Postseason a Ritual for Kurri

When Jari Kurri made his NHL playoff debut with the Edmonton Oilers in 1981, Paul Kariya was 6 years old and Teemu Selanne was 10.

“That scares me a little bit,” Kurri said, laughing. “That’s unbelievable.”

While Kariya and Selanne were learning long division, Kurri was piling up the goals and points that have made him the third-most prolific playoff scorer in NHL history. All grown up and with all-star credentials of their own, Kariya and Selanne flanked their childhood idol on the Mighty Ducks’ top line as they swept the first two games of their playoff series against the Phoenix Coyotes, an unlikely but effective combination of two ascendant stars and one whose brilliance is gradually dimming.

For those who wondered if Kurri could keep up with his linemates, Kariya had an emphatic reply. “Jari still has great legs,” Kariya said. “We have trouble keeping up with him.”

All three played key roles in leading the Ducks to a 4-2 victory Friday at the Pond.

Selanne was a dervish all night, assisting on J.J. Daigneault’s go-ahead goal at 7:03 of the second period and pestering the Coyotes into turning the puck over several times while he killed penalties. Kariya kept the Coyotes off balance with his speed and set up Daigneault’s game-winning goal, his fourth point in two games. Kurri, who will be 37 next month, took faceoffs, killed penalties, played on the second power-play unit and generated an air of quiet determination that set a good example for teammates new to the caldron of playoff hockey.

“He plays almost like a containment game, very smart,” Kariya said. “He’s always in the right place. You can tell he’s been through the wars.”

And won most of them. “This is a big chance for me,” Kurri said. “This is all you work for for eight, nine months. It’s a good chance to rebound and put the year behind me.”

His production of 13 goals and 35 points was not what the Ducks envisioned when they signed him as a free agent last summer for $1.5 million, with an option for next season at the same salary. But he was the only Duck to play all 82 games and in the playoffs, he brings a wealth of experience that’s beyond price.

“He’s not a very talkative person, but if we ever get panicky or need to be calmed he’d be the guy to say what’s needed,” Kariya said.

Kurri is calm because April, May and June are is his time of year, just as October was Reggie Jackson’s time.

Kurri trails only Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier on the career playoff scoring list with 231 points, including the assist he earned in the Ducks’ 4-2 victory over Phoenix on Wednesday. With 105 goals, he’s third behind Gretzky and Messier and third in short-handed goals, with 10.

He shares the record for goals in a postseason, having scored 19 in 18 games in 1985, when the Oilers won the second of five Stanley Cups in seven years.

Selanne can remember so many of those moments. As a wide-eyed youngster in Finland, he watched in wonder as Kurri dominated the sports highlight shows and became a national hero. NHL games weren’t televised in Finland then, so all he saw were snippets of goals and assists. But those brief examples of Kurri’s success helped make a professional hockey career every boy’s dream.

“It was great to watch them play and later on when they won their second and third Cups it was unbelievable to watch them and that whole dynasty of the 80s,” Selanne said. “He was the first Finnish player to be successful in the NHL. Sure, he was an inspiration to me and to everyone.”

Kurri never considered himself a pioneer, although he endured many challenges in his early years and helped prove that European players not only had world-class skills but had the fortitude that was considered exclusively a Canadian trait.

“When I came into the league there had really been only a few Europeans who had done well, like Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson, and that helps your confidence to know they could play here,” Kurri said. “[Opponents] tried to intimidate me with all kinds of stuff, but that’s not going to work. We’re all big boys. It’s what you do on the ice that matters, not what you say.

What he learned from his Oiler days is a legacy he’s now handing down to the Ducks.

“It’s like the World Cup,” Duck Coach Ron Wilson said. “Canada would always have three guys or more who had been in the last Canada Cup and won and can tell the other guys what it takes to win it. Now we have a couple of guys who can tell the guys in the room how hard it is to win.”