Canada 3, United States 2.

Sidney Crosby’s goal 7:40 into overtime gave Canada a 3-2 win over the United States in the championship game of the Olympic men’s hockey tournament.

After a Jonathan Toews goal gave Canada a 1-0 lead in the first period, Ducks forward Corey Perry put home the rebound of a Ryan Getzlaf shot at 7:13 of the second period to make it 2-0.

Roberto Luongo was fooled for the first time in
the second period on a deflection by Ryan Kesler that squirted between his
pads, and the 2-1 score held until the waning moments of the third period.

With Ryan Miller on the bench for an extra attacker, Zach Parise jammed home a rebound off Luongo’s pads in the crease, tying the game with 24 seconds left in regulation.

Finland 5, Slovakia 3.

Teemu Selanne’s final Olympic Games will end with a bronze medal and the career scoring record.

All in all, not a bad way to go out.

Finland came back to score the final four goals – all in the third period – en route to a 5-3 win over the Slovaks Saturday in Vancouver.

Selanne, who finished the tournament with a record 38 points, was held scoreless along with Ducks linemate Saku Koivu.

Canada 3, Slovakia 2.

Ryan Getzlaf’s second-period power play goal certainly seemed like an inconsequential insurance marker at the time. Canada was comfortably ahead 2-0, Roberto Luongo might have been blogging in between shots, and before the crowd was asking for “U-S-A.”

Then Slovakia decided to make it interesting, scoring twice in the game’s final five minutes to set up a frenetic finish. But Getzlaf’s goal held up, and Canada held on to set up a Sunday rematch with the United States.

Getzlaf’s backhand swipe of a Corey Perry rebound was the only goal by a Duck on Friday. Perry and Chris Pronger picked up the assists. Getzlaf and Pronger also assisted on Brenden Morrow’s first-period marker and Scott Niedermayer picked up the secondary assist on the game’s first goal, a tip by Patrick Marleau at 13:30.

Ex-King Lubomir Visnovsky and current King Michal Handzus did all the scoring for Slovakia, which plays Finland for the bronze medal on Saturday night.

USA 6, Finland 1.

Saku Koivu and Teemu Selanne won’t be playing for gold.

Bobby Ryan and Ryan Whitney will be after a big win Friday over the Finns

Team USA sent a message by scoring all six of their goals in the game’s first 12:46, chasing goalie Miikka Kiprusoff after the first four, and matching their most lopsided win of the tournament. Whitney and Ryan were held scoreless; Ryan sustained a head injury midway through the third period but remained on the bench and did not appear (on TV) to be bleeding.

Patrick Kane scored twice and Ryan Malone, Paul Stastny, Erik Johnson and Zach Parise scored goals for the U.S.

Selanne’s decorated Olympic career will come to an end Saturday night against the loser of tonight’s game between Canada and Slovakia. He and Koivu were held scoreless, their team’s only goal coming off the stick of Antti Miettinen, after Tim Thomas had relieved U.S. starter Ryan Miller in goal.

A new opportunity for Ducks’ youth.

For the Ducks, the benefits of having a wealth of players participating in the Olympics extend beyond organizational pride.

Anaheim’s eight Olympians are considered non-roster players by the NHL until after their national team is eliminated in Vancouver. That means that goaltender Jonas Hiller, whose Swiss squad lost to the United States on Wednesday, became the first to officially re-join the Ducks – the league added him to the active roster at 2 p.m. today.

Ryan Getzlaf, Scott Niedermayer, Corey Perry, Saku Koivu, Teemu Selanne, Bobby Ryan and Ryan Whitney, meanwhile, are giving Randy Carlyle and Bob Murray some vacant roster spots to play with until they’re gone from the Games.

On Thursday it was announced that Dan Sexton, Timo Pielmeier, Brendan Mikkelson and Brett Festerling had been recalled from the minors, and both Sexton and Pielmeier were among the 16 players in practice Thursday. Mikkelson and Festerling were still en route from Toronto, where they had been playing with the American Hockey League’s Marlies.

“This is when the NHL-level team, the parent hockey club, has to be
selfish,” said Carlyle, who expected no additional recalls. “I’ve been on the other side of it and it’s not a lot of fun
when those things happen. But the reality of it is, we made a decision
that’s in the best interest of the Anaheim Ducks. They can come
complement us in this time.”
Continue reading “A new opportunity for Ducks’ youth.” »

Ducks announce 2010-11 season-ticket pricing.

After freezing ticket prices for 2009-10, the Ducks announced that the average season ticket price will rise by 1.8 percent in 2011, with an additional facility fee increase of $.25-$.50 per ticket, for a total increase of 2.6 percent. Season tickets for the 2010-11 campaign will begin at $12.50 per game ($562.50 for the entire season, arena facility fee included). All tickets are subject to the facility fee, beginning at $1.75.

No word yet on how that compares to the rest of the NHL. This season, according to Team Marketing Report, the Ducks ranked as the ninth-cheapest season ticket in the league with an average cost of $43.50 compared to the NHL average of $51.27. The eight cheapest tickets:

22. Anaheim
23. San Jose
24. Colorado
25. Carolina
26. St. Louis
27. Phoenix
28. Buffalo
29. Tampa Bay
30. Dallas

Sexton, Pielmeier, Festerling, Mikkelson up.

The Ducks have recalled defensemen Brett Festerling and Brendan Mikkelson from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League, right wing Dan Sexton from AHL Manitoba and goaltender Timo Pielmeier from ECHL affiliate Bakersfield. Sexton and Pielmeier took part in practice Thursday, the team’s first since the Olympic break, while Festerling and Mikkelson were still en route from Toronto.
Continue reading “Sexton, Pielmeier, Festerling, Mikkelson up.” »

Finland 2, Czech Republic 0.

The Finns and Czechs seemed destined to go to overtime tied at 0 until Niklas Hagman scored on the flukiest of goals with 6:26 left in the third period.

Czech defenseman Pavel Kubina ventured behind his own net to retrieve his helmet, while Hagman simultaneously fired between the legs of Tomas Vokoun. After grabbing his helmet, Kubina looked up to see the puck in his own net.

Valtteri Filppula later scored into an empty net, sending the Suomi, including Ducks teammates Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu, into the semifinals. They’ll play the United States on Friday at noon.

Canada 7, Russia 3

In a matchup between arguably the most talented teams in Vancouver, Canada eliminated Russia from the Olympics in a surprisingly lopsided game.

Ducks forwards Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, still alternating with Brenden Morrow and Eric Staal as their third linemate, had a big hand in the victory. Perry had two goals, including Canada’s seventh, while Getzlaf had two assists and scored Canada’ first goal.

They advance to the semifinals, where they will play either Sweden or Slovakia.

USA 2, Switzerland 0.

Jonas Hiller’s Olympic run has come to an end, while Team USA rolls on.

Hiller made it perilously close, however, stopping 42 of 43 shots and not allowing a goal until Zach Parise deflected a Brian Rafalski shot at 2:08 of the third period. Parise added an empty-netter with 12 seconds left and Hiller on the bench.

The U.S. had two goals disallowed including this one, which Hiller tipped off his stick, off his shoulder and into the net – one-tenth of a second after time ran out on the second period.

Anaheim teammates Bobby Ryan and Ryan Whitney were held without a point; Ryan has a goal and an assist through four games of the tournament, while Whitney is scoreless.

Hiller might crop up at Ducks practice one of these days (they’ll be at Anaheim Ice tomorrow at 11 a.m.), while the U.S. moves on to a semifinal matchup with either Finland or the Czech Republic on Friday.