September 2010 Archives

Quite a sight at practice today: Bobby Ryan was skating at left wing on a line with Saku Koivu at center and Teemu Selanne at right wing. The experiment with Ryan at center isn't over, head coach Randy Carlyle said, but the coach said "it's a possibility" that the Ducks will use that same line tomorrow night against Vancouver.

"We had discussions the other night about doing an anlysis of the games he played at center," Carlyle said. "We thought the best game he played was against Phoenix, at center. We just said it's not that we're throwing it out the window, we'd just put him back at left wing for now and see how that develops."

Carlyle also revealed a surprising confidence in rookie Maxime Macenauer, who took a few shifts at left wing Tuesday against the Kings, but was centering a line with Jason Blake and Troy Bodie in practice today. The other lines:

Matt Beleskey-Ryan Getzlaf-Corey Perry
Aaron Voros-Kyle Chipchura-George Parros
Ryan Carter-Todd Marchant-Dan Sexton-Josh Green

Meanwhile on defense, Brendan Mikkelson and Cam Fowler were feeling good about life after the Ducks placed Brett Festerling and Danny Syvret on waivers earlier today.

Their thoughts, as well as more from Carlyle, in tomorrow's editions.

Defensemen Brett Festerling and Danny Syvret have been placed on waivers, paring the Ducks' blue line down to eight as the regular season approaches.

The biggest name of the eight belongs to 2010 first-round draft pick Cam Fowler. The 18-year-old has appeared in four preseason games, logging two assists and a minus-3 rating, while also seeing time on the Ducks' power play. For Fowler to make the opening-day roster would represent a major accomplishment with a franchise that has historically given its draftees more time to develop. The list of Anaheim draft picks who went straight to the NHL in their draft year is a short one: Steve Rucchin and Oleg Tverdovsky in 1994-95, Chad Kilger in 1995-96, and (then-26-year-old) Niclas Havelid in 1999-2000.

It's only the preseason, but Randy Carlyle could not simply brush this one off. For a moment after the Ducks' 8-3 loss to the Kings, the coach was at a loss for words.

"We didn't do anything to start to build on," Carlyle said. "The frustration; the lack of discipline, structure; we started to play outside of our system -- you'd almost think we never practiced defensive zone coverage, when you watch the game the way we played in our own zone."

That's not putting it kindly because, really, there was no way to. The insults coming from 12,520 tongues in Staples Center were almost as juicy as the rebounds coming off Curtis McElhinney's chest pad (and there were plenty).

Each goal was a little less excusable than the one before - a 5-on-3 goal by Dustin Brown, a 5-on-4 goal by Wayne Simmonds, a Ryan Smyth backhander off a close-range rebound, a long-distance bomb by Jack Johnson. Those four gave the Kings a 4-0 lead by the end of the first period. Los Angeles held a 23-7 shots advantage after one (the tally was 18-3 at one point). After a slight Anaheim pushback in the second period, the Kings scored four straight goals to take an 8-1 lead midway through the third.

On a night that saw the Ducks' energy line provide the most offense (the Josh Green to George Parros to Todd Marchant combination proved potent twice), Carlyle couldn't let this one slide.

"I reacted," he said. "Not real emotional, from a standpoint of yelling and screaming, it's just a matter of fact the way we played is unacceptable. The lack of discipline on the first penalty. Next thing you know the momentum of everything swung in their favor. It's 2-0 and we're back on our heels."

If you haven't bookmarked the Syracuse Crunch blog on the website of the Syracuse Post-Standard, now would be a good time to do so.

The Crunch play their first game tonight, with Marco Cousineau in goal among a laundry list of Ducks prospects who recently joined the AHL camp:

J.P. Levasseur will back up and also get minutes.

The scratches are defensemen Joe DiPenta, Mark Mitera, Mat Clark, and Jake Newton, and forwards Brian Lebler, John Kurtz, Trevor Smith, Eric Lampe, A.J. Perry and Derrell Levy.

Hardly anyone expected Maxime Macenauer to still be in Anaheim. A third-round draft pick in 2007 (an otherwise poor class for the Ducks), Macenauer turned pro last season and spent the entire year in Bakersfield. He missed 26 games early in the season with a "lower-body injury" while playing for the Ducks' ECHL affiliate and wound up with less than eye-popping statistics.

