Selanne Has Skill, but Hits Hard Too

Teemu Selanne’s high scoring totals and low penalty minutes can be deceptive.

He was one of three finalists for the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy won by Paul Kariya last season, but Selanne is a hard-hitting player.

“You get one good hit, it wakes you up and you say, ‘Let’s go then,’ ” said Selanne, who is often a target because of his skill.

Selanne had only 22 penalty minutes last season, but he drew his first of the season Saturday against Toronto when he was whistled for a retaliatory cross-check against Dimitri Yuskevich.

Monday against Montreal he played it smarter, letting Jason Marshall come to his aid after Patrice Brisebois cross-checked him and shaking off another attempt by David Wilkie to get him off his game.

The Ducks ended up with two power-play goals because of it, and Selanne assisted on both.

“I wanted to have an opportunity to score on the power play, I didn’t want to take any stupid penalties,” said Selanne, who was disappointed in the Ducks’ defensive discipline in the 6-6 tie.

“We can’t play like that if we want to be in the playoffs. We have to be more smart defensively.”

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By going home to Vancouver to see specialists and work out with his personal physical therapist, Paul Kariya escaped the pressure of watching the Ducks struggle without him--as well as the questions about his return.

“I think that’s part of why he went,” Kariya’s agent Don Baizley said.

Kariya, recovering from an abdominal injury, can’t answer the questions because he doesn’t have the answers.

“None of the health care professionals have said this is career-threatening,” Baizley said. “But they haven’t put a timetable on it either.”