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Ryan Kesler prepares to bring his tough stuff to the Ducks

Ryan Kesler, shown with Vancouver in April, was brought to the Ducks to go toe-to-toe with Kings center Anze Kopitar and perform all the other gritty chores it takes to boost Anaheim with a jolt of won't-back-down.
(Darryl Dyck / Associated Press)
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It’s a new home, a new team and a new way of arriving at the rink for the Ducks’ Ryan Kesler.

“I’m ready to get going, excited about this new chapter in my life,” Kesler said. “Found a place overlooking the ocean, the kids are in school . . . waking up and seeing the ocean, walking to the rink in flip-flops in December.”

But enough with the flip-flops.

The 30-year-old center, a former Selke Trophy winner who led the Vancouver Canucks to the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, knows what is ahead for him and the Ducks.

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Lacking a formidable second-line center, they fell short last spring in Game 7 of a second-round playoff series against the eventual Stanley Cup champion Kings. With Kesler, they are trying to bridge the gap from that defeat to the ultimate prize.

This isn’t about flip-flops. It’s about going toe-to-toe with Kings center Anze Kopitar and performing all the other gritty chores it takes to boost the Ducks with a jolt of won’t-back-down.

“He’s been in the NHL a long time,” Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau said. “He’s going to bring energy, size, scoring ability, two-way play, faceoffs.”

The Michigan-raised Kesler, a 10-year NHL veteran, was acquired by the Ducks on June 27 for a younger but smaller center, Nick Bonino, along with defenseman Luca Sbisa and the Ducks’ second first-round draft pick.

Ducks General Manager Bob Murray unsuccessfully tried to land Kesler in March at the NHL trade deadline. His offer was rebuffed, and as the Canucks’ season continued to deteriorate, Kesler admits he was disgruntled.

“I told the media I didn’t want to talk about it,” Kesler said. “The rest of the season, we were out of the playoffs pretty quick, and that’s not something that any of my old teammates had dealt with before. . . . That part was tough.”

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If the response rubbed people the wrong way, so be it.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Kesler said he’s enjoyed the summer team parties he’s attended, and appreciates the spirit of the Ducks’ dressing room.

He wants to make clear, however, that he’ll make no apologies about his desire to win.

That drive pushed him to a career year in 2010-11 — 41 goals and 73 points — and it partly explains why he’s had shots taken at him on the ice, like the 2007-08 cross-check to the face from Philadelphia’s Jesse Boulerice and the blade-stomp by former Ducks defenseman Chris Pronger on his calf.

“It’s not something I go out saying I’m going to [tick] off that guy, it’s just a factor of the way I play — an in-your-face kind of game,” Kesler said. “Some days, guys have bad days, or bad games, and it’s going to [irk] them. . . . Do I enjoy it? Yeah, I get a little smirk, but . . . my focus is to win the game. I’ll do that any way possible.”

Even against the ex-mates. He’s already circled the Nov. 9 home game against Vancouver on the calendar.

Among those irritated in the past by Kesler are Ducks first-liners Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, who were also the first two Ducks to text him a welcome to Anaheim.

“I’ve played enough minutes against him to know he’s a tough player [who] frustrates you a bit,” said Getzlaf, the team captain.

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Kesler’s arrival is expected to ease the heavy load on Getzlaf because Kesler is highly skilled in faceoffs, with the defensive sharpness to enhance the Ducks’ penalty killing.

Instead of Getzlaf, the first-line center, always squaring off against another team’s top line, Kesler and the No. 2 line can take on that burden, creating a more favorable offensive matchup for Getzlaf, Perry and whomever they’re teamed with.

“We can be a 1-2 punch that’s dominant,” Kesler said. “A fresh start, new coach, new team . . . it’s rejuvenated me.”

Murray measured all of that and was applauded throughout the game for landing Kesler so inexpensively, even if the promising Bonino did score 22 goals with 49 points compared to Kesler’s 43-point showing last season.

When last season ended, Murray wondered to reporters where his team’s Drew Doughty was — a do-it-all, hard-driving dynamo who wouldn’t accept losing.

“Kesler is a special player . . . elite player . . . [and] that’s always in the back of my mind: ‘Where is that guy?’ They don’t fall off the tree very easily,” Murray said.

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“I wasn’t going to get Ryan unless I gave up Nick. Didn’t want to give up Nick. Loved him. But you’ve got to give to get.”

Boudreau said he’s most impressed with the effort Kesler has shown from his introduction.

“I’m seeing that he wants to be the best player out there every shift,” Boudreau said. “Doesn’t take shifts off, looks like he’s in tremendous physical condition.”

Kesler spent the extended summer on conditioning, and arrived this week boasting that “my scores are the best they’ve ever been.

“I know how close these guys were, and with the changes, hopefully, we’re that much closer,” he said. “Come April, we’ll be ready. I don’t know why they lost to L.A., but we’ve got new centermen and gotten bigger and stronger.

“You need to be. It’s a big, strong division.”

lance.pugmire@latimes.com

Twitter: @latimespugmire

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