Photo credit: Orange County Register

Teemu Selanne is one of the greatest hockey players ever to lace up skates. His 642 career goals rank him in 12th place of all time. He’s led the league in goal-scoring three times during his career, and he won the Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007.

Put simply, the man knows how to score goals and win games. So when Teemu started talking about Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin with Alisa Volbidaht of Sovetsky Sport, we paid attention.

During the long Q/A, the Finnish Flash gives his opinion on Ovi’s recent “benching,” what the Great Eight needs to do to regain his scoring touch of years’ past, and who he thinks will win the Rocket Richard trophy.

The interview, published in Wednesday’s issue of the Sovetsky Sport newspaper, is translated below by RMNB’s Fedor Fedin.

Selanne’s Comments On Ovechkin

Alisa Volbidaht: You recently played against Alexander Ovechkin. Many Russian fans think our best forward is degrading. He’s predictable, he only has one move. Do you agree?

Teemu Selanne: Ovechkin’s play, of course, still has fire in it. Everybody wants to stop him. He has some tough nights. Well, in every game he’s getting defended very tightly. If you give him freedom, he’ll use it. What’s happening right now with Ovi is not a big deal. He just needs a breakthrough. Find a way to get open and score. He needs to change something in his game. I’m not worried for him. Ovi is a great forward. Great players know how to get the job done.

Alisa Volbidaht: What’s your advice for him?

Teemu Selanne: Relax and enjoy!

Alisa Volbidaht: Ovechkin in a game against the Ducks was so relaxed that he swore at Coach Boudreau, who benched him late in the game.

Teemu Selanne: Emotions are always high. Especially when the game isn’t coming to you. But those are just words. It happens in hockey. The words are forgotten, the deeds are remembered.

Alisa Volbidaht: Was Bruce Boudreau right in benching him?

Teemu Selanne: I don’t know what was going on between them. I simply believe that the best players need to be the best, and they need to be on the ice during critical moments. I was shocked when I didn’t see Ovechkin. But that’s none of my business.

Alisa Volbidaht: Have you ever had a conflict with a coach?

Teemu Selanne: No. Sometimes I express my opinion. Sometimes they disagree. That’s it.

The Rest of the Article

Teemu Selanne: When I give interviews to the Russian media, I first of all thank my coach Boris Mayorov, who worked with me during the early 90′s in Jokerit. I immensely respect him. He taught me a lot.

Alisa Volbidaht: Mayorov now contributes to our newspaper.

Teemu Selanne: You’re lucky. He played a big role in my successful NHL debut. Mayorov is very smart, especially in hockey theory. He knows the game well and helps young players reach their potential. He told me not to go to the NHL too young. I went to Winnipeg only at the age of 22.

Alisa Volbidaht: Boris Alexandrovich [Mayorov] said that you have a big collection of cars.

Teemu Selanne: I only have 20 left. My fleet is disappearing!

Teemu Selanne, Selanne’s Maybach and Cam Fowler.

Alisa Volbidaht: If SKA offers you a contract, which car will you drive from Helsinki to Saint Petersburg?

Teemu Selanne: I’ll probably drive my Maybach.

Alisa Volbidaht: So is this a deal? I’m calling St. Petersburg!

Teemu Selanne: I didn’t say I’ll sign a contract! I’m too old to play in Russia. Maybe I’d think about doing that earlier in my career. But now – no for sure. It’s difficult to go around the world with four kids. My sons like Anaheim.

Alisa Volbidaht: Have you ever been to Russia?

Teemu Selanne: I have only played in Moscow. I liked your capital city very much. It reminds me of New York City.

Alisa Volbidaht: Do you know any Russian words?

Teemu Selanne: All the bad words.

Alisa Volbidaht: Any good ones?

Teemu Selanne: Dobry vecher ["Good evening"], S Novym godom ["Happy New year"],  Krasivye glaza ["Beautiful eyes"]. Alexey Zahmnov taught me Russian. We were roomates playing for Winnipeg. I learned the unprintable words from him as well.

Alisa Volbidaht: In Anaheim, Ruslan Salei, who died in the Yaroslavl tragedy, was your teammate.

Teemu Selanne: Oh… That was one of the most sad days in my life when I found out Salei was actually on that plane. There were rumors that Ruslan was not on board the Yak-42, that he went to Minsk earlier. But… Salei was a great guy. We played together a lot. Simply… a heartbreaking tragedy. Life is often unfair.

Alisa Volbidaht: Have you had any flight incidents?

Teemu Selanne: God has blessed me. [Teemu knocks on wood]. Flights are not one of my favorite ways to spend some time. It is probably the worst part of sports.

Alisa Volbidaht: You have five goals and 14 points in 14 games. You’re one of the NHL’s leading scorers again. How do you feel?

Teemu Selanne: It’s cool. The older I get, the more fun I have playing. Don’t take this game against the Rangers into account. We had almost no energy. But I really enjoy playing hockey.

Alisa Volbidaht: Jaromir Jagr is shining in Philadelphia. He’s 39. He’s scored 15 points, and tallied six goals in 14 games.

Teemu Selanne: Oh, Jaromir! My good friend and a great player. I’m very glad that the old guys can still keep up with the youngsters.

