ANAHEIM — To get to his locker stall after Wednesday’s practice, Jason LaBarbera took a wide route toward the far side of the room, in order to politely avoid assembled reporters. He is accustomed to circuitous paths.

As the Ducks’ backup goalie — at least for another few days — LaBarbera is only one sprain, strain or bruise from being the man in net and making the first NHL playoff appearance of a long, winding career.

”You have to have that in the back of your mind a little,’’ LaBarbera said after practice. ”You don’t want that situation to occur, obviously, but you try to be as ready as possible. Just be ready and work hard and try to be a positive guy around the room. It’s typical stuff that I’m pretty used to.’’

LaBarbera, 35, has appeared in 187 regular-season games in parts of 11 NHL seasons with the Ducks, Kings, New York Rangers, Vancouver, Phoenix and Edmonton. Primarily a backup at every stop, LaBarbera has been on the bench for eight playoff series — most recently with Phoenix in 2012 — but has yet to get in a game.

The Ducks are expected to start goalie Frederik Anderson on Thursday in Game 1 of their first-round series against Winnipeg, as John Gibson is still recovery from an upper-body injury.

The expectation is that Gibson will return fairly soon, but for now LaBarbera is the Ducks’ backup. What could happen? Well, remember that Andersen is the same goalie who missed time this season because he got hit on the head by a falling net.

It’s not as though LaBarbera would be overwhelmed. He’s a 14-year NHL veteran with 124 career starts.

LaBarbera appeared in five games for the Ducks in November and had a 2.60 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage. He split time in Norfolk (AHL) with Gibson and four other goalies this season and has been a valuable veteran emergency goalie for the Ducks.

”I think I’m the oldest guy in here,’’ LaBarbera said as he glanced around the locker room. ”In the minors, I’m the oldest by a lot. Sometimes you’ve just got to dumb yourself down a little, and come down to their level and remember what it’s like being 21 or 22. Obviously we don’t have a lot in common.’’

LaBarbera is also a fan of Andersen, who is 25 and got seven games of playoff experience last season.

”He’s a pretty mature guy, very focused,’’ LaBarbera. ”I’m happy for him. When I saw him in (training) camp, I was like, `This guy is good.’ You could tell he was legit, and he had a great year.’’