Paying homage to Teemu Selanne's 1400th career point, and his career in general, I present a collection of Selanne's JOFA helmets throughout the years.
Below: Teemu celebrates his 1400th career point; a result of relentless hustle against the Red Wings.
Finnish Championship League - SM-liiga
1988-1992 Jokerit
Selanne wears a beautifully painted JOFA 366 with vintage CCM ear loops; complete with a JOFA half shield. His helmet is painted because he won the Aarne Honkavaara trophy for scoring the most goals during SM-liiga regular season play.
Team Finland - Suomi
1991 Canada Cup / IIHF World Championships
Selanne wearing a Kurri-style JOFA 51.234 helmet with a JOFA half shield; notice the install and the mounting slot on the visor. (Right) As depicted by his rookie card, Selanne wears a JOFA 290 with a JOFA half shield. Note Selanne's disregard for chinstraps.
1992 Winter Olympics / Right: 1996 World Cup of Hockey
I would have not known this except for a Finnish trading card I have, but Selanne wore a JOFA 390 helmet with a JOFA half shield during the 1992 Winter Olympics. (Right) Selanne wears a well promoted JOFA 366 helmet with vintage CCM earloops and JOFA half shield.
2002 Winter Olympics
The JOFA 397 makes its debut; Selanne wears a full black ear loops and chinstrap, completed with an ITECH aviator half shield. Anyone know what the hell is RisiFrutti? Neither do I.
2006 Winter Olympics / Right: 2008 World Cup
Selanne wears his JOFA 397 helmet with a skinny, and oddly mounted (doesn't seem safe to me, and he's missing teeth) Oakley half shield with white decals. (Right) Wearing what is my personally favorite JOFA helmet setup; Selanne wears his JOFA 397 back piece with a new Reebok front; finnished (no pun inteded) with a more-safely mounted Oakley pro modified aviator half shield.
2010 Winter Olympics
After breaking his jaw, Selanne wore his JOFA/Reebok 397 with an Oakley aviator visor and ITECH jaw protector.
National Hockey League - NHL
1992-1996 Winnipeg Jets - NHL
After being drafted into the NHL, Selanne continues to wear his custom JOFA 366 with vintage CCM ear loops; however he trades in the JOFA half shield for an ITECH aviator. Notice his visor mounting; he seems to have an assortment of holes screws in his early years.
Here he uses a cleaner visor mounting option; using a horizontal visor mount utilizing the top slot in his half shield.
Look closely at these helmets. They not only differ from his later JOFA 366's because of the faux leather forehead bumper, but the padding inside the helmet is beige! I'm not sure, but I believe that either early versions of the JOFA 366, or the pro stock version, has this type of padding. Not shown in these pictures; but the bumper on the back of the helmet is stitched faux leather, not the strip of rubber most of us are familiar with. I plan to feature one of my 366's that are similar to this soon!
In his later years with Winnipeg, Selanne begins to wear a JOFA 366 with the black foam padding inside. Also, in these pictures, you can see that he is using a "half-on-half-off" half shield mount, where the top holes go through the front piece of the helmet, while the bottom screws are mounted below, into the back piece. I really think his "wings" are funny in these years; the CCM ear loops naturally want to flip out when installed.
1996-2001 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim - NHL
After being traded to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Selanne continues to wear a JOFA 366, now with the more familiar "366" bumper than has become synonymous with his image. He trades in the funny looking CCM ear loops for a more refined Cooper/Bauer ear loop. I'm guessing these purple JOFA 366 helmets were made just for him; it would make no sense for JOFA to normally produce such a color.
Around 1998-1999, Selanne traded his old ITECH half shield for the, what used to be, state-of-the-art 1xcel aviator half shield
2001-2003 San Jose Sharks - NHL
After embarking on his experimental days playing for non-Anaheim teams; Selanne's first stop is a stone's throw away in San Jose. He keeps wearing his JOFA 366 bucket, now with new San Jose decals; but seems to remove the 1xcel decals from his half shield (could this be because of a sponsor issue?).
Sometime during the 2002-2003 season, Selanne tried out a Nike (Bauer/Cooper) helmet. This, until proved otherwise, was the only time he wore a non-JOFA helmet in regular season play.
2003-2004 Colorado Avalanche - NHL
After playing some of his lousiest seasons with San Jose (I blame his teammates), Selanne continues to struggle with scoring playing for the Avalanche during the year before the lockout. Oakley apparently bought 1xcel, so Selanne begins to wear a Oakley aviator half shield.
2005-2006 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim - NHL / Right: 2006-Present Anaheim Ducks
After his stint with San Jose and Colorado, Selanne returns to the Ducks. During his first season back, he scores 40 goals and 90 points in 80 games (told you, I blame his teammates!). He begins to wear a short Oakley straight half shield. Notice the photo on the left; the Oakley decals are unexplainably red.
2008
Due to licensing restrictions that disallowed the JOFA brand to be displayed in the NHL; the NHL, and probably Reebok, force Selanne to choose between continuing to wear his JOFA 366 helmet, or trading it in for a modern helmet. Selanne decides to simply remove the ink from the JOFA logos on his helmet, and with out words tells Reebok, "**** you!".
Selanne now wears an Oakley straight half shield, giving him more nasal protection than the short visor.
2011-Present
At the beginning of the 2011-2012 season, the NHL instates a new helmet number guideline, requiring players to wear their number on the front of their helmets, as well as the back. This apparently makes it easier for the officials and broadcasters to identify the players. I don't know if Selanne likes this change; considering he has not opted to change his helmet for his entire career!
Extra!
1993 NHL All-Star Game / Right: 2000 NHL All-Star Game
It seems the All-Star Game is Selanne's favorite time to experiment with helmets! For his first NHL All-Star Game, Selanne wore an un-modified JOFA 366, with a 366 bumper (not faux leather), and surprisingly no trademark visor! (Right) Selanne wears a red JOFA 366 with All-Star decals and a 1xcel aviator half shield; it's hard to make out, but it looks like the bumper reads 390 - I wonder if he had this helmet modified!
2003 NHL All-Star Game
Now for a truly rare sight; Selanne wore a CCM HT852 helmet with an Oakley aviator half shield during the 2003 NHL All-Star Game! Traitor? Naw, I would guess there was some sort of endorsement by CCM that required him to give up his JOFA 366 for a night. (Right) Selanne warmed up during the 2007 NHL All-Star Game wearing a modern Reebok helmet and no visor. I believe he switched back to his JOFA during the actual game.
So there you go! The history of Teemu Selanne's JOFA helmets!
Please comment with links to better pictures, missing pictures, or other varieties I may have missed! I really hope you Selanne fans out here enjoy this!
And, of course, keep it up Teemu! One more season! At least!