For Ducks’ Selanne, Clearer Head Prevails

The dazed feeling and sore neck Teemu Selanne had after his head was slammed against the glass by Dallas defenseman Craig Ludwig on Friday night subsided by Saturday. The Mighty Ducks expect Selanne to play in today’s 5 p.m. game against the Colorado Avalanche.

Selanne, who leads the NHL with 43 goals, lay motionless on the ice for several minutes after Ludwig’s third-period check. After leaving the ice, Selanne watched the rest of the game on television in the dressing room.

He declined to speak to reporters after the game. Neither the Ducks nor the Stars practiced Saturday and Selanne and Ludwig were unavailable for comment.

“He came into the room and sat down,” said team spokesman Rob Scichili, who was present when Selanne entered the dressing room. “He wasn’t out of it. He was pulling off his equipment and watching all the fights. He’s fine. He’s not expected to miss any action.”

Enforcer Brent Severyn will begin serving the first game of a four-game suspension tonight as a result of too many instigator penalties this season.

Severyn and Warren Rychel were the Ducks’ most aggressive fighters as they sought to deliver a payback after what they thought was a cheap shot on Selanne.

The Ducks were uncertain about the status of several others, including defenseman David Karpa. He left the bench in an attempt to coax Ludwig from the penalty box, jabbing his stick at the Dallas defenseman.

NHL rules call for an automatic 10-game suspension without pay to any player leaving the bench to join a fight or start one. Coach Pierre Page also could be suspended under the rules, which were adopted to curb bench-clearing brawls.

Ludwig could be suspended for his elbow to Selanne’s head. The Ducks contacted the league office about reviewing the play immediately after the game, which featured three major brawls and 153 penalty-minutes after Selanne was decked with 4:08 to play.

“There are boundaries. Those boundaries were exceeded,” Page said. “People accused us of controlling our emotions too much when Paul Kariya got hurt. I saw a lot of physical play against Chicago. We let the referee handle the Gary Suter situation.

“It’s easy to say after the fact that Suter should get [suspended for] 25 games. Maybe when the league takes some serious action against some team, then players will back off.”

Suter received a four-game suspension for cross-checking Kariya in the jaw Feb. 1. Kariya continues to suffer from post-concussion syndrome, although he was cleared this week to begin light workouts on an exercise bike.