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Hockeytown0001

Selanne would still play if Boudreau wasn't Ducks coach

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Teemu Selanne: “I’d still be playing” if Bruce Boudreau wasn’t Ducks coach

Never ask Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau to play Crazy Eights.

That was the takeaway Thursday after Finnish journalist Juha Hiitelä began Tweeting excerpts from Teemu Selanne’s soon-to-be-released book.

Essentially – and despite calling Boudreau a “nice man” – Selanne threw his former coach in Anaheim under the bus, drove over him with it, backed up, and repeated the process seven or eight times. In the most shocking statement, Selanne said he’d have returned to the NHL for a 22nd season if Boudreau wasn’t still the Ducks’ coach.

But he said much more than that. Here’s the now-retired Selanne describing his experience in the 2014 playoffs, when Boudreau made him a healthy scratch prior to Anaheim’s first round, Game 4 showdown against Dallas:

“I waited after everyone else had left the ice and skated to Boudreau,” Selanne writes. “I yelled him right to his face what I was thinking. I ask what he has against me. I told him that since he became our coach, he has not respected me one bit. You never put me on ice when we play 5-on-3 of 4-on-4 or when we are one goal behind in the end of the game. Be honest for one time and answer! He just stammered that decisions we not his alone and it was a group decision.

“I ask which group and he said GM and scouts. I yelled him ‘wow, what kind of a coach you are if you don’t even decide lineup!’ He tried to skate away but I just yelled I wasn’t finish(ed). I told Boudreau if you ever want to win something in a playoffs you’re going to need me. Nobody else wants to win as much as me. It felt really good.”

Undoubtedly, Boudreau won’t be feeling really good when he wakes up in California to see Selanne’s comments just as he and his Ducks players are beginning training camp. He already was under pressure to improve on Anaheim’s second-round playoff exit from last season, but this new controversy will only add to the focus on him and his relationship with the team. In fairness to Boudreau, Selanne’s opinion of himselfand his on-ice capabilities at age 44 seems more than a little overinflated, but the optics of the internal strife between a coach and his highest-profile players doesn’t reflect well – especially considering Boudreau also had some issues with another star who wore No. 8 during his five-plus years behind the Washington Capitals’ bench.

Selanne is now out of the picture in Anaheim, but his words will linger all season long. Is that unfair to Boudreau, who still guided them to a league-best 54 wins in 2013-14? Sure it is. But fairness isn’t something coaches can expect in their line of work. They’re tasked with doing the best with the hand dealt them. And we’ll see how Boudreau deals with the nine of diamonds Selanne just put in his hands.

UPDATE: THN’s Ken Campbell reached out to Boudreau to see if he wanted to comment on what Selanne said. Boudreau simply responded: “No thanks.”

Looks like Princess Teemu is whining again.

Edited by Hockeytown0001

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Well that's a good way to throw out all the good will you'd built up over a career. I've got no love for Boudreau, he's a clown, but Selanne is apparently a petulant child in a grown man's body. Keep in mind Selanne had 9 goals and 18 points in 64 games last season. Lol.

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Well that's a good way to throw out all the good will you'd built up over a career. I've got no love for Boudreau, he's a clown, but Selanne is apparently a petulant child in a grown man's body. Keep in mind Selanne had 9 goals and 18 points in 64 games last season. Lol.

Based on some of the tantrums he threw against the Wings in the 2013 season along with some stupid comments he made about Kronwall a few years back, I've had a hard time towing the the "Selanne is a classy guy" line.

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Based on some of the tantrums he threw against the Wings in the 2013 season along with some stupid comments he made about Kronwall a few years back, I've had a hard time towing the the "Selanne is a classy guy" line.

I totally get your point, but to be fair he's hardly the only person that bitched about Kronwall's hits over the years. I was just referring to the fact that he was pretty well respected around the hockey world in general. But I agree, he's pretty whiny.

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I didn't really lose any respect for him.

