Teemu Selanne, Scott Niedermayer erase Ducks' doubts

One minute he was being asked to say "aaah" during his pre-training camp physical and the next he was meeting Teemu Selanne, a 10-time All-Star who has scored 552 goals and is likely to skate beside him after the Ducks trade Mathieu Schneider and resolve their salary-cap woes.

There was no need to prompt Morrison to say "aaah" when he saw Selanne. His awe was spontaneous.

"I was pretty excited about that," Morrison said. "I knew when I did sign here that there was a chance he might be coming back. And I knew there was an opportunity that if he did come back I might have a chance to play with him.

"He's world-class. He's a game-breaker. He's a phenomenal player."

Best of all, Selanne was there.

So was defenseman Scott Niedermayer, looking recharged after a summer that became way too long when the Ducks were eliminated by Dallas in the first round of the playoffs.

Both took post-Stanley Cup sabbaticals last season and were profoundly missed. The Ducks weren't whole without them, and their absence created an air of uncertainty that lifted only after Selanne returned in February. General Manager Brian Burke should have given each player a firm deadline of Nov. 15 to make a decision but instead allowed them to take their time, and the team suffered for it.

This season Burke didn't have to deliver an ultimatum.

Selanne, 38, is so eager to play that he couldn't wait for Burke to trade Schneider. To Burke's astonishment, Selanne showed up at the Honda Center on Friday morning and signed a pro tryout agreement, which doesn't provide insurance if he's injured.

"I've been a risk-taker all my life," Selanne said. "I've been skating six weeks. Any day something could happen.

"I don't think you can live life with fear and think, 'What if something happens?' "

Niedermayer said in June that he'd return for the final season of his contract, though he said Friday the thought of continuing through 2009-10 to play for Canada in the Vancouver Olympics had resonated with him.

That's another topic for another day.

For now, it's enough that Niedermayer has brought his quiet determination to a team that will need his steady head and sure passing, and that Selanne has brought his energy and scoring touch to a team whose offense was among the NHL's most feeble last season.