Kings send Teemu Selanne into retirement (video)

The Kings came out on top of the first Stanley Cup playoffs matchup of Los Angeles and Anaheim, beating the Ducks 6-2 to win game 7 and the series. The Kings now move to the third round of the Cup playoffs — the western conference finals — for the third straight season. They open in Chicago against the Blackhawks on Sunday and Wednesday, then return to Staples Center a week from today.

Anaheim was a much better team than LA in the regular season and their fans had expected them to advance. Their defeat ends the NHL career of 43-year-old forward Teemu Selanne, the Ducks franchise's most famous name. After the ceremonial end-of-series handshake, the Kings stayed on the Anaheim ice to salute Selanne by clacking their sticks on the ice. The classy gesture stunned Selanne and the Ducks and was enshrined in an NHL video clip, below. "We would have stood out there for 20 minutes if we could," said the Kings' Justin Williams. "He was an awesome player."

Some coverage:

Pierre LeBrun/ESPN
Arash Markazi/ESPN LA
Lisa Dillman/LA Times

Selanne is the highest scoring Finn in NHL history and a six-time Olympian for Finland. A documentary in Finnish last year chronicled his life — trailer on YouTube