It’s a Grudge Match for Ducks in Chicago

Is this the NHL or the World Wrestling Federation? It was difficult to tell Tuesday morning at the United Center.

“If something happens, we’ll go right after [Teemu] Selanne. It’s that simple,” Chicago defenseman Chris Chelios was saying the day before the Blackhawks and Mighty Ducks were to play for the first time since Gary Suter knocked Paul Kariya out for the season with a cross check to the jaw Feb. 1.

“I’m sure Gary can take care of himself. The guy [Kariya] has had four concussions. Maybe if it were somebody else, it would have only been a bruise. Gary did it and it’s part of the game.”

Could it be that the Ducks’ brawl Feb. 13 with the Dallas Stars after Craig Ludwig felled Selanne with an elbow to the head was merely a warmup for tonight?

“He’s got zero tolerance with our team right now,” Duck enforcer Brent Severyn said of Suter. “He basically got off scot-free.”

Told of Chelios’ comments, Duck Coach Pierre Page said, “I don’t know why the Chicago players would speak out. The wrong has been done by Chicago. We’re going out there trying to make the playoffs. We’ve got nothing planned [to avenge Kariya]. We’re fighting for the playoffs.”

Expecting the worst, the NHL sent Brian Burke, director of hockey operations, to Chicago to witness tonight’s game in person. Burke suspended Suter for four games, but later said he would have made the penalty more severe if he had known how long Kariya would be sidelined.

Suter slipped out a back door after the Blackhawks held a brief team meeting and was unavailable for comment. Burke also could not be reached.

Chicago reporters said Suter has been ducking them for more than a week, partly because of tonight’s grudge match and also because he was rumored to be traded by Tuesday’s deadline.

In the end, the Blackhawks decided against trading the veteran defenseman and he is expected to be in tonight’s lineup.

Until Tuesday, the Ducks hadn’t seemed to give the rematch with Chicago much thought. But the possibility of violence tonight was the main topic of conversation after an hourlong practice.

Page bristled when asked by a Chicago TV reporter if the Ducks were still angry about Suter’s hit on Kariya.

“I’ll ask you the question,” Page said. “How would you feel if Chicago lost its best player for the season and was eight points behind today [for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff spot]?”

Kariya remains sidelined because of post-concussion syndrome and probably won’t be fit to play again this season. He was injured when Suter hammered him with a cross check as he scored his second goal of the game. No penalty was called.

It was the most violent confrontation in a long-running battle between Kariya and Chicago’s defensemen. Kariya and Chelios traded slashes, hooks, spears and punches in a Dec. 28 game at Chicago.

During that game, Chelios could be seen in TV replays telling Kariya, “I’ll get you, Paul.” At game’s end, Chelios admitted his actions were “borderline stupid.”

Unlike Severyn, Page hoped cooler heads would prevail. But given the bad feelings and the fact that the Ducks have faltered since Kariya was injured, it seemed to be wishful thinking.

Page said he had no plans to speak to Burke, however.

“I think we’re past that stage,” he said. “I don’t think it’s the Wild West [mentality of an eye for an eye], but we don’t think justice has prevailed. . . . There is a justice system to take care of things. The only time you get mad is when the justice system fails. But you still don’t go out and shoot somebody.”