By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer

First-year Cincinnati Mighty Ducks coach Brad Shaw has been in town for only four weeks, but he has been paying attention.

"I've listened to enough sports-talk radio to know there's not too many happy Bengals or Reds fans around," he said. "We're looking to put a great product on the ice - high-energy hockey and a lot of puck pursuit."

The team opens its sixth American Hockey League season Saturday in Chicago against the Calder Cup champion Wolves.

"We'll find out right away where we stand," Shaw said. "We'll have to sit through the opening ceremonies, watch the fireworks and the smoke bombs - they know how to do pyrotechnics pretty well in Chicago - so we know we have to be ready."

Ducks general manager Chuck Fletcher said the team is a mix of "veteran leadership as well as five or six young guys who are cutting their teeth in pro hockey."

The Ducks drew a franchise-best average of 5,600 fans a game last year to the Cincinnati Gardens.

Shaw is a walking sound bite when it comes to hockey and his players. Here were his introductions of some of the players at Thursday's team luncheon:

Goaltender Jean-Francois Damphousse: "Anybody who follows hockey knows how successful French-speaking goaltenders have been in the past 15-20 years at all levels of hockey, so we're expecting big things of J.F. this year."

Defenseman Mark Popovic: "He turns 20 years old (today). Does anybody want to sing `Happy Birthday' to him? I certainly don't. ... He'll be playing his first pro game Saturday night. ... He's going to play years and years at the pro level. I see him playing a ton of years at the NHL level."

Right wing Cory Pecker: "He's also a rookie and was a member of the Erie Otters who were the finalists in the Memorial Cup, the championship in Canada for junior hockey. ... He has great instincts around the net and may be the most gifted natural goal-scorer we have here."

Defenseman Chris O'Sullivan: "I like Chris because he's got a nice Boston brogue like my old assistant coach in Detroit. He's a great offensive defenseman who played in Switzerland last year. Skates very well, moves the puck great, probably one of the top power-play quarterbacks in the league."

American Hockey League