Selänne and Anaheim win Stanley Cup

In the early hours of Thursday morning, Finnish time, Teemu Selänne became only the sixth Finnish ice hockey player to win the coveted NHL Stanley Cup.
      Selänne’s team, the Anaheim Ducks, beat their finalist opponents the Ottawa Senators 6-2 in the fifth game of the best-of-seven final series, thus bagging the series with four victories and only one defeat.
     
Though Selänne failed to collect any points this time around, it did little to slow down his celebrations after the final buzzer went off.
      Selänne, 36, played no fewer than 1,127 NHL games in the regular season and play-offs before finally lifting the coveted Stanley Cup trophy.
      Last night’s triumph also marked the first Stanley Cup victory for the Anaheim Ducks, a team that has played in the North American league since the season of 1993-1994.
      In the play-offs quarter finals Anaheim sent home Minnesota after 4-1 wins, and Vancouver was given the same treatment. In the semi-finals it was Detroit’s turn to get squashed by the Disney characters.
      In the final series Ottawa’s only win came in the third game. The other four matches Anaheim won 3–2, 1–0, 3–1, and 6–2.
     
At the prize-giving ceremony Teemu Selänne was the fourth Anaheim player to lift up the Stanley Cup trophy right after the team captain Scott Niedermayer, his brother Rob, and Chris Pronger.
      "Wow, wow, wow", Selänne shouted.
      "I could not believe my dream had come reality. And the trophy was much heavier than I'd imagined", Selänne described his sentiments afterwards.
      "So much work, so many years."
      "Somebody wake me up! I cannot describe my feelings. Unbelievable!" the Finn enthused.
     
An illustrious NHL career that started in Winnipeg in 1992 had finally reached its fulfilment.
      "I have dreamt of this moment for 15 years. More than once there have been moments when I doubted that this day would ever come. Especially when my knee was totally trashed", Selänne said referring to the seasons 2002-2003 and 2003-2004.
      Selänne tied for most goals in the NHL in 1993 and 1998, broke the NHL single-season record for goals (76) and points (132) by a rookie in 1992-93, made it to the NHL First All-Star Team in 1993 and 1997 and the Second All-Star line-up in 1998 and 1999, and has scored over 500 goals and earned over 1,000 points in the toughest ice hockey league on the planet. He's earned his day in the sun the hard way.
      Selänne has also taken part in four Winter Olympics for Finland, winning a bronze in Nagano in 1998 and a silver in Torino in 2006. In both Nagano and Torino games he was the top point scorer of the tournament.
      "I have had a fair share of personal success, but I am not sure how much that means to me", Selänne pondered.
      "And I have been so close to winning something big, the World Championship, the World Cup, the Olympics. I am just so happy that I finally won something."
      "And what makes this particularly special is that my parents, my family, my brother, and my friends are all here today."
     
Selänne is a popular figure on both sides of the Atlantic. He has occasionally been the subject of criticism at home for off-ice indulgence in fast cars, but his unstinting charity work - in particular on behalf of children's hospital care - has made him a much-appreciated household name, and his success was widely hoped for.
      The NHL is a lucrative profession, but it is also a very hard employer indeed, and few players come through fifteen years of the mill with all their body parts intact.
      Teemu Selänne is no exception.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Selänne one victory away from lifelong dream (6.6.2007)
  Teemu Selänne makes good on old "If I ever..." promise to friends (31.5.2007)

Links:
  Anaheim Ducks
  Teemu Selänne (Wikipedia)