March 2009 Archives

This is a photo of Teemu Selanne holding his stick (from last Friday):

The Ducks signed free-agent center MacGregor Sharp two a two-year contract and assigned him to Iowa today, along with 2008 second-round draft pick Nicolas Deschamps.

The Ducks signed 2006 first-round draft pick Mark Mitera to a three-year entry-level contract today, and the defenseman will report directly to the Iowa Chops.

The Ducks have won six of their last seven games (6-1-0) and seven of the last nine (7-2-0). At home, the Ducks have won three of their last four (3-1-0).

 

The Ducks have scored at least one power play goal in four of the last five games, going eight-for-25 (32.0%) during that stretch.

 

Over the last five games, Anaheim has scored 22 goals, averaging 4.4 per game.

 

With two goals, Bobby Ryan recorded his third multi-goal game of the season. He now sits three goals behind the club record for regular season goals by a rookie (Penner, 29).

 

In his last seven appearances (5-1-0), Jonas Hiller has stopped 185-of-196 shots for a .944 SV% and 1.64 GAA (11 GA/403 MIN).

 

With an assist tonight, Ryan Getzlaf has moved to within one point of matching a career high for points in a season (82, 2007-08).

 

Corey Perry has recorded 4-2=6 points in the last three games.

 

Drew Miller has four goals (4-2=6) in his last eight games with the Ducks.

 

James Wisniewski has four assists (0-4=4) in his last three games.

Bobby Ryan unveiled a new aspect of his game -- straight to the shoulder of Edmonton's Sam Gagner, viciously knocking the Oilers' forward off his feet with full force at 8:04 of the first period. That brought out the first (but not the last) chants of "Bob-by, Bob-by!" from 17,257 at Honda Center. It also gave the Oilers their favorite target for the final two and a half periods.

Twice Ryan was the victim of a high-stick to the face, the latter of which sent Jean-Francois Jacques to the sin bin for a four-minute double minor late in the third period.

From the Ducks' official Web site:

Playoff tickets for the Ducks' 2009 Western Conference Quarterfinal series home games will go on sale today at 10 a.m. Tickets may be purchased online or by phone with Ticketmaster at (714) 703-2545. Tickets may also be purchased at the Honda Center Box Office and all Ticketmaster locations in Southern California. All potential first round home games will go on sale Saturday morning. There is no ticket limit per game in the first round. Tickets will be sold at the box office on a first-come, first-served basis.

It's official (from the Ducks' official Web site):

The Anaheim Ducks announced today that playoff strips for the 2009 Stanley Cup Playoffs are on sale now.

 

Anaheim's seven goals tonight ties a season high set Jan. 27 at Phoenix.

The Ducks won their fifth consecutive game tonight, matching their season-long winning streak set Oct. 21-29.

With four goals in the second period, Anaheim matched a season high for goals in one period (Jan. 27 at Phoenix, also in the second).

Corey Perry tallied his fourth multi-goal game of the season.

James Wisniewski matched his career high with three assists tonight (Dec. 16, 2008 at Edmonton).

Andrew Ebbett tied his career high with three points (1g/2a).

Petteri Nokelainen matched his career high with two points (1g/1a).

Courtesy of the Avs...

James Wisniewski: On His Time With The Ducks... "Coming to a new team like this there was a little adjustment for one, to play with a guy like Scott Niedermayer, and get put in a role where they want you to succeed and have a lot of responsibility and shut teams down. And also provide some offense on the power play as well."

On The Stretch... "Just one game at a time. Forget about this game. You learn from the things you did wrong but you also look at the things you did right. Getting it in deep, sticking to your gameplan and making sure little bad habits don't creep into your game. Right now it's a perfect time to go on streaks like this. You want to be going into the playoffs at your peak."

 

Corey Perry: "Tonight was huge for us, with the playoff race we are in with Nashville, Edmonton, Minnesota, Dallas. Every two points count, every point counts. That's our goal for the rest of the season, see how far we can get and see how far up the standings we can climb."

 

On Tonight's Game... "It was just one of those nights. We were shooting the puck and they were going in the net. Playing our game and we were getting some favorable bounces, which hasn't really happened in a while. It's just one of those nights but you can't depend on that every night. It comes from hard work and that's what we have to do."

