RANGERS ACQUIRE HEBERT ON WAIVERS DUCKS DENY PAYING PART OF HIS N.Y. SALARY.

Byline: Frank Welch  Staff Writer

ANAHEIM - His unceremonial sendoff was largely overlooked because of the Teemu Selanne blockbuster trade from Monday. However, goalie Guy Hebert officially has become a former member of the Mighty Ducks.

The New York Rangers claimed the 34-year-old Hebert off waivers Wednesday. He will join a club that has gone 1-6 since regular goalie Mike Richter suffered a season-ending knee injury Feb. 18. The Rangers, who have given up the most goals in the NHL (236), also pick up Hebert's salary, which is $3.8 million per season through 2001-02.

However, there is speculation around New York that the Ducks are picking up part of Hebert's salary, which would be highly uncommon in a waivers transaction. Anaheim general manager Pierre Gauthier said the club is not partially paying the Rangers to take Hebert. The Ducks are paying San Jose a part ($3 million) of Selanne's $9.5 million salary for next season.

Hebert became expendable when the Ducks also received goalie Steve Shields in the Selanne deal. Anaheim general manager Pierre Gauthier said Monday, when he placed Hebert on nonroster waivers, that he was looking possibly to trade the locally popular Hebert. Gauthier found no takers.

Hebert, the last member of the Ducks' original expansion team from 1993-94, struggled this season. He was 12-23-4 with a 3.12 goals-against average and an .897 save percentage before being demoted in favor of 23-year-old rookie Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

Giguere has been impressive and started his 11th consecutive game Wednesday night against the Montreal Canadiens. Hebert played his last game for Anaheim on Feb. 9, a 4-3 loss at the Pond to the Washington Capitals.

Hebert was 173-202-52 with a .910 save percentage in 441 games with the Ducks.

``He played so well for this organization, I just hope good things happen for him. He's a great guy,'' Anaheim defenseman Jason Marshall said.

A decision will be made today on whether Shields will undergo season-ending arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder. It appears likely the procedure will take place. An MRI on Monday revealed loose cartilage in the shoulder.

``He has some ligament damage,'' Gauthier said. Gauthier also added that he knew of Shields' ailing arm before Monday's trade - just as the Sharks were aware of Selanne's knee, which underwent arthroscopic surgery Tuesday. ``We decided we didn't want to wait to see what we had. This was a big-picture deal. We didn't do this for 15 games.''

Shields said he aggravated the arm injury a few weeks ago during practice and has played through it since.

``I just rolled over on the ice to get up and I felt something,'' Shields said. ``It started to get worse a few days later and at some point, I couldn't lift my arm. Then it cleared up, but it started to bother me again during the physical (exam on Tuesday). It hurts, but I usually play with injuries like this.''

Shields added that he understands the sentiments of the fans, many of whom were critical (mostly toward Gauthier) of the deal that sent the immensely popular Selanne up north.

``I would expect the fans to be disappointed and sad that Teemu is gone,'' Shields said. ``But we just ask that they give us a chance. I don't think you're going to see the full impact of this trade until down the line.

``The average fan is not going to see results right away. But when we start to contribute, the fans start coming back and we're a winning team. We are going to prove that this trade was well worth Anaheim's time. I think they're going to end up feeling like they made the right decision.''