Kariya Keeps Quiet, but Page Speaks Out

A day after suffering a mild concussion, Mighty Duck winger Paul Kariya could not practice and would not comment about the cross-check to the jaw from Chicago Blackhawk defenseman Gary Suter.

The videotape of the incident reached the New York offices of the NHL by Monday afternoon, but there was no decision on whether Suter would suspended or fined. The Ducks hope to get a favorable response today from Brian Burke, NHL director of hockey operations. Suter was not penalized by referee Dan Marouelli for the hit.

“Paul wants to keep it to himself,” Duck Coach Pierre Page said. “He knows people are waiting to see how he reacts.”

Page said Kariya was initially upset with Suter, who belted him after he scored his second goal of the game 3:19 into the second period of the Ducks’ 4-3 overtime victory. Kariya grew angrier still when he viewed a tape of the play Monday.

Kariya’s status for Wednesday’s game against the New York Rangers is questionable. There also are questions about his Olympic participation for Team Canada next week in Nagano, Japan.

“He’s not allowed to practice or play until he feels better,” Page said. “[Trainer] Greg Smith is concerned whether it will affect Paul for the Olympics.”

Kariya sat out two games last season because of a concussion after getting elbowed in the head by Toronto Maple Leaf defenseman Mathieu Schneider. The NHL suspended Schneider three games for the Nov. 13, 1996, incident.

Page refused to say what sort of penalty Suter deserves, but he renewed his call for stricter enforcement of physical attacks against skilled players such as Kariya and Teemu Selanne.

He said he does not advocate on-ice paybacks, but indicated he’s fed up with the brutal tactics employed by the Blackhawks against Kariya and Selanne this season.

“You don’t really know what their game plan was, but you get a pretty good idea from past games,” Page said of the Blackhawks.

He also indicated he would be happy to see General Manager Jack Ferreira trade for an enforcer to better protect Kariya and Selanne from further abuse. Ferreira has been trying to complete a deal with the Vancouver Canucks that would bring tough guy Gino Odjick to Anaheim.

At the moment, the Ducks appear to need an enforcer as badly as they need a creative center to play with Kariya and Selanne.

“Ask [Wayne] Gretzky how many times he got hit like that. Not too many times,” Page said. “He had his own supplementary discipline.”

Page was referring to Dave Smenko, Gretzky’s protector while with the Edmonton Oilers in the 1980s. The Ducks lack a Smenko-type player to retaliate when warranted and to intimidate opposing teams. They haven’t had a true heavyweight since the tag team of Todd Ewen and Stu Grimson in the franchise’s first two seasons.

“When you see the replay it is really vicious,” Page said. “I could see why he got a concussion out of that. Just before that, [Suter] hit [Joe] Sacco over the head with his stick.

“Somebody’s got to get nailed to the wall pretty soon. Basically, it’s just hunting season on the skilled players in the NHL. Maybe if a team loses a guy for [a 20-game suspension], it will straighten things out.”