Selanne Tough to Replace

If the Ducks have to play without injured star Teemu Selanne tonight, how will they fare?

“Obviously, we would not be able to replace him,” right wing Joe Sacco said. “Everybody would have to pick up the slack. We should be OK.

“I don’t think guys should try to do more than they’re capable of doing. You have to help out, but not say, ‘I have to score, because Teemu’s not in.’ We just need everybody to play well, and play solid defensively, like we’ve been playing.”

The Ducks went 1-10-2 without Paul Kariya in the lineup this season, but they are a better team than they were then--and most importantly, much more committed defensively.

“If we only give Calgary one or two goals, we still can win,” Sacco said.

If Selanne doesn’t play, Coach Ron Wilson plans to move Jari Kurri to the top line with Steve Rucchin and Kariya, move center Richard Park to right wing and add center Kevin Todd to the lineup after a three-game hiatus.

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Kariya is taking extra care to rest and stay injury-free. Instead of skating Monday, he worked on stretching and strengthening his flexibility--both important to preventing a recurrence of the type of abdominal injury that sidelined him early this season.

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The NHL’s formal announcement that the Ducks and Vancouver Canucks will open the 1997-98 season with two games in Japan will be made by Commissioner Gary Bettman Wednesday in Vancouver. Plans have been complete for months, but the league has been slow to make its “major international announcement.”