Selanne re-ups with Ducks, visits ‘Peg Dec 17

Christmas may come early for Winnipeg Jets fans this year. Specifically, eight days in advance. Teemu Selanne has signed a one-year deal with the Anaheim Ducks and this season may be his last hurrah in the National Hockey League. On December 17th, Anaheim visit the MTS Centre for Selanne’s first game against Winnipeg since the old incarnation of the team traded him to the then-Mighty Ducks in the 1996 season.

Winnipeg being in the Eastern Conference somehow means that the team will only play the Ducks a single time this season.

Over his four seasons (thrice shortened) in Winnipeg, Selanne scored 151 goals in just 237 games with the club, including a rookie-record 76-goal stunner in 1993 plus four more in the playoffs. Even in his limited time, Selanne was seventh all-time in regular season scoring with the team and left an indelible effect on the city. Many old school Jets jerseys are accompanied with his then-familiar number 13 and the clip of Selanne celebrating a goal against the Quebec Nordiques by shooting his glove with his stick is one of the more famous in Winnipeg sports history.

So expect a wild celebratory night on the 17th of December as Winnipeg hockey fans finally earn a chance to say goodbye to their former star.