Break Gives Selanne a Chance to Rest

Teemu Selanne, who has been halted because of a groin injury, spent a few moments speaking to fellow right wing Marty McInnis after the Ducks’ 5-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues. It wasn’t difficult to imagine them comparing notes on groin injuries late Saturday night.

McInnis suffered a groin injury midway through last season, tried to fight through it, but ended up undergoing abdominal surgery during the off-season. Selanne is concerned that the pain in his leg is traveling from his inner thigh area toward his abdomen.

“It happened to Marty last year,” said Selanne, who was injured in a Dec. 10 game against the Dallas Stars. “It moves higher and higher. Marty’s [pain] moved up to his stomach and he had to have surgery. This isn’t as bad as Marty’s.” Selanne paused a moment, then added, “Yet.”

Selanne hoped a bit of rest and relaxation during the Christmas break would help matters before the Ducks resume play Wednesday against the Stars at Dallas. He was a late scratch from Saturday’s game, lasting only three minutes of the pregame warmup before calling it a night.

“Now I have four days off and hopefully they will be huge days,” said Selanne, who has been held without a goal since Nov. 22. Referring to McInnis’ injury, he added, “I want to make sure it’s not going to get that bad. I have to give it time to heal.”

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For what it’s worth, the Ducks reached the Christmas break in 1999 with victories in four of five games and were 17-13-4-1 for 39 points in 35 games. (Figures adjusted to jibe with this season’s “overtime loss” column in the standings).

It has been downhill ever since.

The Ducks went 17-20-8-2 during the rest of 1999-2000, giving them a 34-33-12-3 overall mark at season’s end. The Ducks’ grand total between Christmas ’99 and Christmas 2000: 30-37-12-6.