Celebrating Selanne With Celes

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This weekend will be all about celebrating Teemu Selanne.

With the Anaheim Ducks set to retire his No. 8 jersey on Sunday, there will be many trips down memory lane. When recollecting on the Finnish Flash’s illustrious career, the first image that comes to mind is his glove-hunting celebration after scoring his 54th goal to break Mike Bossy’s rookie record way back in 1992-93. Selanne’s enthusiasm and passion for the game never wavered over his 20-plus years in the NHL, but that explosion of emotion will forever be part of his legacy.

So what better way to commemorate this special occasion than to count down 10 of the best goal celebrations of all-time:

1) Teemu Takes The Cake

2) Anisimov’s Shooting Blunder

Selanne’s antics have rarely been imitated and never been duplicated. You might remember Artem Anisimov’s dubious attempt, gunning down former Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Mathieu Garon. It backfired as both teams felt it was over the top and in poor taste. Of course, Don Cherry wasn’t too fond of it either.

3) Max Domi’s Tribute To Captain Morgan

This one is as timely as it is good, having just happened on New Year’s Eve during Canada’s round-robin win over the United States at the World Junior Championship. Domi raised his knee and struck a familiar pose as he skated past his bench after scoring. Surprisingly video clips are few and far between, but it was a big hit on Twitter . . .

https://twitter.com/hockeytonkbbq/status/550479284218105856

Wait a minute, Jamie McGinn was the first to pull off this stunt?

It appears McGinn did a variation of it, so although Domi may not get the nod for originality, his version was clearly better and as smooth as the spiced rum it stands for.

4) Tiger Williams’ Stick Riding

From the present to this blast from the past. His name was Dave but everybody knows him as Tiger, and many remember him for his unique celebration.

Ironically enough, Max Domi’s dad, Tie, did a pretty decent impression of Tiger:

5) Ovechkin Too Hot To Handle

This was clever in the eyes of most, with Don Cherry a notable exception again. It was his 50th goal of the season, so give the Great 8 a free pass.

6) Fleury’s Famous Knee Slide

Here’s another classic, from a Battle of Alberta playoff series, as Theo Fleury scored on a partial breakaway in overtime and still had enough energy left to celebrate in epic style.

7) Yakupov’s Infamous Knee Slide

The difference here is it was a regular-season goal that forced overtime, resulting in harsh criticism from — you guessed it — Don Cherry. Edmonton fans would be thrilled to see Nail Yakupov celebrate any kind of goal these days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfysDNnuX64

8) Hejduk’s Swimming Success

This was an excitable veteran letting loose after scoring an overtime winner. Milan Hejduk literally dove into this impromptu celebration.

9) Avery’s Push-Ups

Sean Avery was a character for as long as he lasted in the league. He didn’t score a ton of goals — only 95 in 608 career games — but he made sure everybody took notice when he did. In this particular incident, he dropped down and started doing push-ups.

10) May Day OT Winner

There is something about scoring in overtime that allows for a more excessive celebration — and a more excessive goal call as this Rick Jeanneret-Brad May collaboration clearly epitomizes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk4-4bxBjDM

Do you have a favourite goal celebration that didn’t crack this Top 10? Feel free to share the clip in the comments sections below.

Larry Fisher is a sports reporter for The Daily Courier in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. Follow him on Twitter: @LarryFisher_KDC.