Finn Won’t Sweat Christmas Details

Teemu Selanne spent the days leading up to the NHL’s holiday break telling anyone who would listen that Christmas is a very, very big deal in his native Finland.

“Santa Claus is from there, you know,” he said. “Christmas is a huge thing in Finland. It’s too bad I can’t share it with my family and friends. Christmas is always fun with all those traditions.”

Such as?

“We would have a Christmas sauna before a big dinner,” Selanne explained.

Spending the holiday in Orange County hasn’t put a big crimp in his plans, only altered them slightly.

“I’m just going to have to jump in the hot tub and try to get the same feeling from there,” he said.

Sounds like Selanne is a regular Southern Californian now.

*

Paul Kariya had different plans for today.

“I’m staying in bed,” he said. “I’m tired. It’s been a tough two weeks. I’m sick and a bit run down. I think I hit the weights a little too hard.”

Kariya has four goals and five assists in five games since signing a two-year, $14-million contract.

*

Center Steve Rucchin, on what the addition of Kariya means to the Ducks: “Paul can go out and have a great shift and really set a team back on its heels. And hockey is such a game of momentum that it can carry over to the next shift, even open the floodgates for a whole period.”

*

Coach Pierre Page believed the Ducks’ 5-1 victory Monday over the Calgary Flames was worth savoring. But he would not say it marked a turnaround for the Ducks, who are 5-13-2 in the past 20 games.

“It’s important we enjoy this one, but we have to realize how much work we still have to do,” he said. “This was the most physical we’ve played. Instead of skating around and worrying about things, we took the bull by the horns.”

Expect Page to play Warren Rychel, Kevin Todd and Jeff Nielsen together again in future games.