Ducks’ Francois Beauchemin says he feels better after battling mumps

Ducks defenseman Francois Beauchemin hit the ice for the first time since his bout with mumps, taking part in full practice Monday afternoon in Calgary, where the Ducks play the Flames on Tuesday.

“I felt pretty good out there. It’s a good sign,” Beauchemin said.

Said Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau: “If you know Francois, that’s all he’ll say is he feels great. He could take six months off and [say], ‘Oh I feel great, let’s play.’ But it’s great that he feels good and healthy. Now he just has to get his conditioning up and he’ll be able to play.”

He is hoping to play Thursday in Vancouver but that would be a best-case scenario. Beauchemin was hospitalized last week when his fever would not go down. He immediately needed several bags of IV fluid and he lost 10 pounds during the illness. He started to improve Friday and was able to work out, off the ice, on Sunday.

“I wasn’t scared right away because we were expecting a couple of days of fever,” he said. “The fever started Friday night and by Monday it wasn’t going down and finally Tuesday, I called the doctor. I’ve got to get to the hospital. Because I’m not going to get any better staying home.”

He was not amused when told about the Kings’ mascot, Bailey, wearing a surgical gown and gloves at Saturday’s game between the Kings and Ducks at Staples Center.

“I think it’s offside, you don’t mess with diseases like that,” Beauchemin said. “It’s not like the flu bug or something. It’s something pretty serious.

“But, again, nothing surprises me from the Kings. That’s something they do often for us.”

The discussion turned to the fact that mumps can have serious side effects for adults.

“For sure, they’re probably not aware of it,” Beauchemin said. “I don’t think they would be laughing if they would get a couple of players with it. That’s not something you should mess around with.”

Corey Perry was the other Anaheim player with mumps and he returned to the lineup Sunday against Florida.

Rookie forward William Karlsson has flu and did not travel to Calgary, the team said. The Ducks are hoping he will be able to fly Tuesday morning if he is feeling better.

“Hopefully soon,” Boudreau said. “If it’s not the mumps, it’s the flu. So everything is going through the team. Let’s get it over with now.”