Terrible 2s Haunt the Ducks : Analysis: Franchise is not reaching second-year expectations after a surprising first season.

The child who walks at 1 isn’t supposed to revert to crawling at 2, suddenly unable to pull himself to his feet.

So why have the second-year Mighty Ducks played as if newly hatched?

It’s the paradox of expansion: Year 2 is often more difficult than Year 1. Of the 19 teams that have joined the NHL since 1967, 10 got worse in their second season.

Only two seasons ago, the San Jose Sharks set an NHL record by losing 71 games in their second season. The next year, they went to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

“I’m not trying to make excuses, but it happens all the time,” Duck General Manager Jack Ferreira said. His team shared an NHL record with Florida by winning 33 games last season but has struggled this season, losing 12 of its last 17.

“The intensity factor isn’t as high,” Ferreira said. “A complacency factor comes in for certain guys, there are a number of things.”

The theories go on and on. A team strives for every bit of success in Year 1 with other teams’ leftovers, all determined to prove that the team that let them go was wrong, all aware of the ignominy that can befall a first-year team. Remember the 10-70-4 Ottawa Senators of 1992-93?

Maybe fear isn’t exactly the word but. . . .

“Fear is the word,” Duck forward Peter Douris said. “Fear is a great motivator. It’s not necessarily intimidation, but it’s pride or fear of embarrassment. That can light a spark under your but every night. That might be missing, I don’t know.”

By Year 2, there was an influx of talented but inexperienced young players and the bonds of the original Ducks were broken. Management is trying to build the organization by looking for better players, or maybe more accurately, better young players.

Ron Tugnutt, Alexei Kasatonov, Troy Loney, Sean Hill, Bill Houlder and Terry Yake are gone, and some of the players who are Ducks now don’t know what it means to be fined for saying the E-word or chided for not “cutting the cord” with their former team. Nobody expects to be on the ice for the opening faceoff anymore just because they used to play for the other team.

“That was part of the common ground,” said forward Stu Grimson, an assistant team captain both years. “There was a real newness and a fresh start for everybody. Now the focus is on different considerations personally for each individual and as a team.”

The irony of the second-year slump is that it’s actually partly perception.

At 6-14-2, the Ducks have 14 points, only two less than at this point last season, when they were 7-13-2. Roger Neilson, coach of the Florida Panthers, the Ducks’ expansion siblings, said people think his team is doing worse too, even though their 8-12-3 record is about where it was last season.

Of course, last season both teams picked up the pace and played well during the heart of the season, and this year they won’t have that opportunity. With the shortened season, the playoff stretch is about to begin.

The Ducks can’t help but seem worse because people remember the team that finished last season, not the one that started it. The worst of it is that last season’s team played close to its potential, and this team doesn’t seem close.

Last season’s hard-working defense has turned bumbling at times, leading to such alarming results as the 9-2 loss to Dallas on the heels of a 7-2 loss to St. Louis last month.

Paul Kariya has brought his offensive skills to the team, but the scoring average has gone down. Power-play specialist Tom Kurvers arrived, and the worst power play in the NHL got worse.

Coach Ron Wilson says people expected too much progress too soon, and says even the most talented youngsters, Kariya and defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky, need time to adjust to NHL competition. There’s also the problem of the team learning to play with skill, not just diligence.

“Expectations and perceptions that are false turn into a reality of sorts, but it’s a false reality,” Wilson said. “Like we’ve been saying, we’re on a five-year plan. I’m not making excuses, but we’ve got to stick to the plan.

“If you look at past teams that have suddenly put pressure on improving in terms of wins and losses instead of improving for the future, you see what happens. When you forsake your plan and deviate away from the things you’re trying to do long term is when you really get into trouble.”

Youth is the factor that can’t be overlooked.

Brian Hayward, a former NHL goaltender who is color analyst on the Ducks’ television broadcasts, was in San Jose for its second season. He remembers looking around the dressing room before games and seeing 12 rookies some nights. That’s no comfort to a goaltender. Hayward finished with a 5.55 goals-against average and he thinks he did well to hold it to that.

The Mighty Ducks played as many as seven rookies early this season, but now they’re back to a core of Kariya, Tverdovsky, Valeri Karpov and Steve Rucchin.

“Last year raised our expectations too,” Douris said. “Maybe we believed it would be easier. We felt our team was improved. Maybe we’re concentrating too much on results instead of the job at hand. Last year there was absolutely no pressure. There is pressure now.”

There’s more resistance too.

“I think the biggest thing is we’re not surprising teams,” forward Bob Corkum said. “Last year a lot of teams took us lightly. They’re more prepared his season. Also, with the shortened season, people know two points are very hard come by.”

Douris agreed.

“They know it’s not going to be an easy night when they play the Ducks,” he said. “They’re prepared. Last year, we snuck out of a lot of buildings with two points.”

This year that has been rare.

“Maybe you have to take a step back in order to go forward,” Grimson said.