Teemu Selänne has tried to bring the club Jokerit back to the Finnish league. Now he goes on a hard attack against Jari Kurri and accuses the icon of having put an end to the deal.
– He has dirt on his hands, says Selänne
Teemu Selänne is undoubtedly one of Finland’s greatest hockey players of all time. The forward has over 20 seasons in the NHL, and put his hands on the Stanley Cup trophy once during his career.
Want to buy off Jokerit
But Selänne’s hockey journey started in Jokerit. A club the Finn is strongly associated with and where he took his very first cuts as a senior player. The classic club from Helsinki has belonged to the KHL since 2013, and Teemu Selänne along with several others now want to buy the club and bring Jokerit back to the Finnish league.
The deal was in principle done but ultimately fell through. Now Teemu Selänne accuses the icon Jari Kurri, who has no official role but figures in the club, for having put an end to the purchase.
– We contacted them probably fifty times. We had a plan that had benefited all parties and where a takeover had come into effect on September 1st. Everything was basically ready, but Jari panicked, he tells Helsingin Sanomat.
“Has dirt on his hands”
The Finnish hockey league has been clear that all ties to Russia must be changed in order for Jokerit to be licensed to return to the Finnish league. And one of Selänne’s and his group’s demands has been that Jari Kurri should not remain at the club.
– Jari has dirt on his hands, says Selänne.
Jari Kurri had a significant role in the project financed by Russian oligarch Vladimir Potanin who still owns the arena.
READ MORE: Enormous tribute to Rasmus Dahlin – the Swede is now ranked number one(!): “There are few like him”