Selanne’s Star Shines Again

Teemu Selanne is an All-Star, after all.

Selanne, inexplicably left off the original Western Conference team even though he is the sixth-leading scorer in the NHL, was chosen along with Detroit’s Brendan Shanahan to fill in for injured Colorado players Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg at the NHL All-Star game Saturday in San Jose.

“I heard this morning. I’m happy,” said Selanne, whose disappointment over not being selected originally left him less than enthusiastic about filling in as a substitute. “What should I say? I think it’s important to go.”

Selanne has 24 goals and 54 points in 42 games this season. He has never missed an All-Star game, playing in 1993, ’94 and ’96. The 1995 game was canceled because of the labor dispute.

With Paul Kariya voted to the starting lineup, the Ducks have two players in the game for the first time in their history.