Selanne to Play for Finland in Turin

The opportunity to rest and get ready for the Mighty Ducks’ possible run toward a playoff spot wasn’t enough to sway Teemu Selanne from what he saw as maybe his final opportunity to chase an Olympic gold medal.

Selanne will compete for Finland in the Turin Games, having been selected Thursday to play in the Olympics for the fourth time for his native country. The 35-year-old forward participated in 1992, 1998 and 2002 and calls the bronze medal that Finland won in 1998 as the best moment in his hockey career.

“It’s always an honor to play for your country,” Selanne said Thursday. “The national team has always been a happy place for me. I’m very excited.”

Coming off knee surgery last year, Selanne is enjoying a bounce-back season in his second tour with the Ducks. He leads the team in goals with 18 and in points with 30.

This international experience figures to be far different from his last one, in which he played on an injured left knee during the 2004 World Cup after a poor season with the Colorado Avalanche in which he had career lows in goals, assists and points.

Selanne briefly considered retirement during the NHL lockout but changed his mind after his knee responded well to the surgery.

“When you are healthy and you have confidence, the hockey is so much fun and then you want to play as much hockey as you can,” he said.

” ... It was tough when you can’t do something that you normally do. I decided I didn’t want to play that way ever again.”

Finland could challenge gold-medal favorite Canada and other top teams from the Czech Republic, Sweden and the U.S. with a roster that features Selanne, the Montreal Canadiens’ Saku Koivu, the Buffalo Sabres’ Teppo Numminen and the Dallas Stars’ Jere Lehtinen, although standout goalie Miikka Kiprusoff of the Calgary Flames withdrew Thursday because of inflammation in his hip.

“I really like our chances,” Selanne said.

Selanne was one of three Ducks to be selected to play in the Olympics for their national teams. Center Samuel Pahlsson will play for Sweden, and defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh will play for Latvia.

Pahlsson, who scored his second goal in Wednesday’s 6-3 win over St. Louis, will be making his first Olympic appearance after playing for Sweden in four different world championships.

Ozolinsh played for Latvia four years ago in the Salt Lake City Games and had four assists in a preliminary-round game against Slovakia. The 33-year-old power-play specialist has been injured much of the year but is expected to return next week.