Ducks’ Feathers Get Ruffled

Pierre Gauthier, Mighty Duck president and general manager, had a straightforward message for his struggling players during a 20-minute meeting Thursday before practice.

“He said we better shape up pretty fast,” goalie Guy Hebert said. “It was a pretty black-and-white message.”

Gauthier also said he told the Ducks, who are winless in eight consecutive games, he will not fire Coach Craig Hartsburg or trade all-star wingers Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne.

“There are a couple of things I want to make very clear and they aren’t going to change,” Gauthier told reporters. “First, the coach is not going to get fired. I know that rumor has started and I’m going to kill it right away. Second, we’re not going to start again on the rumors of one of our top players getting traded. That’s not a solution if you want to win.

“The coach ain’t the problem. The owner [the Walt Disney Co.] ain’t the problem. Let’s stop talking about one of the stars getting traded. I can’t come out in public and say these things, then in two weeks change my mind because I’m the one who will come out looking like a fool.”

Left unsaid is that Gauthier could easily handle being called a fool if he decided to sack Hartsburg or trade Kariya or Selanne by saying simply that the moves were in the team’s best interest.

What was clear Thursday was that Gauthier believes he’s not getting his money’s worth from the Ducks, who are 6-9-3-2 and mired in 11th place in the NHL’s Western Conference.

“You go through the names of every player on the club and you say, ‘Is this guy playing his best hockey?’ ” Gauthier said. “Very few guys are. We’re not playing bad, but we can play better.”

Gauthier said he even singled out such newcomers as center German Titov (two goals, three points and 11 shots), left wing Andrei Nazarov (one goal) and defenseman Patrick Traverse (one goal) for criticism Thursday.

“What am I going to do? Say, ‘Oh, I made bad deals?’ I didn’t because I didn’t give up anything to get these guys,” Gauthier said. “They were good before. They were good on other teams last year.”

Selanne seemed to indicate that Gauthier did not tell the players he would not trade him or Kariya. Evidently, Gauthier spoke freely of possible trades he could make.

“After his talk, everybody was shaking,” Selanne said. “He was talking about the kinds of changes he could do, what kinds of options he has. I think everybody understood. He also mentioned if things don’t get better, there are things he can do.”

Selanne declined to comment when asked directly if Gauthier mentioned specifics.

Last season, there were reports from newspapers in New York and Toronto that Selanne was to be traded to the New Jersey Devils for a package of less experienced players. More recently, it’s been learned that Selanne was all but traded to the Carolina Hurricanes for center Keith Primeau, who ended up being dealt to the Philadelphia Flyers in January.

Gauthier has flatly denied trying to trade Selanne last season, chalking up the stories to rumors generated by overzealous reporters.

Thursday, Selanne admitted the trade talk troubles him.

“If it’s going to be anything major, I believe I’m the guy who’s going to go,” he said of a possible deal.

Neither Selanne nor Kariya has shined during the team’s 0-6-2 streak, making a blockbuster trade seem all the more likely to outsiders. Selanne has two goals and four points in the eight games and Kariya has one goal and three points.

“I have always played my best when I didn’t have pressure that I was going to be traded,” said Selanne, who was dealt midway through the 1995-96 season to the Ducks from Winnipeg soon after Jet co-owner Richard Burke promised Selanne he wouldn’t deal him.

Notes

Center Steve Rucchin underwent surgery on his left cheekbone, which was shattered when Selanne’s deflected slap shot struck him late in the second period Wednesday against Colorado. Rucchin, who also suffered a broken nose, is expected to be sidelined up to one month. . . . The Ducks recalled Andy McDonald from Cincinnati of the American Hockey League to take Rucchin’s spot on the roster.