Late Bloomer

Oozing confidence, Teemu Selanne saw an opportunity, followed his instincts, made the right decision and was able to finish.

The San Jose Sharks only wish his moves on the ice were so smooth.

The Sharks were waiting for the Colorado Avalanche to finish off the Kings in their first-round playoff series. There were a few days to kill and there was no shortage of golf courses. Selanne merely wanted to play a couple of relaxing rounds.

Trouble was, Sirpa, his wife, stood like Rob Blake on the blue line. Getting some golfing time was going to take some doing.

“I was planning to play Saturday and Sunday, but Sunday my little one was having his second birthday,” Selanne said. “I told my wife, ‘I’d like to play Sunday too. Instead, I’ll play 36 holes on Saturday, and Sunday is the day for the family.’ It’s all how you sell it.”

Few can sell as well as Selanne, whose star-presence is as mesmerizing today as it was during his five-plus seasons with the Mighty Ducks. He holds court daily in the Sharks’ dressing room, filling up notebooks with insight and humor, providing both with a savvy innocence.

Yet, selling has had little to do with turning around a season that early on seemed destined for the nearest Jerry/Sally/Ricki afternoon talk show.

Selanne got a new lease on his hockey life when he bought into Shark Coach Darryl Sutter’s way after a fountain-of-hockey-youth experience playing for Finland in the Olympics.

He quit counting the minutes (of ice time he was getting) and the days (until July 1, when he will be an unrestricted free agent). Selanne did the math and things added up.

The light at the end of his tunnel was the shine of the Stanley Cup, which did wonders for the old confidence.

“For the first time, I’m on a team where we have a chance to go all the way,” Selanne said. “This has been the easiest season of my life. Mentally, it was very tough with the Ducks. There was so much pressure on our line that you knew you had to bring your A-game every night. You had to give everything you had just to make the playoffs. Then you couldn’t raise the bar and play at another level. You were just too tired.

“Everyone on this team knew for sure we were going to be in the playoffs. The question was only what seed we would be.”

The question that lingers is: Just how far can the Sharks go? Selanne has provided some answers in their second-round series against Colorado.

He scored two goals in a Game 1 victory over the Avalanche, ending his 11-game goalless streak in the playoffs. In the third period of Game 3, he got off a one-timer from a tough angle that beat Patrick Roy to tie the score, 4-4. The Sharks won, 6-4.

Selanne has five goals through the first six games of the series, which concludes tonight in Denver.

“That’s what he is here for,” Shark left wing Mike Ricci said. “It’s tough for goalies, because he just snaps the puck quick and gets it in good spots.”

Selanne has been tough on goalies since the Olympics. He finished the regular season with 29 goals, the lowest total of his career for a full season, but his contributions picked up after Salt Lake City.

He laughs at the notion, but the moment his season swung upward might have been when he slammed Chris Pronger’s face into the glass during an Olympic game against Team Canada.

If Selanne had any doubts about how his teammates felt about him, they were cleared up when the Sharks’ Owen Nolan, who played with Pronger on Team Canada, spoke up. Nolan said that if Pronger had a problem with Selanne in future NHL games, then “[Shark forward] Scott Thornton or I will handle it.”

Said Selanne, “The Olympics was when I knew everything was going to be great for me. I really got my heart back. Hockey was so much fun again. My confidence was back.”

Selanne had labored in Sutter’s system at first.

The weight of the team had always been on him and Paul Kariya in Anaheim. Selanne thrived on the 25-minute games, regardless of how taxing each season had become.

When he was shown the way to San Jose a year ago, in a deal for forward Jeff Friesen and goalie Steve Shields, he arrived in good spirits, joking with his new teammates that they could relax because “I brought the quotes with me.”

Said Ricci, “He is such a great person, as well as a great player. We love having him in our dressing room.”

Selanne was in San Jose for more than lip service though. He was to be the last stone in a foundation for playoff success. Those hopes seemed to evaporate when he failed to rain down goals. He had only five in the first 22 games this season.

A lack of playing time, Selanne said, was causing his lack of production. And although he didn’t have a stopwatch around his neck during games to chart his time, the clock was ticking in his head. He would be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

“Playing 14 minutes a game is not really how you’re going to get your confidence back,” Selanne said. “At the same time, you can do something good when you are out there. The first half of the season, nothing was there. I don’t even want to think about it.”

But he did want to talk about it ... then. Selanne complained about his short ice time and a Sutter-Selanne feud was born, although both credit the media with an assist.

It was reported that after a poor game against the New York Rangers in January, Sutter told the car-crazy Selanne, “I don’t care if you get into your Porsche and drive back to Anaheim.”

Selanne, who was wallowing in what became a 10-game goalless span, replied, “The Porsche is in Finland.”

Said Sutter, “It was an issue that no one ever talked to Teemu or me about. They talked to everyone else. Teemu and I laugh about it. Everyone else wanted to make a big deal about it. It was very simple. I think it was just the adjustment of coming to a different club.”

Selanne supports that stance.

“We have never had any problems,” he said. “I haven’t had problems with any coach before. I don’t know where those rumors started. Of course, [Sutter] does give me a little [grief] all the time when I’m not playing well. But that’s nothing personal.”

If there were any hard feelings between player and coach, they did not last the season. Sutter did all that he could to get Selanne his 30th goal in the season finale, playing him extensively in the third period.

“He was a more focused player going into the Olympics and became one of our better players,” Sutter said.

The post-Olympic run has been good for the Sharks, who are trying to advance past the second round for the first time in their 11-year history.

It has also been good for Selanne, who is showing potential suitors that he still has some bite left. He is making $9.5 million this season, about $3 million of which is paid by the Ducks, and may have to take a pay cut.

He has his home in Southern California, which fueled speculation by tortured Duck fans that he will return. The Kings, too, may look at him to boost their scoring, if the price is right. Of course, the playoff success, and Selanne’s part in it, could keep him in San Jose.

And the Sharks have something besides money to put on the table.

“You can’t beat the feeling when you’re winning,” Selanne said. “Everyone is in a good mood, the practices are easy. It’s like a country club.

“I want to win the Cup at least once. For the first 10 years [in the NHL], I didn’t get close. I want to win it, then you can think about something else.”

Like another round of golf ... if he can sell it.