Jets Greats Selanne and Numminen Reflect on Careers in Winnipeg

Unless you live under a rock, you’ve probably heard the names Teemu Selanne and Teppo Numminen. If you’re a fan of the Winnipeg Jets, you probably know their career stat lines. If you live in Winnipeg, well, there’s really no excuse for you not to have partied with either of the two at some point in your life – young or old.

On Thursday night, fans gathered at Canada Life Centre in downtown Winnipeg for a ceremony honouring the two Jets legends who saw their numbers raised to the rafters and their names forever enshrined in the Winnipeg Jets Hall of Fame.

“We both never would have imagined what kind of career we would have,” Selanne said in his media availability prior to puck drop. “You just want to play as well as you can and either good things happen or they don’t. But if someone would have told me what will happen with my career and what kind of career I would have, all this Hall of Fame things, I would probably tell the guy you’re crazy.”

A hearty applause and standing ovation greeted the two ‘original’ Jets, along with countless signs and memorabilia from days of old. Despite standing in unfamiliar territory, on an ice surface that previously operated as the Eaton’s Building during their time in Winnipeg, the 2004-built Canada Life Centre certainly felt like home for a few short moments on Thursday evening for two Finns transplanted in North America in the late 20th century.

“I love that the rink is here in downtown,” Selanne said. “But all the great memories are from the old Winnipeg Arena. It’s kind of sad it doesn’t exist anymore.”

“I think that it’s a humble feeling to be here tonight. It’s a big honour for sure,” Selanne added. “It’s so special to go and do this with Teppo. Obviously, Teppo was a huge factor for me when I came here. He was like an older brother for me at the time when I came here… Not many times I even knew what time we had practice, but he knew. I was just following him. Sometimes I asked him on the plane: which city we are going? I was just very focused on hockey and didn’t have to worry about anything else. He did a great job.”

Selanne’s stay in Winnipeg lasted just four years, but during that timeframe, the Finnish Flash set the rookie goal scoring record (a smashing 76 goals in one year) and made countless memories both on and off the ice. The only people with better memories than Teemu from that time period were fans of the Jets.

“I’d see kids playing street hockey and would say ‘Can I join?’ And they’re like ‘Sure!’ It was a great time, such great memories,” Selanne laughed. “If you’re a two-year-old little baby or an 80-year-old older person, they love hockey. They live and breathe hockey. It’s always amazing when you come here and realize the passion for hockey and when you realize you can give some excitement or them, and something they get excited about.”

For Numminen, it was the first time for his family visiting Winnipeg. Having some time to himself prior to the ceremony, the now 54-year-old actually drove around town with his girls and took them by some of his former hangouts and old stomping ground.

“But he couldn’t find his house,” Selanne jeered.

“Because it was painted green. It used to be white,” Numminen interrupted, laughing about his drive through River Heights. “It has been nice to have family here. Again, and my daughters are here, they haven’t been in Winnipeg so it’s the first time and it’s been great to show them the city and where we used to hang out and tell stories of the past and meet all the friends we have here.”

“Did you show them all the bars and the Palomino Club?” Selanne asked of one of Winnipeg’s most famous late-night spots.

“Everything,” Numminen responded.

“Those hot dogs (from the local street merchant) when we left at 2 a.m.? Unbelievable,” Selanne chuckled.

The two go together like ketchup and mustard in Winnipeg. Just uttering the names ‘Teppo’ and ‘Teemu’ is enough to give locals the shivers. Even living as a different breed in a city that regularly hits -50 degrees Celsius in the wintertime, avoiding the shivers is common practice, so this is actually quite the feat.

“After the games, you leave the rink and you step outside to the parking lot and start looking for your car and it’s, like, minus 35 and windy and your hair’s all wet,” Numminen laughed, reminiscing on the good old days. “It’s going to be an emotional time. It’s nice, we can share it together and with our families. Yeah. I’m kind of nervous about it but excited.”

Numminen and Selanne officially joined Bobby Hull, Ulf Nilsson, Anders Hedberg, Dale Hawerchuk, Ab McDonald, Lars-Erik Sjoberg, Randy Carlyle and Thomas Steen as the newest Winnipeg Jets Hall of Fame members, as created in 2016 as a way of honouring and recognizing the achievements of the best players to ever done the red blue and white.

Numminen had 53 goals and 265 points in eight seasons as a defenceman for the Jets, while Selanne put up 147 goals and 306 points in his four years with the franchise. Selanne had his No. 8 jersey retired in Anaheim, while Numminen’s 27 hangs from the rafters in Arizona. And now the two have finally been honoured in the small, cold city where they got their start.

“The organization did a great job tonight. It was first-class,” Jets head coach Rick Bowness said. “This organization does everything right, everything well. It’s a first-class operation and it showed tonight. I wish I had coached Teemu a little longer but we sent him back to Finland one year after training camp. I worked with Teppo here and in Phoenix. You couldn’t work with a finer gentleman and a better hockey player than Teppo. I was very happy for them, very proud of the way the organization handled it. It was first class tonight, as it should be with those two great individuals.”