Finding a Spot at Center Stage

It still boggles the mind.

Steve Rucchin playing in the NHL . . . in Anaheim with the Mighty Ducks . . . on the same line with Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne.

Wow.

Forgive Rucchin.

Three seasons in the league and he’s still a bit in awe of his surroundings. Playing alongside two of the top young wingers in the world only makes it more amazing to him.

Rucchin says he can do better, knows he must do better. There’s a great deal at stake here and no one understands that better than he does.

Yes, he admits to being too hard on himself. But he’s also a realist. He knows it’s one thing to center the Ducks’ top line. It’s quite another to center it well, to keep it clicking along at top speed, to ensure the scoring opportunities keep coming for Kariya and Selanne.

It would be so easy to fail, to become a wobbly third wheel. The consequences would be huge, too. After all, the Ducks have a difficult time winning even with Kariya and Selanne at the top of their games.

Imagine how the Ducks would struggle with Kariya and Selanne out of kilter. It’s not difficult. Remember October? Remember the Ducks’ 1-9-2 record with Kariya sidelined because of an abdominal injury?

Now imagine those two with a standout center, strong in front of the net and in the corners. Impossible to move off the puck. A prolific passer. A great finisher. Plays good defense.

Rucchin says that’s not him, at least not yet.

“I still have a long ways to go,” said Rucchin, a first-round pick in the 1994 supplemental draft from the University of Western Ontario. “It’s up to me to make that happen.”

After a sluggish start, after getting benched for three games, Rucchin appears to have undergone a metamorphosis in recent weeks.

OK, so he probably will never become the league’s best, but he might be just the right center for Kariya and Selanne.

Kariya and Selanne might privately long for an all-star center to join them someday. But with the Ducks unable--or maybe unwilling?--to acquire an experienced standout center, Rucchin is the best they can hope for at the moment.

Kariya and Selanne each say they’re impressed with Rucchin since he joined them several weeks ago. Rucchin has four goals and nine points in the last nine games. He has been steady, reliable. In other words: just what the Ducks need.

And with a $325,000 salary this season, Rucchin is very affordable.

“He’s big and strong,” Kariya said. “He’s so good in the corners. He can hold guys off with his strength and keep the puck until we get open. He’s the best I’ve seen at doing that.”

Said Selanne: “I think every day he feels more confident. Lately, he’s played great hockey.”

Coach Ron Wilson said the idea to place Rucchin on the top line did not come to him like a lightning bolt at 3 a.m. He had tried his other centers with Kariya and Selanne and now it was Rucchin’s turn.

Wilson made the move but was a bit hesitant. Rucchin had played with those two when Selanne joined the Ducks after the trade with Winnipeg last Feb. 7, and the results were mixed.

The original dream line lasted only five periods before Wilson broke it up. Rucchin seemed overwhelmed, unable to keep pace.

This season, Wilson planned to play Kariya and Selanne with Jari Kurri. But with Kariya injured and the Ducks playing the worst hockey of their four-year existence that union never materialized.

Meanwhile, Rucchin was waging his battles. He recorded one assist in the season’s first 12 games and was benched for the next three. He had never been benched in his life, but he knew he had it coming.

“It makes you realize what you’ve been doing isn’t adequate,” Rucchin said. “I didn’t deserve to be on the ice.”

Running out of options, Wilson had little choice but to return Rucchin to the lineup Nov. 8 against the Kings. Rucchin responded with his first goal of the season and the Ducks won their third game.

Soon enough, Wilson decided to put Rucchin on the top line. Rucchin was happy just to be playing again. But to be teamed with Kariya and Selanne? That made it all the sweeter.

“I was happy Ron had confidence in me,” Rucchin said. “I was excited because I thought it would help turn my game around. I knew it was going to be a challenge too. It wasn’t like I could say, ‘OK, now that I’m playing with Paul and Teemu everything’s going to be set.’

“I think it’s an honor. By no means do I think I deserve it. They are just unbelievable players.”

The memory of his horrid October and his benching was still fresh in his mind. The benching stung Rucchin, but it appears to have had the desired impact.

Pre-benching, Rucchin had zero goals and one point in 12 games. Post-benching, he has six goals and 13 points in 17 games.

“I wasn’t playing an aggressive style of hockey,” Rucchin said. “I might have thought that I’d have things easy coming into the season and that’s not the way to do well in the NHL. I definitely was frustrated. It seemed like I couldn’t get out of that funk.

“[Getting benched] is definitely something I don’t want to have happen again. The most important thing you learn is you don’t want it to happen ever again.

“[But] it helped me to take a long look at myself.”

The image in the mirror looks better to Rucchin. Winning has helped ease the pressure, to be sure.

The Ducks are 7-3-2 in their last 12 games.

Selanne has moved among the league leaders with 17 goals and 41 points. He has at least one point in eight consecutive games.

Kariya has 10 goals and 25 points in only 19 games.

And unlike his brief stint as their center last season, Rucchin has fallen in step with his two more skilled, more heralded linemates.

“I just have to focus on getting them the puck,” Rucchin said. “It changes your game a little bit. You have to think more to keep up with them. To be able to play with them you have to jump up to their level.

“But they’re going to make you a better hockey player.”