Rucchin to Miss Month With a Broken Hand

The serenity of the Ducks’ training camp was shattered by the announcement Saturday morning that top-line center Steve Rucchin suffered a broken left hand and will be sidelined about a month.

Rucchin, injured during a collision late in the Ducks’ 3-2 exhibition victory Friday against the Kings, probably will sit out the first eight regular-season games.

Center Antti Aalto, one of several players fighting for a job in training camp, will take Rucchin’s spot between all-star wingers Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne for tonight’s exhibition against the San Jose Sharks.

It’s the first bit of bad news in an otherwise tranquil camp.

“We’ll evaluate it every day,” Coach Craig Hartsburg said. “We’ll see how it goes with Antti there first.”

Last season, the Ducks went into a 1-8-1 nose dive, falling from a playoff spot, when Rucchin sat out 11 games between Dec. 29 and Jan. 21 because of an infected left ankle. Rucchin was the Ducks’ third-leading scorer last season with 57 points, including 19 goals. He had one goal and three points in three exhibitions before he was injured Friday.

“We can’t replace a guy like ‘Rooch,’ ” Selanne said. “It’s a tough break, but other guys are going to have to step up.”

Aalto plays in a style similar to Rucchin’s, driving to the net and hanging around in front of opposing goaltenders. But Aalto has yet to show he can score as consistently as Rucchin. Aalto had career bests of seven goals and 18 points while playing primarily on the third and fourth lines last season.

Hartsburg also could shuffle his lines, moving German Titov from the second line to the first. Or he could move third-line center Matt Cullen between Kariya and Selanne, as he did to start last season. For now, Hartsburg plans to keep his other lines intact.

“We’re going to go game by game,” Hartsburg said. “The first guy we’re going to try is Antti Aalto. He’s strong defensively. He goes to the net and he creates loose pucks for Kariya and Selanne. Are we expecting him to be Steve Rucchin? No.”

The additions of Titov and center Andy McDonald, signed as free agents, and winger Jonas Ronnqvist, a 27-year-old draft pick from Sweden, give Hartsburg more options this season.

“This is a different team,” Hartsburg said. “We feel we’ve got more depth. We have a better feeling about ourselves than we did last year. We’re better equipped. We have more depth up front.”

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Goalie Guy Hebert will start tonight’s exhibition against the San Jose Sharks (5 p.m. at the Arrowhead Pond). Hebert made 22 saves Friday against the Kings in his first exhibition start. . . . Defenseman Ruslan Salei will make his exhibition debut tonight. A strained hip sidelined him for the first week of training camp.