October 2008 Archives
There will be many statistical afterthoughts and asterisks on the Ducks' shootout loss Friday night at Honda Center. Here are just a few to get you started.
Continue reading Canucks 7, Ducks 6, final (SO). Update..
You know him better as Kristi Yamaguchi's husband, but I hadn't gotten a chance to interview the newest Duck before this morning. Turns out he plays hockey, too. Our Q&A...
Continue reading The skinny on Bret Hedican..
With the way the Ducks' fourth line is playing right now, any disruption to this well-oiled machine isn't welcome. That said, an MRI revelaed that Brad May sprained his right knee, an injury that will only keep him out two weeks - and that's relatively good news for the Ducks.
The 17-year veteran was injured finishing a check on Detroit's Kris Draper in the second period of the Ducks' 5-4 victory Wednesday. In eight games this season, May had four assists and a plus-5 rating, second on the team.
Continue reading Brad May to miss two weeks..
The Ducks will host military families from the Southern California chapter of Operation Homefront the weekend of Saturday, Nov. 8th and Sunday, Nov. 9th at Honda Center. The weekend event will include all Ducks players and coaches and approximately 200 military family members.
On Sunday, Nov. 9, the Ducks welcome the group for the club's contest vs. Florida at 5:05 p.m. at Honda Center. The military families will be recognized both in-arena and on the television broadcast that evening.
Continue reading Ducks to host military families..
Not their sixth straight, as reported in Thursday's editions. Thanks for everyone who pointed that out.
The Ducks announced today that the club and American Honda are partnering with Special Olympics Southern California in a philanthropic effort to raise funds for Special Olympics athletes. The club will join American Honda in collectively donating $1,000 for each Anaheim Columbus
Continue reading Ducks donate to Special Olympics..
Boy, that has even more ring to it than "Ken Klee clears waivers."
Phoenix claimed the defenseman off re-entry waivers from the Ducks, and each team is responsible for half of Klee's $1.25 million salary the rest of this year.
In case you're counting at home, that means Klee and Todd Bertuzzi are still on the books for approximately $2 million this season, and the Ducks are about $1 million below the NHL's $56.7 million salary cap.
The defenseman, who cleared regular waivers last week, is now on reverse waivers. That means if any NHL team claims him before 9 a.m. today, the Ducks will be responsible for half his $1.25 million salary, the other team responsible for the other half. If he goes unclaimed, the Ducks get him back.
I swear, if she doesn't become our next vice president, at least Sarah Palin will have set the record for most ceremonial appearances at hockey games to start a season.
This past weekend brought her to ... Des Moines, Iowa, where she was presented with an Iowa Chops jersey by the principals of the Ducks' American Hockey League affiliate. A photo and brief write-up can be found here.
As reported in August, Brian Burke is a 2008 winner of the Lester Patrick Award, given annually to service to hockey in the United States.
On Wednesday, he was honored at a ceremony in St. Paul, Minnesota with the hardware. NHL.com did a pretty good story, check it out if you've got a couple minutes.
Not a rumor, but a fact...
A team spokesperson says the reason Burke lets Senior VP of hockey ops Bob Murray handle all discussions with the Toronto Maple Leafs is to avoid any evidence of impropriety. The question stemmed from speculation that Burke would leave the Ducks to be the Maple Leafs' general manager at the end of this season -- and if Burke would make any deals between his current team and potential future club to benefit the Leafs at the Ducks' expense.
Apparently none of the other 29 NHL teams wanted to pick up the 37-year-old defenseman at $1.25 million, a contract which expires at season's end.
Even if he is sent to the minors, Klee is on a one-way deal, which means that salary will count against the Ducks' cap. The Ducks do not play again this week until Friday in Ottawa.
UPDATE (3:30 p.m.): Klee is remaining in Anaheim during the road trip and isn't planning on accompanying the team to Ottawa. That could change, but for now he's waiting for the Ducks to make an executive decision on his future.
It's two points but, even just listening to the game on the radio, I still feel confident in saying this is NOT how the Ducks wanted to start their road trip. They led 2-1 most of the way but gave up the game-tying goal with about a minute left in regulation.
Continue reading Ducks 3, Maple Leafs 2, shootout..
There is no story in this morning's editions concerning the media swirl around Brian Burke landing in Toronto because, well, there is no story.
Continue reading On Brian Burke and the Toronto rumors..
The answer: Toledo 13, Michigan 10.
Henry Samueli's indefinite suspension by the NHL could last a bit longer than he originally hoped. But that's the least of his worries.
Continue reading More problems for Ducks' owner..
David LeNeveu was removed from the Ducks' opening-day roster this afternoon, a day after he was added. No word yet on if he actually traveled out to San Jose or not, or why he -- notably a goalie, and not a skater - was added in the first place.
