Here We Go Again

VANCOUVER, Canada —  No Teemu Selanne. No Paul Kariya. No Travis Green. No refunds tonight at General Motors Place.

Sorry, bub, but these are the Mighty Ducks.

Take ‘em or leave ‘em.

Injuries to their three top forwards will make the Ducks look more like a minor league team than a Stanley Cup playoff hopeful as they resume play after the Olympic break against the Vancouver Canucks.

Selanne is out because of a lower abdominal strain, but Tony Tuzzolino is expected to make his NHL debut tonight.

Kariya remains sidelined because of post-concussion syndrome, but Kevin Todd is back with the Ducks after a 17-game stint with the Long Beach Ice Dogs of the International Hockey League.

Green has a groin strain, but Barry Nieckar has joined the Ducks after spending the season with Cincinnati of the American Hockey League.

Tuzzolino, Todd and Nieckar? Sales of game programs figure to be brisk tonight inside the arena.

Sean Pronger, Steve Rucchin and Tomas Sandstrom--expected to be the Ducks’ top line--have scored only 18 goals among them. Rucchin is the leading scorer in the lineup with nine goals and 32 points.

Is this any way to move into a playoff position?

“I’ve been writing out so many different lineups I’ve used up the whole pad,” Coach Pierre Page said, cracking a smile.

The Ducks have 26 games to erase a two-point deficit, leap two spaces in the standings and move among the top eight in the Western Conference. They are in 10th place, only two points behind the eighth-place San Jose Sharks.

But they will be without Selanne, Kariya and Green--who have 41, 17 and 15 goals, respectively--for the first few games of the stretch drive.

Selanne, Kariya and Green did not practice Monday or Tuesday. Selanne and Kariya did not make the two-game trip to Vancouver and Edmonton, but Green did. Green, whose status is day to day, could be fit enough to play Friday against Edmonton.

Kariya’s injuries are the most serious of the three players’. Tuesday, he disputed Page’s statement that he was “pretty clear” Monday, but added that he feels somewhat better.

“It’s a depressing situation,” said Kariya, who has 17 goals and 31 points in 22 games since ending a 32-game absence because of a contract dispute.

“Everything has been thrown out of whack. I’ve been through some bad days, for sure. I can read a little more now and watch movies. As long as I’m getting better, that’s the main thing. If I was getting worse it would be a problem.”

However, Kariya has not been cleared to participate in any physical activity. He was working out on his own last week, but was told to stop.

“Right now, if you just bumped into me it would throw me off. Imagine what a hard hit would do,” Kariya said of continued headaches and dizziness. “I’m a bit better. I feel better in the mornings, but as the day goes on it goes downhill.”

Kariya has not spoken to Chicago defenseman Gary Suter, who injured him with a cross check to the jaw Feb. 1. Suter received a four-game suspension from the NHL for the hit, which happened as Kariya scored his second goal of the game.

“I know a lot of people who know Gary and he’s not a cheap-shot artist,” he said. “It was just a bad hit. It was like a knockout punch in boxing--right on the chin. It was the same place I got hit in the other concussion [when he was elbowed by Toronto defenseman Mathieu Schneider last season].”

Kariya also said goaltender Guy Hebert passed along the phone number of U.S. Olympic teammate Pat LaFontaine of the New York Rangers, who sat out most of last season because of post-concussion syndrome.

“Maybe talking to him might help,” Kariya said.

Selanne said he phoned Kariya almost every day from the Olympics, but failed to reach him. They planned to compare notes on their recoveries Tuesday afternoon.

An MRI exam, X-rays and a bone scan Monday revealed nothing more serious than strained muscles in Selanne’s stomach.

“I was really worried I would have to stay out longer, but I felt way better when I heard it wasn’t so bad,” said Selanne, who leads the NHL with 41 goals and 68 points. “It’s not as bad as they first thought. It’s something I need to rest for a couple of days.

“St. Louis on Sunday--that’s my goal right now.”

For the first time since Selanne was acquired from the Winnipeg Jets on Feb. 7, 1996, the Ducks will play a game without him and Kariya.

But can they win with a lineup that resembles a squad of minor leaguers?

“Oh, for sure they can,” Selanne said. “They have to be an even smarter team than they have been. When you’re smart it means everything. Shoot the puck at the right time. Pass the puck at the right time. Play good defense all the time.”