Players Know Score but Can’t Settle It

Mighty Duck President Tony Tavares said the team must “turn it around now” in order to make the playoffs. Winger Scott Young says the team came to the same conclusion after the Christmas break.

“We all agreed then that we had to start winning and I really think we started playing better after that,” Young said. “Our concentration improved and the defense has been much tighter. That’s what has made it so frustrating because we lost a couple of heartbreakers and we don’t have much to show for it.”

The Ducks, who were ahead in the third period against the Kings and Capitals this month before losing, are 2-7-2 since the holiday break. They have lost four of their last five.

“We’ve put pressure on ourselves and it’s resulted in solid defense,” Young said, “but maybe the pressure has made us tighten our grips on the stick and that’s why we’re struggling offensively.”

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Coach Pierre Page apparently hasn’t succumbed to any overwhelming sense of urgency.

“You never want to say you have to do it today, because you have to do it every day,” he said. “The [All-Star] break came at the right time for us and we should come back refreshed.

“Sometimes things seem worse than they are. There are no good enough reasons for being negative. We need to find a way to pump up each other’s tires and good things will happen.”

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Jeff Nielsen got a letter from a fan that began “You’re my favorite player . . . “ and asked for his autograph on two trading cards. The trading cards, however, were of longtime minor leaguer Jeff Nelson.

Warren Rychel, never one to be one-upped, pointed out that he always gets letters “that start out ‘You’re my favorite player,’ and then say, ‘so can you get Paul Kariya to sign this?’ ”