Yet by surviving two rounds of cuts, Macenauer is getting a longer look than players with NHL experience (Stephane Veilleux, Trevor Smith, MacGregor Sharp, Joe DiPenta) and players drafted higher (Emerson Etem, Devante Smith-Pelly, Mat Clark, Mark Mitera, Brandon McMillan, Kyle Palmieri, Peter Holland).

Maybe the only person who expected Macenauer to be here is the 21-year-old himself.

Randy Carlyle today gave his thoughts on Jake Newton, the San Jacinto native who survived the first round of training-camp cuts, but not the second.

"I think in some situations he played in, he was unsure of himself and made some decisions that showed his inexperience," the Ducks' head coach said. "We're asking a lot of a young player who had only played college and practice with our hockey club."

Carlyle praised the 22-year-old defenseman for his skating ability, size, skills, "moving the puck with authority," and "brain for the game." The coach, himself a former Norris Trophy-winning defenseman, said that Newton needs to move his feet more, and avoid "not backing up and being as close to the check as possible."

Newton wasn't expected to make the NHL roster. In his one exhibition game he had a goal and an assist, but Carlyle noticed a difference from practice to the game.

"When you see him skate in practice, it's not the same skating in the game," Carlyle said. "That tells you the player is a little bit away from his comfort zone."

Without Sunday's cuts (Trevor Smith, MacGregor Sharp, Timo Pielmeier, Jake Newton, Stephane Veilleux), the light at the end of the tunnel that is opening night was visible at today's practice (a long one, following a day off Sunday). The forward combos were significantly pared down:

Beleskey-Getzlaf-Perry
Green-Ryan-Selanne
Blake-Macenauer-Sexton
Voros-Koivu-Bodie
Carter-Chipchura-Parros-Marchant

A couple more notes:

The Ducks had a day off the ice Sunday, but it was a busy day of travel for six players released from training camp.

Center Trevor Smith, center MacGregor Sharp, goaltender Timo Pielmeier and defenseman Jake Newton were assigned to Syracuse of the American Hockey League. Igor Bobkov was assigned to his Ontario Hockey League team, the London Knights, and forward Stephane Veilleux was released from his pro tryout contract.

Only 30 players remain on the roster and the opening-day roster is starting to become more clear.

Roberto Luongo was in midseason form - playoff form, at times - as the Canucks spoiled the preseason debuts of Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu and Todd Marchant in Vancouver. Luongo's 28-save performance handed the Ducks their second loss of the preseason, following back-to-back wins over the San Jose Sharks.

Selanne and Bobby Ryan were linemates, as expected, until late in the third period. That's when the Ducks got their only goal - except it was the fourth line of Trevor Smith, Josh Green and George Parros that finally solved Luongo, with Green re-directing a Sheldon Brookbank slapshot in front of the net with 7:18 left.

Henrik Sedin, Guillaume Desbiens, Daniel Sedin and Jordan Schroeder scored goals on Jonas Hiller (21 saves), whose best chance of stopping any of the four came on Daniel Sedin's second-period, mano-a-mano slapshot. Yet even that scoring chance was created by a careless play by Selanne, who turned the puck over in the neutral zone.

The Ducks return home to play the Kings on Tuesday night at Staples Center.

The 15,872 who showed up at HP Pavilion got their money's worth for a mere exhibition, in which the Ducks and Sharks racked up nine goals and six separate fights.

Both coaches, who figured the game would merely be a good chance to tinker with their personnel in preparation for the regular season, probably got their money's worth, too.

Playing on a line with Aaron Voros, Corey Perry had three goals and Ryan Getzlaf had four assists. San Jacinto's Jake Newton scored his first of the preseason and Dan Sexton potted the game-winner with five minutes remaining.

Curtis McElhinney started in goal and stopped 18 of 20 shots in 29:25. Timo Pielmeier came on in relief to stop 22 of 24.

Veteran forwards Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu and Todd Marchant postponed their preseason debuts another day, likely until tomorrow night in Vancouver. Bobby Ryan also sat the game out. But Getzlaf and Perry more than held their own. Getzlaf had the primary assist on all of Perry's goals, as well as Newton's goal - which deflected into the net off San Jose's Derek Joslin. All four of Getzlaf's assists came on the power play.

