Selanne makes team complete

And the reigning Stanley Cup champions are complete once again.

Apart from an injured Samuel Pahlsson and the departed Andy McDonald and Dustin Penner, the Ducks who were on the ice for their Game 5 triumph over Ottawa last June were all back together for Tuesday’s practice at Honda Center now that Teemu Selanne has returned.

“Yeah, it’s complete,” goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere said. “It’s nice to see Teemu back. Obviously he’s a great player but more than that, he’s just a great human being. It’s nice to have him around the dressing room.”

Ryan Getzlaf said he was thrilled to have Selanne back for a run at repeating.

“We’ve got a couple of guys from last year coming back,” he said, referring to Selanne and Scott Niedermayer. “For guys like me that were around for that, it’s great to have our core group back together again.”

With Selanne in tow, the Ducks embarked on their longest continuous trip in team history, an eight-game, 15-day journey that will cover three time zones. The only other eight-game trip came in 2001, which included a game in Los Angeles against the Kings.

The key, according to Coach Randy Carlyle, will be to deal with what’s immediately in front of them, which is tonight’s game in Minnesota.

“The next game is as far as your focus should be,” Carlyle said. “To have success in any situation, you have to prepare your team to play the first one from the first puck drop. The most important thing is our start. And you try to build on that.

“There’ll be a lot written about the road trip. How trying it is and how this and that it is. That’s the reality of it. You get the schedule. At times you think, ‘Why are we doing this?’ The reality is that’s what we’ve been handed. We’ve known it since July or August.”

While he reported some improvement from taking a few days off from skating, Pahlsson figures to at least be a week away from returning because of recurring abdominal pain.

Carlyle says it’s likely that the center would see a specialist in Vancouver on Friday to try and find a solution to the problem that’s kept him out since Dec. 22.

When asked if there’s any urgency to Pahlsson’s situation, Carlyle said, “You think? I’m like everybody else. I’m sure he is, too. . . . We thought he’d be available on the second of January.

“It seems like it’s been kind of a roller-coaster with his health. One good day, one bad day, two good days, two bad days. I’ve kind of just left it alone.”

Said Pahlsson: “I’m pretty hopeful. Lately, it’s been feeling better. I just want to make sure I don’t rush it and hurt it again.”

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TONIGHT

at Minnesota, 4 PST, Versus

Site -- Xcel Energy Center.

Radio -- 830.

Records -- Ducks 27-20-6, Wild 28-19-3.

Record vs. Wild -- 1-2-0.

Update -- Each team has won on the road in the series this season. Anaheim got its 4-2 victory over Minnesota two weeks ago as the top line of Todd Bertuzzi, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry combined for three goals and nine points.

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