A Positive Move

A photograph of Teemu Selanne in a Winnipeg Jet uniform still hangs in the customs hall at the airport here, among the displays of local attractions. Six weeks after he was traded to the Mighty Ducks for defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky and center Chad Kilger, fans still talk about Selanne and the spectacular goals he scored for the Jets, a fascination Tverdovsky understands.

“People were upset here that the team is moving [to Phoenix next season] and they wanted [to watch] Selanne now before they leave,” Tverdovsky said. “He’s a great player.”

It’s almost impossible for the two 19-year-old former Ducks to escape the reminders of who they replaced--or what they are expected to become. But instead of trying to make fans forget Selanne, they are trying to make names for themselves. And the Jets, they say, are helping them achieve that by making them feel more welcome and secure than they felt in Anaheim.

Tverdovsky, the second overall pick in the 1994 entry draft, and Kilger, the fourth pick last year, said they have gotten more constructive criticism and support from Jet Coach Terry Simpson than they got from Duck Coach Ron Wilson. They no longer fear one mistake will send them to the bench or exile them from the lineup for the next game.

“Terry Simpson has given us both the opportunity to play and develop. We make mistakes. That’s natural, but then they help us correct them and then give us the opportunity to go out and play,” said Kilger, who had five goals and 12 points in 45 games with the Ducks and has two goals and three points in 19 games with the Jets. “In Anaheim there was a lot of pressure to make the playoffs, and Wilson kind of felt that if one of us did go out there and made a mistake and they scored, it could cost us the game. Here they feel comfortable with playing us.

“I feel more comfortable out there and more confident with the puck. When I have the puck I tend to hold onto the puck a little more because I feel more comfortable with holding it, instead of throwing it away and tending to be nervous. I’m getting into my own and starting to play better every game.”

Tverdovsky, who made his NHL debut last season, didn’t become the power-play quarterback the Ducks had envisioned. He had seven goals and 22 points in 51 games, and has six assists in 20 games with Winnipeg.

“I think the organization, maybe the coaching staff, especially Ron Wilson, he just didn’t respect us as players. He saw us as just teenagers and that was it,” Tverdovsky said. “His understanding was it would take five years before we would get a lot of ice time. I was playing a lot my first year but my second year I wasn’t, and I don’t know why.

“Also, I wasn’t playing a lot on the power play and in important situations. I wasn’t on the ice when there was five minutes to go. He just didn’t show much respect.”

Wilson said he had no grudge against Tverdovsky and attributed the youngster’s remarks to inexperience and frustration over being traded. According to Wilson, Tverdovsky played the third-most minutes of the Ducks’ defensemen and fifth-highest total on the team.

“It’s not a personal thing. We told Oleg we were bringing him along gradually. No one here blamed Oleg Tverdovsky or Chad Kilger if we lost a game. We tried to put the pressure on others,” Wilson said.

“Scott Niedermayer in New Jersey went through the same thing. Rob Niedermayer in Florida, all the young kids in the league go through the same thing. There’s a learning curve. I understand where they’re coming from, but I have a job to do and I have support from management to do it the way we did.”

Duck defenseman Bobby Dollas echoed Wilson’s assessment of Tverdovsky. “Earlier in the season, he was playing well and deserved to play, but as the season went on, he started to falter and still wanted to play as much. But what was more valuable, his playing time or the team?” Dollas said. “I think that was part of the problem. He was starting to get a little soft and teams were starting to take advantage of him.

“He had a lot of tools. Whether he wanted to improve them is my question. Sometimes he felt he was good enough. Let’s face it, he was one of the fastest skaters on our team and had one of the hardest shots. But he didn’t try to work on things. . . . I thought he could have been much better.”

To Simpson, both players are works in progress. He says Kilger skates well for his size--6-3 and 204 pounds--and has good instincts in the defensive zone, rare in a young player. Simpson says Kilger’s shortcomings--a lack of confidence offensively and a lack of experience--can easily be cured.

Simpson is intrigued by Tverdovsky’s skills, but knows it might take a while for Tverdovsky to learn the technical aspects of playing defense, such as knowing when to stay back and when to take chances. He’s willing to be patient, even though Winnipeg’s hold on a Western Conference playoff berth is one point over the Ducks.

“Tverdovsky is more defined in his skill areas. Obviously offensively he’s a great skater, but it’s going to take him a while to refine his positioning because positioning is such a big part of playing defense,” Simpson said. “You’d think you could just tell him, ‘Play here,’ but it doesn’t work that way. The game changes so fast and it changes so quickly. It’s experience, going through situations. Some things work and some don’t, and getting a feel for that is going to take a while.

“I think we’re looking at two or three years before they mature as players and to a point where you know what their potential is going to be. It used to be you’d go to the American [Hockey] League and come up as more or less a mature player. Now with more teams, everybody’s hurrying their players along a bit. This is a difficult training ground because players have to do it with the pressure squarely on their shoulders of wins and losses and producing.”

Kilger feels more comfortable in Winnipeg than he did in Anaheim, but he harbors no bitterness toward the Ducks.

“They felt they needed to go out there and get a player immediately. I think they were feeling pressure from up top and from the fans to go out and sign a free agent or whatever and get players they could use and give up Oleg and I,” he said. “I guess they gave up the future. But two 19-year-olds, I don’t think you can tell how far we will develop. Eventually both Oleg and I hope to prove them wrong.

“When we first got here, we heard a lot of things that fans were sad to see Selanne go. Hopefully we can play well enough that fans here can get behind us and support us until the end of the year. The fans have been really great. I think they’re catching playoff fever.”

Tverdovsky has caught that excitement.

“I’m more involved here and I think more about the team here than in Anaheim because I understand they want me here and they want me to play better,” he said. “That makes a difference. In Anaheim, I almost didn’t care. When you don’t play it’s difficult sometimes to care about the team. You care, but you feel it’s almost like you are out of the team. You don’t feel part of the team. It doesn’t matter for you so much.

“I feel good here and I want to give my best to get into the playoffs. It’s different for me here.”

Times staff writer Robyn Norwood contributed to this story.