Tired by Tough Job, Duck Trainer Resigns

Another original Mighty Duck is gone. This time it’s trainer Blynn DeNiro, who has resigned and will be replaced by Paddy Jarit.

“I was tired, that’s what it came down to,” said DeNiro, who will be remembered for his quick action when defenseman Don McSween’s wrist was slashed by a skate blade in January--and for a comic scene when he tripped and fell on the ice in exhaustion at Edmonton last season during a game when injuries kept him on the ice more often than some players.

“The short season contributed, and it being just me contributed,” said DeNiro, who didn’t have an assistant. “I learned some things about myself, that with my personality I cannot stay withdrawn. I get my hands on something and go head first. You have to be able to stop.”

Jarit, 31, formerly worked as a trainer at USC and most recently was physical therapy director at the Sports Performance Therapy Center in Pleasanton, Calif.

DeNiro, a former assistant trainer for the Rams, will teach part time at Cal State Dominguez Hills before taking another job. The stress and pace of the last NHL season took their toll, he said, and he believed he “wouldn’t be the trainer the Ducks needed or I needed to be.”

“I’ve done this for 23 years,” said DeNiro, 38, who started as a trainer at Orange High School at 15. “This is the first summer I haven’t had a training camp. You have to stop and say, ‘Whoa,’ even though this was the greatest experience and greatest job I’ll ever have.”

Notes

General Manager Jack Ferreira said he is getting closer to a contract extension for goaltender Guy Hebert, whose arbitration date has been postponed, tentatively, to Sept. 1. Though Hebert is seeking a raise from $535,500 to more than $1 million a year, the Ducks want to give him a base salary less than that with opportunities to increase his salary yearly based on performance. At least 16 goalies made more than $1 million last season. . . . The Ducks have begun talks with the agent for center Chad Kilger, the fourth pick overall in the June draft. Ferreira and agent Larry Kelly are fairly optimistic about reaching a deal, especially after the Kings signed No. 3 pick Aki-Petteri Berg for about $2.4 million for three years, without any performance bonuses Ferreira considers “astronomical.” Some teams and agents had predicted huge bonus clauses as agents sought to get around the $850,000 entry-level salary cap that is part of the new collective bargaining agreement.