Fedorov Finds Only Frustration

Mighty Duck center Sergei Fedorov slipped across the blue line and let loose a blur-of-a-shot that slammed San Jose goalie Evgeni Nabokov in the head Friday.

It dropped Nabokov to the ice while his mask went in the other direction. A small demonstration of how Fedorov can unleash breath-taking skills that few can mirror. Yet it was also a reflection of the frustrating season he has skated through.

There was no goal. The Sharks kept their one-goal lead in what became a 4-2 victory. Fedorov finished the game with one goal, and it wasn’t enough.

“I knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but not as hard as this,� Fedorov said of a season that has become his most frustrating.

Fedorov said last summer that he was coming to Anaheim to be “the guy.� After 13 seasons and three Stanley Cup championships in Detroit, he traded in Hockeytown for the O.C. But nothing has gone as he scripted.

Act I: The Ducks, coming off a Stanley Cup finals appearance, sign Fedorov, considered one of the top players in the game.

Perfect casting.

Act II: The Ducks are meandering toward an early off-season and Fedorov will miss the playoffs for the first time in his career.

Hardly an upbeat Hollywood ending.

“It is a good experience,� said Fedorov, who this season became the first Russian player to reach 1,000 points in the NHL.

“It was not that easy to change from one city to another, one organization to another. I thought it would be a little easier, but I guess not. Everything was a little difficult, absolutely everything. It was not super difficult, but it was different.�

Still, some people see things through rose-colored glasses. Fedorov came with rose-colored eyeballs.

“Some days, when I was concerned how he’s going to be, he says, ‘I’m fine, I’m ready, I’m energized,’ � Duck Coach Mike Babcock said.

So while it seems like he traded down the NHL food chain, with the Red Wings sitting atop the Western Conference and the Ducks wallowing in its depths, Fedorov refuses to play what-if?

“I have never looked back in my life, not once,� he said. “Not in this case, obviously. Sometimes I do have second thoughts, but about smaller things, like choosing yellow or blue, red or pink. It is as simple as that.�

Fedorov chose Duck eggplant and teal over Detroit red last summer when he signed a five-year, $40-million contract. His contract has out clauses following the second and third seasons, but Fedorov sidesteps that as he would a rookie defenseman -- “I’m going to get lots of questions about that,� Fedorov said.

The Red Wings, who play the Ducks today, will catch their former teammate on an upswing. He is closing with a rush, trying to avoid the lowest point total of his career. He has six goals in the last nine games to push his point total to 59. He had 62 points in 68 games in the 1999-2000 season.

But Fedorov’s shift west left him seriously lacking in future Hall of Famers as teammates. Passes that Brendan Shanahan and Nicklas Lidstrom often buried became near misses. Against St. Louis Wednesday, Fedorov created four quality scoring chances, none of which were converted into goals.

Fedorov, who has 27 goals, probably will reach 30 goals for the ninth time. But his 32 assists are well shy of the 47 he had last season.

“The more depth you have on your team, the less nights you have to show up because some one else can pick you up,� Babcock said.

Fedorov admitted that there were fewer players who complemented his abilities than there were on the Red Wings, but said, “Sure, yeah, it was brand new team for me, brand new guys. I’m not only learning how they play, they are also learning how I play. It goes both ways.�

But Fedorov maintains his commitment to the team, even in the face of a disappointing season.

“Now we’re playing for next year, where we can get chemistry going, get momentum for next year,� he said.

The Duck woes could hardly be a lump sum deposit in Fedorov’s account. It took a village to create a team that has underachieved so mightily.

Still, Fedorov made only cameo appearances through the first two months, during a time when the Ducks needed someone to be “the guy� to offer a course correction on a season going astray. He had 10 goals through the first 31 games, but six came in three two-goal efforts.

“The reality is, he came here to be the guy and when you come some place to be the guy, you got to be the guy every night, 82 games,� Babcock said.