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My Life
Teemu Selanne may have been anointed “The Finnish Flash,” but his career was anything but fleeting. Few professional hockey players will ever approach the staying power or success that Selanne achieved in all facets of the sport, from helping Finland win four Olympic medals and two World Championship medals to finally capturing, in his words, the Holy Grail—the Stanley Cup—after fourteen seasons.
Drafted by the Winnipeg Jets, Selanne made his NHL debut on October 6, 1992, and his career quickly took flight. He won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s best rookie and broke the record for rookie points and goals. When the Jets traded him to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim on February 6, 1996, Selanne was so devastated that he walked out of the practice arena without speaking to anyone. Over the next five seasons, the Mighty Ducks, led by Selanne and his “on-ice soulmate,” Paul Kariya, lived up to their name. But despite boasting hockey’s best top line, the franchise failed to win a Cup, and in 2001 Selanne was on the move again, this time to San Jose. Although he led the Sharks in scoring in 2002–03, hockey’s highest honour remained beyond his grasp. So in 2003, as free agents (and earning significantly less than their market value), Selanne and Kariya teamed up on the Colorado Avalanche with the sole focus of hoisting the Cup. Unfortunately, that season was a disaster. Nevertheless, Teemu Selanne eventually retired as one of the most prolific scorers in NHL history.
Featuring Selanne’s thoughtful, honest recollections and colour photographs from his personal collection, My Life is as revealing as it is essential—a complete portrait of a devoted friend, family man and hockey superstar.
Drafted by the Winnipeg Jets, Selanne made his NHL debut on October 6, 1992, and his career quickly took flight. He won the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s best rookie and broke the record for rookie points and goals. When the Jets traded him to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim on February 6, 1996, Selanne was so devastated that he walked out of the practice arena without speaking to anyone. Over the next five seasons, the Mighty Ducks, led by Selanne and his “on-ice soulmate,” Paul Kariya, lived up to their name. But despite boasting hockey’s best top line, the franchise failed to win a Cup, and in 2001 Selanne was on the move again, this time to San Jose. Although he led the Sharks in scoring in 2002–03, hockey’s highest honour remained beyond his grasp. So in 2003, as free agents (and earning significantly less than their market value), Selanne and Kariya teamed up on the Colorado Avalanche with the sole focus of hoisting the Cup. Unfortunately, that season was a disaster. Nevertheless, Teemu Selanne eventually retired as one of the most prolific scorers in NHL history.
Featuring Selanne’s thoughtful, honest recollections and colour photographs from his personal collection, My Life is as revealing as it is essential—a complete portrait of a devoted friend, family man and hockey superstar.
318 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 22, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
January 13, 2020
My Life is the story of the life and career of retired Finnish hockey player Teemu Selanne.
From a young age, Selanne had hinted at greatness. His natural speed would help him excel at nearly every sport he tried. While he enjoyed both soccer as well as track and field, his heart belonged to hockey. It also didn’t hurt that a childhood bout with Osgood-Schallter disease pushed him away from the two aforementioned sports, sports that would place increased stress on his knees. When Selanne buckled down and concentrated fully on hockey, there would be no holding him back. His memoir details his rocky road to the NHL and the breakout rookie season that would follow as he would amass an incredible one hundred and thirty two points in the 1992/1993 season; a rookie scoring record that still stands today and likely will not be broken.
From there, Selanne goes through his lengthy NHL career and the various ups and downs that are associated with playing twenty-one seasons (an achievement in and of itself). He also touches on his post-playing days in the final chapter.
In the foreword, Selanne notes that it might seem odd that a book listing him as the author would be written in the third person, but he admits that it works better that way when translated from Finnish as he can easily incorporate quotes from friends and teammates using this narrative style. I will say that it felt jarring at first, but once I settled in, any issues were long gone.
I will say that I found the time spent recapping his pre-NHL career uninteresting but that may be because I’m not familiar with the Finnish leagues or teams within it. Many of the stories came across as robotic and dull with constant recaps of scores and games. The pages just washed over me and nothing really stuck. This would continue throughout the book.
