a difference of opinion on what kind of a player I am. I know I could still be a first-line player, but this is the right time to retire.”While Selanne was answering reporters’ questions, his family and friends were waiting for him at the Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7 restaurantat the Honda Center, and they were joined by Ducks player Saku Koivu and Francois Beauchemin.And when Teemu joined them, he quickly summed up his feelings.“This team deserved so much better. It was so disappointing to finish my career this way. I really believed that this team had all the tools to win the Stanley Cup,” he said.The St. Louis Blues signed forward to an eight-year contract extension worth $65 million, the organization’s latest move to keep its top young players in the fold long term.General manager Doug Armstrong announced the deal two months to the day since the Blues extended forward for the identical contract terms. Each player counts $8.125 million against the salary cap from the start of the deal in 2023 through 2031.Kyrou set career highs with 27 goals, 48 assists and 75 points in 74 games last season. He had 47 points in his first 99 NHL regular-season games.Thomas is 23, while Kyrou is 24. St. Louis also has top four defensemen , , and Nicky Leddy signed for at least the next four seasons, and center is under contract for six more years.Armstrong has reshaped the Blues since they won the Stanley Cup in 2019, the first championship in franchise history. Cup-winning goaltender signed long term, while then-captain left in free agency in 2020.Two big questions still face the front office with key members of that title-winning team: Top center and winger are each set to be a free agent after this upcoming season. O’Reilly figures to be part of the long-term core, something that’s far less certain with Tarasenko, who requested a trade in the summer of 2021 but remains with St. Louis.DENVER — The Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche added more depth at forward by signing to a one-year, $2 million deal.The move comes on the heels of losing Nazem Kadri in free agency to Calgary. The Avalanche are banking that Rodrigues can help fill the void.Rodrigues arrives in the Mile High City after a season in Pittsburgh, where he set career highs with 19 goals and 24 assists. Rodrigues was the lone Penguins player to skate in every game last season.“We are excited to add a two-way player with Evan’s versatility to our group,” Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland said in a statement. “He is coming off his best offensive season and has shown he can play in a variety of roles and help a lineup in many ways.”It’s been a busy offseason for the Avalanche since beating the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final in June as they hoisted the trophy for the first time since 2001. Among the moves, they brought back defenseman , along with signing left wingers and . They also signed right winger to a contract extension, retained forward and traded for goaltender .The 29-year-old Rodrigues has played in 316 career NHL games in his time with Pittsburgh and Buffalo, the team that signed him as a free agent in April 2015. Before turning pro, he played at Boston University, where he helped the Terriers to the 2015 NCAA championship game before losing to Providence.After spending time hanging out with the Stanley Cup all summer, the Avalanche get back to work this week with rookie camp.OTTAWA, Ontario — The Ottawa Senators have locked up another one of their top young players.Center Tim Stutzle agreed to an eight-year, $66.8 million contract extension, the team announced.The deal, which carries an average annual value of $8.35 million and kicks in following the 2022-23 season, is the latest move by general manager Pierre Dorion to solidify Ottawa’s core.Selected No. 3 overall at the 2020 draft with the pick received in the trade with the San Jose Sharks, Stutzle has 34 goals and 87 points in 132 NHL games.The 20-year-old German finished second on the Senators with 58 points (22 goals, 36 assists) in 79 appearances in 2021-22.The Senators previously signed captain , center , winger and defenseman to long-term deals.“Tim is a dynamic offensive player who utilizes an exceptional blend of speed and skill to be a consistent difference-maker,” Dorion said in a statement. “He’s electrifying and has quickly become a fan favorite for good reason.”Ottawa, which has failed to make the playoffs since reaching the 2017 Eastern Conference final and has gone through a major rebuild, made news earlier this summer by acquiring forward in a trade the Chicago Blackhawks and signing veteran forward in free agency.The Senators, who finished with 73 points last season, also traded goaltender to the Toronto Maple Leafs before acquiring from the Minnesota Wild as his replacement.BROSSARD, Quebec — has agreed to a four-year, $13.45 million contract with the Montreal Canadiens.The 21-year-old center, who was a restricted free agent, had 26 points (nine goals, 17 assists) in 70 games with the Chicago Blackhawks last season.Dach’s contract carries an average annual value of $3.625 million per season.In a corresponding move to get under the NHL’s offseason salary cap, Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes told reporters star goaltender would be put on long-term injured reserve.The 35-year-old played just five games last season because of a knee injury after leading Montreal to a surprise berth in the 2021 Stanley Cup Final.Price, who won last season’s Bill Masterton Trophy as the player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication, is heading into the fifth season of an eight-year deal that carries an annual cap hit of $10.5 million.“Carey’s knee has not responded to any kind of treatment and rehab that’s been attempted since he had the surgery after the (2021) playoff run,” Hughes said. “We’re not very optimistic that, short of some kind of intervention, that things will change.”Dach, meanwhile, was acquired by the Canadiens on July 7 for first- and a third-round picks at the 2022 NHL draft as part of Chicago’s rebuild that also saw dealt to the Ottawa Senators.Dach had 59 points (19 goals, 40 assists) in 152 games with the Blackhawks after being selected No. 3 overall in 2019.Powered by

This excerpt from Teemu Selanne: My Life by Teemu Selanne with Ari Mennander is published with the permission of Triumph Books.&nbsp; For more information and to order a copy, please visit , , , or .***In the 81st game of the regular season, the Los Angeles Kings organized one of the finest celebrations of Teemu and gave him a personalized surfboard as a present. But because of Boudreau’s plan not to play Selanne in back-to-back games, he wasn’t in the lineup against the Kings. The Ducks were going to close out the season at home against the Colorado Avalanche the next night. didn’t play in...

Book excerpt: Selanne on Boudreau, end of NHL career | ProHockeyTalk | NBC Sports

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