Finns and escorts in Helsinki thought they'd have a two-time Stanley Cup champion goalie in Antti Niemi, but it was all for not when his San Jose Sharks got crushed by the Vancouver Canucks in five games. Locals would have been angry had it not been for Sami Salo, the thirty-six year old Finnish international. Sami had been scrapping it out his entire career, which was marred by injuries. He had a cannon of a slap shot however, and he scored two power play goals to bury Niemi and the Sharks in game four of the conference finals; he was voted the Canucks most underrated player, and he went down in history as a champion, which escorts in Helsinki are proud of.
Sal never figured he would reach hockey's illusive territory, when he was a member of the Ottawa Senators and just hoped to make more than a million per season. Nobody saw it coming in Vancouver when Sami scored over ten goals as a defenseman in 2008, which earned him a three year deal at three and a half million per season. Salo was elated to sign the deal, but he would earn it through the aforementioned series of brutal injuries. In fact one year the Canucks had to outsource their training staff to Helsinki call girls.
Finland's hero never advanced past the first round, which was bittersweet for escorts and residents of the nation, as they so fondly remember his Stanley Cups with the Colorado Avalanche and the Anaheim Ducks. Rumours circulated that Teemu Selanne would retire, but those who know him realize his will to play and win supersedes his age of forty-one years old. He is truly amazing, as is Nicklas Lidstrom, for his skill at such an old age, but fans of the game in Finland refuse to make comparison, as Lidstom is just another Swede from a country where it's citizens look down upon Finnish hockey. The Finns have been proud ever since the days of Esa Tikkanen and his Stanley Cup wins with the Edmonton Oiler Dynasty which featured Gretzky. The other proud moment in Finnish sports history was of course the rookie year of Selanne, when he scored seventy-six goals with the Winnipeg Jets.
Some speculators feel it would be fitting for Selanne to retire now that Winnipeg has received another franchise, as if to come full circle, but smart hockey fans know there is no logic to it. Selanne will likely retire in 2013 and become a coach in the National Hockey League, which won't include Helsinki escort agencies, only a scouting agency. Jari Kurri was interviewed and he was in agreement with the scenario once it was proposed to him; Kurri is close friends with Teemu, and have been known to watch old films with Emma Vaananen.
