Ducks to Name Page as Coach

ANAHEIM —  The long wait is over for the Mighty Ducks. They will introduce Pierre Page as their new coach at noon today, bringing closure to an often mind-boggling episode in franchise history that began when Ron Wilson was let go May 20.

Only the timing comes as a surprise and not much of one at that. Page, 49, has been the Ducks’ top choice since he resigned June 18 after two seasons as coach of the Calgary Flames.

Once the Ducks and Flames settled compensation issues earlier this week, announcement of Page’s hiring was considered merely a formality.

Page has only one month to prepare for the Ducks’ fifth training camp since joining the NHL in 1993. Camp opens Sept. 9 at the Pond. The Ducks are the last team in the league to fill their coaching vacancy.

Page hopes to meet soon and at great length with assistants Don Hay and Walt Kyle. Time is short. But all things considered, the Ducks are better off now than at any time since May 20.

After almost two months of haggling with the Flames, the teams at last agreed on compensation Tuesday. The Flames received a conditional draft pick from the Ducks and the Ducks got Page.

The resolution with Calgary meant the Ducks could bring Page on board now rather than wait until he became a free agent Oct. 1. Page would have been forced to sit out all of training camp, an unheard of move in league history.

This will be the third time Page and Duck General Manager Jack Ferreira have worked together. Their friendship and Ferreira’s unwavering belief that Page was the best man to take the Ducks to the next echelon in the NHL were the keys to the team’s patience.

Page and Ferreira worked together with the Flames in the early 1980s. Ferreira then gave Page his first NHL head coaching job with the Minnesota North Stars in 1988.

Don’t look for dramatic changes in the team’s style of play--at least not right away. Page won’t dare alter the offensive styles of all-star wingers Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne.

He also won’t attempt to transform the Ducks into a freewheeling offensive unit. Nor will he insist that the team play an all-out defensive style.

But expect more physical defensive pressure in Page’s system, which means the end of the neutral-zone trap as practiced so heartily in the early years by Wilson.

“Our system in the past was more of a containment system,” General Manager Jack Ferreira said. “I think you’ll see a more aggressive style from us. We won’t be as passive in our coverage.”

Wilson turned the Ducks into winners in four seasons by relying on a defensive-oriented style that produced turnovers and scoring chances from the trap.

It wasn’t exciting hockey, and to be sure the style evolved with the addition of offensive talents such as Kariya and Selanne. But the Ducks essentially played the same trapping style well enough last season to post a 36-33-13 record and secure their first Stanley Cup playoff berth.

Ferreira has never said precisely why Wilson’s contract was not renewed, but a personality clash with team President Tony Tavares is believed to be among the chief reasons. Wilson was hired in June to coach the Washington Capitals.

In other news Friday, the Ducks avoided arbitration with free agent defenseman Dmitri Mironov and agreed to terms on a one-year contract. Mironov was the league’s sixth-leading scoring defenseman with 13 goals and 52 points last season.