Kariya Returns to Help the Ailing Ducks

The Mighty Ducks heard what probably sounded like the most comforting words in the language Tuesday.

“I’m playing,” said Paul Kariya, who will make his season debut tonight for a team that has gone 1-8-2 without him.

Kariya, a 50-goal scorer last season at the age of 21, hasn’t played in nearly six months because of a lingering abdominal injury.

“I’m set to go, but I haven’t played in a game so I suppose it’s something of a test,” he said, though he added that the muscles in question feel stronger than ever.

Even though the Ducks’ troubles run deeper than Kariya’s injury, the team is hoping his return will bring an offensive and emotional boost.

“It’s going to be huge,” Coach Ron Wilson said. “He’s our go-to guy. When we go into the third period [without him], we don’t have anybody who feels like they can score except Teemu Selanne, and the other team knows that. Paul opens up the ice. He puts the other team on their heels.”

Wilson will put Kariya on a line with Selanne and center Jari Kurri, marking the first time the three have played together in a game, even though Kurri was signed with the idea of putting the three scorers on the same line.

The collaboration between Selanne and Kariya began last season when Selanne was acquired from Winnipeg. The Ducks went 17-8-3 with both in the lineup.

“I’m very excited,” said Selanne, who had 10 points in the first four games but has only two goals over the last seven. “I think he looks great. He’s ready to go, and he’s so excited. Like he said, the night before his first practice with us he couldn’t sleep, he was so excited. Hopefully, he’s going to give a little more confidence to every player on the team.”

Kariya should help in a lot of areas, including the anemic power play, which was clipping along at 20% with Selanne and Kariya in the lineup last season but is only 4 for 45 this season (8.9%).

Coincidentally, Kariya’s return comes against Vancouver, a team coached by Tom Renney, his coach on the Canadian Olympic team in 1994. Another Vancouver player from that Olympic team is goalie Corey Hirsch.

“I think they will be pretty fired up,” Hirsch told Vancouver reporters. “There’s no question he is capable of lifting a team. He’s not a big-time vocal guy, but he’s a great player and he works so hard.”

The Canucks know what it’s like to be without their star, after playing most of last season without Pavel Bure after he tore his anterior cruciate ligament.

“I remember when we found out Pavel was going to be out for the year,” Hirsch said. “We sort of went, “Oh, no,’ and then we went out and got hammered. Having Paul back should be the opposite effect for them.”