Monthly Archives: December 2009

Brandon McMillan makes Canada’s WJC roster.

Posted on by
Reply

Forward Brandon McMillan, the Ducks’ third-round draft pick in 2008, has been selected to represent Team Canada at the World Junior Championships, the only Ducks prospect among 22 selected.

McMillan, 19, has nine goals and 30 points in 27 games for the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League.The left wing captained the WHL team in November for Game 6 of their Subway Super Series.

“His greatest asset is his speed,” Kelowna coach Ryan Huska told Kelowna.com. “And when he is skating there aren’t a lot of people around that can catch him. Two other things probably go with his personality. He’s willing to play whatever position is asked of him so if you’re looking for a picture of a perfect team player, Brandon would probably be your guy . . . and he will do whatever he has to do to put himself and the team he’s plying for in a position to win games.”

The tournament will be held Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Regina, and Team Canada is seeking its sixth consecutive gold medal.

Lupul will have surgery Thursday.

Posted on by
Reply

Joffrey Lupul will have surgery tomorrow on a herniated disc in his back, a team spokesperson confirmed. The surgery will be performed by Dr. Robert Watkins at Marina Del Rey Hospital. If the surgery is successful, Lupul will be able to return to play in 6-8 weeks.

Lupul began suffering back spasms during the preseason, and attempted to play through the pain until Nov. 19, when he rested for two weeks before attempting a comeback on Dec. 4 in Minnesota. He played the next three games, scoring four goals, before experiencing numbness in his leg as a result of his back injections.

Chipchura finding his spot.

Posted on by
Reply

Kyle Chipchura might be best off centering either the third or the fourth line in the Ducks’ lineup. The jury’s still out. At
least in Anaheim, unlike Montreal, the jury consists of only one coach, Randy
Carlyle.

“It’s not like everybody you run into on the street is
trying to coach and has something to say,” Chipchura said Tuesday. “In that
sense, the personal pressure is lower.”

Continue reading “Chipchura finding his spot.” »

Update from Pebble Beach

Posted on by
Reply

Ducks general manager Bob Murray is currently in Pebble Beach for the NHL Board of Governors’ meeting. Among the issues on the agenda are the head-hunting hits that have caused serious injuries around the league.


Chris Stevenson writes in the Toronto Sun:

The issue of hits to the head is one the league is going to continue to explore.

As part of Tuesday night’s meeting, NHL VP and director of hockey operations Colin Campbell made a video presentation to the governors outlining how the game has changed through the decades.

Defining what is a legal and illegal hit doesn’t sound like it’s going to be easy given the different perspectives out there.

“Some of the hits, where the player had no chance to anticipate it, had no chance to see it coming or avoid it, then maybe we have to look into it. But a player still has some responsibility,” said Brian Burke, president and general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“When I was playing in the AHL and got drilled, you got back to the bench and your own teammates would tell you to keep your head up, what are you doing? There is some accountability for the player.”

“There was some really good video on that subject, and it’s a subject we have to work hard to address,” said Anaheim Ducks’ GM Bob Murray.

“But you’ve got to be careful what you do when you talk about rule changes. Hitting is part of our game, and you don’t want to change the fundamental nature of the game.

“I can’t believe the number of players today skating with their head down, I just can’t believe it.”

Surgery likely for Lupul.

Posted on by
Reply

Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle said Tuesday that left wing Joffrey Lupul is likely to undergo surgery on his back.


“I don’t know if it’s 100 percent,” Carlyle said, “but it’s a probability at this point.”


Lupul began suffering back spasms during the preseason, and attempted to play through the pain until Nov. 19, when he rested for two weeks before attempting a comeback on Dec. 4 in Minnesota. He played the next three games, scoring four goals, before experiencing numbness in his leg as a result of his back injections.

Lupul was scheduled to undergo an MRI after missing Monday’s practice at Honda Center. He did not skate Tuesday, and Carlyle said the surgery has not been scheduled yet.

“The determination for that will be depending on the doctor’s schedule, when he’s available,” he said. “You’ll know when I know.”

Continue reading “Surgery likely for Lupul.” »

Parros’ annual haircut is today.

Posted on by
Reply

Today’s the day.

George Parros will cut his hair to support the fight against cancer at the third annual George Parros Cut for the Kids at 4:30 p.m. at The Rinks Huntington Beach Inline.

Professional hairstylists from SportClips are volunteering to to shear the enforcer’s mighty locks. Parros will be available following his haircut until 7:30 p.m. for pictures and autographs for a $10 suggested donation to the Anaheim Ducks Foundation, with 100 percent of the proceeds benefiting the Childhood Leukemia Foundation.

Ducks 3, Columbus 1.

Posted on by
Reply

Dan Sexton, Bobby Ryan and Corey Perry scored goals, and Jonas Hiller made 35 saves for his first victory since Nov. 19 as the Ducks ended their road losing streak at nine games.


