The Anaheim Ducks will retire Teemu Selanne's #8 in what promises to be an emotional pregame ceremony Sunday night.
To mark the occasion, let's look back at Selanne's top-5 greatest moments as a Ducks skater.
Selanne and Kariya
In the mid-to-late-'90s Paul Kariya and Selanne combined to form one of the most dynamic and entertaining duos in contemporary hockey history. Together they won awards, put up 100 point seasons, and made hockey relevant in Orange County.
(Courtesy NHL.com)
Rest assured: Kariya's #9 will join Selanne's #8 in the Honda Center rafters soon enough.
Selanne records 1,000th career NHL point
Selanne recorded 988 points in an Anaheim Ducks uniform, but only one of those points was the 1,000th point of Selanne's illustrious NHL career.
Selanne managed his milestone with a really sweet backhand goal that beat Mathieu Garon on January 30, 2006:
Selanne tops Kariya as franchise scoring leader
On February 18, 2007, Selanne took a pass from teammate Scott Niedermayer on the right-side half wall and took a step towards the face-off circle.
The cagey Finnish winger - as he'd done hundreds of times before - used Los Angeles Kings defenseman Aaron Miller as a screen and stepped into his trademark wrist shot. Poor Sean Burke. He never had a chance:
(Courtesy: NHL)
This lovely power-play goal was Selanne's 301st goal as a Ducks player, which moved him past Kariya and into sole possession of the all-time franchise lead in goals scored.
"Obviously, it's an honor with all the great players who have been here. It's a really nice bonus," Selanne told the associated press after the game.
The forecheck
The pinnacle of Selanne's Ducks tenure came in 2007, when Selanne and the Ducks managed to win hockey's ultimate prize.
The 2006-07 Ducks were a dominant group and never faced an elimination game on their run through the playoffs. In the closest thing the Ducks had to a gut check moment that postseason, Selanne made the difference.
In Game 5 of the 2007 Western Conference Final, the Ducks - who had dropped Games 3 and 4 in Detroit - were facing a one goal deficit with time winding down. With less than a minute remaining and the Ducks net empty, Selanne blocked a Chris Chelios clearing attempt and initiated the cycle. Mere seconds later, Selanne set up Niedermayer in the slot.
Niedermayer's shot deflected off of a Detroit Red Wings defender and fluttered over Dominik Hasek and into the net.
Tie game.
In overtime, Selanne forced Andreas Lilja to turn the puck over and then beat Hasek with a glorious backhand:
"Everything happened so quickly," Selanne said of the game-winning play. "You don't have enough time to plan anything.
"But I've been practicing that move my whole life. I knew I had to get it up. He goes down and covers up everything down low."
The Ducks would go on to win five of their next six games, ultimately hoisting the Stanley Cup on home ice on June 6, 2007.
The incomparable moment
The absolute pinnacle for any hockey player, or NHL franchise.
Selanne forever.
