Teemu Selanne will finally get his homecoming in Winnipeg.
That is one of the side effects of his decision Thursday to come back for at least one more NHL season with the Anaheim Ducks. Selanne, who is still an elite player at the age of 41, signed a one-year deal for $4-million (all currency U.S.).
There is no doubt Winnipeg fans will mark down Dec. 17 as a big date for them and the freshly transplanted Jets. That is the night Selanne and the Ducks pay their first visit to the MTS Centre.
Selanne was drafted 10th overall by the original Jets in 1988 and quickly earned the affections of Winnipeg fans when he set and NHL rookie scoring record with 76 goals in the 1992-93 season. But in the middle of his fourth season, Selanne was traded to the Ducks in a one-sided deal.
On Feb. 7, 1996, Selanne and Marc Chouinard and a fourth-round draft pick were sent to the Ducks for defenceman Oleg Tverdovsky, forward Chad Kilger and a third-round draft pick. Neither Tverdovsky nor Kilger lived up to expectations, although both them and the team were gone by that summer.
Since the Jets bolted for Phoenix at the end of that season, the Jets fans never had a chance to say goodbye to Selanne or give him a rousing homecoming. The Ducks did not have a game in Winnipeg for the rest of the 1995-96 season.
But the fans will get that chance on Dec. 17 when Selanne and the Ducks make their first trip to Winnipeg this season.
The signing was also good news for the Ducks' fans, since it keeps some scoring punch on their top two lines. Selanne was second in production last season for the Ducks with 31 goals and 80 points in 73 games.
"You guys knew I couldn't stop playing," Selanne said in a short message to the fans on the Ducks' web site. "We start in Helsinki, so see you there."
The Ducks will open the NHL season with a game in Helsinki, Selanne's home town on Oct. 7 against the Buffalo Sabres.
Selanne indicated recently he wanted to come back but said he would not make the commitment until he was sure his left knee would hold up for the season. He had surgery on that knee in June.