Hockey|The number 8 of the Finnish striker legend arouses emotions in North America and Finland.
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Jokerit raised the shirts of seven players to the roof of the Helsinki ice hall on Friday.
The jersey numbers were 5, 91, 23, 24, 17, 15 and 17, including championship pennants.
Teemu Selänte’s shirt was not included, which caused surprise among supporters.
Selänne commented on the matter on the X service and wondered about the absence of Keke Säilynoja’s and Mika Strömberg’s shirts.
In Mesti Jokerit, who is playing this season, on Friday of last week put the numbers of seven players on the roof of the Helsinki ice rink, which it has already frozen on the roof of the former Hartwall arena.
“We want to show appreciation to each of the seven players – Walter Immonen, Esa Tikkanen, Jari Kurri, Petri Varis, Henry Alder mixed Timo Turunen – and to their remarkable playing careers”, chairman of the Jokers Mikko Saarni said in the club’s press release.
In addition to the game numbers 5, 91, 23, 24, 15 and 17, the Jokers’ championship pennants also went up on the ceiling of the hall.
Friday after the event, many Jokerit supporters have wondered why Jokerit has not suspended the club’s representative in the 1980s and 1990s Teemu Selänten nuttua.
In the 1980s, Selänne played in the Jokeri’s representative team with number 11, but later changed to number 8, which he had used in the Jokeri’s junior teams.
Selänne, who grew up at the ice hockey school in Espoo, won the Finnish championship for the Jokers in the 1991-92 season, after which he moved to the NHL with the Winnipeg Jets, where the speedy skater became known as the “Finnish Flash”.
Ridge has given his own view on the shirt issue in the X service.
“I don’t see it as necessary, the time there was short. 8 jerseys at the Ducks’ Honda Center is enough,” Selänne wrote, referring to the jersey on display in Anaheim’s home hall.
Instead, Selänne wondered why the shirts of his former teammates were not torn from the roof of the “Nordis” hall.
“I wonder how it can be possible that real joker icons Keke Säilynojan and by Mika Strömberg the shirts are not on the roof yet. Unfathomable”, Selänne messaged.
Winger Säilynoja wore the Joker’s shirt between 1988 and 1998 and is one of the club’s icons. Defender Strömberg played in the Jokers from 1988 to 1999 and after the gig in Switzerland for two more seasons in the 2000s.
of Anaheim in addition, at least two other parties have raised Selänte’s number to the ceiling. The Finnish Ice Hockey Federation did this on December 30, 2015, in connection with the World Junior Championships. Selänne was the patron of the games organized in Finland. The number has since been restored to use.
The Winnipeg Jets, on the other hand, raised Selänte’s shirt to the ceiling in November 2022 in connection with the Anaheim match. On the same occasion, the Jets also raised the ceiling Teppo Numminen the number. The defender from Tampere played in Winnipeg at the same time as Selänte. However, these shirts are not actually frozen.