Sexton took a nice pass from Jason Blake to beat Sharks goalie Harri Sateri with the game-winner.

Stephane Veilleux's second game of the preseason was limited to 2:20. He and Scott Nichol fought at 11:55 of the first period - the fourth fight in less than two minutes - and were promptly ejected.

A total of 12 players were cut from the Ducks' training camp roster today: Nick Bonino, Rob Bordson, Mat Clark, Nicolas Deschamps, Joe DiPenta, Brandon McMillan, Mark Mitera and Kyle Palmieri were assigned to American Hockey League affiliate Syracuse. Emerson Etem (Medicine Hat/WHL), Peter Holland (Guelph/OHL), Devante Smith-Pelly (Mississauga/OHL) and Scott Valentine (Oshawa/OHL) were assigned to their respective junior teams.

None of the assignments were unexpected. DiPenta, who had already signed an AHL contract, was in camp on a pro tryout but not expected to make the NHL team.

Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle said he was impressed with the Long Beach native Etem, a first-round draft pick in June and Smith-Pelly, a second-round pick.

Ryan Getzlaf had a goal and an assist as the Ducks skated to a 5-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks at Honda Center for their first win of the preseason.

 

Skating a more veteran lineup than in Tuesday's 4-1 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes, the Ducks were buoyed by the presence of several regulars. Jonas Hiller started in goal and stopped all 19 shots he faced in 32 minutes. Corey Perry also scored a goal and the line of he, Getzlaf and Matt Beleskey (two assists) combined for five points.

 

Aaron Voros, Danny Syvret and Jason Blake also scored for the Ducks. Timo Pielmeier finished in goal, stopping 19 of 21.

 

Cam Fowler, the 12th overall pick in the June draft, assisted on Syvret's second-period power play tally for his second assist in as many games.

 

The Ducks won despite being outshot 40-18 but otherwise held the edge on the stat sheet. Luca Sbisa (3) had as many blocked shots as the entire San Jose team and had five hits. 

 

The Sharks, in their first game of the preseason, failed to score on eight power-play opportunities, while the Ducks went 2-for-3.

An MRI on Jason Jaffray confirmed the torn ACL and a sprained MCL he sustained in a training-camp scrimmage last Saturday. Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle said that the team is still waiting to get a timetable for Jaffray's recovery.

"They have to wait for the swelling to go down before they can get a proper assessment on the extent of the damage," Carlyle said Tuesday.

Between the Ducks' morning skate and the media Game Notes, here's how it looks like the forwards will skate against the Sharks:

Beleskey-Getzlaf-Perry

Blake-Macenauer-Sexton

Bordson-Chipchura-Bodie

Veilleux-Bonino-Parros

Aaron Voros was also at the morning skate but wasn't listed in the game notes. Since Voros played last night, we're guessing that he'll be the only forward scratched if everyone else is healthy.

The defense pairs were harder to figure out (or I just need better glasses), but those on the ice today included Cam Fowler, Luca Sbisa, Brett Festerling, Sheldon Brookbank, Andy Sutton and Brendan Mikkelson. Danny Syvret was also on the ice, but wasn't listed in the Game Notes, so count him as the likely scratch. Timo Pielmeier and Jonas Hiller were the goalies.

Bobby Ryan took his first turn at center this preseason, and Emerson Etem and Cam Fowler made their debuts against NHL competition -- which might be the main reasons for the 12,382 in attendance at Honda Center to hold on to their ticket stubs from this night.

Ryan scored the Ducks' lone goal midway through the second period, giving Fowler his first assist on an NHL scoresheet. Phoenix dominated otherwise, outshooting the Ducks 40-21 and killing off eight of nine power plays. Former Duck Andrew Ebbett, Kyle Turris, Brett MacLean and Viktor Tikhonov did the damage for the Coyotes, with Curtis McElhinney (22 shots/20 saves) and J.P. Levasseur (20 shots/18 saves) splitting the bill evenly.

Ryan won just one of his first 8 faceoffs and finished 8 for 20 in the circle. A Ducks power play that had just three days to coalesce didn't fare much better than a penalty kill that allowed two goals in five man-advantage shifts for the Coyotes.

The Sharks invade Honda Center tomorrow night. The San Mercury News reports that Antero Niittymaki is likely to start between the pipes. No word from this end on who Randy Carlyle will trot out.

