THUNDER BAY – At 10, J.J. Kuokkanen is far too young to remember seeing Teemu Selanne play hockey.
But from an early age, the budding hockey star has been closely tied to the hockey hall of famer, who made a brief stop in Thunder Bay to sign his new autobiography, My Life.
The youngster, decked out in a vintage Selanne T-shirt, stood in line with nearly 200 others on Wednesday night for a chance to meet the NHL’s 11th all-time goal scorer and 2007 Stanley Cup champion.
“It’s awesome because when I was young, in IP1, my coaches would always call me the Finnish Flash. I’ve always worn the number 13 all the times I could,” said J.J., the son of former Lakehead Thunderwolves star Jouni Kuokkanen.
“So I finally got to meet him.”
The pair had plenty to talk about during their brief visit, young J.J. telling his hero how great a player he thought he was.
Aarika Fox comes from Winnipeg and wore a Jets jersey to greet Selanne.
She wasn’t alone in her choice of apparel, with several others showing up in Anaheim Ducks jerseys, the team with which Selanne spent 15 of his 21 seasons.
Fox said she was on a mission to get a book signed.
“It’s a gift for my dad. My dad’s a big Jets fan and he grew up watching him play. So it was nice that I could do something for him,” she said.
“It’s going to be his Christmas gift.”
She can’t wait to tell her father that she met one of his heroes.
“It’s pretty neat. I heard a lot of stories growing up about him. He’s one of my dad’s favourite players. It’s cool that I get to experience that.”
Brad Bain never saw Selanne play live, but watched him plenty on television over the years.
“He’s a legend and a hockey hall of famer. And he’s Finnish,” Bain said.
“He lived up to his nickname, the Finnish Flash. He was incredible.”
Fifteen-year-old Hunter Clarke was one of the first in line.
It was a thrill to meet Selanne, he said.
“He’s a hall of famer and he’s one of two Finnish players in the hall of fame, so I had to come check him out,” he said.
Caleb Labelle, 14, told his coach with the Bantam Kings that he was going to be a little late for Wednesday night’s game.
Meeting Selanne was a pretty good reason.
“He was a really good guy,” Caleb said. “What I’ve seen on TV he’s a really good skater and likes to put the puck in the net. I like to model my game around him sometimes. It was a really good experience (meeting him). I still can’t really describe it.”
Selanne, who turns 50 next July, was fantastic with the fans, offering to sign jerseys and shirts and taking a few extra seconds with excited fans who wanted to talk hockey.
He even shared a story about trying to go to the city’s most iconic Finnish landmark.
“You know what happened, we went to a late lunch at our hotel and we started calling the Hoito for a reservation, and it wasn’t open,” said Selanne, who nevertheless stopped by the restaurant to take a selfie with the sign in the background.
