Ducks Filled With Optimism

All the signs point toward improvement.

There are fresh faces to go with a youthful cast already in place. Instead of two possible all-stars on the roster, there are three or four. Many of the team’s best players are signed to contracts through 2002. The coaching staff is the same for the first time in three seasons. The game plan also is the same.

But how much better will the Mighty Ducks really be?

Is a second-place finish in the Pacific Division out of the question?

How about 40 victories?

What about a series victory in the first round of the playoffs?

There is no question the Ducks are excited about the season. They printed up T-shirts with the slogan: Take the Next Step.

In the past, it usually meant a pratfall. This season, it means moving a step closer to becoming a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.

“Our objective should be to take the next step,” said Pierre Gauthier, team president and general manager.

One thing is for sure: The Ducks believe they will be much improved.

Changes have been kept to a minimum, but the roster has been upgraded with the addition of forward Ted Donato and defensemen Niclas Havelid and Oleg Tverdovsky.

With the exception of a sore left hip that sidelined captain Paul Kariya, the Ducks emerged from training camp relatively unscathed.

Veteran defenseman Kevin Haller underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, but is expected to return to the lineup in time for the season opener Saturday at Dallas.

Under Gauthier’s direction, the old Duck management motto of “Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow?” has been ditched in favor of a more pro-active style.

Every player invited to training camp was signed and on the ice for the first day of practice Sept. 5, eliminating the possibility of labor strife along the lines of Kariya’s 32-game contract dispute in 1997.

Kariya signed a three-year, $30-million deal June 30, the day before he would have become a restricted free agent. Defensemen Ruslan Salei and Pavel Trnka also agreed to three-year deals, joining center Steve Rucchin, right wing Teemu Selanne and goaltender Guy Hebert, who also are signed through the 2001-02 season.

“We had a pretty quiet summer,” Gauthier said. “So that means we should start the season on the right foot. The focus is on the right thing: hockey. When someone is not signed, there’s a black cloud over your arena.”

As training camp progressed, there seemed to be nothing but blue sky over the Arrowhead Pond. A stumbling end to the 1998-99 season and a four-game playoff sweep at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings might have cast a pall over the Pond.

Memories of the Ducks’ final-week fall from fifth to sixth place in the Western Conference standings and the embarrassing wipeout in the postseason have not been forgotten. They are being used as motivation this season.

“It’s a lesson,” Hebert said. “We don’t want to go into Detroit or Dallas for that first playoff game this year. Those games at the end of the season were character games, and we didn’t win them.

“That was the lesson we learned.”

Mighty Duck Coach Craig Hartsburg met with each of his players not long after the playoff loss last spring.

“The message sent to us was, ‘Go home and work harder than you did last summer,’ ” Hebert said.

Hebert, coming off a career-best 31 victories and 2.42 goals-against average, did his best. He ran a 2.25-mile route six days a week while on vacation in upstate New York over the summer. As a result, he said he arrived at training camp in the best shape of his career.

“It was a nice summer because I didn’t have to worry about a contract; I just worked out,” said Hebert, who was signed in February to a three-year extension. “I hope I haven’t leveled off. Hopefully, I’m in the middle of my prime.”

At 32, Hebert is one of the Ducks’ most veteran players. Kariya turns 25 later this month. Selanne is 29. Rucchin is 28. Tverdovsky is 23. Matt Cullen, expected to center the top line this season, won’t be 23 until November.

What’s more, Maxim Balmochnykh, a left wing, is 20 and Vitaly Vishnevski, a defenseman, is 19. They are expected to start the season with Cincinnati of the American Hockey League, but anyone who watched them in training camp believes it won’t be long before they are suiting up in Anaheim.

“This year is a breakthrough year for some of them,” Gauthier said of the Ducks’ top youngsters. “If we are to be better, one area of confirmation has to be that our young players are better.”