They stood outside the Ducks locker room a few hours before Monday's game, shoulder to shoulder, smiling and reminiscing, needling each other like the old friends that they are.

Finland's Jarri Kurri, who scored 601 goals during his Hall of Fame career.

And his countryman Teemu Selanne, a future Hall of Famer, who is sitting on number 600 and counting.

"I always say that he was a great role model and idol for me," Selanne said, "until I got to know him better."

Selanne paused until the chuckles died down.

"That was a joke," he said. "Obviously it’s great that he’s here and it would be awesome to get it tonight. I never dreamed I would score as many goals as Jarri Kurri and now he's here tonight."

Kurri told that story we've heard a million times, about how this fresh-faced kid, by the name of Selanne, working at Kurri's summer hockey camp, boldly asked to take Kurri's car for a little spin.

"I told him to take it easy," Kurri recalled, "don’t spoil my tires. Later on I heard that he gave a hard time to my car. That was the first time we met."

"It was a nice car," Selanne said with a smile.

"Now I need to borrow his cars," said Kurri. "Times change."

But not drive them, apparently. Kurri flew in from Finland over the weekend in advance of tonight's pre-game ceremony honoring Selanne and stayed at his friend's house -- "I gave him the master suite," said Selanne -- but when the two drove to the arena Monday afternoon for the game, Selanne took the wheel.

"I had to take control," he grinned. "Six lanes here. Back home, he's used to only one or two. We had to get here safely."

Selanne talked about how he used to watch Kurri when he was playing for the Edmonton Oilers, on a line with Wayne Gretzky. The two players went on to become one of the most prolific scoring tandems in NHL history. In 1984-85, Kurri set a record for goals by a right winger when he scored 50 in his first 50 games and ended up with 71. His poster, and Gretzky's too, hung on the wall in Selanne's bedroom back in those days.

Somebody asked Selanne what he learned from Kurri, especially during that year when they played together in Anaheim, 1996-97.

"On the ice or off?" Selanne grinned. "Jarri was my roommate, so it was very exciting."

"Early curfews," Kurri chipped in.

More laughter. And then Selanne said that he learned a lot about being a goal scorer, just from watching Kurri perform in all those Oilers games.

"Where he shoots, how he scores," Selanne said. "Those are things you can learn a lot. The way he was able to find the holes. He was probably one of the best all around players. Defensively, he was so responsible too."

Selanne turned to his old friend: "That’s one thing I didn’t learn very well from you."

Kurri had a ready response.

"I had to play defense," he said, "because I had Gretzky as a center."

Everyone laughed.

"Don’t write that," Kurri said. "I was only kidding."

Someone asked Kurri what his reaction was when Selanne smashed the NHL's rookie scoring record in 1992-93, firing in 76 goals, a mark that may well never be broken.

"I think that 76 goals in the first year shocked everybody," Kurri said. "That’s amazing numbers. But he loves scoring. He was a complete player when he came here.

"But look at today how good a shape he is in," Kurri continued. "He takes care of himself. It doesn’t just happen. You have to really be focused and work hard. It’s amazing. The guy is 40 years old and he’s the fastest guy on the ice. I don’t know how he does it."

Kurri smiled, then said it all won't really sink in for Selanne until he takes off his skates for the last time.

"When you retire you sit back and you start to enjoy it more," he said. "When you’re still playing, you don’t have time to celebrate. When he retires, I don’t know when, he can sit back and go over his career, the goals and milestones, and he will appreciate it more, for sure."

Selanne's not saying anything -- not yet, anyway. He turns 40 in July and this has been a cruel year for him and his team -- the broken hand, then the broken jaw, 26 missed games and what is sure to be no post-season for the Ducks, who were 11 points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with just eight games to play.

Kurri knew for sure that it was time for him to retire when he finished that 1997-98 season in Colorado and scored just five goals in 70 games. The last two were career numbers 600 and 601.

"I remember he was waiting a long time," said Selanne of Kurri's 600th. "He was chasing it for many games."

"Half a year," Kurri chortled.

But Selanne's not limping to the finish line. Far from it. He had 21 goals and 39 points in 48 games, going into tonight. He's still a force, a threat every time he steps on the ice, with a deadly accurate shot. And then there's that speed. He's one of the fastest -- if not the fastest -- players every time he's out there, consistently beating players who are 10, even 15 years younger than he is to loose pucks and scoring opportunities.

So when someone asked Kurri if he thought Selanne would be a helpful addition to the Finnish hockey program that Kurri is involved with -- he was the general manager of the Olympic team that just won a bronze medal -- Kurri said of course. "We’d be stupid if we’re not gonna use him somehow."

But it all sounded premature, especially when Selanne, who just became the leading scorer in Olympic hockey history at the Vancouver Games, said he hadn't thought that much about what he was going to do after his career ends. Besides, he added, Kurri moved back home, but Teemu and his family are going to stay right where they are, in southern California, which Teemu has always called his "happy place."

Somebody changed the subject, asking if Selanne hoped to catch Kurri tonight.

"It would be unbelievable," he said. "But it’s funny how it works. My teammates are feeding me for three games and the puck doesn’t go in. Unbelievable. I always said some nights you can’t buy a goal, then the next game you just throw the puck at the net and it goes in."

Someone from the Ducks staff stuck his head into the scrum. It was time for Teemu to go.

"Have fun," said Kurri. "Don't pass. Just shoot!"

Selanne smiled one last time, then slipped into the locker room. There was a game to play, more goals to score. It's what this guy does best. And the hunch here is that whether or not he catches or passes his boyhood idol and old friend tonight or on any other night between now and the end of the season, he's not going to be ready to stop. Not now. Not yet.

Let's hope not, anyway.

NOTES

No goals for Selanne tonight, after all, but he did assist on the first NHL goal by Ducks rookie Nick Bonino. Great pass by Teemu and the kid buried it behind Kari Lehtonen. Selanne fished the puck out of the net and presented it to Bonino. Only 599 to go, kid. "He told me he still remembers his first NHL goal," said Bonino, "so it was pretty cool to be sitting next to him on the bench after my first goal and he was the one who handed me the puck. I'll always remember that."

Selanne had his chances tonight, taking at least eight shots on Lehtonen, who like Selanne is from Helsinki. No way he was going let Teemu score with Kurri in the stands, huh Teemu?

"It's been like this for a long time," said Selanne with a shrug. "Chance after chance but I couldn't take advantage of it. Obviously I really wanted to score. I wanted more to score for Jarri because he came here and wanted to see this happen, but he didn't."

So, will Teemu be making that master suite available for his old friend for a few more games?

"No, he has to go," said Selanne. "He has [commitments] but it was an honor that he came. I just wish I could have scored for him."

KINGS

The 3-2 loss tonight in Minnesota means that the Kings are 0-3-1 in their past four games, which ties their longest winless streak of the season. (They lost four straight from December 17-30.) It also means that the Kings have dropped to seventh place in that ultra-tight Western Conference, four points behind the fifth-place Predators, whom they play tomorrow night in Nashville. With 90 points, the Kings are one point behind sixth-place Detroit--whom nobody wants to meet in the post-season--and only one ahead of eighth-place Colorado.

Hang on tight, Kings fans. With seven games to play, it looks like it's going to be a bumpy ride all the way to the finish.