What a year for Matt Beleskey.

The 22-year-old forward entered training camp a year ago as a near-lock for the minors. Today, in the Ducks' preseason opener against the Phoenix Coyotes, he is slotted in as the Ducks' top-line left wing - a role he can reasonably expect to reprise when the regular season begins, if Bobby Ryan's switch to center becomes permanent.

A few notes from Day 3 of camp, easily the most interesting of the three days so far:

• The politically correct locker-room term is "chippiness." Call it what you will - 6-foot-6 defenseman Andy Sutton had to be separated from a couple teammates after making contact in open ice, and Corey Perry punched Dan Sexton in the head during the scrimmage.

Sexton upended Perry along the boards during the first 30-minute scrimmage session, sending both tumbling to the ice. Perry didn't like it, and jabbed his teammate's helmet. He also poked his stick into Sexton's back as the two reached the bench. The 5-foot-9, 165-pound Sexton didn't retaliate either time. Said head coach Randy Carlyle, "guys get tired playing and practicing against one another. We always call the third day of training camp the 'hump day.' ... They get a little grouchy playing against one another."

• Teemu Selanne scored past two goalies with one shot. How? The black team was in the middle of a goalie change (Igor Bobkov was about to be replaced by Curtis McElhinney) when Selanne put a backhand on net. The two netminders exchanged an awkward look, sort of like that "I got it/you take it" look between two infielders deciding who should catch a pop fly. No one touched the puck as it slid into the empty net.

• Selanne scored another goal, and Maxime Macenauer, Lubomir Visnovsky, Josh Green, Danny Syvret, Rob Bordson, Corey Perry and Sexton all scored one each in the White Team's 7-2 win.

The biggest news from the Ducks trainer's room pertains to a player who has been M.I.A. since camp started: Joffrey Lupul.

The forward wrote on his Twitter account earlier today that he has been cleared to skate. The exact quote: "After 10 mons I just got Medical clearance to start skating again. Gonna need a cpl months to get back in shape but I am ready for it!!"

*Update: False alarm. A team spokesperson confirmed that Lupul has not been cleared to skate yet. He's only been cleared to resume working out - good news considering the extent of Lupul's exercise regimen lately has been walking.

Lupul has been progressing from a recurrence of the blood infection he contracted last December, which ultimately ended his 2009-10 season.

Meanwhile, back at the rink ...

Joe DiPenta took part in drills and the scrimmage at Anaheim ICE, having lost a couple teeth Sunday. Toni Lydman was back in the gym, but not back on the ice, as he progresses from a bout of double vision.

For the first time all camp, you can put a lot of stock into these.

The Black Team is suiting up for tomorrow night's game against the Phoenix Coyotes. The White Team is not. Should anyone be worried that the Black team lost 7-2 in the intrasquad scrimmage? Only if you're on the Black Team, perhaps, but Randy Carlyle wanted to trot out a younger lineup in the Ducks' preseason debut - probably with an eye toward the first round of roster cuts.

That means if fans want to get a glimpse of Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu, Jonas Hiller, Todd Marchant, George Parros, Jason Blake, Kyle Chipchura, Andy Sutton, Sheldon Brookbank - and a couple others who will probably start the season in the NHL - the time is 10 a.m. tomorrow at Anaheim ICE. They get the night off.*

Bobby Ryan, Aaron Voros, Lubomir Visnovsky, Paul Mara and Ryan Carter won't be there, since they will be with leading youngsters into battle at the morning skate tomorrow at Honda Center.

Without further ado, then:

Day of 2 training camp was not kind to Jason Jaffray and Joe DiPenta.

DiPenta started the morning on the ice but finished with a visit to the dentist. A deflected puck struck the defenseman in the mouth and knocked out at least one tooth. He did not take part in the team's scrimmage.

The news was worse for Jaffray, whom the Ducks acquired in a June trade from Calgary for Logan MacMillan. The forward was diagnosed with a sprained medial collateral ligament and a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, which he suffered in an intrasquad scrimmage Saturday.

