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Teemu Selanne once beat Roger Federer at tennis

 David Miller
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Teemu Selanne once beat Roger Federer at tennis
Credit: Capture d'écran / Screenshot
Teemu Selanne is a legend in Finland.

The former NHL All-Star had an excellent professional career, but will long be known as the 76-goal rookie.

76 goals in his first year in the NHL.

Now, as many of you already know, Selanne arrived in the NHL at the age of 22.

Contrary to what some believe, it was 100% the Finn’s decision to stay in Finland following his draft.

The Winnipeg Jets 1.0 drafted him 10th overall in 1988 and wanted him to play in the NHL at 18.

Selanne politely declined, wanting to stay in Finland and hone his game.

He mentioned this inan excellent interview with Paul Bissonnette and Ryan Whitney of the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast.

During this interview, several very interesting topics were discussed.

I strongly suggest you listen to the episode with the Finnish legend. You’ll learn a lot about him.

One of the things I didn’t know about him was that he once won a tennis match against none other than Roger Federer.

Selanne was forming a duo with the former 13ᵉ best racket in the world, Jarkko Nieminen, when the latter announced his retirement.

The two Finns played in Helsinki, Finland, for Nieminen’s final round.

For the occasion, they faced Roger Federer and Peter Forsberg.

And as Selanne so aptly put it: of course, they won against Federer and Forsberg.

“Now, every time I run into Roger, I tell him: remember, there’s one more guy you’ve never beaten.” – Teemu Selanne

I didn’t even know Selanne played tennis, but he really doesn’t look bad, judging by this montage of their confrontation.

This interview taught me a lot about Selanne.

Did you know that Selanne has a great sense of humor, and that he’s already got a Bruce Boudreau trick up his sleeve?

And it was a first-class prank.

He impersonated Wayne Gretzky on the bus, texting Bruce Boudreau to set up a meeting between the two.

He was very proud of his stunt, as can be seen in the clip above.

Not only does he like to joke, he also likes to make fun (in a good way) of his teammates.

When he was traded to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, he quickly developed a chemistry with Paul Kariya.

Selanne and Kariya lived together from the moment the Finn arrived in Anaheim.

Kariya was a very superstitious player and Ryan Whitney asked Selanne what kind of superstitious things he could do.

He took the opportunity to talk about an (excellent) joke he played on his former teammate.

“I’ll always remember him putting on his protective bracelets before going to sleep. I asked him why he put them on. He told me he’d already hurt his wrist in his sleep, so he wasn’t taking any more chances. One day, I put my son’s shin guards on before he went to sleep, telling him: once I hurt my knee and now I’m not taking any more chances.”

He’s definitely a great jokester and loves to laugh, as can be seen regularly throughout the episode.

On the other hand, there’s only one thing about him that makes me wonder: will the record of 76 goals in his rookie year ever be broken?

In my opinion, it’s one of the sport’s untouchable records, along with Wayne Gretzky’s 2857 career points.


Overtime

– A nice visit.

– The mask is incredible!

– Well done.

– Read more.

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