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This article was published 10/5/2017 (1225 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If anyone knows just how powerful a first impression can be, it’s Teemu Selanne.

Selanne — a.k.a. "The Finnish Flash" — captured the hearts of an entire province when he scored 76 goals during the 1992-93 season, his first with the Winnipeg Jets. The mark still stands as the league record for most goals scored by a rookie in a single season and is likely never to be broken.

But perhaps what’s even more impressive — and as equally everlasting — is the love Selanne still receives whenever he returns to Winnipeg. At the age of 46 — and despite playing just four of his 21 NHL seasons in the River City — Selanne can still light up any room he walks into.

On Wednesday, Selanne captivated an entire floor at the RBC Convention Centre, awing the thousands in attendance as the keynote speaker at the 45th Annual Rady JCC Sports "Y" Dinner.

The dinner was just the final stop on a daylong tour through the city, where Selanne admitted at times he was taken aback by the gratitude he was shown at every spot. Consider that: even Selanne, a man used to the bright lights that come with being a celebrity, is amazed by the attention he gets after all these years.

"Even today at the Rady Centre, where there were kids that for sure never saw me play, to just see their eyes get so big and excited is really a special feeling," Selanne said in an interview with the Free Press before the dinner. "You see the people in the airport and the looks on their faces and it makes me feel very humble and thankful by how the people have treated me here."

Selanne is just one of a long list of high-profile athletes that have spoken at the Rady JCC dinner over the years, joining the likes of Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Mark Messier and Joe Montana.

"He’s the biggest," said Blair Worb, now in his sixth year as "Y" Sports Dinner chairman. "He has time for everyone, he signs everything. It’s amazing."

TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Teemu Selanne is the keynote speaker at the Rady Centre fundraising dinner at the Convention Centre, Wednesday.

Selanne was first approached with the opportunity to speak by Jets co-owner Mark Chipman, while in town for the Heritage Classic weekend in October.

Selanne runs two charities — one in his home country of Finland and the other in Orange County, where he spent years playing hockey and won a Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks — both of which provide opportunities for youth and those less fortunate to compete in sport.

When he found out the money raised during Wednesday’s dinner, which totalled a whopping $250,000, would help fund programs for kids, as well as the elderly and those living with special needs, the choice to attend was an easy one.

"I’m so proud that I can do stuff like this," Selanne said. "I feel very lucky to be able to do these kind of events and make a difference. Life has treated me and a lot of my teammates very well and it’s just a great feeling to give back somehow, someway."

Selanne said he enjoyed being back in Winnipeg for the Heritage Classic — "To see the fans and meet all the older players and be a part of a big weekend, it was just unbelievable" — but he plans to see more of the city this time around. He’ll be in Winnipeg for a couple more days and his itinerary includes a few of his favourite restaurants and he plans to drive by his old house.

Taking time to do things is the part of retirement Selanne enjoys most. He even joked that if he knew life was this good after hockey, he may have retired a few years earlier. Being out of the game has also allowed him to watch more of it. Selanne lamented not being able to see his Ducks face the Edmonton Oilers in Wednesday’s Game 7, but was overjoyed by how well his fellow countryman, Patrik Laine, was able to play in his first season with the Jets.

Laine may not have scored 76 goals as a rookie (he scored an impressive 36), but Selanne believes what he was able to do was just as impressive, if not more so given Laine was just 18 — Selanne was 22 as a rookie — and playing at such a high level.

"I look back and, if I was the same age, there’s no way that I’d be that ready right away. I was so happy when he got drafted by Winnipeg because I knew how special a place it was for me. I’m so proud of how he’s played and how he’s handled himself in his first season. It’s unbelievable," Selanne said.

"And I know things are only going to get better for him."

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @jeffkhamilton