Coach Puts Squad Through the Paces

There was no practice for the Ducks on Friday.

But they still skated at the Molson Centre in Montreal before departing by bus for Ottawa and tonight’s game against the Senators.

Duck Coach Craig Hartsburg dropped a glove at each faceoff circle at one end of the rink, then left gloves at the circles at the opposite end.

The Ducks’ task was to skate, in two lines, at full speed from one glove to the other at the far end, before peeling off and gliding slowly back to the starting line for another dash down the ice.

Hartsburg watched passively, glancing at his watch now and again and making sure nobody eased up before the finish line. Reporters clocked the workout at about 25 minutes without a break. When the Ducks finished skating, Hartsburg ushered everyone into the dressing room for a quick video session.

“Hey, we’ve got skill and speed, but it ain’t no good if we don’t work,” Hartsburg said, still upset about the Ducks’ lackluster effort in a 2-1 loss Thursday to the Montreal Canadiens.

“There’s nothing worse in the world than when you don’t work. Lots of teams in this league are up and down. There’s about 20 of them. We don’t want to be one of them.”

The Ducks’ last two games illustrated the roller-coaster nature of their season. Tuesday, they were efficient from start to finish en route to a 2-0 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Thursday, they were emotionless against Montreal.

“We think we can grow and get better,” Hartsburg said. “There’s nights like [Thursday] where we’ve taken a huge step backward. Some nights you learn the hard way. Some days you learn the hard way.”

Thursday night, the Ducks learned they shouldn’t overlook the opposition. Friday, they learned Hartsburg will make them skate until they’re exhausted if they do.

“We’ve only lost one game this year when we’ve worked extremely hard and that was in New Jersey [a 3-2 loss Oct. 13],” Hartsburg said. “We’re trying to send a message.”

*

A splint was put on left wing Jim McKenzie’s broken left hand and he’s expected to be sidelined one or two weeks. McKenzie was injured in Tuesday’s victory over Toronto.

TONIGHT

at Ottawa, 4 PST

* Site--Corel Centre.

* Radio--KOGO (600).

* Records--Ducks 8-7-2-1, Senators 11-5-1-1.

* Record vs. Senators (1998-99)--0-0-2.

* Update--Ottawa’s Alexei Yashin has been suspended for failing to honor his contract. Right wing Daniel Alfredsson and defensemen Igor Kravchuk and Sami Salo are out because of injuries. The Ducks are 6-0-3 in their last nine against Ottawa. Guy Hebert will be in goal tonight for the Ducks. Hartsburg was uncertain about lineup changes. Defenseman Jason Marshall, a healthy scratch for the last two games, may play tonight.