Duck Fans Still Teemu-Oriented

Here’s why Teemu Selanne was the most popular person at the Pond Sunday.

Selanne played hockey.

He didn’t have to. Selanne’s team, the San Jose Sharks, had already qualified for the playoffs. They will be seeded fifth in the Western Conference. The Sharks had nothing on the line against the Mighty Ducks. Selanne has a tricky knee. He didn’t need the aggravation.

But Selanne played.

Selanne played because he is classy. Because he found out the Ducks were planning a video tribute. Because probably two-thirds of the fans at the Pond came to say goodbye to Selanne, which seemed much more appealing than bidding farewell to the forbiddingly awful Mighty Ducks.

So Selanne watched the one-minute tribute that came onto the scoreboard video screen right before the national anthem.

As the “sellout” crowd, the one that had big chunks of seats without anybody sitting in them, rose for what is usually national anthem time, Duck management provided the only moment of emotion of the night.

Duck management offered the tribute to Selanne, who was traded to the Sharks March 5.

The Anaheim fans saw Selanne’s first playoff goal for the Ducks, watched as Selanne scored a hat trick in one period, smiled at a picture of Selanne as the MVP of the 1998 All-Star game.

And, finally, there was Selanne’s last goal as a Duck, scored against the Kings March 4.

It was the goal that didn’t make the infamous highlight tape at the Pond March 7. The Ducks always run highlights of the previous win. They had beaten the Kings on March 4. Selanne also had two assists in that 4-0 win. Thanks to creative editing, Selanne was a no-show on that highlight film and Duck fans were furious.

On Sunday they rose in tribute. They cheered for more than a minute, longer than the video played. They raised sticks that Selanne had signed for them. They wore sweaters with Selanne’s name and No. 8. Some wiped away tears, some screamed out in anger. Some booed the Ducks and cheered for their opponent. But Selanne didn’t seem like an opponent.

“If this game were anywhere else,” he said, “I wouldn’t have played. But I heard what [the Ducks] were going to do which I thought was very classy. And I thought I owed it to the fans here. These fans have always been great to me.”

The fans were no classier than Selanne.

How much has he grown to love Orange County? He, his wife Sirpa and their three sons will probably make their Coto de Caza home permanent someday. Selanne loves Finland, where he was born. But when hockey is over, even though his family has a beautiful cabin on a lovely lake outside Helsinki, Orange County will be home.

So Selanne did not want to leave the Ducks. Given the choice between heading into the playoffs with the Sharks or into nowhere with the Ducks, whom he kept calling “we,” Selanne wouldn’t, couldn’t, give an answer.

He did say several times that he had found a different attitude at the top of San Jose’s organization. “Here, in Anaheim,” Selanne said, “it was always a question of if we would make the playoffs. In San Jose, it’s kind of expected to make the playoffs. It’s just a matter of what spot. They really want to win in San Jose. You can tell that.”

For this gentle jab, Duck fans will love Selanne even more.

They had come out in loud, large numbers Sunday and they found that saying goodbye can be both bitter and bittersweet.

They came wearing Selanne’s sweater. They came with handmade signs that said things like “Go Mighty Sharks and Teemu,” or that had the Mighty Duck logo with a big X through it.

The No. 8 sweater, Teemu’s sweater, came walking across Katella from the brew pub. It came cutting across from the parking lots. It came in small, medium, large and extra large. It came on the backs of men and women, boys and girls. It was worn with pride, with sadness, with anger, with a wistful sense of auld lang syne.

John Cosio, 39, of Whittier said the video tribute on Sunday was too little too late. Cosio wore a Duck jersey with an X through the Duck and the words “Go Sharks,’ hand-printed. “That was the worst trade in the history of the team,” Cosio said. “I’ve been a Ducks fan since 1993. Now I’m a Teemu fan. Will I get over this? No.”

Mark Frank, 52, a season-ticket holder from Huntington Beach, wore his Duck jacket. But it was altered. In tape, above the “Mighty Ducks,” Frank wrote “No More.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever understand why [Selanne is] not here and why the Ducks couldn’t make it work with Paul (Kariya) and Teemu,” Frank said. “Every great team needs two great players. And we had that.”

In the immediate and bitter aftermath of losing Selanne, a lot of Duck fans said they would turn in their tickets, said they would never come back. Except this once, to say goodbye to Teemu.

And they did. They said goodbye. They said it loudly and then many left. They did not stay for all the giveaways, the “fan appreciation” tokens. There was polite applause at the end when Kariya, in another videotape, said that some lucky fans would receive, literally, the jerseys off the Ducks’ backs, the sweaty remnants of this season-ending 4-1 loss.

The notable thing about this? That there was applause.

It’s what Selanne understands and what Duck management doesn’t always seem to get. Hockey fans are loyal. They love their sport and their stars. Treat them fairly, though. Selanne’s gone and some of those sweaters won’t be back. Unless the team at the Pond is a winner again.

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Diane Pucin can be reached at her e-mail address: diane.pucin@latimes.com