Ducks’ Tverdovsky Wins Contract Battle

Smiling broadly and hauling an oversized equipment bag over his shoulder, defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky entered the Ducks’ training facility at about noon Friday. “Hello, boys,” he said to a group of rinkside reporters on his way to the team’s dressing room.

Moments later, a grim-faced Pierre Gauthier exited the room, walking in the opposite direction. Gauthier, the team president and general manager, nodded curtly as he passed. “Boys,” he said.

Yep, it certainly wasn’t difficult to figure out who won this contract squabble.

Tverdovsky, 24, emerged as a clear victor, signing a three-year, $9.15-million contract and ending a weeklong holdout. He will earn $2.5 million this season, $3.05 million next season and $3.6 million in 2002-03. Tverdovsky then joined his teammates for an afternoon training session on the ice.

In reality, there are no losers in this deal. Tverdovsky, who made $1.7-million last season, gets the fat contract he and agent Don Meehan sought and the Ducks get another impact player signed, sealed and delivered before it became a protracted battle.

“We didn’t want this to turn into a fight,” said Tverdovsky, ninth among NHL defenseman in scoring last season with 51 points, including a career-best 15 goals. “It was a fair negotiation. Nobody wanted to take advantage of the other side. I’m really happy.”

Gauthier, sticking to his vow of silence, did not discuss Tverdovsky’s signing. It was up to Coach Craig Hartsburg to speak for the organization.

“He’s back and he’s going to add to our team,” Hartsburg said. “It’s exciting for Oleg. It’s exciting for our organization. It’s nice to have him back.”

And on the day the team began practicing the power play too. It was a coincidence that did not go unnoticed around the rink. Because Fredrik Olausson retired after two seasons of quarterbacking the Ducks’ power play, the job now falls to Tverdovsky.

“Freddie was a huge part of the power play,” Tverdovsky said. “Now, we’ve got to go out and improve it. It was one of the reasons we didn’t make the playoffs last season. The power play was No. 1 [in 1998-99] and we’ve got to get back to that. Right now, the power play is where you score the majority of your goals.”

With skill players such as Tverdovsky and all-star wingers Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne, the Ducks should be one of the NHL’s top power-play units this season. They clicked at a 22% success rate two seasons ago, but struggled last season before rallying to finish 14th overall at 16.6%. In fact, they were hovering at about 10% until Tverdovsky replaced an injured Marty McInnis on the top unit a few games before the all-star break.

After 3 1/3 turbulent seasons with the Phoenix Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets after the Ducks traded him to get Selanne, Tverdovsky showed in his second stint in Anaheim that he’s mature enough to handle the pressure and responsibility needed on the point.

However, the first order of business for Tverdovsky is to catch up to his teammates. He was working out on his own and is in good shape, but there are a few new training camp wrinkles for Tverdovsky to learn. He is not expected to play in the Ducks’ first three exhibitions.

Tverdovsky certainly appeared to be fit during a two-hour practice Friday, perhaps the result of solo skating sessions well before his teammates arrived at the rink each morning.

“I was skating from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m.,” he said. “It was no fun. I was getting up and it was still night. I’m the only guy on the road. Now it’s time to catch up with the rest of the guys.”

Tverdovsky almost met his teammates after getting a late start Friday morning. Several had arrived as Tverdovsky was wrapping up his workout.

“I was on my way home when my agent called and said we had a deal,” he said. “I was almost home and had to turn around and come back to the rink.”

In the end, he was excited enough to complete the second of two workouts without complaint.

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