Ducks Put Rucchin in a Position to Pay Off His Student Loans : Hockey: Center who was taken in the supplemental draft is a relative late bloomer.

BLUE JAY, Calif. — Steve Rucchin left the University of Western Ontario last spring with Recent Grad Syndrome--a vague feeling of uneasiness caused by the nearly $25,000 in student loans hanging over his head.

That doesn’t take into account the debt he expected to start piling up soon in medical school.

But sometime this week, against all odds, Rucchin will fulfill his longshot destiny and officially become an NHL player--and a rather well-off one at that.

“To be honest, that’s something I was thinking about the other night lying in bed, ‘Wow, this helps me out with those student loans,’ ” said Rucchin, who almost made the Mighty Duck team during September’s training camp but instead spent the 3 1/2-month lockout playing for minor league San Diego.

Now he’s sharp and fit and one of the standouts of the Ducks’ second training camp. He’s the only minor leaguer the team called up to do duty against NHL competition still recovering from a layoff, and Coach Ron Wilson said he will probably be in the lineup Friday night for the season-opener at Edmonton.

“The way he’s played and acquitted himself here, he deserves to play,” Wilson said, and it will probably be at the expense of a veteran.

Rucchin can’t play until he signs, however, though that should be little more than a formality. “We’ll get it done,” General Manager Jack Ferreira said. Before the lockout, the Ducks were discussing a contract that might pay Rucchin a signing bonus of about $225,000 and as much as another $1.2 million over four years if he plays in the NHL. If he returns to the minors, he would make $60,000 to $100,000 a season.

Either way, it’s goodby student loans.

Rucchin arrived in the NHL by one of the most unlikely routes. Canadian youngsters who eventually make the NHL usually leave home by 16 to play junior hockey, and by 18 or so--under the old draft system--they were property of an NHL organization.

Rucchin didn’t get a whiff of the NHL until last June, when he was a little more than a week short of his 23rd birthday. The Ducks took him in the supplemental draft. He quickly became the No. 1 prospect in the organization.

“To be honest, while we were skating a while ago I looked around and thought that less than a year ago I was a university hockey player in Canada, and that hasn’t been a breeding ground for profession hockey players, just historically,” he said. “Four years previous to that, I was playing high school in Canada, which is just something you do to kill time.

“I couldn’t help but think about that, and now I am practicing with an NHL team.”

Ferreira said Rucchin isn’t here for a one- or two-game shot, that he’ll get a real chance to stick in the NHL. Assistant GM Pierre Gauthier said, “He’s ready.”

Rucchin should have a good future because he is a rare combination, the prototypical big center--6 feet 3 and 210 pounds with offensive skills.

He made an impression in September, scoring a goal in his first exhibition game as a pro, then faded late and didn’t make the team.

“It was a new experience for me, obviously. I could have been fatigued,” he said, remembering how he felt ill at the end. “I wasn’t used to anything like that.”

Two weeks into his stint in San Diego, he came around, and before the lockout ended he had 11 goals and 15 assists in 39 games.

“I knew that not only myself but a lot of other players down there had an opportunity to come up once the lockout ended,” he said. “I have 40 games under my belt. Last year (in college) I played 35 games, and that included the playoffs. This is the most I’ve ever played in my life. The intensity level is so much higher.

“It’s the first time in my life when hockey has been my No. 1 priority. That takes getting used to. Back home, school always came before hockey. Now, hockey is the only thing on my mind.”

Duck Notes

Tickets for the 10 newly scheduled Mighty Duck home games go on sale at 10 a.m. today at The Pond box office and TicketMaster outlets. At least 2,000 tickets are available for each game, and tickets will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis, with a limit of six per customer. Remaining single-game tickets for previously scheduled games are also on sale . . . Center Patrik Carnback, who spent the lockout playing in his native Sweden, has indicated to agent Neil Abbott that he wants to return to Anaheim and General Manager Jack Ferreira said negotiations are ongoing. . . . Dean Ewen, Mark Ferner, Jim Thomson and Allan Bester were left unprotected for Wednesday’s waiver draft. The Ducks have the second pick. . . . Prime Sports, formerly Prime Ticket, has announced it will broadcast 14 games, bringing to 38 the total number of televised games during the 48-game season.