He waited until an appropriate time and voiced his opinion to his coach. I don't see how it makes him any less 'classy', it's seems more like passion for his sport mixed with frustration in his coach to me. The Ducks basically begged him to come back for 13-14 and then Boudreau gave him 3rd and 4th line minutes every night. His stat line was actually 9 G and 18 A for 27 pts which for a 3rd liner isn't really that bad in today's NHL, especially for a 44 year old. During the playoffs, he got pretty much 4th line minutes and managed 0.5 pt/game which was better than most of Anaheim's squad. I would hardly blame Selanne for being upset at being a scratch in that situation... [saku Koivu might have been a better choice given his playoff performance]

I do think this speaks towards Boudreau's ability as a bench boss, though. He's had trouble getting teams to perform in big games (1-5 record in playoff game 7s). If he can't rally a team in the playoffs, his regular season record is a waste.

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I didn't really lose any respect for him.

He waited until an appropriate time and voiced his opinion to his coach. I don't see how it makes him any less 'classy', it's seems more like passion for his sport mixed with frustration in his coach to me. The Ducks basically begged him to come back for 13-14 and then Boudreau gave him 3rd and 4th line minutes every night. His stat line was actually 9 G and 18 A for 27 pts which for a 3rd liner isn't really that bad in today's NHL, especially for a 44 year old. During the playoffs, he got pretty much 4th line minutes and managed 0.5 pt/game which was better than most of Anaheim's squad. I would hardly blame Selanne for being upset at being a scratch in that situation... [saku Koivu might have been a better choice given his playoff performance]

I do think this speaks towards Boudreau's ability as a bench boss, though. He's had trouble getting teams to perform in big games (1-5 record in playoff game 7s). If he can't rally a team in the playoffs, his regular season record is a waste.

Thanks for correcting me on his point totals, you were right, he did score more than I had originally stated. However, three guys on that team scored more with less ice time, and one guy score three points fewer with less ice time. He was also fourth on the team in powerplay time so it's not like he didn't get chances. The sad truth is, Selanne just wasn't a better option anymore, so heaven forbid Boudreau play someone else.

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Based on some of the tantrums he threw against the Wings in the 2013 season along with some stupid comments he made about Kronwall a few years back, I've had a hard time towing the the "Selanne is a classy guy" line.

he would be like the 20th classiest guy in the wings organization.

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Teemu,

You were a 44 year old who simply was not contributing effectively enough to warrant a regular spot in the lineup. Sometimes stuff has to be done for the betterment of the team no matter the surrounding circumstances.

Just go enjoy retirement and take solace in the fact that you had a great career from start to finish.

Signed,

Reality Check

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I don't like Boudreau but seriously what did he expect? Teemu numbers were way down, you did lose another step and simply couldn't keep up with the speed of the game. The ducks had to overplay Getzlaf, Perry in order to make up for his short comings. Just enjoy retirement, your awesome restaurant and the tons of dream cars you own

"I was disappointed to hear that, and obviously I'll have to talk to him about it as friends," Getzlaf said. "But Teemu had numerous discussions with me last season and the season before, for that matter. As a captain, it's my job to kind of weed through things that I can go to the coach with and talk to, and things that I can't."Teemu doesn't know all the discussions that I've had about him in the last two years. There's been many times where I've went to bat for him, and there's some times where I have to step away and just let the coach and the GM make the decision. That's part of my job as well. I get the good with the bad."
Getzlaf seems a bit disappointed about all the locker room talk... Edited by frankgrimes

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Guest DeGraa55

Pretty much what others have said. Selanne cries too much and wasn't a top 6 player anymore.

If he wanted more icetime, he should have signed with the 2014 Red Wings.

No not yet e is still too young and too reliable for us.

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Hurr durr he's fat, what a piece of s***.

The dude's teams were always president's trophy contenders.

And what kind of playoff contenders? They have no balls in the playoffs. Enough said.

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Hurr durr he's fat, what a piece of s***.

The dude's teams were always president's trophy contenders.

And what kind of playoff contenders? They have no balls in the playoffs. Enough said.

That's because he messes with goaltenders and plays favorites, guy is also a whiner pretty overrated coach.

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And what kind of playoff contenders? They have no balls in the playoffs. Enough said.

Regular season success is still success. Quenneville has more cups that Babs, guess he's a better coach. Enough said.

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