Olausson Sees Old Team

Defenseman Fredrik Olausson will get to catch up with a few friends today, when the Ducks face the Detroit Red Wings in their home opener at the Arrowhead Pond.

It’s doubtful that Sergei Fedorov and Brendan Shanahan will pause to say hello, but Olausson spent 2001-02 with the Red Wings after playing the previous season in Switzerland.

“It’ll be good to see those guys, but I was only there one year,” said Olausson, who is in his third tour of duty with the Ducks. “It’s not like I spent my whole career there.”

Still, Olausson was a key component in the Red Wings’ run to the Stanley Cup championship. He took the cup home to Sweden for a party, then signed a contract to play there, only to change his mind and sign a $1.1-million contract with the Ducks.

General Manager Bryan Murray, needing to put some power in the Ducks’ power play, brought Olausson in to quarterback things from the blue line. The Ducks had the NHL’s top power play with Olausson in 1998-99. The only question is his durability.

Olausson, 37, has had injury problems. He appeared in only 47 games with the Red Wings last season and hasn’t played a full season in the NHL since leaving the Ducks after the 1999-2000 season.

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Mike Babcock will coach his first game at the Pond today, although the arena will feel like home because his father and three sisters will be there.

It was the wish of his mother, Gail, who died of cancer in 1990, that the family show up for Babcock’s first NHL home game. He was the coach at Red Deer College at the time.

“One of the great gifts of cancer is the ability to say goodbye to your family,” Babcock said. “She made them promise they would come, so they are coming. That’s a good deal that they will be there, but I’m counting on Mom.”

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TONIGHT

vs. Detroit, 6

Channel 9

Site -- Arrowhead Pond.

Radio -- KPLS (830).

Records -- Ducks 1-1-0-0, Red Wings 1-1-0-0.

Record vs. Red Wings (2001-02) -- 1-2-1-0.

Update -- The Red Wings lost Dominik Hasek and are without Steve Yzerman until January. Still, they remain one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup, which would be their fourth championship in the last seven seasons. Curtis Joseph was signed to replace Hasek. Ceremonies honoring the Ducks’ first team will begin at 5:45 p.m.

Tickets -- (877) 945-3946.