Teemu Ilmari Selanne was born on July 3, 1970, weighing in at roughly 6.7 lbs. and 19.7 inches (3040g and 50cm) in Finland in Lauttasaari, Helsinki. By the age of 4, Teemu had his first pair of skates and excelled in track, soccer and hockey.

Teemu's Junior Hockey League career (as posted on the web) began in 1987-88 season with the Jokerit Junior club in the Finland Junior League. That same year, he also played for the Jokerit club in the Finland 2 league. Teemu continued to play in the Finland Hockey League switching to the Finland league with Jokerit in 1989-90.

Although drafted by the Winnipeg Jets in the 1st round (10th overall), Teemu remained with the Finland hockey system until 1992. And what a rookie year it was. He made his NHL debut on October 6 with one assist against the Red Wings in a 4-1 win. Two nights later, Teemu scored his first goal against the Sharks' Jeff Hackett in a 4-3 overtime loss. On October 14, Teemu scoreed his first hat trick against the Oilers. At month's end, Teemu was the NHL's Rookie of the Month. In January 1993, Teemu won both Player of the Month (with Alexander Mogilny) and Rookie of the Month honours. That month, he also participated in the mid-season All-Star Game in Montréal. On March 2, Teemu scored his 54th goal of the season in a game against the Nordiques, breaking Mike Bossy's record for rookie goals. Three weeks later on March 23, he scored his 110th point in a game against the Maple Leafs, this time breaking Peter Stastny's record for rookie points. From March 9 to April 15, Teemu established a 17-game point streak. During that tenure, he also established a team record by scoring goals in nine consecutive games (March 14 to April 1) and won his third Rookie of the Month honour (March) of the season. By the end of the season, Teemu had co-won the league's goal-scoring crown (tied with Mogilny) and established rookie records for goals (76) and points (132). Teemu won the Calder Trophy, was an All-Rookie Team forward and a First Team All-Star. He also scored six points (including a hat trick) in six playoff games and won the Best Player of Finland Trophy.

In 1993-94, Teemu won Player of the Week honours on October 25 after scoring eight points in three games. On January 12 against the Sabres, Teemu scored his 100th goal in just his 130th game, becoming the second fastest player to reach that milestone (Bossy scored 100 in 129 games). Ten nights later, he participated in his second mid-season All-Star Game. Then, on January 26, Teemu severed his achilles tendon and was forced to miss the rest of the season. He had scored 25 goals and 54 points in 51 games. In the shortened 1994-95 season, Teemu came back and scored 22 goals in 48 games. He also sat out just two penalty minutes on the entire season. In 1995-96, Teemu played in his third consecutive All-Star Game (no match was held in 1994-95) and won his second Best Player of Finland Trophy. On February 7 of that season, Teemu was traded with Marc Chouinard and a fourth round draft pick to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks for Chad Kilger, Oleg Tverdovsky and a third round draft pick. From February 10 to March 19, he set a Mighty Ducks record (since broken) by scoring points in 15 consecutive games. On February 25 of that streak, he scored the Mighty Ducks' first ever hat trick at home. By season's end, Teemu had scored 40 goals and 108 points and was a finalist for the Lady Byng Trophy.

In 1996-97, Teemu played his first full season on a line with Paul Kariya and set team records for goals (51) and points (109). The end result was the Mighty Ducks' first ever trip to the playoffs. That year, he played in his fourth All-Star Game, won his second First Team All-Star honour, won his third Best Player of Finland Trophy and was the runner-up to the Lady Byng Trophy. On April 16 against the Coyotes, Teemu was the first player to score a playoff goal in Mighty Ducks' history. In 1997-98, he co-won his second goal-scoring title (this time tied with Peter Bondra) and broke his own team record for goals in a season (52). He also broke team records for game-winning goals (11) and longest goal-scoring streak (11 games from October 21 to November 10). At the mid-season All-Star Game in Vancouver, Teemu won the All-Star MVP Trophy with three goals for the World All-Stars. At season's end, Teemu finished third in voting for the Hart Trophy and second for the Lady Byng Trophy. He was also named a Second Team All-Star.

In 1998-99, Teemu paced the league with 47 goals and won the inaugural Maurice Richard Trophy. He also finished first with 25 goals (team record) and 54 points on the power play. He played in his sixth straight All-Star Game (one goal), was a year-end Second Team All-Star, a finalist for the Lady Byng Trophy and runner-up for the Art Ross Trophy (107 points). He was also the league's Player of the Month in February. In 1999-2000, Teemu played in his seventh All-Star Game and led the Mighty Ducks with 52 assists and six game-winning goals.

In 2000-01, Teemu was traded on March 5 to the San Jose Sharks for Steve Shields, Jeff Friesen and a conditional draft pick. Teemu left the Mighty Ducks as the club's all-time leader in game-winning goals (37) and ranked second all-time in goals scored (225, six behind Kariya's 231). He was also the team's year-end leader with five game-winning goals despite playing only 61 games with the Mighty Ducks. In 73 regular season games split between the two teams, Teemu scored 33 goals and 72 points.

A solid contributor to the Sharks, Selanne finished his tenure at the end of the 2002-03 season, choosing free agency over the $6.5M contract option. As the Mighty Ducks ended their cinderella season one win short of Stanley Cup glory, many speculated that the Ducks would try and bring Selanne back into the fold and make another push for the cup in 2003-04. This was not to be. Much to the disappointment of many Duck fans, Ducks management did not accept the option for their star player and Teemu's best friend, Paul Kariya. Now a free agent as well, Kariya and Selanne made some late night plans and apprached their agent. On July 3rd, 2003, the Colorado Avalanche announced a blockbuster deal - they had just landed two of the most sought after free agents in the NHL...Selanne and Kariya were together again in Denver. Unfortunately, due to injuries and other factors, the reunion was not as beneficial to the Avalanche as all had hoped. After the NHL lockout of '04-05, Kariya left the Avs to go to the Nashville Predators and Selanne returned to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Now part of team with talents like Sergei Federov, Sandis Ozolinsh, Scott and Rob Niedermayer, Petr Sykora, JS Guigere and more, Selanne and the ducks look to retrace their steps to the Stanley Cup playoffs.

			AWARDS
	2002-03		Played in NHL All-Star
	2001-02		Played in NHL All-Star
	1999-00		Played in NHL All-Star
	1998-99		NHL - Maurice "Rocket" Richard (Goals Leader)
			NHL - Second All-Star Team
			Played in NHL All-Star
	1997-98		NHL - Second All-Star Team
			Played in NHL All-Star
			Olympic Bronze Medal (1998-FIN)
	1996-97		NHL - First All-Star Team
			Played in NHL All-Star
	1995-96		Played in NHL All-Star
	1993-94		Played in NHL All-Star
	1992-93		NHL - Calder Memorial Trophy (Rookie of the Year)
			NHL - First All-Star Team
			NHL/Upper Deck - All-Rookie Team
			Played in NHL All-Star