His NHL career portion of the book was OK, but it was mostly about his frustrations with having no control over how an NHL team is put together or whether his line mates would remain alongside him as seasons come and go. The most maddening stories come from his career after winning the Stanley Cup in 2007, where he would continue to play into his forties before retiring at the end of the 2013-2014 season. Selanne was still producing and putting up numbers, but he would be relegated to riding the bench in favor of other players. The team was doing well, mind you, but it’s not like Selanne couldn’t play the extra minutes.
I find that hockey books focusing on one player as opposed to books discussing a specific team, era or event tend to be pretty hit or miss. Selanne was a well-behaved player with a great home life, so the interesting bits would most likely be in his exceptional on-ice performance, however that alone doesn’t often make an interesting read. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not chastising Selanne for not having discipline problems or not engaging in more insane off-ice antics, but the constant barrage of game recaps and stats didn’t do a lot for me.
From a young age, Selanne had hinted at greatness. His natural speed would help him excel at nearly every sport he tried. While he enjoyed both soccer as well as track and field, his heart belonged to hockey. It also didn’t hurt that a childhood bout with Osgood-Schallter disease pushed him away from the two aforementioned sports, sports that would place increased stress on his knees. When Selanne buckled down and concentrated fully on hockey, there would be no holding him back. His memoir details his rocky road to the NHL and the breakout rookie season that would follow as he would amass an incredible one hundred and thirty two points in the 1992/1993 season; a rookie scoring record that still stands today and likely will not be broken.
From there, Selanne goes through his lengthy NHL career and the various ups and downs that are associated with playing twenty-one seasons (an achievement in and of itself). He also touches on his post-playing days in the final chapter.
In the foreword, Selanne notes that it might seem odd that a book listing him as the author would be written in the third person, but he admits that it works better that way when translated from Finnish as he can easily incorporate quotes from friends and teammates using this narrative style. I will say that it felt jarring at first, but once I settled in, any issues were long gone.
I will say that I found the time spent recapping his pre-NHL career uninteresting but that may be because I’m not familiar with the Finnish leagues or teams within it. Many of the stories came across as robotic and dull with constant recaps of scores and games. The pages just washed over me and nothing really stuck. This would continue throughout the book.
His NHL career portion of the book was OK, but it was mostly about his frustrations with having no control over how an NHL team is put together or whether his line mates would remain alongside him as seasons come and go. The most maddening stories come from his career after winning the Stanley Cup in 2007, where he would continue to play into his forties before retiring at the end of the 2013-2014 season. Selanne was still producing and putting up numbers, but he would be relegated to riding the bench in favor of other players. The team was doing well, mind you, but it’s not like Selanne couldn’t play the extra minutes.
I find that hockey books focusing on one player as opposed to books discussing a specific team, era or event tend to be pretty hit or miss. Selanne was a well-behaved player with a great home life, so the interesting bits would most likely be in his exceptional on-ice performance, however that alone doesn’t often make an interesting read. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not chastising Selanne for not having discipline problems or not engaging in more insane off-ice antics, but the constant barrage of game recaps and stats didn’t do a lot for me.
October 16, 2022
This is a factual and informative account of Teemu Selanne's life.
August 9, 2023
I stopped at about 70 pages in. Not for me.
December 26, 2021
I rate this 2 stars based on how goodreads translates stars to English: I can say "It was okay" (⭐⭐).
I can't say "I liked it" (⭐⭐⭐). I liked parts of it, sure. And I like Teemu Selanne's life / hockey history. I just didn't like this book, as a whole, about it.
It feels: repetitive, thrown-together/ill-organized, awkward phrasing.
Maybe... it's an archetype of Teemu's life? Live in the now. The details aren't too important. Enjoy life! Work hard. Be friendly in a nonnative language. Score goals. Repeat.
