Salei Scratched for a Different Reason

Duck Coach Craig Hartsburg had his reasons for not playing defenseman Ruslan Salei, but worrying that the Phoenix Coyotes might retaliate for Salei injuring center Daniel Briere in an exhibition game Oct. 6 was not one of them.

“Not even a factor,” Hartsburg said when asked about scratching Salei. “We seem to be building some momentum and we want to keep trying to build on it. It’s not to say Ruslan wouldn’t help us, but I’m not going to change the lineup.”

Salei missed the season’s first five games while serving a suspension for tripping Briere and giving him a concussion. Hartsburg hopes to play Salei as soon as possible.

“I know it’s hard for ‘Rusty’ right now,” Hartsburg said. “It’s not like he’s sat only one or two games. He’s been out for a while. [But] right now, for our chemistry and the way things are building, we’re not going to change [our lineup].”

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Hartsburg claimed he wasn’t all that fired up to get his first taste of the Duck-Coyote rivalry. Perhaps that’s because he remembers a better, bitter feud from his playing days.

Hartsburg spent 10 seasons battling the hated Chicago Blackhawks as a Minnesota North Star defenseman from 1979-80 to 1988-89.

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Phoenix center Jeremy Roenick on playing the Ducks: “I try to play every game the same, but obviously, there are situations that are different. It left a bad taste in my mouth to be knocked out in the first round [by the Ducks in the 1996-97 playoffs].

“I don’t think we’re each other’s favorite people.”

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Upon further review, Phoenix right wing Dallas Drake did not have a broken ankle and will not be sidelined four to six weeks. Initial X-rays showed an old break that had not healed completely and a subsequent MRI revealed nothing more than a bone bruise.

So, Drake was in the starting lineup for the Coyotes on Sunday against the Ducks.

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Teemu Selanne met the Mailman on Sunday.

Since Utah Jazz forward Karl Malone doesn’t have anything better to do these days, what with NBA players locked out by the owners, he dropped by the Arrowhead Pond to watch the Ducks-Coyotes game.

Selanne and Malone chatted outside the Duck dressing room not long after the game ended, perhaps comparing notes on going after rebounds in tight traffic.