Update:
LeNeveu practiced with the Ducks on Wednesday, then went straight back to Des Moines. There's no injury situation with Giguere or Hiller, and the Ducks will carry 22 (one under the maximum) on their roster for now.
Whoever had goaltender David LeNeveu in the Who-Will-Be-The-First-Player-Recalled-From-Iowa pool, give yourself a pat on the back.
Continue reading Ducks add LeNeveu to roster..
Scotty is getting his "C" back. Quotes to follow.
In the meantime, did you know that ESPN.com's Linda Cohn has picked the Tampa Bay Lightning to win the Southeast? Please insert your own Barry Melrose joke here because this is a family blog; I'm not doing it myself.
Continue reading Scott Niedermayer, Ducks' new (old) captain..
Brian Burke could be hitting the phones as I type this, trying to complete a trade that will allow Bobby Ryan to get into the NHL. In the meantime, Ryan Donally and Andrew Ebbett have been sent to Iowa, giving the Ducks 23 men (including injured forward Brad Larsen), all under the salary cap, in time for Thursday's opener in San Jose.
(Note: This story was supposed to run in Saturday's editions, but due to baseball playoffs and prep football could not make its way in.)
Bobby Ryan may very well have the breakout NHL season the Ducks are hoping for, but that's on hold for now.
In a move viewed as a money-saving possibility for weeks, the Ducks sent Ryan to their AHL training camp in Iowa City prior to Friday's 4-1 preseason win over the Phoenix Coyotes at Honda Center. The move relieves the burden of Ryan's $1.7 million salary-cap hit, including $925,000 in bonuses, and leaves the Ducks' training camp roster at 25 players, two over the opening-day maximum.
"In the new world of the NHL, cap issues are cap issues and this falls into this category," Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle said. "It's not a question of if he's going to play in the NHL, it's when."
Ryan had two goals and an assist in the preseason, all in the Ducks' opener against the San Jose Sharks on Sept. 24. After the Ducks placed him on waivers Thursday, forward Joakim
Lindstrom was claimed by the Chicago Blackhawks. Goalie David LeNeveu, forward Josh Green and defenseman Brennan Evans went unclaimed and are expected to report to Iowa.
Troy Bodie, Brennan Evans, Josh Green, David LeNeveu, Joakim Lindstrom, Drew Miller and T.J. Trevelyan were sent to the AHL camp after Wednesday's game.
Continue reading Ducks make cuts..
Chris Pronger has an un-Pronger-like goal, scoring on a breakaway rush and putting a wrist shot off the upper post and into the net behind Erik Ersberg. Whatever gets the job done, right? The teams split the back-to-back set, both overtime games. If anything, this is good news for the young Kings, but we'll see how it plays out over an 82-game season.
The Ducks' George Parros gets into a fight with the Kings' Kevin Westgarth at 11:28 of the third period. With so much hair to pull between the two, it's a miracle they don't resort to a tug-of-war. It's still 2-2.
The preseason non-rivalry between the Kings and Ducks at Honda Center, across the street from the postseason Angels-Red Sox rivalry at Angel Stadium, is getting about as hot as the cup of coffee I poured a half-hour ago in the press box. That is to say, I could use another cup.
The Kings scored 2:20 apart on back-to-back power plays, and the Ducks' lack of effectiveness killing penalties in the preseason is starting to remind some in these parts of the dark days of last year. Michael Handzus officially did the honors on the first goal, though Drew Doughty's stick was in the same jumble in front of Jean-Sebastien Giguere and any time an 18-year-old can score on Jiggy, he'll take it. Brian Boyle redirected a Tom Pressing slapshot - the way they practiced it 1,000 times, I'm sure - for the second goal.
Chris Kunitz had the equalizer on a Ducks power play at 13:40, getting a textbook 5-on-4 goal when Kent Huskins fed Brendan Morrison behind the net, and Morrison fed Kunitz streaking through traffic in front of Erik Ersberg. A good sign for the Ducks: it took Morrison all of 33 minutes, 40 seconds to get on the stat sheet with his new teammates.
However, I give the highlight of the period to Kent Huskins. With 4:13 to play, he got lazy in his own zone and watched Kyle Calder pick him clean at the blue line. That set up a 2-on-1 breakaway with Boyle that could easily have produced the Kings' third goal. Instead, Huskins sprinted back into position, then dove head-first (in the preseason, mind you) then extended his stick out to break up Boyle's pass back to Calder. Goal averted. Huskins continues to impress.
Your early synopsis ... an even game, save a Chris Pronger slapshot that eluded Erik Ersberg.
Continue reading Ducks 1, Kings 0, end of 1st period..
About J.P.
J.P. Hoornstra has been covering the Anaheim Ducks since 2007. 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.: Did my com
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