Just when you thought the Ducks were incapable of blowing anyone out, a 7-2 win over the worst team in the league comes three days after a 6-2 win over the second-worst team in the league. The sort of results you'd expect from a playoff-bound team -- also the sort that builds confidence along with a fifth straight victory.

The win leaves the Ducks in seventh place in the Western Conference standings (80 points), at least until the eighth-place Oilers (79 points) play the Phoenix Coyotes tomorrow.

They also managed to spread the wealth rather well: Corey Perry scored twice and Erik Christensen, Teemu Selanne, Andrew Ebbett, Rob Niedermayer and Petteri Nokelainen scored once each. Playing time also was dispensed liberally late in the blowout, which was good news for workhorse defensemen Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer; both played fewer than 20 minutes.

Game summary here; event summary here; quotes to follow.

Coach Randy Carlyle

On the playoff race...

Points are at a premium, both teams are in desperation mode. We're fortunate enough to steal an extra point in the shoot out. They beat us in Anaheim earlier this year on a 4-on-4 goal and Hamhuis scored on our first visit here. We won the last one in Anaheim on a Teemu Selanne  power play goal. It's been a very close this year against both hockey clubs and it's been very competitive.

A shootout win in favor of the Ducks in Memphis means a sticky standings logjam for the number 8 playoff seed: Both teams are tied with exactly 78 points and nine games remaining. Let the playoff battle begin!

Drew Miller scored in regulation, Teemu Selanne scored the only goal in the shootout, and Jean-Sebastien Giguere (in his strongest effort in months) stopped 35 of 36 shots, including all four he saw in the shootout.

Game summary here; event summary here; quotes to follow.

Bobby Ryan brushed Dustin Penner aside as the Ducks' leader for points scored as a rookie with an assist in the Ducks' 6-2 win Sunday.

The Ducks win their third straight in grand fashion: Ryan Getzlaf scored twice, George Parros, Scott Niedermayer and Andrew Ebbett also scored to give Jonas Hiller (26 saves) plenty of support. 

Petteri Nokelainen had never scored a goal while lying inside a net before last night, when he did just that to give the Ducks a 2-1 lead over the Phoenix Coyotes. Or did he?

Defenseman Francois Beauchemin was in full gear Friday for his first practice with teammates since tearing his left ACL in November. Most notable were his stops and starts and shots from close range, which had him looking like the Beauchemin of old.

Ryan Getzlaf and Bobby Ryan scored in the shootout, where Jonas Hiller stopped one more shot than Ilya Bryzgalov in a five-round duel, and the Ducks escape the desert with two points.

Escape is the operative word.

Game summary here; event summary here.

The Ducks will have 13 forwards to choose from tonight after Drew Miller got the call-up from Iowa. Miller has been up and down more often than a Honda Center elevator this year and in 15 games for the Ducks, he's got a goal and six points.

Teemu Selanne's 1,200th point wasn't the only major imprint the Ducks left in the record book Wednesday.

The Ducks got the two points they needed to salvage their season, and picked up some style points in the process.

Yet they also gave up a standings point to their opponent by not deciding Wednesday's 4-3 win over the Nashville Predators until overtime, when Teemu Selanne scored to let the Ducks live to see another day -- as he has done so often in his storied career.

The process of extracting the Ducks' starting goaltender on any given day from Randy Carlyle has morphed from a source of frustration to a running joke. It gained speed at Tuesday's morning skate, when Carlyle faced a legitimate choice of who to start with the Ducks facing back-to-back games today against Nashville and Thursday in Phoenix.

The Ducks came to prove that they could compete with one of the Western Conference's best teams on Sunday. At this point, that's who will greet them in the playoffs, if they even get there.

More than that, the Ducks just wanted two points against the San Jose Sharks. Old pal Travis Moen and old foe Evgeni Nabokov made sure it didn't happen.

Brett Festerling was scratched from tonight's game against San Jose, then reassigned to Iowa. Brendan Mikkelson is in the lineup, paired with Ryan Whitney.

With all the stakes on the line for the Ducks tomorrow against the Sharks, it's easy to forget that Travis Moen will come to Honda Center in a San Jose uniform.

It's a big day in Des Moines, Iowa: The Ducks' AHL affiliate is getting Troy Bodie back, losing Brendan Mikkelson to Anaheim, and the local Blank Children's Hospital continues to fetch a nifty charitable contribution from goaltender David LeNeveu. Read all about it here.

