ANAHEIM MOVES TO SHORE UP DEFENSE.

Byline: Greg Christensen

With the beginning of the 1998-99 season around the corner, the Mighty Ducks made two moves Monday in hopes of plugging gaps in their suspect defense.

With the fifth pick in the 1998 NHL waiver draft, Anaheim selected defenseman Pascal Trepanier from Colorado. Later in the afternoon, with starting goalie Guy Hebert diagnosed with a Grade 1 right shoulder separation, the Ducks acquired goalie Dominic Roussel from Nashville in exchange for defenseman Mark Moro and goalie Chris Mason.

With no established goaltenders to play behind Hebert, even before he was slammed into the crossbar by teammate Kevin Haller, the acquisition of a veteran backup was being considered.

``We felt we wanted to improve that position,'' general manager Pierre Gauthier said.

``You need two good goalies,'' Ducks coach Craig Hartsburg said. ``You can't rely on one guy.''

Hebert's availability for Saturday's opener in Washington is questionable, but he says he will play on the opening trip.

Roussel, 28, who played for the Canadian national team last year, is scheduled to play in tonight's exhibition finale at Phoenix and could get the nod Saturday.

``I feel comfortable with Dominic in net,'' Hartsburg said. ``He has always been talented and he'll relish the second chance (in the NHL).''

Roussel, 61-65-5 with a 3.19 goals-against average in 146 NHL games, was 18-9-3 with a 2.66 GAA for Philadelphia in 1996. When the Flyers opted to go with Sean Burke and Ron Hextall last year, however, he became the odd man out.

Patrick Lalime, who set an NHL rookie record in '96-97 by going unbeaten in his first 16 games for Pittsburgh, figures to be the odd man out for the Ducks once Hebert is completely healthy.

``Patrick is another guy on the way back,'' said Gauthier of Lalime, who played in only 31 games in the minors last year after a contract dispute with the Penguins. ``He's got to build himself up.''

The Ducks were doing their best to build up Trepanier, after they passed on veterans Terry Carkner and Kevin Dahl.

``I know two or three other teams were going to take him, so it's lucky we had a top pick,'' said Gauthier of Trepanier, who has only 15 games of NHL experience. ``You want a comer, somebody with space for improvement.''