Ducks’ Semenov Is Sidelined : NHL: Team’s leading scorer is victim of check by teammate Grimson. Elbow injury will keep him out six to eight weeks.

The Mighty Ducks have been hit with the kind of blow an expansion team doesn’t need.

The Ducks have lost their leading scorer, Anatoli Semenov, for an estimated six to eight weeks with a dislocated left elbow, which he sustained when he was caught in a check by 6-foot-5, 227-pound teammate Stu Grimson in Tuesday’s loss to Florida.

“You know it’s a long night when your best check was against your own player, by your own player,” said General Manager Jack Ferreira, who didn’t fault Grimson. “He was trying to hit the other guy (Dave Lowry), and the other guy moved.”

Semenov, 31, leads the Ducks in goals with nine and assists with 15. Coach Ron Wilson calls Semenov easily the team’s best player, and the slender center has figured in nearly a third of the team’s 77 goals. It was Semenov’s play on the top line with wingers Garry Valk and Peter Douris that helped propel the Ducks to a four-game winning streak last month.

The Ducks are 9-18-2 heading into a stretch in which they play 10 of the next 13 games on the road. The outlook is grim for a team that averaged only 2.65 goals a game with Semenov in the lineup.

Without him, the Ducks’ leading scorer is Bill Houlder, a defenseman who has 19 points. Right wing Terry Yake is the second-leading goal-scorer with eight. He also has 10 assists.

The Ducks will probably recall center Jarrod Skalde from San Diego of the IHL as soon as today. Skalde, 22, has 11 goals and 22 assists in 23 games. The Ducks acquired him in the expansion draft, but sent him to the Gulls at the end of the exhibition season.

Ferreira has been conservative on the trade front, preferring not to give away assets such as draft picks in marginal deals. He remains focused on the long term, but he will be listening.

“Now that you’re hurting, there are going to be a lot of guys throwing me anchors,” he said.

On another front, Ferreira is preparing to meet next week with Jay Grossman, the new agent for third-round draft pick Valeri Karpov. Karpov was expected to be an offensive contributor this season, but he and the Ducks did not agree on terms.

Ferreira said his understanding of a rule interpretation is that Karpov could still play for the Ducks this season if he is signed. However, Karpov has said that he wants to play for Russia in the Olympics first, and Ferreira said he will not make dramatic concessions simply because of Semenov’s injury.

The injury is the second substantial one to a key player this season. Captain Troy Loney has missed 15 games because of a knee injury and subsequent arthroscopic surgery but is expected to return this month.

Semenov’s situation will be reassessed over the next two weeks, but a recovery as short as four weeks has been all but ruled out.

“It’s something,” Ferreira said. “I’ve seen dislocated kneecaps, so I’m sure somewhere along the line I’ve seen this injury before, but I don’t remember it.”

Duck Notes

Tonight’s celebrity charity game involving the Mighty Ducks and Kings at 7 at the Anaheim Arena sold out Wednesday. A number of actors, musicians and top NHL officials are scheduled to participate, with proceeds to benefit the Orange and Los Angeles county chapters of the American Red Cross and their efforts to assist victims of the recent Southern California fires.