The Anaheim Ducks are scheduled to retire Teemu Selanne’s number this January. That ceremony might be a bit awkward now.
Selanne, who retired from the NHL after last season, penned a book, entitled “Teemu,” that hit shelves Thursday in his native Finland. Upon reading excerpts from it, it’s clear Selanne’s final few years in Anaheim were far from enjoyable.
The 44-year-old winger bashes several members of the Ducks’ organization in the book (which is written in Finnish), but his primary target is current head coach Bruce Boudreau.
“You are as good as you your coach wants you to be,” Selanne wrote, as translated by Finnish hockey writer Juha Hiitela. “If we had any other coach, I’d still be playing.”
Selanne details his beefs with Boudreau, most of which centered around ice time and his lack of use on the power play. Selanne averaged just 14:08 of ice time last season despite, he said, being promised a role on one of the Ducks’ top two power-play units.
Perhaps the most notable dispute came after Selanne received word that he would be a healthy scratch for Game 4 of Anaheim’s first-round playoff series against the Dallas Stars.
“I yelled him right to his face what I was thinking,” Selanne wrote. “I ask what he has against me. I told him that since he became our coach, he has not respected me one bit. You never put me on ice when we play 5-on-3 or 4-on-4 or when we are one goal behind in the end of the game. …
“He tried to skate away but I just yelled I wasn’t finish. I told Boudreau if you ever want to win something in a playoffs, you’re going to need me. Nobody else wants to win as much as me. It felt really good.”
Ducks general manager Bob Murray said Thursday, via The Associated Press’ Greg Beaucham, that the comments were “just Teemu being Teemu.”
Check out Hiitela’s Twitter timeline for much more from the book, which reportedly will be published in English sometime in 2015.
Hat tip to Puck Daddy
