Selanne Not Sold on Use of Two Refs

Duck right wing Teemu Selanne has kept a close watch on the NHL’s experiment with two referees so far this season.

His opinion?

It still needs more time to work out the bugs.

Selanne was particularly critical of the game called--or not called, as he saw it--by Kerry Fraser and Conrad Hache during Saturday’s 2-1 loss to the Boston Bruins.

“It seems like a good idea,” Selanne said of the two-referee format used in selected games this season. ‘[But] it seems to me they just look at each other sometimes. If there’s two guys they should see everything.”

What happened Saturday was that Fraser and Hache saw all sorts of hooking, holding, spearing and the like, but neither took charge and blew the whistle often enough to please Selanne.

“They have to take responsibility,” Selanne said. “Now, they look at each other like, ‘Is he going to make the call?’ We have the best refs in the world. They aren’t the reason why we lost this game. [But] they do need to find a way to work together better.”

*

A victory today against Nashville would give the Ducks a 3-2-1 record during their stretch of six consecutive road games.

The Ducks defeated Colorado on Dec. 22, returned home for the Christmas break, then hit the road for this five-game trip. They tied Ottawa, lost to Toronto, defeated Buffalo and lost to Boston.

“If we get a win against Nashville, it’ll be a real successful trip,” said goalie Guy Hebert, who is expected to start his fourth consecutive game tonight.

TODAY

at Nashville, 3

* Site--Nashville Arena.

* Radio--XTRA (690).

* Records--Ducks 14-14-8, Predators 13-20-3.

* Record vs. Predators--1-1.

* Update--Today’s opening faceoff was changed to accommodate Nashville football fans who want to watch the Tennessee Volunteers playing in tonight’s national championship game. Selanne has five goals in three games. Paul Kariya has five assists in three games. The expansion Predators have given up 16 goals in losing a franchise-high four consecutive games.