Ftorek Door Closes to Ducks, Several Open for Wilson

Life moved on for the Mighty Ducks and former coach Ron Wilson on Wednesday, one day after they parted ways.

General Manager Jack Ferreira scratched the names of Robbie Ftorek and Pat Burns from his list of possible replacements for Wilson, whose contract was not renewed after four seasons as coach.

New Jersey General Manager Lou Lamoriello would not grant Ferreira permission to speak to Ftorek, who remains under contract with the Devils as an assistant coach.

Burns was hired Wednesday by the Boston Bruins.

Wilson soon will speak with Phoenix General Manager Bobby Smith about replacing Don Hay, fired after the Ducks defeated the Coyotes in the Western Conference quarterfinals last month. Phoenix and Pittsburgh are among the leading contenders for Wilson’s services.

“When doors close, others open,” Wilson said. “Geez, other people feel worse about this than I do. God, it’s like a funeral march. A funeral march is when you see a pine box.

“I leave with my head held high. I hope other people respect the job I’ve done and will contact me. I’m fortunate some jobs are open at the moment.”

No matter where he ends up, and he’s almost certain to land another NHL job, Wilson said he probably will bring assistant Tim Army with him. Army also did have not his contract renewed.

“I’d like to be able to do that,” Wilson said of hiring Army. “I appreciate Tim’s loyalty over the years.”

The phones in the Duck offices at the Pond didn’t exactly ring off the hook with callers angry with the decision not to renew Wilson. But there were a few miffed fans, including one who left a message for “the big jerk” on Ferreira’s voice mail.

“When I called back, I told the guy, ‘It’s the big jerk calling,’ ” Ferreira said, laughing.

Ferreira made other calls too, compiling a preliminary list of candidates.

“Sure, I’d like to get this done as quickly as possible,” he said. “There are a lot of jobs open and after a while the candidates are going to dwindle.”

Naming a new coach is a priority, he said, but there are other moves to be made. One involved informing veteran forward Jari Kurri that the Ducks will not pick up their $1.5-million option for next season.

Kurri, who needs four goals to become the eighth player in NHL history to score 600, could be re-signed at a lower figure.

“In fairness to him, I wanted him to know as soon as possible, so that if there are other offers he can pursue them,” Ferreira said. “He does some things that help us. I would like to have him back, but we’ll see about other free agents and we’ll be talking trades in a few weeks.”