Looking for a Few Good Leaders

The Ducks this week selected six veteran players to serve on a team leadership committee. Some of the names were predictable: Left wing Paul Kariya is the team’s captain and right wing Teemu Selanne is an assistant captain.

But the players also selected winger Dan Bylsma and injured center Steve Rucchin to be assistant captains on a rotating basis. In addition, right wings Jim Cummins and Marty McInnis were voted by to serve on the committee.

“They all have different roles on the team,” Coach Craig Hartsburg said of the six. “They’re not all our best players. They’re not all role players. They’re not all skill players. It’s important that you get a different mix.”

Kariya made leadership an issue after blaming himself for several flat performances by the Ducks last season, including losses to the Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning.

“I think I knew what I had to say, and I just didn’t say it,” Kariya said. “My instincts were right. This year, if we come out flat in the pregame skate, I’ll say something.”

Bylsma, a role player for the Kings for five seasons before signing with the Ducks as a free agent in the off-season, plans to take his new job seriously.

“It’s a surprise to get that honor and distinction,” he said. “I’m expected to be a guy who leads other players. We have a lot of young guys here. [Leadership] is a responsibility you can’t take lightly.”

Veteran defenseman Jason Marshall said he has noticed a difference in the dressing room since training camp began Sept. 9.

“Dan and Cummins lead by example, but they’re also pretty vocal here in the room,” Marshall said. “It’s something you can’t quantify. But when you see them take a young player aside and say, ‘Good job,’ that rolls through the whole room.”

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The NHL’s crackdown on obstruction fouls, including slashing, has produced some penalty-filled games to start the new season. For instance, there were a combined 19 power-play situations in the Dallas-Colorado game Wednesday.

“There’s some adapting everybody’s got to do but haven’t yet,” Hartsburg said. “It’s not just the slashing that’s being called. A very low percentage is slashing. They’re trying to cut down on the interference, hooking and holding--the stuff you don’t need to do.”

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Defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky played in his 209th consecutive game, dating to the 1997-98 season, the third-longest active streak in the NHL. Only Chicago’s Tony Amonte (246) and San Jose’s Mike Ricci (229) have longer streaks. . . . The Ducks began their eighth season with the second-best winning percentage among the seven expansion teams of the 1990s. They were 215-258-69 (.460) going into Friday’s game against the Minnesota Wild. The Florida Panthers lead the pack at 226-225-91 (.501). The Ducks and Panthers co-hold the expansion record with 33 victories in their first season in 1993-94.