All the talk about what the 2009-10 Ducks would look like on paper finally gave way to hockey Sunday morning.

When the players stepped out on to the ice — including many new names, with the loudest applause reserved for the familiar ones — a standing-room only crowd of approximately 1,000 at Anaheim ICE seemed overcome with as much relief as appreciation.

As hockey-as-religion metaphors go, this one was appropriate.

To be fair, as NHL training camps go, this one seems to be of more consequence than usual. Four roster spots on defense, a new checking line, and a starting goaltender’s job are legitimately up for grabs. It’s as much decision-making as Randy Carlyle has had to do in a preseason since he became the Ducks’ head coach in 2005.

“I don’t think we’re any different, if you go through the rest of the rosters in the National Hockey League, everybody seems to have four or five different potential new faces in their lineup,” Carlyle said. “We’re no different from any other team.”

Except that the Ducks have eight. Joffrey Lupul, Saku Koivu, Evgeny Artyukhin, Luca Sbisa, Nick Boynton, Steve Eminger, Steve McCarthy and Justin Pogge were all acquired via trade or free agency. Some might start the season in the minors, barring injuries to other players, but all have NHL experience.

Then there are veterans Kyle Calder and Jassen Cullimore, who wouldn’t have signed Pro Tryout Agreements unless each thought he had a chance of sticking in Anaheim.

“There’s competition for positions here,” Carlyle said. “It’ll be a marathon until sometime in the spring, hopefully late in the summer. This is all the start of it, with the new faces that we have.”

After an hour of drills, the squad was split for a 60-minute scrimmage that ended in a 3-3 tie. The first goal was scored by Troy Bodie, a forward who spent most of last season in the American Hockey League, against playoff hero Jonas Hiller.

Dan Sexton, Corey Perry, Matt McCue, Calder and Brian Salcido scored the others. Salcido, a 24-year-old defenseman from Hermosa Beach, probably had the loudest game. His blast from the point was re-directed by Sexton, and Salcido later clanged a deep shot in off the post past Pogge for his own goal.

Koivu fed McCue’s goal during a 2-on-none play in front of Timo Pielmeier.

The Ducks open the preseason on Wednesday against the Phoenix Coyotes at Honda Center.