Ducks Find Might After Season of Misery

Instead of indifference, there is intensity. Instead of shrugs and second-guessing, there is stability this season in the Mighty Duck dressing room, on the bench and in the front office.

“It’s going to be a lot more enjoyable Christmas than last year,” a smiling goaltender Guy Hebert said after the Ducks’ 1-0 victory Tuesday over the Colorado Avalanche.

After all, the leaner and meaner Ducks are 13-12-7, fifth in the NHL’s 13-team Western Conference and a strong contender to return to the Stanley Cup playoffs after last season’s belly-flop.

In such cities as Detroit, Dallas and Philadelphia, where nothing less than a Stanley Cup championship will do, a record barely above .500 might be cause for public outrage.

But it has ignited good feelings again in Anaheim.

The Ducks are playing well, although not yet well enough to please them. Their defense, the NHL’s third-worst last season, is among the league’s stingiest. Their goaltending is sound. Their tough guys are respected.

“We are not even close to being where we should be,” Coach Craig Hartsburg said of his first 32 games on the job. “I am not being critical, but we still haven’t had everybody playing well at the same time for long stretches of games.

“We’ve got to work, got to prod, got to push.”

Perhaps that’s the best sign of all for the Ducks, who pause now before beginning the 50-game drive toward the playoffs with a five-game trip that starts Monday at Ottawa.

The Ducks realize there is room for improvement.

“It’s going to be a battle to get into the playoffs,” said Pierre Gauthier, Duck president/general manager. “We’ve been scoreboard watching since November. Consistency and improvement are the two keys. We’re just starting to become a team. In time, we’re only going to get better. It’s a process to build the club. The most important thing is stability.”

Stability was in short supply at this point last season.

The Ducks were 11-15-6 after 32 games--all without Paul Kariya, who was involved in a bitter contract dispute with club officials, including Walt Disney Co. chairman Michael Eisner.

Kariya’s return solved some problems, but he didn’t stick around long--thanks to Gary Suter’s cross-check to his jaw Feb. 1. The Ducks won 15 of their final 50 games and lost Kariya for the last 28 games because of a career-threatening concussion.

If there’s one reason above all the rest for the Ducks’ rebound this season, it’s that Kariya has returned in good health and good form.

“All of us were a little apprehensive in the sense that we wanted to see him get hit a few times [before pronouncing Kariya fit],” Gauthier said. “He’s a more mature player, a more accomplished leader this season. He does everything well for the team. I’m happy for Paul Kariya.

“He loves the game so much. He’s such a gem. He’s got a smile on his face. He’s having fun.”

Hartsburg knew Kariya was a terrific player but has grown to appreciate him more each day.

“You don’t really coach Paul,” Hartsburg joked the other day. “You send him over the boards for 30 minutes a game and try not to screw him up.”

Kariya is second in the NHL with 41 points (14 goals and 27 assists), trailing Philadelphia’s Eric Lindros by a point at the Christmas break. But Kariya is far from satisfied.

“I haven’t played anywhere near my best hockey,” he said. “I’ve got a long ways to go. I do feel a lot better than at the start of the year.”

Teemu Selanne couldn’t be happier with his linemate’s play.

Selanne labored under the weight of Kariya’s protracted absence last season, scoring an NHL co-leading 52 goals, so he’s not about to agree with Kariya’s self-evaluation.

“It’s a huge thing to have Paul here from the start of the year,” said Selanne, who has 13 goals and 17 assists. “If that caliber of player is out, I don’t care for how long, it’s a big loss.”

To be sure, having Kariya and Selanne near the top of their games has helped the Ducks.

But the calm leadership of Hartsburg and Gauthier has made a significant difference too.

Stabilizing a rudderless ship as quickly as possible was paramount for Hartsburg and Gauthier. But who knew it could happen so fast?

Hartsburg, fired in April after three seasons as Chicago’s coach, has installed a simple game plan and stuck with it.

Pierre Page, Hartsburg’s predecessor, tinkered with all sorts of systems, but none worked. The constant changes baffled the youthful Ducks. In fairness to Page, winning without Kariya proved to be an impossible task.

“They don’t sign the captain and it sends a message to each and every player,” Hebert said of management’s inability to give Kariya a new contract to start last season. “Right away, it’s telling you you’ve got to make do without the guy. There was a big leadership void as the season progressed. There wasn’t a lot of stability.”

Page worked players in and out of the lineup in a desperate attempt to wring magic from the Ducks the way Ron Wilson had in leading them to the second round of the playoffs in 1996-97.

Didn’t work.

Other moves did, although they were too late to save the season.

General Manager Jack Ferreira fired Page at season’s end. Tony Tavares fired himself as president, hired Gauthier to replace him and stayed on as chairman of Disney Sports. Gauthier then replaced Ferreira, moving his good friend into a job as director of player personnel.

Instead of the same old song and dance, there was accountability and stability for perhaps the first time since Wilson was fired May 20, 1997.

“Right now, the guys are feeling good,” Hebert said. “There’s not a constant circulation of rumors. There was a good bunch of guys last year. We let too many things distract us and that’s where we missed the leadership. I tried to speak up. Teemu did it more so.

“But it’s tough to do something that’s not really you.”

Credit goes to Ferreira for addressing the leadership and toughness voids. Ferreira traded for enforcers Jim McKenzie and Stu Grimson in separate summertime deals.

McKenzie and Grimson have acted as protectors for Kariya and Selanne, who were roughed up often last season.

Grimson’s punch-out of Craig Berube after the Washington Capital enforcer cracked Kariya with a tough but legal check in the season opener Oct. 10 set the tone.

Gauthier’s first significant trade, acquiring left wing Marty McInnis from Chicago on Oct. 27, also has paid big dividends. McInnis has eight goals and 13 assists since the deal.

Hebert’s return to form after a subpar 1997-98 ended with shoulder surgery also cannot be ignored. Hebert is 12-9-7 with four shutouts and a 2.17 goals-against average in 28 games.

And no one could have predicted the defensive corps would heed Hartsburg’s pleas for sound play in front of Hebert so soon.

The Ducks gave up 261 goals last season, the third-highest total in the league, for an average of 3.2 a game. This season, they have given up 73 goals for an average of 2.3.

“The biggest thing is our defense,” Hartsburg said. “If you look strictly at the numbers, we’ve made a big improvement. We’re still not good enough. But that’s the one big area of improvement between the end of last year and now. [Defense] has to be a big part of our game.”