Ducks Lose Another Original : Hockey: Forward Stu Grimson is traded to the Red Wings, along with defenseman Mark Ferner and a future draft choice.

The few remaining original Mighty Ducks have noticed that their pictures on the dressing-room wall are attached with Velcro.

Stu Grimson’s portrait came down Tuesday when he was traded to the Detroit Red Wings, and it leaves a blank spot the other players wonder if anyone else can fill.

Grimson scored only one goal in two seasons, but more than any other player he was the heart, soul and fist of the Ducks.

“It’s a tough one, really tough,” said General Manager Jack Ferreira, who sent Grimson, defenseman Mark Ferner and a 1996 sixth-round draft pick to Detroit for two younger players, center Mike Sillinger and defenseman Jason York. “Stu does things for your team that don’t show up in the statistics.”

Grimson, a lumbering 6-foot-5 forward, was the first player on the ice for the first practice the team ever held, and he gave the Mighty Ducks their first respectable nickname, “the Muscular Waterfowl.” He was an eloquent leader who helped a bunch of other team’s discards appreciate the opportunity the expansion team had given them.

He made sure they got respect on the ice too.

“I walked over and thanked Stu before he left,” defenseman Bobby Dollas said. “He said, ‘What are you thanking me for?’ I said, ‘You stuck up for us a lot of times. That earns a lot of respect in my book.’ ”

In Detroit, where the conference-leading Red Wings are girding for the Stanley Cup playoffs, Grimson will take on a role once filled by Bob Probert and more recently by Darren McCarty, who badly cut his hand in a fight last week.

“It’s always difficult to say goodby to guys you bled and sweated with for a year and a half,” Grimson said. “I’ll miss the organization and especially the guys, but this is a good fall-back plan.”

Until recently, it was almost impossible to think of the Ducks without Grimson, and they rejected inquiries from Scotty Bowman, the Red Wings’ coach and director of player personnel, as recently as a month ago. But when Duck Coach Ron Wilson started to use only one of his two enforcers--Grimson or Todd Ewen--in the lineup, it appeared one might be traded.

“It put into my mind that there was an option for the organization to leverage one of us,” Grimson said. “This team is growing, and they get two young players in Mike Sillinger and Jason York. I knew once they were content to go with Todd or myself this might happen.”

Wilson called the deal “a low-risk trade” since the Ducks have depth at Grimson and Ferner’s positions and they are both 29.

Sillinger, who may become the Duck’s No. 2 center, is 23 and a former first-round draft pick. He hasn’t played in the last 15 games and had asked to be traded because he was stuck behind Sergei Fedorov, Steve Yzerman, Keith Primeau and Kris Draper.

York, 24, is an offensive defenseman Ferreira considered a key to the deal. He might be able to help the Ducks’ dismal power play.