Alisa Volbidaht: Do you have enough in tank to have a whole year of that?

Teemu Selanne: Sure! The key is to believe it!

Alisa Volbidaht: We do. Right now you’re beating Perry and Ovi in the scoring race.

Teemu Selanne: Goals and points come if you play well. They are not that important by themselves. The main thing is team wins.

Alisa Volbidaht: Who will be the NHL’s top scorer this year?

Teemu Selanne: Interesting question… Many guys can. We talked about Ovechkin – he gets better with every single game. Toronto’s Phil Kessel has played great. I don’t think there is one player who is going be much better than the others. Let’s wait for the surprises.

Alisa Volbidaht: Maybe even Selanne?

Teemu Selanne: Anything can happen [winks].

Additional reporting by Ian Oland.

September 7, 2011 will be remembered as one of the worst days in hockey history. An airplane carrying the KHL’s Lokomotiv Yaroslavl team crashed just after takeoff from Tunoshna Airport, 11 miles southeast of Yaroslavl in central Russia. The team was on its way to Belarus, where they were set to begin their regular season against Dynamo Minsk.

The aircraft was an Yakovlev Yak-42, an outdated Soviet-era plane that was due to be phased out next year. In Russia the plane is known for its woeful air safety record, and just two months ago 44 people were killed when an Antonov-24 caught fire in midair before crashing in western Siberia. There have been eight fatal crashes in Russia just this year.

According to Slava Malamud of Sport Express, Kommersant, a Russian newspaper, reported Yak-Service, the airliner operating the plane, was ranked last by the European Air Safety Commission. The New York Times reported that the company, founded in 1993, was suspended for three months in 2009 by Russian authorities because of “major safety deficiencies.” The BBC reports that the aircraft broke into two pieces after hitting a radio mast before crashing into Volga river. The Times notes that eight Yak-42s have crashed over the years, killing 570.

“It was wobbling in flight, it was clear that something was wrong,” an eyewitness told the BBC. “I saw them pulling bodies to the shore, some still in their seats with seat belts on.”

There are 45 confirmed fatalities of Wednesday’s crash, including all but one player on Yaroslavl’s roster — which includes former NHLers Pavol Demitra, Ruslan Salei, Karel Rachunek, Karlis Skarastins, Josef Vasicek, and Alexander Vasyunov along with their head coach Brad McCrimmon.

“We have no team any more,” Lokomotiv spokesman Vladimir Malkov told The Times, “they all burned in the crash.”

Demitra, a three-time All-Star and Lady Byng winner, retired from international hockey in May. This video from his last game with Slovakia is poignant.

There are two known survivors of the crash — a male flight attendant and forward Alexander Galimov, who is listed in “extremely critical” condition according to Sport-Express.

The KHL’s season opener between Salavat Yulaev and Atlant was in progress when news about the tragedy broke, and was stopped after nearly 15 minutes had been played. KHL president Alexander Medvedev said the KHL season will go on as scheduled starting tomorrow.

According to RMNB’s Fedor Fedin, the mood across Russia is somber. Almost every channel on television is devoted to news of the crash, and grizzly pictures have been broadcast.

Meanwhile, reactions to the tragedy have come pouring in from the hockey community, and NHL.com has put together an extensive, though heartbreaking, collection of tweets from League players.

As for the Capitals, the catastrophe hits close to come for some players.

“I knew [Alexander Kalyanin] well, and I also know his father Igor Viktorovich well, who was a coach for Traktor,” Evengy Kuznetsov told KP Chelyabinsk. “It’s tough to talk right now. My condolences to his family.”

Former Capitals goalie Semyon Varlamov told Malamud he was ”in shock” and couldn’t say anything else. Varlamov played in Lokomotiv’s organization for four years, including two with the main club.

“It’s kind of a scary moment,” said a shaken Alex Ovechkin, via The Washington Times’ Stephen Whyno. “It’s a whole national tragedy.”

Fellow Russian Stanislav Galiev who, like Ovechkin, knew some of the players on the team, was also moved.

Candles are lit in tribute of Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in Prague’s Old Town Square.

“I am shocked,” Galiev said, again via Whyno. “It’s very sad.”

Whyno also reports that new Capitals goalie Tomas Vokoun declined to comment on the crash, saying his best friend was on board.

“Gloomy day in DC and even worse news in Russia,” defenseman John Carlson tweeted. “Prayers to all the family/friends associated today.”

“I heard about the accident, and I can’t say anything other than what happened today is just awful,” Nicklas Backstrom told Hockeysverige.se, as translated by @Rabiesmalin, about countryman Stefan Liv. ”First, Stefan was a very good friend of mine, and then that the whole team was killed in the accident. You can say nothing bad about Stefan as a friend. He was a very happy and positive person and he always had a smile on his face. The news was awful to receive and hard to comprehend.”

The league echoed their players’ sentiments.

“Though it occurred thousands of miles away from our home arenas, this tragedy represents a catastrophic loss to the hockey world — including the NHL family, which lost so many fathers, sons, teammates and friends who at one time excelled in our League,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “Our deepest condolences go to the families and loved ones of all who perished.”

The same goes for us at RMNB.