SUPPORT WING

Teemu Selanne happily paraded around the Mighty Duck dressing room with his 22-month-old son, Eemil, dozing in his thickly muscled arms Friday night at the Pond.

Selanne scored two brilliant goals, led a comeback victory and felt a weight lifted from his shoulders.

Lord Stanley’s Cup, expensive champagne and cigars seemed to be the only missing elements to this postgame celebration.

Teammate Paul Kariya was back from a 32-game absence because of a contract dispute and Selanne couldn’t stop smiling.

“I’m like a little boy again,” he said. “I’m so happy, so excited. I don’t have that extra 200 pounds on my back anymore. It’s been a tough time. I knew how much I had to carry the load. There was pressure. We’d get down by two goals and I’d look at the bench and see in the guys’ faces that they didn’t think we could win.”

Nobody in the NHL was as targeted as Selanne. Nobody carried his team as Selanne did. Nobody smiled more than Selanne.

It wasn’t so much what Selanne did while Kariya held out before signing a new two-year, $14-million contract. It was how Selanne accomplished it without his fellow all-star winger.

His emergence as the NHL’s co-leader with 26 goals in 33 games did not shock the rest of the league. After all, he had 76 in 1992-93 to set a rookie record. But his leadership and perseverance combined with his offensive skills began to earn him early nominations for most-valuable-player honors.

“With apologies to Sean Pronger, Dan Trebil, J.J. Daigneault, Dmitri Mironov, Steve Rucchin, Ruslan Salei, Scott Young, Joe Sacco, Matt Cullen, Jason Marshall, Richard Park, Dave Karpa and Bobby Dollas, has anyone ever done more with less?” Steve Dryden of the Hockey News wrote in praise of Selanne.

Selanne and Kariya were last season’s top scoring combination. Selanne had 51 goals and 109 points to finish second in the NHL. Kariya was third with 44 goals and 99 points.

In this season’s first 32 games, the Ducks had only one punch. Opponents realized the way to beat the Ducks was to beat on Selanne.

The Montreal Canadiens did it best, stopping his streak of games with at least one goal at 11, on Nov. 3.

His second son, Eetu, was born earlier that day, which also contributed to Selanne’s ineffectiveness. But the hooking, holding, punching and stick-swinging didn’t help either.

“It’s not so easy to score goals,” he would say after each new mugging. “It’s not so easy when there’s not so much room to skate out there.”

Selanne would not stoop to calling opponents’ tactics “rodeo hockey,” as Brett Hull of the St. Louis Blues did last month.

“I think he thought I’d be here any day,” Kariya said. “The longer and longer it went on, I think he finally realized the severity.”

Until losing his cool after a practice Dec. 9, Selanne had not uttered a negative word about Kariya’s absence. Publicly, at least, Selanne was always upbeat, smiling, full of good humor.

However, several times during Kariya’s absence, Selanne said he released his frustrations after losses by speeding home on the freeway at “over 100 mph.”

“I was so optimistic the whole time, but the last week I lost any hope he would play again for our team,” Selanne said. “I didn’t believe anymore. I tried not to bring it home. My family knew how I really felt, though.”

Selanne’s confidence finally eroded completely after a telephone conversation with Kariya after the Ducks returned Dec. 7 from a 1-3-1 trip to Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Buffalo and Pittsburgh.

“He sounded so down, so hurt that I thought he was never going to play here again,” Selanne said.

Two days later, Selanne revealed his worst fears. He said Kariya might retire from the NHL and play in Europe because he was so unhappy over the stalled contract talks.

Several sources close to the team said they believed Selanne’s comments helped hasten a new deal for Kariya the next day. They also wondered how much restraint it took for Selanne to maintain his cheerful appearance.

“You can moan, groan and complain or you can take charge,” Coach Pierre Page said. “He was the leader of a bunch of guys who took charge. He kept things positive when they easily could have turned negative.”

Those who have known Selanne longer than Page were not surprised at his attitude.

“He has such a captivating personality,” said Washington assistant Tim Army, a former Duck assistant. “He just puts a smile on your face. I’ve seen him stop the bus. He’ll see some boys and girls with his jersey on and he’ll get off the bus and sign autographs and talk to them.”

Defenseman Dollas pondered a question for a moment, then took his best shot.

“I’d say he’s sort of a cross between a regular modern-day guy and a flower child,” Dollas said when asked to describe Selanne. “He’s got it all, but you’d never know it. He’s a great hockey player, but he doesn’t have a care in the world. When things are going bad, he’s just so even-keeled that I’m sure it angers some guys.”

If all he did was skate like a blur, pass the puck with pinpoint accuracy and shoot it like a rocket, Selanne’s autograph might still be worth waiting for in sub-freezing temperatures.

He’s among the leading vote-getters for the All-Star Game on Jan. 18 in Vancouver, and he also will play for his native Finland in the Olympic Games in February in Nagano, Japan.

What you see on the ice is no better than half the story, though. Wait outside a rink, a hotel, an airport departure lounge. Ride the team bus. Visit the dressing room. Sit on the team bench.

Selanne is the Ducks’ heart, their soul. Take a look at him . . .

* In Tokyo.

The game is over. The bus arrives at the hotel. A crowd, including a man with a Finnish flag attached to his Duck hat, gathers. Selanne won’t leave until the last scrap of paper is autographed and the last roll of film is used.

* On the bus.

On the way to practice at some far-off rink after a tough road loss the night before. Silence. Thirty minutes, 45 minutes and no rink in sight. “OK, joke is over,” Selanne bellows. “Let’s go back to the hotel.” Laughter.

* In the dressing room.

Angry. Kariya hasn’t been signed and it doesn’t look as if he will be until after the Olympics. Selanne sounds off. “[Paul] thinks the team doesn’t want to compete, that they don’t want to win,” he says.

* In the dressing room the next night.

Overjoyed. Pumping General Manager Jack Ferreira’s hand at hearing the news Kariya finally signed. Calling Kariya at his parents’ home in Vancouver between periods of the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins to celebrate the good news.

“You don’t find them any better than him,” Page said. “He’s a special breed. He’s a real genuine guy. Teemu demanded a lot of himself [during Kariya’s absence]. He tried to feel good. He drew strength from it and it paid off.”

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Top Scorers Since 1992-93

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PLAYER POINTS Jaromir Jagr (Penguins) 542 Adam Oates (Capitals) 514 Ron Francis (Penguins) 497 Teemu Selanne (Ducks) 487 Mario Lemieux (Penguins) 480 Eric Lindros (Flyers) 474 Joe Sakic (Avalanche) 473 Wayne Gretzky (Rangers) 472 Mark Recchi (Canadiens) 470 Pierre Turgeon (Blues) 468

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