Returnees Giddy About Fresh Start

The Ducks went right to work Sunday, hoping to sweep away memories of last season’s 12th-place finish in the 13-team Western Conference. Goaltender Guy Hebert, for one, was glad to get started and to put last season behind him.

“It’s no secret last year was just a disaster,” Hebert said after the first day of training camp. “I certainly didn’t enjoy it. We were headed in the wrong direction last year. We’ve tried to straighten out the ship. Now, we’ve got the water bailed out and guys are happy to be back.”

Preseason predictions that the Ducks will finish last in the Pacific Division don’t surprise or faze Hebert. In fact, he sounded almost pleased by the lowly expectations.

“It’s kind of nice,” he said. “We can be in the underdog role again. Last year, there were a lot of expectations. And we didn’t meet any of them.”

Hebert included himself in that assessment. One season after being selected to his first all-star team, Hebert faltered badly. He was 13-24-6 with a 2.93 goals-against average in 46 games, undergoing a season-ending surgery on his right shoulder April 9.

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A crowd of several hundred fans cheered left wing Paul Kariya as he skated onto the ice to begin his first practice since he was sidelined for last season’s final 28 games because of post-concussion syndrome.

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Defenseman Fredrik Olausson has not been cleared to practice because he was found to have an enlarged spleen. . . . Defenseman Pavel Trnka, a restricted free agent, was the only injury-free player not in camp. He has not yet signed a contract. . . . General Manager Pierre Gauthier said he has decided against offering defenseman Drew Bannister, a restricted free agent, a contract.