I Won A Teemu Selanne Autographed Puck Courtesy of the Anaheim Ducks!

This post is without a doubt going to be one of the most enjoyable I've ever penned. I'm a huge, huge, huge Anaheim Ducks fan, and though my favorite current player is Ryan Getzlaf, my favorite player growing up was Teemu Selanne, who's still one of my favorites. It's because of Teemu and Paul Kariya that I became a fan of the then Mighty Ducks, even though I'm an L.A. area kid. So you can imagine my sheer glee when this arrived at my doorstep:

A signed Teemu Selanne puck, courtesy of the Ducks and the man himself! How did I come to possess such a fantastically wonderful item? Well, the Ducks hold "Enter To Win" contests every now and then, where you simply fill out a quick form and are entered for the opportunity to win a Ducks prize. You just have to leave your name and number; it's that easy. I filled out the form well over a month ago, and received a voicemail from the Ducks a couple of weeks ago. I actually thought it was related to a request I had put in to be notified of any potential internships, but alas, it wasn't regarding that or the puck. The woman who called had season ticket information for me, which I was happy to get, especially since our conversation led to some sports job advice and the knowledge that she also was a Long Beach State alum.

It's a small world after all.

Well, I got a call from the same number a couple of days later, and the conversation began the same way. Except this time, the guy who called me didn't ask me about tickets. He had called to inform me I'd won the above awesomely awesome puck from the future Hall of Famer. The back includes a hologram sticker, either from the Ducks or the NHL. Not sure which of the two felt it necessary, but it's a cool touch regardless. I added in the "SUOMI!!!!" myself when I realized that such a thing was possible. Technology, what a wonderful tool. I believe it translates roughly to Finland or the Finnish language, I'm not quite sure which though. I always see people writing it on Ducks' blogs and boards, so I figured what the hell.

The gentleman was nice enough to mail it that day (a Friday), and it arrived on Monday. All that remains is to find a way to display my second Selanne puck, as my dad picked one up for me when I was a kid and he was in Vegas. There's no COA with that one, and they do look slightly different, but that was also something Teemu signed over a decade before this puck reached him, and the pens used were of different thickness as well. I'm not worried about it being authentic, to make a long story short.

I'm thrilled to own both, and so happy to have won this fantastic contest. A big thank you to Ryan from the Ducks for giving me the great news and mailing it out so quickly; the Ducks for holding such a phenomenal contest; whatever device picked my name out; and the legendary Finnish Flash himself for signing it and being such a fantastic player!