Power Defense

Mighty Duck defenseman Fredrik Olausson can’t escape those impressions.

“Fred is so good offensively,” Teemu Selanne said. “He will make our power play better.”

“He has a good shot,” said goalie Patrick Lalime, who also played with Olausson in Pittsburgh. “He moves the puck around. He’s going to be really good on the power play.”

It comes from above, as well.

“He sees the ice,” first-year Coach Craig Hartsburg said. “He should help us on the power play.”

Praise, indeed. Olausson has heard it all before.

“I was drafted as a defensive defenseman,” Olausson said. “Somehow, over the years, I got labeled as a power-play specialist. People in hockey like to categorize players. I wouldn’t say I’m a defensive specialist. I wouldn’t say I was an offensive specialist. I look at myself as an all-around defenseman.”

Whatever self-image comforts Olausson, there is no skating away from the fact the Ducks are paying him $2 million over the next two seasons for a specific reason.

The Ducks waxed poetic about the free agents they would pursue this summer, after finishing 12th in the Western Conference. The only one they snagged was Olausson.

It was their only major move, but it did make sense. A year ago, the Ducks’ power play lacked juice. Olausson has scored 112 goals during his 12-year career, 52 on the power play.

“I didn’t know it [their power play] needed to be solved,” Olausson said.

The Ducks converted on 11.7% of their power plays, ranking 24th out of 26 teams last season. The problem needed to be solved so badly that the Ducks felt the equation needed Olausson--a player they traded away in 1997 when they were looking to toughen their defense.

“We have enough good people that we should have a good power play,” Hartsburg said. “We should strive to score one in five, considering the talent we have.”

With a healthy Paul Kariya and Selanne flying around the crease, that seems reasonable enough. But what the Ducks needed at the point was a skilled defenseman. Olausson, who spent the last 1 1/2 seasons with Pittsburgh, was a perfect fit.

Of his 256 career assists, 190 have been on the power play.

“He’s a smart guy,” said Selanne, who played with Olausson in Winnipeg and with the Ducks. “He moves the puck well and he doesn’t hurry. He’s good on defense. But the best part of his game is on offense.

“He’s a good guy too. Real nice. In fact, the only bad thing about him is he’s from Sweden.”

Selanne, who is from Finland, grinned at that--about as wide a smile as the one Olausson had when asked about his “specialty.”

“I guess everyone can have their own opinion about me,” Olausson said. “I don’t mind. I know I see the whole picture. I’ve been playing for a long time. My job is to make sure the other team doesn’t score.”

The Ducks picked him off the waiver wire from Edmonton during the 1995-96 season, when they nearly made the playoffs. The following season, team officials decided he wasn’t tough enough. They shipped him to Pittsburgh for Dmitri Mironov, a player they perceived as a better defender who also was solid on the power play, and enforcer Shawn Antoski.

Mironov was traded to Detroit last March and Olausson returned to find few familiar faces.

“There are not a whole lot of players left from when I was here,” Olausson said. “There’s a new coach and a new staff. A little bit has changed in management as well.

“Things just weren’t going well for them [last season]. It’s hard for me to judge because I saw them only once. Obviously, things weren’t perfect. We intend to change that this year.”

There was some question whether Olausson would get that chance. During physicals before training camp, he was discovered to have an enlarged spleen.

He was examined by three specialists and tests revealed two related medical conditions.

Olausson has ulcerative colitis--a painful inflammation of the large bowel--which can be treated with medication. It’s a rare condition, although a few other athletes have had it, including former San Diego Charger kicker Rolf Benirschke. Olausson also has sclerosing cholangitis, an inflammation that causes a narrowing of the bile duct that cannot be treated with medication.

“There’s not really anything I can do about it,” said Olausson, who was cleared to play after missing a week of camp. “It is one of those things they can’t explain. It doesn’t hurt or anything like that. I feel really good, so it’s not an issue at all.”

Leaving him free to help fix the power play.

Olausson might cringe at that, but there is no denying his past.

“I’ve been playing on the power play for a long time,” he said. “If they give me the responsibility here, I will certainly do my best to have some input. Maybe I can have a calming influence so we don’t get too wound up.

“Hopefully, I will have some good ideas out there. But you’ve got some incredibly gifted players out there. They usually don’t need any guidance.”

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The Olausson File

* Position: Defenseman (shoots right).

* Height and Weight: 6-2, 195.

* Born: Oct. 5, 1966 in Dadesjo, Sweden.

* How acquired: Signed as a free agent on Aug. 28, 1998

* 1997-98 highlights: Scored 33 points in 76 games for Pittsburgh, playing in his 12th NHL season. . . . Had an 18-game streak with a rating of either “plus” or “even.” . . . Had the ninth two-goal game of his career on Jan. 31, against Detroit.

* Career highlights: Ranks 17th among active defensemen with 112 goals. . . . Broke into the NHL with Winnipeg in 1986-87, playing 72 games and scoring a pair of playoff goals. . . . Traded to Edmonton during his eighth NHL season in 1993-94, then was acquired off waivers by Mighty Ducks on Jan. 16, 1996. . . . In parts of two seasons with the Ducks, played 56 games and scored four goals and 29 points, before being traded to Pittsburgh during the 1996-97 season. . . . Represented Sweden in World Junior Championships of 1985 and ‘86, and in the World Championships of 1986 and ’89.

* Personal: Full name is Karl-Gustav Fredrik Olausson. . . . He and wife Carina have three daughters: Paulina, 8; Nicole, 6; and Amanda, 2.