Sacco May Stick at New Position

He’s considered strictly a stop-gap, but Joe Sacco apparently will do as the Ducks’ top-line center until someone better comes along. What makes that unusual is that Sacco is a right winger not a center.

Steve Rucchin usually centers the line with Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne, and spent time playing between them the past few games. But since Coach Pierre Page began searching for something extra from his lineup, Sacco has taken a few turns centering the Kariya-Selanne line.

“I think the last time he played center was in Pee Wee,” Kariya said of Sacco, who scored the winning goal in the Ducks’ 2-1 victory Sunday over the Dallas Stars. “But the last five or six games he’s played some with us. He’s been blocking shots and playing on the penalty kill.”

Page has been pleased by Sacco’s speed, which might rival Kariya’s, and by his determination.

“We’ve given him a new role,” Page said. “It’s probably something he’s never done in his life. It gives us more speed and a checker [on the top line] too.”

Kariya said he has issued a challenge to Sacco. “We keep saying we’re going to race some day,” he said.

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Page offered this prediction for the season’s first game between the Ducks and Kings tonight at the Great Western Forum:

“I think you’ll see a physical game in L.A. I think we need something to wake us up early in the game. There have been too many games where we have been just playing hockey.”

You can usually count on more than just hockey when the Ducks and Kings meet. They combined for 280 penalty minutes in the Kings’ 5-2 exhibition victory Sept. 27 at the Forum.