Bill Clement

Without Teemu Selanne having recaptured the form that made him a nine-time All-Star, Anaheim could very well be finished for the season instead of being in the Western Conference finals.

If I had to pick a MVP for the Mighty Ducks in the playoffs, it would be Selanne with Scott Niedermayer a close second.

Last August Selanne signed as a free agent with the Mighty Ducks. He was coming off a terrible season — his first and only with the Colorado Avalanche — who had made him one of their free-agent signings in the summer of 2003.

With the Avalanche things just didn't work out for Selanne in more ways than one despite being on a line with Paul Kariya and Joe Sakic.

Selanne wasn't given that much ice time, but then he didn't warrant a lot of minutes because he was playing on a bad knee, a condition that greatly affected his performance.

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The worse an injury gets the more players tend to compensate for it by changing their style of play — something Selanne fell victim to with Colorado in 2003-04.

For Selanne it was a vicious cycle as he kept playing even as the knee got worse since he felt the pressure to make a good impression with his new team.

Everything kind of went sour for Selanne in Colorado, and the former winner of the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy (1999) was no longer enjoying playing hockey.

But as it turns out, the reports of Teemu Selanne's demise were greatly exaggerated. From what I've seen this season from a healthy Selanne, I now know that what in 2003-04 looked like a brilliant athlete in the twilight of a Hall-of-Fame career was just a mirage.

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Selanne has been better this season than he has been the last few years. That's partly the result of his change in scenery, returning to Anaheim, a familiar place and comfortable home for him as he starred for the Mighty Ducks from 1996 to 2001.

But the biggest thing that has allowed him to bounce back from the disaster that was his one-season stint in Colorado is getting right physically.

The lockout was a blessing in disguise for Selanne because he used the stretch away from hockey as rehabilitation time after reconstructive knee surgery. He repaired his body, and refreshed his soul.

New NHL agrees with Selanne
The rebirth of Selanne as a dominant offensive player is not only tied to his change of address and healed knee, it's also linked to the post-lockout rule changes that have opened up the game in the NHL.

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A player like Selanne because of his brilliant speed and his vast repertoire of moves needs a little bit of room on the ice to be able to showcase his talent and ability, and in the new NHL he and others like him are getting that room.

Selanne is just one of many players who have looked far better this season than they have in the recent past because of the NHL's move to create more offensive excitement and produce more scoring opportunities.

Selanne is a guy who gets by on leg drive, leg thrust, and speed, and at age 35 he is getting up there. He's is the oldest player on the Anaheim roster, but he has easily been the Mighty Ducks' most dynamic forward in the playoffs.

Through the second round, Selanne was among the top scorers in the postseason with 10 points (including five goals) in 11 games.

Selanne has played a ton of hockey this season. Besides playing 80 regular-season games for Anaheim, he played in the Turin Olympics with his Finnish team making it all the way to the gold medal game. But in spite of seeing all this action, Selanne still looks fresh in the playoffs.

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