Ducks' doctor tries to find solace amid fire and ice

The day after a wildfire destroyed his Yorba Linda home and left nothing standing but two brick pillars, Craig Milhouse reported for work as the Ducks' team doctor.

"Thank God," Kings defenseman Kyle Quincey said.

Intent on keeping one part of his life the same after the rest was forever changed, Milhouse helped treat a bloody gash on Quincey's left thigh during the third period of the Ducks' 2-0 victory over the Kings at the Honda Center.

Quincey, cut by the skate of Ducks center Samuel Pahlsson, was incredulous that Milhouse was on duty after such a shocking loss. For Milhouse, also the Angels' team doctor and formerly on the medical staff of the Rams and the USC football team, the choice was easy.

"What am I going to do?" he said. "I can't do anything about that right now. I don't want to sit and dwell on it.

"We watched this stuff all day long yesterday even after we found our home was burned. We've already got to start thinking about moving forward because it's done. It's over. We're all fine. The whole family is fine."

Milhouse said he and his wife, Pam, knew there was a fire close by, and after chatting with neighbors decided to put some cherished belongings and important papers in their cars in case they had to flee the home they'd lived in since 1993.

They dug out photos and videos of their sons, Alex, 17, a high school senior, and Jonathan, 19, who plays junior hockey in Portland, Ore. They grabbed the boys' hockey trophies, pictures off the walls, Pam's jewelry and the pieces of fine glassware she collects.

She urged him to retrieve his 2002 World Series ring and his 2007 Stanley Cup ring. He wore the Angels ring on his right hand and the Ducks ring on his left hand Sunday.

"Quite honestly, though, I wasn't ever a huge collector of memorabilia," he said. "But I have some just from the mere fact that I've been around some time. I lost every bit of that.

"I had bats, sticks. I was given a Michigan helmet because I went to school there. I had a couple of USC helmets from when I was the team doctor there.

"I'm trying to think of what else," he said, his eyes glazing over. "I don't even know."

They were staying in a hotel in Anaheim when one of Alex's friends told them their home was gone. Milhouse confirmed it with a neighbor across the street who had stayed behind.

Because he didn't want his older son to worry, he withheld the news until Jonathan's game was over.