Just a reminder that the Ducks' incarnation of California Hockey Day -- a free day for local youth to try ice hockey -- will be held tomorrow at Anaheim ICE, 300 W. Lincoln Ave., Anaheim. From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. children ages 4 to 9 will have the opportunity to join Ducks personnel on the ice for a free lesson on the basics of hockey.
In addition to the free lesson, each participating child will receive a variety of prizes, including two free tickets to an upcoming Anaheim Ducks game [sign up here].
Teemu Selanne is, rightfully and uniquely, a center of attention in Anaheim for two very different reasons right now.
For most every action he makes in a game this season, there is an equal and opposite reaction in the hockey history books. With a pair of goals against Nashville on Thursday, Selanne brought his career points total to 1,220 and demoted Jean Beliveau to 39th in the all-time rankings.
Continue reading Selanne in the spotlight..
Knowing that statistics can be used to prove anything, here are a few to chew on: Todd Marchant's goal against the Nashville Predators on Thursday was his first of the season in his 14th game.
Marchant was the subject of a recent trade rumor which, reading into the statistics, would make sense on paper if the Ducks desire more offense. As Marchant himself said Thursday, "if this team was relying on me to score goals, we'd be in big trouble."
But Marchant, a 17-year veteran, threw out another statistic Thursday to explain why he isn't worried about his future.
Continue reading Todd Marchant addresses trade rumor..
For the first time in a long time, the spotlight on the Ducks was large enough to accommodate most of the team.
Teemu Selanne scored twice, passing up Jean Beliveau for sole possession of 38th place on the NHL's all-time points list (1,220). His first-period power-play goal, the 211th of his career, also eclipsed Keith Tkachuk for 10th place on the all-time power-play goals list.
Todd Marchant added his first goal of the season, Bobby Ryan scored his fifth, and Jonas Hiller stopped all 40 shots he faced for the fifth shutout of his career.
The Ducks will miss Shea Weber and J.P. Dumont when the Nashville Predators come to Honda Center tonight, according to the Tenneseean.
Dumont has 11 points in nine games, and Weber has a team-leading nine goals, taking two of the top scoring threats off the NHL's lowest-scoring team (28 goals). The paper reports that Predators forwards Jason Arnott and Jordin Tootoo will come off IR to face the Ducks.
The Ducks didn't skate on Wednesday, but rather took a day off of sorts.
"We think that it's mentally refreshing to your players to work out, have lunch together, play a little bit of pool, and prepare ourselves for a game tomorrow night against the Nashville Predators," head coach Randy Carlyle said.
Continue reading On the third day, the Ducks rest..
The Ducks played 60 minutes of hockey against the defending Stanley Cup champions -- and still lost.
Goals by Corey Perry, the 100th and 101st of his career, and Saku Koivu left the game tied at 3 with less than 12 minutes to play. But a long-range goal by Pascal Dupuis beat Jonas Hiller for the game-winner with 10:37 left on the clock.
The Ducks (4-7-2) came close to tying the game afterwards. Once, when Saku Koivu was robbed by the glove of Marc-Andre Fleury with 5:40 left, and again when Sidney Crosby sprawled out on the goal line (with Fleury out of position) to stop a Scott Niedermayer blast a minute later.
Pittsburgh, which was playing without injured stars Evgeni Malkin and Sergei Gonchar, won its seventh straight road game to start the season. The Ducks were cautiously optimistic about their effort, which matched their opponent's for the third straight game.
Continue reading Penguins 4, Ducks 3..
Erik Christensen, placed on waivers Monday by the Ducks, has cleared. He's still on the active roster and could be assigned to the AHL.
The NHL suspended James Wisniewski for two games without pay for delivering a forearm blow to the head of Phoenix Coyotes forward Shane Doan on Saturday.
The incident occurred at 7:12 of the first period. No penalty was assessed on the play.
Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Wisniewski will forfeit $28,497.40. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.
Wisniewski will miss tomorrow's game against Pittsburgh and Thursday's contest against Nashville. He will be eligible to return Saturday against Phoenix.
The incident occurred at 7:12 of the first period. No penalty was assessed on the play.
Under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and based on his average annual salary, Wisniewski will forfeit $28,497.40. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.
Wisniewski will miss tomorrow's game against Pittsburgh and Thursday's contest against Nashville. He will be eligible to return Saturday against Phoenix.
The Ducks have placed forward Erik Christensen on waivers. Other teams will have until 9 a.m. tomorrow to claim him. If Christensen goes unclaimed, he returns to the Ducks.
Shuffled among the bottom three lines this season, Christensen has been held scoreless in six games and was a healthy scratch the past two. He joined the Ducks late in training camp after recovering from off-season shoulder surgery.
Christensen scored two goals in 17 regular-season games after coming to the Ducks in a trade from Atlanta last March and had none in last season's playoffs.
About J.P.
J.P. Hoornstra is in his first year covering the Ducks for the Daily
News. Eight months after the University of Wisconsin won its third
NCAA hockey championship, he was born in a frigid Madison winter. He
betrayed his blue-blooded beginnings by graduating from UCLA in 2003,
and welcomes any and all dialogue on the finer points of hockey.
Recent Comments
johntmeyer on On the third day, the Ducks rest.: Hi JP, My
johnmartinmaher on Ducks prospect Macenauer out 'quite a length of time.': Great work
iain on Agent's interview sparks Niedermayers-to-Vancouver rumor: You wanted
dirtmover on Ducks 2, Sharks 0.: What a gre
Mitleid on Ott's suspension is up.: A lot of p
Tinky Winky on What $1.99 buys you nowadays.: 1.99 can b
Jacob Pomrenke on Who are you, and what are you doing here?: At least y
Jeff Gluck on My Motocross cherry is broken.: Did you wa