head coach: Pierre Page

roster: C - Ted Drury, Mark Janssens, Richard Park, Sean Pronger, Steve Rucchin, Kevin Todd. LW - Shawn Antoski, Espen Knutsen, Warren Rychel. RW - Joe Sacco, Tomas Sandstrom, Teemu Selanne, Scott Young. D - J.J. Daigneault, Bobby Dollas, David Karpa, Jason Marshall, Dmitri Mironov, Ruslan Salei, Brent Severyn, Dan Trebil, Darren Van Impe. G - Guy Hebert, Mikhail Shtalenkov.

injuries: Shawn Antoski, lw (hernia surgery, 8 weeks); J.F. Jomphe, c (abdominal strain, indefinite); Peter Leboutillier, rw (left knee strain, day-to-day).

transactions: Paul Kariya remains unsigned; 9/28, claimed Brent Severyn, d, from Colorado in waiver draft.

standings:

GP  W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA   HOME      ROAD 
 2  1   1   0     2    5    5  1-0-0     0-1-0

game results:

10/3 Vancouver L 3-2  in Tokyo
10/4 Vancouver W 3-2  in Tokyo

team news:

by Viktor Malakoff, Anaheim Correspondent

BIG IN JAPAN

On the ice, choppy and soft though it was, the Ducks were a hit in the land of the rising sun. They split with Vancouver in a "home-and-home" on foreign soil -- the first time NHL games that count in the standings have been played outside of North America. Off the ice, there was much talk about the non-appearance of Anaheim's superstar of Japanese descent, Paul Kariya. Kariya remains home in Vancouver, his contract talks still at an impasse.

For their part, Ducks management is playing the miffed role, wondering why they haven't heard from Kariya's agent lately. New Anaheim coach Pierre Pagé is convinced that Kariya's extended holdout -- and agent Don Baizley's laissez-faire attitude -- is part of a Players Association master plan to set a new pay standard for top-level talent. In other words, Kariya is waiting for Lindros to sign an extension with Philadelphia before settling his situation with the Ducks -- or vice versa. The Flyers have the luxury of sitting on their hands, however, because The Big Train is under contract and playing. Whatever the case, the split at Yoyogi Arena gives the Ducks as many wins without Kariya this year as they had in the first 11 games last year, when #9 was out with an abdominal injury.

The Ducks did miss Kariya's speed in their Tokyo lineup, especially in the game one "road" loss. The pool-top rink confabulated to host the international tilts wasn't up to NHL quality standards, but it was nearly Olympic sized, and would have proven a fine sheet for Kariya to dazzle Japan's fans. Now those fans will have to wait until the 1998 Olympics to see Kariya, who will be wearing a Canadian National Team jersey instead of an Anaheim one.

NEW FACES

The Ducks are sporting a few new faces this year, both on and off the ice. Pierre Pagé -- acquired from Calgary for a conditional 1998 draft pick -- and Don Hay, join Walt Kyle, last season's lone coaching holdover, behind the bench. Upon joining the team, Pagé was described by GM Jack Ferreira as the man "we wanted from the beginning." Had he been available when the franchise started up five years ago, said Ferreira, Pagé would have been Anaheim's first coach. Hay, of course, is the former Phoenix bench boss who was thoroughly outwitted by Ferreira's eventual second choice, Ron Wilson, in last year's playoffs.

On the roster, the Ducks have made several smart and significant additions. They signed Tomas Sandstrom, the feisty, versatile winger, to a two-year deal as an unrestricted free agent. Sandstrom, of course, sipped from the Stanley Cup last year as a member of the Detroit Red Wings. Then Ferreira took advantage of Colorado's tight budget -- hit hard thanks to the Rangers $21 million offer to Joe Sakic -- to acquire winger Scott Young from the Avalanche for a third-round draft pick. The Ducks then picked up considerable blue-line grit by snagging Brent Severyn off the waiver wire, also from Colorado.

Within the organization, the top candidate for success with the big club is expected to be Norwegian-born Espen Knutsen, a smallish but talented center with tremendous playmaking abilities. Knutsen, at 25 a three-year veteran of the Swedish Elite League, had been penciled in as the team's number two center. But the Kariya holdout forced Pagé to try the diminutive Knutsen, who had played well in the preseason, at left wing on the top trio. That combination lasted just two ineffective regular-season periods, however, before Knutsen was replaced by Sandstrom.

Nonetheless, Knutsen is expected to fit in somewhere if and when the full roster is finally on the ice.

It seems that Sean Pronger, teamed almost exclusively with Sandstrom (this time at right wing) in the preseason, has emerged as Pagé's favorite center. The sizable and gritty duo seems to have some natural chemistry, and by the second of the Japanese games, Pronger was skating with Selanne and Sandstrom (who switched back to the port side).

COMING UP

After five days off in the wake of their international journey, the Ducks begin a five-game homestand, and six-of-seven at The Pond. First up: Former Assistant GM Pierre Gauthier and his Ottawa Senators, who are also suffering a holdout by their best forward, Daniel Alfredsson.

RECENT LINES

Offense
Tomas Sandstrom/Sean Pronger/Teemu Selanne
Joe Sacco/Ted Drury/Scott Young
Espen Knutsen/Richard Park/Warren Rychel
Shawn Antoski/Mark Janssens/Brent Severyn

Defense
Darren Van Impe/Jason Marshall
Bobby Dollas/David Karpa
J.J. Daigneault/Dimitri Mironov

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