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head coach: Pierre Page

roster: C - Matt Cullen, Travis Green, J.F. Jomphe, Josef Marha, Steve Rucchin; LW - Shawn Antoski, Ted Drury, Paul Kariya, Tomas Sandstrom, Brent Severyn, Jeremy Stevenson; RW - Frank Banham, Jeff Nielsen, Teemu Selanne, Scott Young; D - Drew Bannister, Mike Crowley, Doug Houda, David Karpa, Jason Marshall, Jamie Pushor, Ruslan Salei, Pavel Trnka; G - Guy Hebert, Mikhail Shtalenkov, Tom Askey.

injuries: Tomas Sandstrom, lw (suffered a separated right shoulder on 4/18); Jamie Pushor, d (suffered a fractured right pinkie on 4/15); Teemu Selanne, rw (missed the final four games of the season with a right groin strain); Guy Hebert, g (underwent "successful" arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder on 4/09 and is expected to be ready for the start of training camp); Paul Kariya, lw (remained out with post-concussion syndrome stemming from a cross-check on 2/01); Shawn Antoski, lw (remained out after suffering a depressed skull fracture in a 11/24/97 car accident). The Ducks lost 250 man-games to injury this season.

transactions: 4/17 - signed Tony Mohagen, lw, (seventh-round selection in 1997 entry draft) to three- year entry level contract; 4/11 - recalled Mike Crowley, d, from Cincinnati (AHL).

standings:

Western Conference - Pacific Division
Team         GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA   
y-Colorado   82  39  26  17    95  231  205  
x-Los Angeles82  38  33  11    87  227  225  
x-Edmonton   82  35  37  10    80  215  224  
x-San Jose   82  34  38  10    78  210  216  
Calgary      82  26  41  15    67  217  252  
Anaheim      82  26  43  13    65  205  261  
Vancouver    82  25  43  14    64  224  273  

x - Clinched playoff spot
y - Clinched division

game results:

4/08 Edmonton        W 4-2
4/09 at San Jose     L 5-2
4/13 Colorado        T 2-2
4/15 at Edmonton     L 5-3
4/18 at Los Angeles  W 4-1
4/19 St. Louis       L 5-3

team news:

by Alex Carswell, Anaheim Correspondent

NEXT ON THE TEE

Members of the Mighty Ducks can now trade in their hockey sticks for Big Berthas as the golf season officially gets underway. The team's final record of 26-43-13 was good for a lowly 65 points, trailing only Vancouver (64 points) for the dubious honor of worst in the West.

We're saving the rest of Anaheim's dubious achievements -- and there are more than any Ducks fan could care to quack at -- for the big Season in Review issue, but suffice it to say that this was a far-from- memorable campaign at The Pond.

A CHANCE TO SHINE

The relative unimportance of the team's stretch run gave many of the Ducklings in Anaheim's system a chance to showcase their talents. Until Travis Green scored in the final tilt (a 5-3 loss to the Blues), the Ducks had picked up nine straight goals, and 10 of their last 11 overall, from rookies.

The latest call-up from Cincinnati, offensive blueliner Mike Crowley, scored a goal in each of the last two games, and finished the season 2-2-4 in four games played. Crowley, whose talent remains subordinate to questions about his size (5'11," 190-pounds), saw a lot of ice during his brief stint. However, given that the team seems poised to jump into the free agent market for defensemen, the likelihood is that Crowley will spend another season in the A.

The same goes for RW Jeff Nielsen and LW Mike Leclerc, who were steady but not dynamic performers during the late-season audition period.

A couple of the other youngsters, however, will get a legitimate opportunity to crack the lineup next year if, as Paul Kariya noted, they can produce "when the games matter." Among the serious candidates for 1998- 99 roster spots are Josef Marha (7-4-11 in 12 games with the Ducks), Frank Banham (nine goals in 17 games) and Matt Cullen (6-13-19 in 34 games).

LW Jeremy Stevenson, who joined Cullen and RW Banham on a speedy and effective line over most of the final dozen games, also might get a long look despite a lack of productivity. He has the benefit of size (6'2", 220), and was a good, tenacious complement to his more skilled rookie linemates. It's worth noting that in between a strong start and a solid finish, Banham slumped when placed at left wing on several different lines. But after a handful of games, coach Pierre Page reunited the natural finisher at right wing with Cullen and Stevenson.

THE BRIGHT SPOT

As was the case during this entire, otherwise-forgettable campaign, it was Teemu Selanne who provided the season-ending bright spot. Despite missing the team's final five games, the Finnish Flash finished tied with Peter Bondra for the NHL goal-scoring lead, with 52, and was eighth overall in scoring with 86 points.

This was the second time Selanne was tied for the title on the season's final day. Bondra scored twice to hit 52 this year, and Alexander Mogilny tallied to tie Selanne at 76 during his rookie campaign (with Winnipeg) in 1992-93. Teemu's 76 markers, of course, remain the all-time record for rookie goal scorers.

It's worth noting that Selanne (25.3%) also became just the fourth player in modern NHL history to score at least one-quarter of his team's goals in one season. The others: Brett Hull (27.7% in 90-91, 25.1% in 91-92), Maurice Richard (25% in 49-50) and Bondra (25% in the lockout shortened 1995 season).

THE CRYSTAL BALL

There are guesses galore as to what will happen now in the Ducks organization. Budget-oriented prognosticators claim that Page (with two years left on his contract) will be promoted to GM, and current assistant Don Hay will get the head coaching spot. Others feel GM Jack Ferreira (with one year remaining on his deal) will survive a purge while Page will be sent packing. And still others believe that Ferreira and Page will both be ousted, and assistant GM David McNab will get the GM spot.

McNab's name, meanwhile, has also been whispered as a possibility for the GM position with the not-so- soon to be Minnesota Wild.

At the top of the totem pole, team president Tony Tavares has repeatedly insisted that "even" his role will be reevaluated during this postseason. But it's hard to believe that Tavares would be singled out, and if he is fired, it would likely only be as part of a complete, top-to-bottom house cleaning.

What will the summer bring? Time will tell.

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