Hebert Hopes Team Headed in Right Direction

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 low 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 season-ending surgery on his right shoulder April 9.

Hebert reported no complications from the surgery after his first practice Sunday.

“The team doctors wanted to know if I wasn’t ready to go, then they would tell the coaching staff,” Hebert said. “I said, ‘If you want me to bench-press 180 pounds every day, I’m not going to be able to do it. [But] there’s no reason I can’t be 100% right now.’ ”

*

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.

“That was kind of nice,” Kariya said. “I really appreciated that.”

*

Defenseman Fredrik Olausson has not been cleared to practice because he was found to have an enlarged spleen. Olausson, signed last month to a two-year, $2-million free-agent contract, is expected to see a specialist today. . . . Defenseman Pavel Trnka, a restricted free agent, was the only healthy player not in camp. He has not yet signed a new contract. . . . General Manager Pierre Gauthier said he has decided against offering defenseman Drew Bannister, a restricted free agent, a contract.