NHL legend Teemu Selanne took to Twitter on Thursday to salute Alex Ovechkin. The day before, the Capitals published a video of Ovechkin recreating the Finnish Flash’s shotgun goal celebration during practice.
“Beautiful @ovie 😂👍😊💪👏,” Selanne wrote.
Alex Ovechkin accomplished a rare piece of history 14 years ago to the day.
On April 13, 2006, Ovechkin scored his 50th goal against the Atlanta Thrashers in game 79 of the Capitals’ 2006-06 season. With the goal, Ovechkin became the second rookie in NHL history to record 50 goals and 100 points in a season. The only other player to accomplish the feat was Teemu Selanne (76g, 56a, 132pts) in 1992-93.
Mario Lemieux hasn’t said “congratulations” to Alex Ovechkin for moving up the all-time goal list and bumping him out of the Top Ten. It probably just slipped his mind.
Grocery shopping, buying new suits that are too long in the arms, re-gelling his hair–the man’s busy!
In other news, here are the hockey Hall of Famers who found the time in their busy schedules to say congrats to Ovi:
By Brennin Weiswerda 3 years ago
Teemu Selanne knows a thing or two about scoring goals. The Finnish Flash scored the most goals as a rookie in NHL history (76) and led the league in goal scoring three different times (76, 1992-93; 52, 1997-98; and 47, 1998-99).
So when Alex Ovechkin overtook the 1997 Stanley Cup champion for 11th on the all-time goal-scoring list, Selanne was both impressed and congratulatory. He also had some advice.
By Ian Oland 3 years ago
Hockey legend Teemu Selanne was back at his old stomping grounds on Sunday and the Anaheim Ducks made sure to honor him in front of the home crowd. Except – they did it in a very roundabout way.
The Ducks surprised Selanne by featuring him on a Teemu Selanne Look-a-Like Cam. Selanne’s reaction is priceless.
On Monday, Caps’ Russians Evgeny Kuznetsov and Dmitry Orlov participated in From Pure Heart – a charity hockey game first started in 2009 by Ilya Kovalchuk and Alex Ovechkin. Ovechkin, who’s in South Florida with his wife Nastya and one-week-old baby Sergei, was unable to participate.
This year’s game took place at Shayba Arena in Sochi and featured some new international firepower. Hockey Hall of Famers Teemu Selanne and Jari Kurri joined Russian national stars Kovalchuk, Pavel Datsyuk, Evgeni Malkin, and Alexander Radulov on the ice to help raise nearly $294k for charity.
Kuznetsov and Orlov, who played on the same team as Selanne, won 10-8. Orlov registered three assists while Kuznetsov went point-less.
Two 600 goalscorers, one 500 goalscorer, and a superstar who’s career was sadly cut short by injury were named to the Hockey Hall of Fame 2017 Class on Monday.
Popular Ducks/Jets forward Teemu Selanne, who owns the record for most goals in a single season by a rookie (76), was the biggest name of the class, earning the nomination in his first year of eligibility. The 2007 Stanley Cup champion scored 684 times during his 21-year career and was one of the most popular players of his era.
“I’m lucky to have played with great people wherever I went in hockey,” Selanne said. “The game is a team effort and I have a long list of those who helped me.”
Two years ago, former Capital Andrew Gordon wrote about his experience playing with Selanne while with the Ducks and explained why he was one of the greatest players ever.
The other players who will be enshrined into the hall include three-time Stanley Cup champion Mark Recchi, 640 goalscorer Dave Andreychuk, and three-time First-Team All Star Paul Kariya. Recchi scored 577 goals and 1,533 points during his 22 seasons in the league while Andreychuk, one of the greatest power-play goalscorers of all-time, captained the Tampa Bay Lightning to a Stanley Cup in 2004.
Player Danielle Goyette and builders Clare Drake and Jeremy Jacobs are also part of the 2017 Class.
In Cardiff, Wales, Saturday, Cristiano Ronaldo’s two goals helped Real Madrid become the first soccer team in history to win back-to-back Champions League titles.
And Capitals 2013 first-round draft pick Jakub Vrana was there to see it all with his father Karel.
One of the most beloved superstars in hockey history, Teemu Selanne, was back in Winnipeg this weekend to participate in the Heritage Alumni Game between the Jets and Oilers. He had a great time.
“Two weeks training and I would be ready for the NHL,” Selanne quipped at the Jets’ alumni practice Friday, according to Finnish reporter Sami Hoffren.
While Selanne was not actually pondering a comeback, he did have some positive things to say about Patrik Laine, the Jets’ new face of the franchise. Selanne believes Laine could break his rookie record of 76 goals.
Photo: Deborah Robinson
In 2015, former Capital Andrew Gordon wrote about what it was like playing with future Hall of Famer Teemu Selanne. Gordon also touched on how considerate and thoughtful the recently retired 684-goal scorer is.
Now we can see it with our own two eyes. On Monday morning, Selanne released a short video congratulating Alex Ovechkin reaching the 500 goal plateau — a feat he accomplished November 22, 2006 against Jose Theodore.
