His Pass Is as Dangerous as His Shot

When you score 76 goals as a rookie, nobody is going to call you a playmaker.

But Teemu Selanne is emerging as more than a speed-skating sniper after his first few weeks in a Mighty Duck uniform. He has an instinctive sense of positioning that livens up the power play, and his passing is extremely skilled and precise.

“He’s known as a goal-scorer, but he’s a playmaker as much as a goal-scorer,” said Paul Kariya, who plays with Selanne on a line centered by Shaun Van Allen, as well as on the power play.

After nine games with the Ducks, Selanne has eight goals and seven assists. Kariya has seven goals and six assists since the trade.

So even though the Ducks’ pair of probable 100-point scorers are known as a playmaker--Kariya--and a goal-scorer--Selanne--in truth, they’re both versatile double-threats whose statistics contradict their reputations.

Kariya has 77 points, with 36 goals and 41 assists. Selanne has 87 points (32 goals, 55 assists).

“That’s what he is, is a playmaker,” Coach Ron Wilson said. “What’s come about as far as scoring goals is almost by accident.”

Selanne and Vancouver’s Pavel Bure astounded the NHL during the 1992-93 season when Selanne scored 76 goals in his first season and Bure scored 60 as a second-year player. Their speed and European names made some people group them together, but Wilson sees distinctions.

“Pavel is the best one-on-one player in the game, up there with Jaromir Jagr. He gets his assists on two-on-ones, and when people score on rebounds,” Wilson said. “Teemu has the ability to utilize all the people on the ice.”

Which one would most NHL teams rather have?

Bure has missed most of the season with a knee injury. Selanne has missed chunks of the last two with injuries, first his Achilles’ tendon and later a knee injury.

“For now, I think people would rather have Pavel,” Wilson said. “Teemu had 76, but then he was injured and hasn’t had 50 since. You’ve got Pavel with 60, then [60], then last year his numbers were off.

“But I’d like to see them both healthy and then make the comparison after that. They’re both electric.”

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Nagging injuries have been a pain in Guy Hebert’s neck this season . . . and in his ankle.

Now he finds himself in a semi-backup role again, partly because of the aftereffects of a slight neck injury he suffered against Vancouver on Feb. 15.

Mikhail Shtalenkov stepped in, and now Shtalenkov is on a roll with the Ducks in the middle of a playoff race.

“I’ve told Ron I’m ready to play, but Mike is playing so well,” Hebert said.

“We’ve got to go with who’s hot,” said Wilson, indicating Shtalenkov will start for the fifth time in six games Sunday against Tampa Bay.

Hebert missed three games because of the injury, then looked shaky in a 4-3 victory over San Jose last Sunday, the day of Selanne’s hat trick.

Shtalenkov started the next two, and has a 2.58 goals-against average in the last six games.

“We’re working with Guy a lot in practice right now, trying to get his confidence back,” Wilson said. “But I can’t use games to get his confidence back.”

Wilson thinks Hebert’s minor injuries contributed to bad habits, and that he needs to work through them in practice. Hebert is frustrated by an ankle that’s been sore since training camp and a neck that will probably bother him the rest of the season.

“I’ve been living on anti-inflammatories,” Hebert said. “I think it’s in the job description at this point.”

He’s waiting for a chance to reestablish himself, but it’s not clear when that will be.

“We can’t use games as a starting point,” Wilson said. “We don’t have that margin for error.”

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Peter Douris’ groin injury has kept him out of the lineup 32 games and counting, and surgery is the next option if he isn’t better after two weeks of complete rest.

“I’m not optimistic he’ll be back [this season],” Wilson said. “I hope he will.”

Douris, one of the Ducks’ most consistent two-way players, originally strained muscles in his groin in early December, but the injury hasn’t healed. Wilson said if Douris isn’t better in another week, he will consider a special surgery performed in Vancouver in which a piece of mesh is inserted into the muscle to help it heal.

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Todd Ewen’s children’s book about a frog named Hop could be published by late 1996, NHL officials said.

A Canadian children’s book publisher is “very, very interested” in Ewen’s illustrated manuscript, said Charlie Schmitt, director of publishing for NHL Enterprises who is acting as a go-between.

“Todd’s very shrewd and prudent. He’s not looking to make a lot of money. He’s looking to get his book out to kids and make kids happy,” Schmitt said. “He’s done something a lot of authors should do. He’s got something down on paper instead of looking for a big advance.”