Sweet-shooting Mighty Ducks right wing Teemu Selanne deserves to
be among the three finalists for the Hart Trophy, which goes to
the league's MVP. But whether he should beat out Penguins right
wing Jaromir Jagr and Sabres goalie Dominik Hasek, two almost
certain finalists for the award, comes down to this: Does
Selanne's dominant season outweigh the fact that through Sunday,
Anaheim was 25-41-12 and in last place in the Western Conference?
Even though he led the NHL with 52 goals and was tied for fourth
in scoring with 86 points at week's end, the odds are against
Selanne's winning the Hart. Jagr was the NHL's point leader,
with 97 through Sunday, and Hasek was having one of the best
seasons ever by a netminder, with 13 shutouts and a 2.09
goals-against average. As for Selanne, only four players whose
teams failed to make the playoffs have been MVP (the last was
Mario Lemieux of the 1987-88 Penguins). "He's had a phenomenal
season," says Anaheim coach Pierre Page. "Through the down
times, he hasn't let up."
Anaheim has been dreadful, but Selanne has
had an MVP-quality season.
(Elsa Hasch/Allsport)
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With the absence of star left wing Paul Kariya, who missed the
season's first 32 games in a contract dispute and who has been
sidelined since Feb. 1 with postconcussion syndrome, Selanne has
played with a hodgepodge of linemates and has been keyed on by
opposing teams. "Trying to do damage without Paul has been a big
challenge," says Selanne.
Here's how he has responded: Through Sunday, Selanne was plus-12
on a team that had surrendered 55 more goals than it had scored,
and he had scored 10 game-winning goals and 26.9% of Anaheim's
193 goals. Only Brett Hull, who scored 27.7% of the Blues' goals
in 1991-92, has had a higher percentage of his team's output in
a season.
The 27-year-old Selanne, who is 6 feet and 200 pounds, is
tougher in the corners than most snipers and possesses an
uncommon blend of speed, explosiveness and touch. A classic
Selanne moment, even though it didn't result in a goal, occurred
on March 9 against the Kings. He was advancing on Rob Blake—one
of the top three defensemen in the game—who was skating
backward and was in good position. But when Blake broke stride
for a split second, Selanne seized the moment. He accelerated
past Blake and snapped a breakaway shot on goalie Stephane
Fiset. "Most guys wouldn't have even noticed my hesitation,"
says Blake. "He saw it, and he was gone."
During and after the negotiations that resulted in Kariya's
getting a two-year, $14 million contract on Dec. 10, Selanne
never complained about the deal he signed in 1995, which was
worth about $13 million over five seasons. Earlier this month,
however, the Ducks added two years and $19.5 million to his
contract. "I'm thankful they gave me the extension," he says,
"but I wasn't worried, because if the only problem I have is
that I'm underpaid, then things have to be pretty good."
Issue date: April 20, 1998
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