“Did You All Get An Autograph?” – Teemu Selanne and His Fans
- Updated: March 29, 2015
Saturday January 11, 2015 was one of the most amazing nights as an Anaheim Ducks fan. The Ducks retired the Jersey of Teemu Selanne in a week-long extravaganza labeled” Teemupalooza” by the media. A week-long celebration of the man, the myth and the fan favorite of fans of hockey. In attendance was his entire family from Finland as well as the friends and teammates who he played with during his storied career.
If you don’t know why Teemu is so cherished and admired, just ask his fans. The same fans who he had stopped his team bus to sign autographs for, the fans in Winnipeg who he stood outside of the hotel to sign autographs for three hours in the cold for or the fans at the game who witnessed Teemu sitting in a penalty box, open the freezer and throw out 30 plus pucks to the delight of all his adoring fans.
The first time I met Teemu was in the ’90s when he was teamed up as the “Dynamic duo” with Paul Kariya. Together with the Ducks announcer and goalie Guy Hebert, they were the “Defenders of the Pond”. While the other players signed autographs and then drove away in their vehicles, Teemu would park his Dodge Viper, open the door and kindly welcome the fans into his world. He made you feel like he wanted you there. He was the only player to always ask the fans if they all got an autograph or a photo before he left. Nobody else does that…..Nobody.
He “gets” it. He understood that if you are good to the fans they are good to you. That’s why the fans, the media and the players all adore Teemu Selanne. He may be famous, a great player, a legend but to me and all his fans he’s such a great person.
“Teemu night” was an amazing tribute and my favorite night of Ducks hockey this season so far. I had amazing seats thanks to the wonderful Season Seat rep Branden Moran. Got a perfect pair of aisle seats where Teemu and all his guests walked down to the red carpet on to the ice. Got to get photos with all the stars and high five Teemu on his walk down to the stage. It was a surreal night of hockey. The crazy part was after 8 hours of being at Honda Center after the ceremony, I couldn’t believe we still had a hockey game to watch! The Anaheim Ducks were still playing the Winnipeg Jets after all the festivities.
I have to say the Winnipeg Jets fans are my favorite fans that have traveled to the Honda Center to watch their team play the Ducks. It was a very special night to watch a player who started from the Winnipeg Jets as a record-setting rookie and end his career with the Anaheim Ducks and be our first retired jersey up in our rafters. And it was wonderful to watch as he was being honored by both franchises as their most beloved player.
Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things SoCal hockey and the rest of the California sports teams! All Cali, All the time!
Related Posts
About Guest Writer
