Ducks

The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim fired coach Craig Hartsburg last night and named assistant Guy Charron to replace him. The 41-year-old Hartsburg was a Flyers assistant from 1990 to '94. He had received a two-year contract extension in May, a month after the Ducks had finished last in the Pacific Division. But this year's start, with the team still in last place in the Pacific Division and last in the Western Conference with 100 goals allowed, proved fatal. Charron, 51, was hired by the Ducks as an assistant in the off-season after landing coach-of-the-year honors in the IHL. Elsewhere: The Columbus Blue Jackets recalled former Flyers and Phantoms right winger Mike Maneluk from Chicago of the IHL and center Chris Nielsen from Syracuse of the AHL. . . . Edmonton Oilers defenseman Igor Ulanov was suspended for two games without pay by the NHL for cross-checking Dallas' Brenden Morrow on Wednesday night.

With a 250-foot barge 400 yards away and heading toward his stranded Duck boat, the captain of the Ride the Ducks boat made a radio call for the barge to change course and tried blowing an air horn. But no one responded to his distress call and the air horn didn't work, according to the captain's interview with the NTSB. The NTSB said last night that it inspected the Duck boat pulled from the Delaware River yesterday, and interviewed both the boat's 58-year-old captain and 18-year-old deckhand.

The U.S. Coast Guard released recordings Friday of radio traffic from the afternoon of July 7, when a duck-tour boat capsized after a barge hit it on the Delaware River. The first indication of trouble comes from an unidentified voice, possibly a ferry captain, who sounds as though he is witnessing the accident. "Hey! Ferry, ferry, ferry! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!" the voice shouts on Channel 16, the emergency frequency. A short time later, the captain of the tugboat Freedom contacts the Coast Guard to alert it about the accident.

The devastated parents traveled a continent and an ocean away from their homes to pay their respects in Philadelphia near the site where their children perished in last month's duck-boat accident. It was supposed to be a time for solace and reflection when they reached the Delaware River yesterday, but before the Hungarian nationals knew it, they got punched in the proverbial gut. "We were down by the river and as we threw the flowers in for our children, we saw a duck boat pass in front of us," said Aniko Takacs, the mother of 16-year-old Dora Schwendtner.

Two tourists remain missing tonight after a city-owned barge hit an amphibious duck boat as it plied the Delaware River off Penns Landing. Police divers were searching for a 16-year-old girl and a 20-year-old man, both tourists from Hungary, who were among 37 women and children plunged into the water. The unaccounted for passengers are feared to have been caught in the wreckage of the duck boat which sank in 40-feet of water. Thirty-five passengers survived with minor injuries and were recovered by police, fire, and Coast Guard vessels.

Although they managed a season-high 42 shots Thursday night, the Flyers continued to stumble at the Wells Fargo Center. They were frustrated by their anemic power play - and by Anaheim's backup goalie, Curtis McElhinney. Oh, and by Ryan Getzlaf. Taking a crossing pass from Matt Beleskey, Getzlaf poked in a goal during a goalmouth scramble with 1 minute, 46 seconds left, snapping a 2-2 tie and sparking the Ducks to a 3-2 win. The Flyers have lost three straight - all at home, and all to teams that were playing the second game on back-to-back nights.

Colorado coach Rick Neuheisel made no friends in Oregon after calling for a fake punt in the fourth quarter of the Cotton Bowl yesterday, with the Buffaloes well on their way to a 38-6 victory. It led to a meaningless touchdown and left the wet Ducks steaming. "Coach Neuheisel should learn the words to that Aretha Franklin song 'Respect,' " Oregon tight end Josh Wilcox said. "I guess Coach Neuheisel already has started his campaign for coach of the year in 1996. That's one thing Mike Bellotti would never do. " Neuheisel said he called the fake punt with 4 1/2 minutes to play because Oregon was in a formation to try to block it, but Bellotti, the Oregon coach, said the Ducks were in their normal return formation.

Dozens of ducks paddled across the placid waters of the pond at a Washington Township golf course yesterday, oblivious to the impending swoop of a fisherman's net. At the edge of the water near the 13th hole, Mayor John W. Robertson stood poised to strike. Luring the feathered creatures with cheese, crackers and crusts of bread, Robertson and a posse of assistants - including a wildlife expert, the mayor's secretary and a summer intern - netted 30 ducks in an early morning roundup.

Six days after the tragic accident on the Delaware River, there's no indication as to when Ride the Ducks again will offer the amphibious vehicle tours that have become a popular summer activity on Philadelphia's waterfront. The company voluntarily suspended operations here, and needs no special approval from the city to resume the tours. Ride the Ducks began operations here in 2003. On Monday, Mayor Nutter's spokesman, Doug Oliver, said the company had "agreed to keep us informed of their plans moving forward, and that is where things stand at this point.