Ducks defenseman Scott Niedermayer's game-winning goal in overtime last night [it's already up on YouTube] was his second OT goal of the season and the 12th of his career - the all-time leader among NHL defensemen.

The NHL's board of governors wants to crack down on some fights, not all.

If Marty Turco wasn't giving the Ducks nightmares before turning aside 36 of 38 shots Friday night ... it's because seemingly half the guys in a Ducks uniform were brand-new to the Pacific Division. You can only hope the Ducks are still dreaming big after losing despite outshooting Dallas 38-16. Game summary <a href="http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20082009/GS020968.HTM">here</a>; event summary <a href="http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreports/20082009/ES020968.HTM">here</a>; quotes to follow.

Chris Pronger wasn't precisely sure why he wasn't traded before Wednesday's deadline. But after it was suggested that maybe the Ducks' brass was confident about the group led by himself and Scott Niedermayer, the big defenseman quickly pointed out that "maybe they just didn't get the right offer."

The defenseman was acquired for Sammy Pahlsson from Chicago on Wednesday, and established himself as probably the least loquacious of the Ducks' new arrivals. A perfect replacement for Pahlsson.

Christensen confirmed what everyone already deduced from the tone of his voice after practice Thursday: The dude's tired.

His unofficial nickname, as uttered in passing by Todd Marchant: Nokia.

So long Travis Moen, Sammy Pahlsson and Rob Niedermayer.

The Ducks head coach said Thursday that he's never had to replace five players overnight, and plug as many new pieces in for a game two days later. On the other hand, he was "not at all" surprised that Brendan Morrison, Steve Montador, Kent Huskins, Travis Moen and Sammy Pahlsson were all gone by the time the trade deadline had expired Wednesday.

He's switching to number 9 tomorrow against Dallas, continuing the uniquely Anaheim initiation ritual for young players (following the likes of Getzlaf, Perry, Penner and Ryan Carter). The last Ducks player to wear #9? Paul Kariya.

Brett Festerling is coming back up from Iowa and is likely to suit up tomorrow against Dallas. He didn't arrive in time to practice Thursday morning in Anaheim. Bret Hedican (back) is still resting, so the blueline tomorrow will probably consist of Niedermayer, Pronger, Whitney, Brookbank, Festerling and Wisniewski.

Here's what the teams above and below the Ducks in the standings, the pack of eight separated by 10 points on the Western Conference playoff bubble, did on deadline day (with rankings based on Wednesday night's standings).

With NHL beat writers around the country eagerly donning their sleeping (or drinking) caps at this hour, I thought I'd check in to see what they have written/blogged about the guys their teams traded to the Ducks today.

And oh, by the way, Brendan Mikkelson and Troy Bodie have been recalled from Iowa. Drew Miller is going back down.

Take a deep breath and forget what you knew about the old Ducks.

Here's the scoop on prospects Nick Bonino and Timo Pielmeier, whom the Ducks acquired from the San Jose Sharks earlier today for Travis Moen and Kent Huskins.

Shortly after the noon trade dealine passed, TSN.ca reported that the Ducks have acquired fifth-year forward Erik Christensen from the Atlanta Thrashers for Eric O'Dell, whom the Ducks took in the second round of last year's draft. 

The Dallas Stars have claimed Brendan Morrison off waivers. Bob Murray announced he was "95 percent sure" he wouldn't trade Chris Pronger. And, in the Ducks' biggest move of the day, defenseman Steve Montador is going to the Boston Bruins for center Petteri Nokelainen. 

Martin Havlat scored 1:40 into overtime, and the Ducks settled for a point in the finale of their 6-game road trip, possibly their most important game of the year. What kind of taste that leaves in GM Bob Murray's mouth with the trade deadline 13 hours away could be the most critical question of all.

The Ducks placed Brendan Morrison on waivers today, and if no team claims him before 9 a.m. tomorrow, he can be reassigned to AHL affiliate Iowa. Morrison, signed in the offseason to a one-year $2.75 million contract, has 10 goals and 22 points in 61 games this season.

The Ducks will not trade Scott Niedermayer, according to today's L.A. Times. More to come...

From http://starsblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2009/03/steve-ott-gets-one-game.html:

Steve Ott has received a one-game suspension for his eye gouging with Travis Moen at the end of Saturday's game. Ott served that Sunday against Pittsburgh and is eligible to play Tuesday at San Jose.