Power Brokers

There were some unflattering ways to describe the Mighty Ducks with the man advantage last season.

Penalty play. Power kill. Enron.

General Manager Bryan Murray, then the team’s coach, caught the live show nightly, as the NHL’s worst power play was on an extended run. Nothing was lost in the translation for the film version. First-year coach Mike Babcock gave it two thumbs down.

“You can tell by watching the films, they’d get the power play and the whole bench would say, ‘Oh, God, no, here it comes,’ � Babcock said. “You want that to go the opposite way, you want the power play to build momentum for you.�

The Ducks were going nowhere without improving that one area. Of the teams with the league’s top 14 power plays, 13 of them made the playoffs.

Enter the Magi, bearing offensive gifts from the East.

Adam Oates, whose skills on the half board and his light passing touch are among the best ever. Fredrik Olausson, a defenseman with blue-line savvy. Petr Sykora, the best shooter from New Jersey who is not in the Soprano clan.

Problem solved, or it better be. The Ducks’ season, which begins tonight in St. Louis, could hinge on their power play.

“Two for 10 in the NHL [on the power play] is a pretty good rate, but that means you fail eight out of 10 times,� Babcock said. “So if you get frustrated and start pressing, then you start failing nine out of 10 times. We have some more veteran players who understand that it doesn’t go the way you want every single time.�

The Ducks allowed the eighth-fewest goals in the NHL last season. Goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere ranked fifth in goals-against average and tied for fifth in save percentage. The team’s penalty killing units ranked seventh. A rosy picture.

The power play, though, negated all that. Only two teams had more power-play chances than the Ducks. Yet since they converted only 11.5% of the time, the power play was usually a two-minute breather for opposing teams.

The Ducks lost 21 one-goal games and failed to score a power-play goal in 14 of those losses. They finished 25 points out of a playoff spot.

Heads had to roll.

Oleg Tverdovsky, a defenseman with offensive skills to envy but only two power-play goals last season, fell out of favor, as did fleet forward Jeff Friesen, who scored only one.

Both were traded to New Jersey in a six-player deal that brought Sykora to Anaheim.

Murray signed Oates, who ranks eighth all-time in assists. He then brought in Olausson, who helped the Ducks to the NHL’s best power play in 1997-98, the last time he was with the team. That was also the last time the Ducks made the playoffs.

Another plus is the return of Steve Rucchin, a bang-and-score center.

Said team captain Paul Kariya: “I think the important thing is having talented players. The power play works best when guys are interchangeable. They know instinctively where each other is, that way you’re one step ahead of the penalty killers.�

There are risks in the off-season ventures.

Oates, who played for Washington and Philadelphia last season, turned 40 in August. That stirred memories of Jari Kurri, a hall of famer past his prime who signed with the Ducks before the 1995-96 season.

But Oates led the NHL in assists for a second consecutive season and seems to have arrived with his skills intact.

“You better be paying attention out there, because Adam is going to put the puck right on your stick,� said Rucchin, who missed 138 of 164 games the last two seasons because of injuries. “It’s amazing how he can do that.�

Olausson, who turned 37 on Saturday, played in only 47 regular-season games with Detroit in 2001-02 and hasn’t put in a full NHL season since leaving the Ducks after 1999-2000.

Still, Olausson was a key component in the Red Wings’ run to the Stanley Cup championship. He had two goals and three points against Colorado in the Western Conference finals, including the Game 3 winner in overtime.

Sykora, bothered by injuries last season, scored only 21 goals, his lowest total in four seasons.

“This is a tremendously talented group, as skilled as I have ever played with,� Olausson said. “If we get the job done, we can pick up a few more points in the standings.�

TONIGHT

at St. Louis, 5 PDT, Fox Sports Net 2

Site--Savvis Center

Radio--KPLS (830).

Records (2001-02)--Ducks 29-42-8-3, Blues 43-27-8-4.

Record vs. Blues (2001-02)--1-3.

Update--The Ducks are aware that they desperately need a good start to build confidence and convince fans that they are a different team. “As much as we want to look at the big picture, the little picture is so important,� Coach Mike Babcock said. “We have to be in the hunt after 20 games.� The schedule doesn’t help. The first 12 teams they play all finished above .500 last season.... Blues’ defenseman Chris Pronger, who is out with an injured left wrist, was expected to be back in January but may now be sidelined until March.