Olausson Practices Again, but Is Not Ready to Play

All things considered, defenseman Fredrik Olausson would rather have spent last week performing drills, skating and running wind sprints with teammates instead of visiting doctors.

“I’d rather do the first week of training camp,” said Olausson, who has an enlarged spleen. “It would have been easier. Or more enjoyable, anyway.”

Three specialists, one of whom performed a liver biopsy, failed to come up with an explanation for Olausson’s condition.

“They’re still working on it,” Olausson said. “It’s nothing that’s going to endanger me, so that’s nice. [The condition] has been mentioned to me before, but not been used as a reason why I can’t play.”

Olausson practiced for the second consecutive day Monday, but is not expected to play tonight against the Kings or Wednesday against Colorado at the Arrowhead Pond.

“We’ll see if he’s ready by this weekend,” Coach Craig Hartsburg said. “Hopefully, he’ll get his legs under him a little bit by the weekend.”

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Neither Paul Kariya nor Teemu Selanne is expected to play tonight against the Kings. Enforcers Stu Grimson and Jim McKenzie will be in the lineup, which indicates the sort of game the Ducks expect.

The Ducks are eager to prove they are no longer pushovers.

Last season’s exhibition between the teams at the Forum provided featured more than 200 penalty minutes.