Gauthier Likes His Architectural Style

Pierre Gauthier, Duck president and general manager, knows he probably will hear from some irate fans who believe he should have signed a big-name free agent during the off-season.

There are plenty of unsigned free agents out there awaiting new contracts from new teams. But Gauthier is not certain any of them are worth the price, particularly since many are near the end of their careers.

“I would much rather do it the way we’re doing it,” Gauthier said of building from within the organization. “We want to have a good team year after year. Let’s be a contender year after year, instead of trying to be a contender for only this year.”

Gauthier is content to let the Ducks grow together.

“Look at baseball in this decade, the Atlanta Braves decided not to be a flash-in-the-pan team,” he said. “I just don’t know about putting it all into just one year.

“If you’re constantly in the top tier, eventually, you’re going to win it.”

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The Ducks trimmed their training camp roster to 29 by assigning seven players to Cincinnati of the American Hockey League on Saturday. Goalie Gregg Naumenko, defensemen Scott Ferguson and Joel Kwiatkowski and forwards Frank Banham, Marc Chouinard, Torrey DiRoberto and Jeremy Stevenson were sent to the minors.

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Saturday marked the midway point of training camp and Coach Craig Hartsburg gave his players the day off. “We’ve had a good two weeks so far,” he said. “The guys have really put out [a strong effort]. I think it’s time they took a step away from hockey and came back fresh [today].”

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Backup goaltender Dominic Roussel is scheduled to start Monday’s exhibition against the Kings at the Great Western Forum. Guy Hebert made 29 saves in shutting out the Kings, 2-0, Friday at the Arrowhead Pond.