Hartsburg Not Satisfied

Sunday’s lethargic 3-0 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes notwithstanding, the Ducks had a pretty good October in winning six and earning 14 points in the season’s first 13 games.

The Ducks (6-6-1-1) have been at .500 after only one other October in their seven-season history, going 3-3-3 last season. Their record is not good enough, however, to please Coach Craig Hartsburg.

“Losing stinks,” he said. “If you accept it and walk out of the rink and don’t worry about it, then you should get out of sports. Losing has to be the worst thing that can happen in your professional life.

“I can make losing the most miserable thing in the [players’] lives, but I don’t think we want to take that approach.”

Hartsburg hopes the Ducks learned something from Sunday’s toothless performance.

He also hopes the Ducks remember the feeling of disappointment at game’s end. And he hopes they disliked it so much they won’t want to experience it again after Wednesday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Arrowhead Pond.

“On teams that have success, winning becomes a passion to them,” Hartsburg said. “In this game, you have to have a passion to have success. It seems like a natural thing, but we have to keep developing our passion.”