Keeping His Head : Hebert’s Mind-Set Can Make or Break Him When He’s in Goal for the Mighty Ducks

Guy Hebert felt so confident, so ready.

And then before he could turn around, it was happening again.

Four goals by Toronto. Six pucks in the back of the net against Montreal. Six more against Colorado, and Duck Coach Ron Wilson already had started treading lightly. “I know Guy can play better,” he said.

Backup Mikhail Shtalenkov took a turn in goal and shut out Chicago, and in two appearances allowed only 1 1/2 goals a game.

Hebert has given up slightly more than five a game.

Nevertheless, it will be Hebert, not Shtalenkov, between the goalposts tonight when the Ducks play their home opener against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Pond.

“There goes your goalie controversy,” said Wilson, who found out last season that as far as the fans are concerned, you may as well speak sacrilege as criticize Hebert, the original Duck. He also found out that if you stick with Hebert, you get results. Late in the season, when the Ducks needed him most, Hebert was spectacular, allowing fewer than two goals a game with three shutouts in the final 13 games.

Much as things might look like a replay of last season--and the season before that and the season before that--Hebert sees it differently than a year ago, when he started slowly, endured two lengthy benchings, then sparkled down the stretch.

“With what happened last year, you know, I think you grow as a person, not only as an athlete,” Hebert said. “You want to continue to prove to people what you’re capable of doing, but I don’t want to get caught up in mental warfare. No one’s harder on himself than the athlete himself. I’ve been like that since I was a kid, and sometimes I think it’s less productive to beat yourself up so much that the next time you play, your mind is shot. You keep going over goals countless times, and what can you do?

“I think my relationship with Ron and [assistant coaches Tim Army and Walt Kyle] is as solid as it’s ever been. I feel secure with what I can do. I’ve proven myself over the years and I think they know what I’m capable of doing. I think as long as I keep working hard, this will straighten itself out.”

Make no mistake, Hebert has been hung out to dry more than a couple of times this season, facing an average of nearly 35 shots a game, compared to 25 for Shtalenkov.

With an inexperienced, mistake-prone defense that has had its problems getting the puck out of the Ducks’ end, Hebert has seen a lot of rubber for a week into the season.

Teemu Selanne practically extended condolences after the Ducks’ come-from-behind 6-6 tie against Colorado.

“I really felt sorry for him tonight,” Selanne said.

That can be small solace. When Hebert looked at the tapes, he saw a mixture of bad decisions and bad luck.

“I think any goalie will tell you that regardless of how the shots come on you, you always feel responsible for them,” Hebert said. “I feel like every shot that comes my way I have an opportunity to stop. You know, one more save here or there, and those two ties, they’re wins.

“The one good thing, I mean, I don’t want sympathy, but it’s nice to hear from your teammates that you weren’t solely responsible for letting in six goals.”

The consensus in the front office is that Hebert’s confidence is critical to his performance, and Wilson believes Hebert might be putting too much pressure on himself to pick up where he left off at the end of last season.

With a series of minor injuries healed--and coming off the giddy experience of being on the U.S. team coached by Wilson that won the World Cup--Hebert was outstanding during the exhibition season. He was intent on riding the emotional high into the season. It didn’t happen.

“I’ve felt sharp, and that’s probably the craziest thing in this whole thing is that I’ve felt good and not had results,” Hebert said. “I had such great expectations for the first road trip and it didn’t go exactly the way I had it planned.

“It feels like it’s February or something. It’s like I feel good, but I feel tired. I already feel like I’ve played a quarter of the season, and a lot of guys who played in the World Cup probably feel that way. It’s such a high level, then you have to go back to work the rest of training camp and then start over again.”

The team took steps to help Hebert this week by hiring a goaltending consultant, Francois Allaire. That’s something Hebert has been eager for since the club told television analyst and former NHL goalie Brian Hayward thanks but no thanks, that his help was no longer needed. Clearly enough, it was.

Having a coach to work with the goalies ensures they’ll get attention--and expert attention. General Manager Jack Ferreira was a goalie, but Wilson, Kyle and Army weren’t and Wilson has admitted he doesn’t always understand the goaltenders’ mind-set.

Hebert’s mind is set on equilibrium.

“I always try to keep that happy medium, but too much of the time last year it was a roller coaster ride, and it makes for a really difficult life,” he said. “One day you finally start to feel good, and the next day you’re down in the dumps. I think I got caught doing that last year a little bit, and I refuse to do that this year.

“Of course, I’m upset when I don’t play well and don’t win, but I want to keep things in perspective this year. I’m confident in my ability, and we have Mikhail, so if I can’t play or am not playing well, and Mike’s playing well, then he plays. I think we all look at it more as ‘What can I do for the team?’ and I think I learned that last season.

“It was such an enjoyable time to play in the last 25 games or so last year when you were working hard and getting results. I just want to go to the playoffs so bad this year. After the experience I had this summer, to have that feeling with this group of guys is going to be tremendous. For the fans of Orange County to be part of that, it’s something that’s my only goal for the year. Of course I want to have a lot of wins and good stats, but I’m willing to trade all that in just to make sure we make it into the playoffs this year. You can ask Teemu or Jari [Kurri]. That’s the way we all feel.”