Well-traveled Sbisa developing on Ducks' blueline

How many jerseys has 21-year old Anaheim Ducks defenseman Luca Sbisa worn in his emerging career? Let's see. To start, there's the metallic gold and orange currently sported at the Honda Center. There was a different shade of orange worn when he was a Philadelphia Flyer during 39 games in the 2008-09 season after he was selected 19th overall in the 2008 NHL Draft, and the sweater worn during a short stint with Philadelphia's American Hockey League team, the Phantoms. If you looked through his hockey bag, you might even be able to find a Syracuse Crunch jersey, the AHL team with whom he appeared in eight games with last season. He wore jerseys of the Western Hockey League's Lethbridge Hurricanes and Portland Winterhawks during his 2007-10 junior hockey career, not to be outdone by the stints with Switzerland-based clubs EV Zug, EV Zug's junior team, and Seewen prior to his North American venture. And then there are the Swiss national team jerseys he sported during the U-18 Championships, World Junior Championships, World Cup and 2010 Olympic Games. For those of you with your scorecards open, that's 13 jerseys in just five years. Sbisa has been traded in both his NHL career (from Philadelphia with Joffrey Lupul in exchange for Chris Pronger and Ryan Dingle) and his junior career, and between the AHL call-ups and international summons, he may have been the most relieved Duck in the off-season when he signed a four-year, 8.7-million dollar contract that solidifies his future in Southern California. "That contract they gave me last year gave me a lot of confidence and stability," Sbisa said. "Since I came over here, I didn't spend more than one year on one team, pretty much. I played in the NHL, AHL, World Juniors, World Cup, Olympics -- you name it, I played there. I played on a couple different teams, gained a lot of experience playing with great players and against a lot of great players, which I'm trying to use for me for this team right now. It's good to kind of know you're going to be here for four years. You can settle in, you can look at a house. It feels pretty good." The contract wasn't awarded by virtue of frequent flyer miles accrued. It wasn't necessarily even awarded on merit, because there were certainly some defensive zone gaffes and giveaways, natural for a player in their first full NHL season. But as a toolsy young defenseman who can skate, shoot and hit, the contract is more of an investment for the future in a player expected to excel in all ends of the ice. Sbisa's productivity last season wasn't measured by his eleven points, though that's a number expected to rise. It was his ability to adapt to the NHL level, showing a rugged style of play by leading all Ducks defensemen in hits with 170. There were hiccups en route, and Sbisa was very honest when discussing the peaks and valleys of a long season. "Last year I had a couple stretches where I had a lot of confidence and played really well, and a couple stretches where I just didn't even want to touch the puck because I was lacking confidence," Sbisa admitted. "I put a lot of effort in working with a sports psychologist this summer just to take that next step. If I can shorten up those stretches where I don't have as much confidence as I'm supposed to, I think I'm going to have a good year. Obviously the coaches want me to keep it simple, but I feel pretty good right now. Training camp is going all right so far. There's a lot more to come, hopefully." After the Ducks' 3-2 preseason win over the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday, Anaheim Head Coach Randy Carlyle expressed that the next step in Sbisa's development will come with added maturity and the ability to contribute a simpler, low-risk effort. "We'd like to see him make a little less high-risk decisions with the puck at times," Carlyle said of Sbisa. "It's his youth, and sometimes his exuberance and willingness to be a little bit more than just a regular stay-at-home defenseman. Those are things that we have to find a common ground that he's happy with and we're happy with. He's a developing young defenseman, and sometimes those young defensemen make mistakes -- and he's not immune from making mistakes -- but when he moves the puck effectively and is physical, he plays a strong game for us." NOTES: Jonas Hiller outplayed Roberto Luongo in Anaheim's 3-2 win over Vancouver on Wednesday, and claimed that he felt better than his 21-save, zero-goals against performance last week in Vancouver. "I'm going in the right direction, but there's always improvement. That's what exhibition games are for," Hiller said. The Ducks were forced to kill off a 6-on-3 late in the game following minor penalties assessed to Andrew Gordon and Nate Guenin, and Luongo pulled. Hiller made several key stops, and the defensive effort drew praise from Carlyle. "Our goaltender gave us a chance in the hockey game," Carlyle said. "Our penalty killing had to block some shots and had to clear some pucks. Specifically at the end of the game, when you look at the firepower that the Vancouver Canucks were able to put on the ice -- it's a pretty dangerous group -- we have to feel good about defending it. There are a lot of parts of the game we can surely improve on as a team." An off-ice official in the penalty box was grazed by a puck sent over the glass in the first period and was escorted to the locker room following the play. Anze Kopitar recorded a hat trick as the Los Angeles Kings exploded for six goals in a 6-0 rout of the Colorado Avalanche in Denver. Los Angeles' power play, which ranked 21st last season, produced a 3-for-5 effort while Jonathan Quick stopped all 27 shots he faced. Los Angeles (2-1-2) travels to Anaheim (3-3-0) Friday in Orange County's pre-season installment of the I-5 rivalry. The Ducks defeated the Kings 3-1 at STAPLES Center on Sunday.