It’s a Deal That Hurt Both Teams

The fallout continues . . .

Right wing Teemu Selanne underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Tuesday and isn’t expected to make his debut as a San Jose Shark for at least two weeks.

Goaltender Steve Shields will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder later this week and isn’t expected to make his Duck debut until next season.

Left wing Jeff Friesen will don a No. 11 jersey tonight, joining the Ducks for his first game since he and Shields were traded to Anaheim for Selanne on Monday.

The Ducks will recall Gregg Naumenko from Cincinnati of the American Hockey League to serve as Jean-Sebastien Giguere’s backup for the rest of the season.

Goalie Guy Hebert, placed on nonroster waivers Monday, remains unwilling to speak to reporters. Pierre Gauthier, team president and general manager, said he has “had some discussions with other teams” about trading Hebert before Tuesday’s deadline.

“I’m optimistic I can do something for Guy,” added Gauthier, who refused to divulge details of his attempts to deal Hebert, the starting goalie in the team’s inaugural game, Oct. 8, 1993.

Gauthier denied reports from St. Louis and elsewhere that indicated defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky was on the trading block.

“Holy cripes,” said Gauthier, who is attending the NHL general managers’ meetings in Palm Springs. “No way. It’s the same thing with Paul [Kariya, the Ducks’ captain]. There’s no way.”

Gauthier said he was made aware of Shields’ condition before the trade was completed early Monday morning. He said Shark General Manager Dean Lombardi knew of Selanne’s knee troubles.

“San Jose decided to clean up Teemu’s knee right away,” Gauthier said. “We’ve looked at Shields’ shoulder and we’ll make the final decision [today], but it looks like we’ll scope it. He has some ligament damage. We decided not to wait. This way Shields will have all summer [to rehab] and be ready for training camp. This was a big picture deal for both teams. We didn’t do this for only 15 games.”

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Coach Guy Charron had hoped to alternate Shields and Giguere the rest of the way, with Giguere starting tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens.

Shields began the season as the Sharks’ No. 1 goalie, but injured his ankle and lost his job to rookie phenom Evgeni Nabokov.

“It was unfortunate that I was injured, but Nabby played so well,” said Shields, who has also served as a backup to Dominik Hasek in Buffalo and Mike Vernon in San Jose. “It was great for the team to have two great goalies, but it was bad for the guy in my situation.”

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Charron will play Friesen on the Ducks’ top line tonight, moving Kariya from left wing to right wing. Tony Hrkac will center. Charron will use that line on the power play. He said he also would use Friesen and Kariya as a penalty-killing tandem.

“It’s my first day here,” Friesen said. “I don’t know what to expect. Hopefully, I can help this team.”

Friesen began his career as a center, but moved to left wing when Darryl Sutter became the San Jose coach in 1997.

“He’s molded me into a winger, but I can play center or my off wing,” Friesen said. “I’d prefer to play on a wing.”