Hartsburg Plans Dress Rehearsal

The exhibitions are down to a precious two for the Ducks, so Coach Craig Hartsburg plans to use tonight’s game against the Minnesota Wild as a dress rehearsal for the regular season.

Hartsburg will play a lineup that will look very much like the one he’ll use for opening night Oct. 6 against the Wild at the Arrowhead Pond. All-star wingers Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne, standout defensemen Oleg Tverdovsky and Vitaly Vishnevski and goaltender Guy Hebert are expected to play.

“After the game we’ll evaluate whether we want to give some of our guys the next game off,’ Hartsburg said.

The next game is Saturday’s exhibition finale against the Phoenix Coyotes at America West Arena. It’s expected that Hartsburg will play many of the Ducks’ impressive youngsters Saturday before making a final round of cuts early next week.

Tonight, Hartsburg hopes the team responds well to the excitement of helping the Wild open the new Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul, Minn.

“It’s their first game in their new building,” said Hartsburg, a defenseman for the Minnesota North Stars from 1979 to 1989. “I’m sure it’s going to be a great atmosphere. The intensity will be that of a regular-season game. It’ll be a good test for our team.”

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Hartsburg said he’s pleased to see the NHL return to the Twin Cities after a seven-season absence created by the North Stars’ 1993 move to Dallas.

A sellout crowd of 18,064 is expected tonight. A club official said the Wild’s Oct. 11 home opener sold out in two minutes and the team has 15,500 season-ticket holders.

“Hockey should be there,” Hartsburg said. “It never should have left in the first place. It’s back now and they’re going to have a lot of fun there.”

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Center Steve Rucchin, sidelined for another three weeks because of a broken left hand, hopes to resume light skating next week. His hand was placed in a splint Monday rather than a plaster cast.