Organization Seems Committed to Wilson

It says something for Ron Wilson--and something ridiculous about the NHL--that the Ducks’ first and only coach already is tied for fourth in seniority among NHL coaches.

Dallas Stars Coach Bob Gainey is first--and he’s only in his sixth season. Tampa Bay’s Terry Crisp, the expansion record-holder, is in his fourth year, as is Toronto’s Pat Burns.

Wilson, in his third season, is tied with Detroit’s Scotty Bowman, New Jersey’s Jacques Lemaire and Pittsburgh’s Eddie Johnston for longevity in their current jobs.

Firing the coach is the way of the NHL--it happens more frequently in hockey than any of the four major sports. Since the end of last season, 11 of the NHL’s 26 teams have changed coaches. Add the late-season changes by Winnipeg and the Kings, and half the coaches in the league lost their jobs.

It’s one indication the Duck organization is still intent on being a different breed that Wilson has survived two ugly slumps this season. Given the job he has done in the past and his fit with the organization, the trouble wasn’t cause for him to be fired, but cause isn’t always part of the NHL tradition.

Club President Tony Tavares was fuming and General Manager Jack Ferreira was upset after last week’s 7-1 loss to the Kings, but Wilson is still OK. Tavares said even two more losses wouldn’t have spelled the coach’s downfall and that management won’t make decisions based on emotional reactions.

That’s not exactly a lifetime pass to Disneyland, but Wilson can take some comfort.

Ferreira always has insisted that stability is important for the organization, and though it’s clear he’d like Wilson to take some lessons from the recent turmoil, he doesn’t have his finger on the trigger.

“There’s no problem. I told the coaches I’m not going to make a coaching change,” Ferreira said. “It’s an emotional business. Sometimes you just can’t help getting upset.”

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A power play that is the worst in the NHL for the third year running is one thing Wilson would do well to improve.

Their power play succeeded only five times in December and they haven’t scored two power-play goals in the same game since Nov. 24.

With only one game this week, Wilson put the team through some lengthy practice sessions, with plenty of time spent on power-play competitions among the team.

Being without injured center Steve Rucchin has hurt, but it’s not as if he’s Eric Lindros. And no power play with Paul Kariya on it should be last in the league. The Ducks’ 23 power-play goals are last in the league and they have scored on only six of their last 73 chances.

“It just needs improvement. We need to have results, not reasons,” Ferreira said. “I’m not happy about it. We need results on the power play to win more games.”

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Wilson says sometimes a team has to hit rock bottom to recover from a bad stretch, and the Ducks were scraping the bottom after the Kings’ loss.

“Believe me, it’s like pain, and it’s very easy to forget after it’s over. It’s like childbirth for a woman, or kidney stones, and I’ve had my share of those. After it’s over, all of a sudden you forget the pain and the only way you remember it is when it comes back. You have to experience that losing situation.”

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The Ducks reached the halfway point of the season Friday with a 15-22-4 record.

They were 14-23-4 after 41 games last season, and 15-24-2 at the same point their first season, so they’re not exactly showing tremendous progress.

And there’s no bigger indictment of the organization than Florida’s success. That stretch when the Ducks won nine of 12 this season and beat the last four Stanley Cup champions was a tantalizing one, though, and with Rucchin--the last of their epidemic of injured players--about to return, they will have no excuses for struggling in the second half.

The schedule also eases considerably. After playing their first 41 games in 89 days, they have 100 days to play the last 41.

And thanks to a Western Conference with a soft underbelly, they’re only two points out of a playoff spot, with the second four teams tightly bunched.