Anaheim (12-13-7) got a strong defensive performance on a night that saw the Blue Jackets (14-12-6) outshoot them 36-25 and gain four power plays to their one. The penalty-kill responded by not allowing a goal, even during a 52-second 5-on-3 shift during the third period, after which Perry scored an important insurance goal with the Ducks skating 5-on-4.

Sexton’s goal at 16:08 of the first period, a putback of a rebound off the pads of Steve Mason, was the fourth of his NHL career. All have come in the last three games. Ryan, who took the initial shot, picked up the assist.

Ryan followed with the game’s prettiest goal with 55 seconds left in the third period, when he chased down a lead pass by Sheldon Brookbank along the left wall, outskated a defender, then reached around Mason with a headlong dive and shot around the goalie’s leg.

Columbus made it 2-1 on a fluky goal by R.J. Umberger — he was behind the end line, far to Hiller’s left, when he shot it in off Hiller’s skate blade — with 35.1 seconds left in the middle period.

But any momentum that gave the Jackets was squashed when Todd Marchant, James Wisniewski and Scott Niedermayer killed off a 5-on-3 penalty with Petteri Nokelainen and Saku Koivu in the box at 5:35 of the third period. Perry scored his team-leading 16th goal of the season eight minutes later.

More details in tomorrow’s editions.

Detroit 3, Ducks 2, OT.

Posted on by
Reply

Todd Bertuzzi scored his second goal of the game at 1:06 of overtime, sending the Ducks to another loss at Joe Louis Arena.


Rather than a game Detroit squad, the loss was more a result of the Ducks shooting themselves in the foot with 10 minor penalties, resulting in 10 Detroit power plays and a pair of man-advantage goals.


The Ducks managed to lose the 2-0 lead they took into the third period on goals by linemates Saku Koivu and Dan Sexton. Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped 28 of 31 in goal.

Joffrey Lupul missed the game with numbness in his leg. He was replaced at left wing by Matt Beleskey on the top line with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry.

More details in tomorrow’s editions.

Report: Lupul out of tonight’s lineup.

Posted on by
Reply

Ducks radio analyst Dan Wood, writing on the team’s official Web site, reports that Joffrey Lupul won’t play tonight in Detroit:

Lupul, who has scored four times during a three-game goal streak since returning from a seven-game absence caused by back spasms, will be sidelined this time because of problems with a leg.

“I think there is some correlation,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said after the club’s morning skate. “I think there is some complication from an injection he had. The leg is going numb on him.”

Lupul did not skate either in the team’s late-afternoon practice Thursday at Joe Louis Arena or this morning, but showed enough progress that he remains a possibility for Saturday night’s game at Columbus, Carlyle said.

In the meantime, the Ducks expect veteran winger Kyle Calder to return against Detroit after having missed the past six games because of an eye injury suffered during practice Nov. 28. Calder plans to wear a visor temporarily in order to protect the eye.

Judge throws out Henry Samueli’s guilty plea.

Posted on by
Reply

Ducks co-owner Henry Samueli appears to be out of the woods. From Reuters:

LOS ANGELES, Dec 9 (Reuters) – A federal judge on Wednesday threw out a guilty plea by Broadcom Corp co-founder Henry Samueli, saying he did not believe Samueli knowingly made false statements to government securities regulators during a stock options backdating investigation against his company.

Samueli had admitted to a single count of making false statements in May of 2008, shortly after stepping down as the chip maker’s chairman.

The move came after Samueli — also the owner of the Anaheim Ducks hockey team — testified on Tuesday in a criminal trial against Broadcom’s former Chief Financial Officer William Ruehle in Santa Ana.

Ruehle is accused of bilking the chip company’s investors out of billions of dollars by hiding compensation expenses and backdating stock options awarded to Broadcom executives — who profited illegally from the grants, prosecutors say.

But Samueli on Tuesday rejected accusations that his company broke laws in backdating stock options and in his testimony blamed procrastination by Henry Nicholas, who was Samueli’s co-founding partner at Broadcom.

U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney threw out Samueli’s plea on Wednesday after his testimony concluded. The U.S. Attorney’s Office had no immediate comment on the ruling.

Ruehle’s trial started in October and is the last of the criminal backdating cases to be tried since the government began examining options backdating in 2007.

The backdating of stock options grants — used to lure and retain top talent especially at cash-poor tech companies — became a major issue a few years ago, with more than 170 companies investigated by U.S. authorities or conducting internal inquiries.

Samueli released the following statemtent Wednesday night:

“We are relieved and thankful for Judge Carney’s decision. Though the past two years have been difficult, we remained steadfast in our confidence in the justice system. We want to thank all those who have stood behind us through the entire process, specifically our fans, partners, hockey personnel, and our great staff at H & S Ventures, the Anaheim Ducks and Honda Center.

“Moving forward, we are excited to continue our organizational efforts to better the Orange County community.”