Incentives Help Hebert Ease Pain of Missing Playoffs

The out-of-the-playoffs Mighty Ducks took out their frustrations on the playoff-bound Winnipeg Jets, the team they couldn’t catch, Sunday at the Pond.

It was far from the meaningless season-ending game it could have been after the Ducks were officially bounced from the playoffs Saturday night. For Guy Hebert, there was a great deal riding on Sunday’s outcome.

Big bucks, in fact.

Hebert needed one more standout performance in goal to collect a $300,000 bonus linked to meeting any one of five individual or team accomplishments. Shutting out the Jets for 58 minutes 31 seconds en route to a 5-2 victory in front of 17,174 fans who cheered his every move did the trick.

In the end, Hebert’s .913 save percentage ranked fourth-best in the league and enabled him to cash in.

“I probably won’t even think about that until the summer,” Hebert said.

Yeah, right.

When Winnipeg’s Ed Olczyk broke up the shutout with 1:29 left Sunday, Hebert slammed his goalstick to the ice. Television cameras then caught him shaking his head in disappointment.

A moment later, Darrin Shannon put another one past Hebert. This time, he held his emotions in check. This game belonged to the Ducks and soon enough so did the six-figure bonus.

For the record, Hebert’s save percentage put him behind only Dominik Hasek of Buffalo, Daren Puppa of Tampa Bay and Jeff Hackett of Chicago.

“He thought with what he had accomplished [in his first two seasons in Anaheim] he was at another level,” Duck General Manager Jack Ferreira said. “I thought he wasn’t quite there yet. That’s why we designed his contract that way [with incentive bonuses tied to performance].

“I think he’s arrived now. You gladly pay it.”

Even after a three-goal victory in the season finale, there was a lingering sense of shock among the Ducks that they are not advancing to the playoffs.

Coming up one point short couldn’t be pinned on goaltending, according to captain Randy Ladouceur.

“There are a lot of teams going to the playoffs who wish they had Guy Hebert in the nets,” Ladouceur said.

Said enforcer Todd Ewen: “He’s not getting the exposure the other guys [top-flight goalies] are because we’re on the West Coast. They’re all on the East Coast. That’s one thing that hurts him.

“But we know how good he is and GMs around the league know it.”

There is little question Hebert was among the league’s hottest goalies as the regular season came to an end Sunday. But it’s also true his 9-2-2 record and .928 save percentage over the last 13 games weren’t good enough to get the Ducks into the playoffs for the first time in their three-year history.

Perhaps that’s what Hebert, 28-23-5 in 59 games overall, will remember most about this season: That he and the Ducks played well enough to come up short at the wire.

“It was just disappointing that we didn’t have anything to play for but our pride [Sunday],” Hebert said, forgetting his upcoming payday.

“I honestly think we looked like the team that should be going to the playoffs, not the Jets. I think right now, Detroit and Colorado are the only teams better than us in the Western Conference.”