Hockey: Ducks still await word from Teemu Selanne The news reports from Helsinki were difficult to translate precisely into English from Finnish on Thursday, but the gist of it was Teemu Selanne hasn't made up his mind about signing a new contract and returning to play for the Ducks next season. "Just to be sure, I'm working out," Selanne said during a news conference to announce the release date of a documentary film about his life and times on and off the ice, one day after he celebrated his 43rd birthday.
"But I would be doing it anyway."Meanwhile, half a world away, inside the Honda Center in Anaheim, Ducks general manager Bob Murray worked the phones in an attempt to improve a club that finished with the third-best record in the NHL last season (30-12-6), but flamed out in the first round of the playoffs. The window to sign free agents opens today at 9 a.m. (PDT). Selanne offered a bit of unsolicited long-distance advice to Murray as the hour to begin signing free agents ticked down. Selanne said the Ducks should sign his countryman Valtteri Filppula, a free-agent center who played last season with the Detroit Red Wings. Reports indicated Selanne then left the news conference for a on-ice workout. Re-signing Selanne was a priority, but there were other moves to be explored. Murray is accustomed to waiting for Selanne to determine whether he wants to keep playing or retire and await the call for his enshrinement in the Hall of Fame in Toronto.
It's been the same every summer since 2007, when Selanne helped lead the Ducks to the Stanley Cup championship and then couldn't decide whether to keep playing or call it a career. The Ducks were willing to wait for him then and they're content to be patient again this summer. Selanne calls Anaheim his "happy place." He and his family settled comfortably in Orange County a long time ago and there's zero chance he would play elsewhere if the Ducks declined to re-sign him. He doesn't come cheap, but didn't exactly break the bank last season at $4.5 million, either. Unlike past seasons, when he was without question one of the Ducks' top players, there were doubts about his play down the stretch of the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. It certainly looked as if he'd lost a step during the Ducks' first-round playoff loss to the Red Wings.
Years ago, he said he wouldn't want to keep playing if he had to play as a third-line checker. Last season, he had only 12 goals and 12 assists in 46 games and his role was reduced considerably as he played on the Ducks' third line Jordan 4 Cavs and served as a power-play specialist. Selanne had a team-leading 66 points, including 26 goals, in 82 games in 2011-12, and it was clear he not only was the face of the franchise but its top offensive threat. He wasn't the same player one season later, but some of that might have had to do with the lockout-compressed schedule. There are plenty of reasons for Selanne to return to the Ducks, starting with the fact they surprised everyone in the league with a superb regular season in which they won only the second Pacific Division in franchise history and Jordan Anthracite Black were second overall in the Western Conference.
The Ducks and Kings also are scheduled to play outdoors at Dodger Stadium next January, the first game in league history held under the Southern California moonlight. It would give Selanne a chance to play in front of a crowd that could be 55,000 or more. Last, but not least, Selanne could join Finland for a sixth Olympics if the NHL decides to send its players to Sochi for the 2014 Games. He is the all-time leading scorer in Olympic history with 37 points, including 20 goals, in 31 games and won silver in 2006 and bronze in 2002 Jordans Cool Greys and 2010. KINGS RE-SIGN ELLERBY The Kings agreed to a one-season deal with defensive-minded defenseman Keaton Ellerby, who played 35 games for them last season after they acquired him Feb.
7 from the Florida Panthers for a fifth-round pick in the 2013 draft. Ellerby, 24, had three assists and 16 penalty minutes during the regular season and also played five games during the playoffs. The 6-foot-5, 221-pound Ellerby also played nine games for the Panthers last season and did not record a goal or an assist. General manager Dean Lombardi hope to re-sign defenseman Rob Scuderi, an unrestricted free agent. Scuderi sounded interested when asked about a possible return to the Kings when he met with reporters after the team was eliminated from the playoffs last month.
"As a player, this is a place that is certainly a desirable location," said Scuderi, who has played four seasons with the Kings. "It's got everything you need, for myself and more importantly for my family.
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