Here's an example:
So, maybe a bit awkward English rendition. But, this was memorable we're never told about the US(A) match. We're never told about Selanne or Kurri's play. We're only told despite 2 late goals in last game,
This is me trying to encapsulate how the book reads:
X happened! Emotions! X happened + stats. Summary of emotions.
I can't say "I liked it" (⭐⭐⭐). I liked parts of it, sure. And I like Teemu Selanne's life / hockey history. I just didn't like this book, as a whole, about it.
It feels: repetitive, thrown-together/ill-organized, awkward phrasing.
Maybe... it's an archetype of Teemu's life? Live in the now. The details aren't too important. Enjoy life! Work hard. Be friendly in a nonnative language. Score goals. Repeat.
Here's an example:
The [Finland 1991 World Championship team's] debut was memorable, thanks to the hype of a new arena, the play of Kurri, and Teemu himself, along with the performance of goalie Markus Ketterer. Last but by no means least were the matches against Sweden and the US. (101)
[page of recapping Sweden scoring 2 goals in final 52 seconds to tie the game]
"It was horrible," said Teemu, who watched the events unfold from the bench.
Finland only lost one point, and with losses to the Soviets, Canada and the USA, it wouldn't have lifted the team into the medal round.
[quotes like "Biggest disappointment", "failed hard"]
[Ketterer named tournament's top goaltender]
Selanne finished fourth in the tournament scoring with six goals and 11 points in 10 games, behind Sundin, Kurri--both with 12 points--and Canada's Joe Sakic, who had 11 points.
[head coach saying they couldn't handle pressure]
"Everything came down to one game, and that was too much for us to handle," [head coach Matikainen] said.
(101-102)
So, maybe a bit awkward English rendition. But, this was memorable we're never told about the US(A) match. We're never told about Selanne or Kurri's play. We're only told despite 2 late goals in last game,
This is me trying to encapsulate how the book reads:
X happened! Emotions! X happened + stats. Summary of emotions.
December 4, 2021
My Life is one of the best books I have ever read, and once I started it, I couldn't put it down. I'll admit, I didn't really know who Teemu Selanne was until I read this book (all I really knew is that he played for the Winnipeg Jets when my parents were kids and he was an amazing hockey player), but learning more about Teemu's life both on and off the ice was interesting. When I read this book, I felt like I personally knew Teemu, like I was a friend of his. Honestly, I think that this book is an essential read for young hockey players and fans, because it teaches you a lot of valuable lessons that you would have never learnt on your own.
January 9, 2022
I was super excited to read a book about (by?) my favourite NHL player ever. It drew my attention even more so because he was wearing a Jets' uniform on the front and back covers. And overall, the book was interesting. However...
1) The cover shots are not from his playing days
2) It is a very repetitive book
3) I know it is a sportsbook and I should not expect a high level of literature but still, I felt like it was aimed at middle schoolers at best. Very unsophisticated writing style.
I'm glad I read it but would only recommend it to those who absolutely loved Teemu and have the time and desire to read something that is mediocre in quality.
1) The cover shots are not from his playing days
2) It is a very repetitive book
3) I know it is a sportsbook and I should not expect a high level of literature but still, I felt like it was aimed at middle schoolers at best. Very unsophisticated writing style.
I'm glad I read it but would only recommend it to those who absolutely loved Teemu and have the time and desire to read something that is mediocre in quality.
March 8, 2020
A really nice breakdown of Teemu's life, starting from his early childhood all the way to post-retirement from the NHL. It really shows what Teemu was like in real life and how other people saw him. A little repetitive at times but considering it is a Finnish writer it is overall a nice read.
December 30, 2019
Enjoyed this book. However it does jump around back and forth in different time periods. Still if you enjoy books about NHL players you’ll enjoy this book!
March 15, 2020
Very good book. A must for Jets fans.
April 11, 2020
The writer kept my interested the whole time
April 7, 2022
Very repetitive, but enjoyable.
July 15, 2022
Would have benefited from a better translator and editor.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews