The Gloves Came Off, and for Once, They Didn’t Duck

There’s nothing like a trip to Canada with the Mighty Ducks.

Talk about entertainment!

Over a recent three-game swing to Edmonton, Vancouver and Calgary, the Ducks were a traveling punch line--until Saturday night, when they unveiled their punching line.

Mark Spector of the Edmonton Journal wrote that they were destined to life on the “$1.99 Seven Day Rental” shelf from the moment Disney named its NHL team after the once-hot kids’ flick.

Ed Willes of The Vancouver Province simply called Anaheim “The Mighty Bad Ducks” and Jean Lefebvre of the Calgary Sun said that floundering was a chronic condition for the Ducks.

It wasn’t so long ago that Anaheim was considered one of the hottest franchises in the league. With Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne leading the way, the Ducks were winning and exciting. Disney’s innovative marketing made the team a hit off the ice as well.

But the Ducks’ early success did not go over well with Canada’s hockey traditionalists, who believe the sport is about grit, hard work and substance. Now the Ducks have fallen on hard times and Canadian fans are loving it.

Which brings us to Saturday’s “Hockey Fight Night” at Calgary’s Pengrowth Saddledome.

In a game with 309 penalty minutes, 19 fighting penalties, two match penalties, one gross misconduct penalty and numerous cheap shots, the Ducks finally stood up for themselves.

Instead of playing the role of victim, which they have done exceptionally well in recent years, the Ducks not only handed Calgary a sound 4-0 defeat but also had the Flames fighting mad after Kevin Sawyer plowed into Calgary goaltender Mike Vernon.

Although he was not told to do so by Coach Bryan Murray, Sawyer took it upon himself to retaliate after Calgary’s Craig Berube body-checked Duck goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere away from the net.

After Sawyer’s hit on Vernon and a couple of individual fights, one a headliner between the Ducks’ Denny Lambert and Calgary’s Jarome Iginla, all four skaters for each team squared off when the puck was dropped.

“I’ve never seen these types of attacks on players, where they deliberately dropped the gloves almost before the [faceoff] puck hit the ice,” Murray said. “I guess we were fortunate that it wasn’t on national television in Canada.”

Once those brawls were sorted out, the puck was dropped again and two more fights broke out. Then, with 32 seconds left, Giguere picked up a game misconduct for jumping into a fight in the Anaheim zone between defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky and Calgary’s Scott Nichol.

“I think this is good for us because it brought our team together,” Anaheim forward Marty McInnis said. “When I was out there on the ice on a four-on-four after [Sawyer] had ran their goalie, I didn’t have any idea that Calgary was going to jump us like that. Things definitely got out of control.”

When the game finally ended, Calgary had more coaches on its bench than players and the Flames had racked up 190 third-period penalty minutes, an NHL record for one period, beating the mark set by the Philadelphia Flyers in 1979.

But the Ducks were happy because not one player or coach had backed down.

“There was a lot of emotion out there and it got a little bit carried away,” Duck forward Dan Bylsma said. “You saw a lot of our guys step up for the team and our sweater. That makes you feel good. It’s good to see guys care and look out for one another.

“You can look at each other and know that we all battled together and fought together. That’s a positive for our team.”

Not so positive for the Ducks was the five-game suspension the league gave Sawyer Monday. Berube and Nichol were suspended for three and two games, respectively, and Calgary Coach Greg Gilbert was suspended for two games because three players he sent onto the ice after the first round of fights instigated fisticuffs immediately after the faceoff.

No Respect for Leaders

Edmonton and the New York Rangers may head their respective divisions but both teams were swept last week by teams on the rise.

The Oilers, who lead the Northwest Division, lost twice to Dallas, and Edmonton Coach Craig MacTavish said his team considers the Stars a major rival.

“It is heated from our perspective because it’s our ultimate measuring stick,” MacTavish said of the rivalry. “Any time a team has eliminated you from the playoffs for the number of years Dallas has eliminated us, there is a certain element of vengeance for us. I think we bring out the best in each other.”

The Rangers may be the top team in the Atlantic Division but Toronto had their number in consecutive victories last week. The Maple Leafs, who have taken over the No. 1 position in the Eastern Conference from the Rangers, believe this is their year to make some noise in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Line Shifts

* There was plenty of competition last week among teams trying to deal with Tampa Bay for Vincent Lecavalier, who has not been happy playing for the Lightning. Colorado, Buffalo, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Chicago, Edmonton, Phoenix, Vancouver and the Kings were in the picture until Lightning General Manager Rick Dudley halted the talks.

“I wasn’t afraid to make this deal but the reality is, I wasn’t comfortable with what was being offered,” Dudley said.”If I thought I was going to get a deal that was going to help our team, I absolutely would have done it. But I couldn’t see anything on the table of that magnitude. I decided to back off and that’s the way it is.”

* The NHL has two years left on its television contract with ABC and ESPN but the league has to be a little leery after the network put in a bid for the rights to televise the NBA.

Quotes of the Week

“I’m glad it’s him and not some other puke. I like the man. He shows up. [Team enforcer] is not an easy job. In fact, it’s the worst job in the world. But he has done it since he came into the NHL. He answers the bell and that’s all anyone can ever ask for.”

Tough man Tiger Williams on Tie Domi, who will probably break Williams’ Toronto team record for penalty minutes, 1,670, this week.

“When our guy runs into Vernon, Greg Gilbert and [veteran forward] Dave Lowry and I’m not sure who the little pipsqueak was who broke his stick over the glass, got all excited. It’s OK when they do it to us and I’m not supposed to say anything but when it happens to them, they can yell and scream? It doesn’t make sense to me.”

Duck Coach Murray on Saturday’s slugfest between the Ducks and Flames.

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THE TIMES’ RANKINGS

Lonnie White’s NHL rankings and comments:

1 DETROIT

(22-6-2-1) Lidstrom contract extension made big statement.

2 TORONTO

(17-8-2-3) Freedom from injuries a major factor in success.

3 COLORADO

(17-12-3-0) No more talk about missing Forsberg, Bourque.

4 EDMONTON

(17-9-4-1) Returning to the pack after a strong start.

5 SAN JOSE

(14-7-5-3) Players not happy when Marleau a healthy scratch.

6 CALGARY

(15-8-6-2) Brawl with Ducks just what Flames needed?

7 N.Y. RANGERS

(17-12-2-2) Lindros outplayed by Toronto’s Sundin last week

8 N.Y ISLANDERS

(16-8-4-1) Need Parrish to start getting garbage goals.

9 CHICAGO

(15-10-7-0) One of six teams that haven’t lost in overtime.

10 ST. LOUIS

(14-9-5-1) Getting rid of Sean Hill was addition by subtraction.

11 DALLAS

(12-8-6-3) Modano over usual slow start, dominating again.

12 BOSTON

(15-8-3-3) Fans unconvinced despite 11-3-0-2 home record.

13 PHILADELPHIA

(14-8-5-1) Clarke’s team is not playing up to expectations.

14 NEW JERSEY

(12-11-3-2) A bad loss against Columbus on Monday.

15 PHOENIX

(12-9-5-3) Burke may get wish, make Canadian Olympic team.

16 OTTAWA

(15-10-3-0) Facing difficult decision with Slovak players.

17 CAROLINA

(14-12-4-3) Maurice needs team to start winning ... now!

18 MONTREAL

(13-11-4-1) Zednek under pressure to step up on offense.

19 MINNESOTA

(11-12-5-2) Wild struggling on road.

20 WASHINGTON

(12-14-4-0) Up-and-down play has been disappointment.

21 BUFFALO

(13-15-2-1) Sabres need more scoring from top line.

22 PITTSBURGH

(13-11-3-2) Lemieux reports that he will play in the Olympics.

23 VANCOUVER

(12-17-4-0) Cassels’ return makes Canucks tough to defend.

24 KINGS

(9-14-4-2) Can’t afford to keep losing close games.

25 DUCKS

(9-17-4-1) Goaltending has been solid with Shields and Giguere.

26 TAMPA BAY

(11-15-3-1) Dudley did right thing by not trading Lecavalier.

27 NASHVILLE

(10-15-4-0) Ties Edmonton on Walker bobblehead doll night.

28 FLORIDA

(7-16-2-3) Keenan needs Bure’s goal scoring.

29 COLUMBUS

(8-17-5-1) Happy with Nielsen’s play on top line.

30 ATLANTA

(6-18-3-2) Another chance for Stefan to prove he belongs.