Hebert’s Slump Now a Memory

The Mighty Ducks are many things, but carefree with their money is not one of them. So when they rewarded goalie Guy Hebert with a big new contract last summer, you had to figure he had earned it. You also had to believe the team’s expectations would be heightened.

He survived two seasons as a Duck with his professional reputation and his sense of humor intact. And both traits were thriving as recently as Nov. 24.

Then some strange business started happening. The Ducks blew a 4-1 lead and eventually a game to the Chicago Blackhawks, 5-4, and Hebert took a seat on the bench.

Backup Mikhail Shtalenkov started four, Hebert got the next two, then Shtalenkov four more. When Hebert started the two after that, he couldn’t possibly have looked worse, and it appeared as if he might take up long-term residence in Coach Ron Wilson’s doghouse.

Certainly, the Ducks expected more bang for their bucks, and were not getting it from Hebert, who will earn $900,000 this season.

“I tried to set the money aside, but I haven’t been exactly happy with how I’ve been playing lately,” Hebert said. “I’d still be miserable if I was playing for nothing. When I was struggling, the puck seemed to hit me and bounce into the net.

“It’s an amazing concept.”

Thursday, in the wake of a humiliating 7-1 loss to the Kings, Hebert decided it was time to seek professional help. He spoke with Wilson, General Manager Jack Ferreira and TV commentator Brian Hayward, a former NHL goalie.

The conversations appear to have worked as a tonic for Hebert, who looked sharp in a 4-2 victory over San Jose Friday and a 2-2 tie against the Kings Sunday at The Pond.

If Friday and Sunday were indications, Hebert appears to have regained that familiar, confident style again. His funk seems but a memory now.

“You see a more aggressive posture on his part,” Wilson said. “And you see guys playing with a lot more confidence in front of him. Tonight, I think our guys really felt Guy was going to come up big.”

Winger Todd Ewen, when he wasn’t on repeated search-and-destroy missions along the boards and in the corners, noticed the change.

“When Guy’s aggressive, he gets in his net and throws his arms out like wings,” Ewen said. “The last two games, you’ve seen him more confident. He’s coming around to his style of play.”

The Kings fired 36 shots at Hebert, including 16 in the third period, and he stopped all but a slick backhander by Kevin Todd at the two-minute mark of the third and a tip-in by Rick Tocchet at 7:43.

Hebert and the Ducks might have been winners if not for Kelly Hrudey, who stopped 39 of 41 shots.

“We’ll take the point and run with it,” Hebert said. “When we played them [Wednesday], we were really flat. I was just trying to survive that night. That’s a team [the Kings] we know we have to show we can play hard and physical.”