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This will be Teemu Selanne’s last year in the NHL

Teemu Selanne, Lubomir Visnovsky

Anaheim Ducks right wing Teemu Selanne of Finland celebrates an assist to a goal by teammate Lubomir Visnovsky of Slovakia in the third period against the New York Islanders during an NHL hockey game, Friday, March 19, 2010, in Anaheim, Calif. Ducks won 5-4 in overtime. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

AP

When Teemu Selanne decided to come back for another year with the Anaheim Ducks, many folks speculated that this year could be his last year in the NHL. While Selanne looked to Paul Kariya to join him for another go-round in southern California (which won’t happen) the motivation is now pretty clear why he tried. Selanne admits to a Finnish newspaper that this year will be his last in the NHL.

An article in Helsingin Sanomat is mostly about Selanne’s post-hockey life, but it does ask him if there is a “back door lurking” when it comes to his yearly dalliances with leaving the game.

“Nope,” Selanne told the paper. “This is my last season on the ice.”

Citing his desire and the offseason changes made to the team, Selanne, 40, signed a one-year, $3.25 million contract with the Ducks in August.

Obviously this isn’t a startling revelation that this will be it for Selanne. He’s been in the NHL since the 1992-1993 season when he scored 76 goals as a rookie on the way to winning the Calder Trophy with the Winnipeg Jets. Playing for that long is a rarity indeed and to be a top player in the game while doing so is just as rare. We can only hope that Selanne can go out the way he came in: firing his glove in the air after scoring a goal and pretending to shoot it down with his stick.