Kids Want to Join the Club

The roster lists for tonight’s exhibition games against the Kings at Staples Center were posted in the Mighty Ducks’ locker room Friday, eliciting more interest than usual. That’s one thing a 310-day lockout can do.

One list had many veterans suiting up for the main contest, the other for American Hockey League-eligible players competing in the early game. Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, two of the Ducks’ prized prospects, saw their names next to Teemu Selanne and Sergei Fedorov and have an opportunity they’ve awaited for years.

“You have the chance to play in the NHL now,” Getzlaf said. “This is an exhibition game, but there’s a lot of guys playing that will be on the team and that’s where I want to be. This is where I want to stay.”

Getzlaf, 20, nearly made the team two years ago and was the most valuable player at the rookie tournament last weekend. Perry, 20, is coming off a dominant season in junior hockey.

General Manager Brian Burke has said he’d like the two to play an entire season together at the Ducks’ minor league affiliate in Portland, Maine, but the two would rather fight for one of the few open spots with the parent team.

“This is the time where you want to step out and be noticed,” said Getzlaf, who had 29 goals for Calgary in the Western Hockey League.

Perry was arguably the best junior hockey player in Canada last season. The 6-foot-3 wing led the Ontario League in each scoring category with 47 goals and 83 assists for 130 points.

Right wing Dustin Penner and center Zenon Konopka, two others playing in the late game, have also made a strong impression in camp. Penner scored twice in Friday’s scrimmage, and Konopka has gotten under the skin of some players with his feisty play.

Coach Randy Carlyle was impressed with the skill set of the 6-foot-4, 243-pound Penner but suggested he needs a little polish.

“He has to simplify his game and I thought he did that more today than he’s done in the previous three days,” Carlyle said. “He’s one of those guys that you can’t move off the puck.”

The high number of potential NHL players is making for a competitive training camp.

“There may be only a few spots and we’re kind of all in the same position,” Perry said. “We’re trying to do whatever we can to make this hockey club.”

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The NHL implemented the shootout this season to break ties during the regular season. To get fans and, most important, players used to watching it, the league will have a shootout at the end of every exhibition game regardless of the score.

Carlyle, an admitted old-school type, isn’t a fan of the rule change.

“As a coach I don’t like it,” he said. “But it’s part of the new product that we’re trying to produce. It’s part of the entertainment package we’re trying to provide for the hockey fan.”

The Ducks held a drill at the end of practice Friday. Carlyle said his top skill players figure to take the breakaway shots during the season, but he would probably give some opportunities to young players in exhibitions.

The goaltenders could benefit most in getting extra practice in a game setting.

“The more you see them, the more you get better at stopping them,” Jean-Sebastien Giguere said. “We need to practice a lot of them because there’s going to be a lot of overtime games.”