The forward lines were rather fluid during today's scrimmage at Anaheim ICE, although the defense pairs mostly stayed the same (in part because of the injury to Joe DiPenta). Here's how they were skating during drills:

White Team:

Smith-Pelly - Getzlaf - Palmieri
Blake - Bonino - Perry
Chipchura - Sharp - Voros
Green - Carter - McMillan
Parros, Veilleux

Festerling - Syvret
Fowler - Mikkelson
Mara - Clark
Sutton

Pielmeier
Bobkov
McElhinney

Black Team:

Beleskey - Koivu - Etem
Smith - Holland - Selanne
Deschamps - Ryan - Sexton
Bodie - Macenauer - Bordson
Marchant

Mitera - Sbisa
Valentine - Brookbank
Visnovsky - DiPenta
Newton

Hiller
Levasseur

Team A:

Nicolas Deschamps- Bobby Ryan - Dan Sexton
Matt Beleskey - Saku Koivu - Emerson Etem
Jason Jaffray - Peter Holland - Teemu Selanne
Rob Bordson - Maxime Macenauer - Trevor Smith
Todd Marchant - Troy Bodie

Lubomir Visnovsky - Sheldon Brookbank
Jake Newton - Joe DiPenta
Mark Mitera - Luca Sbisa

Jonas Hiller
J.P. Levasseur

Team B:

Kyle Palmieri - Ryan Getzlaf - Devante Smith-Pelly
Jason Blake - Nick Bonino - Corey Perry
Aaron Voros - Kyle Chipchura - MacGregor Sharp
Brandon McMillan - Ryan Carter - Josh Green
Stephane Veilleux - George Parros

Andy Sutton - Cam Fowler
Danny Syvret - Brendan Mikkelson
Brett Festerling - Mat Clark
Paul Mara

Curtis McEhinney
Timo Pielmeier
Igor Bobkov

Matt Beleskey, who scored 11 goals last season after becoming an NHL regular for the first time in his career, has been rewarded with a two-year contract extension.

Update: Beleskey will earn $666,667 this season, the final year of his entry-level contract, then $1.475 million over the next two seasons: $625,000 in 2011-12 and $850,000 in 2012-13.

The former fourth-round Ducks draft pick (2006) also had seven assists and 18 penalty minutes in 60 games last season. A high-energy player with a dangerous shot, Beleskey became a fixture in the Ducks' lineup at midseason and finished tied for 10th among NHL rookies in goals scored. He also tied for third among league rookies in game-winning goals (3), seventh in hits (94) and 10th in shots (123). Beleskey finished sixth among team leaders in goal scoring and tied for fourth in game-winners. Some of those numbers were helped by skating at left wing alongside Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry - a role Beleskey might be asked to reprise this season if the Ducks shift Bobby Ryan to a second-line center role, which has been discussed.

In 15 American Hockey League (AHL) games with San Antonio and Toronto last season, Beleskey earned 2-5=7 points with a plus-5 rating and 21 PIM.

The 22-year-old forward can rest a bit easier about his future in Anaheim, as he becomes one of just eight players signed through 2013 (Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan, Lupul, Visnovsky, Lydman and Hiller are the others). He also becomes a front-runner to win a third- or fourth-line left wing spot from a pack that includes Ryan Carter, Aaron Voros and Stephane Veilleux, who was invited to training camp on a pro tryout contract.

Defenseman Toni Lydman will miss the start of training camp with an acute episode of double vision. According to the team, he experienced the symptoms last week and has since undergone a battery of tests which have ruled out most major medical concerns but have not identified the problem.

The Ducks went out winners at the Young Stars tournament in Penticton, B.C., topping the Vancouver Canucks' rookies 4-2.

After two straight losses in which they were outmuscled for net position and looked lost on special teams, the kids turned it around in a major way. A pair of power-play goals, by Rob Bordson and Cam Fowler, staked the Ducks to a 2-0 lead through two periods.

In the third, Vancouver came back to tie the game at 2 against goaltender Timo Pielmeier, who lost the tournament opener Sunday. But center Maxime Macenauer, who spent all of last season with ECHL affiliate Bakersfield, scored the game-winner with less than three minutes to play. Kyle Palmieri's empty-net goal provided the final score.

The Ducks led in the shot column, 33-18, and Pielmeier needed only 16 saves for the win. Russian goalie Igor Bobkov was on the bench for the first time in the tournament, but the Ducks' third-round 2009 draft pick did not appear in the game.

Some of the rookie camp participants will take part in the Ducks' main camp, which begins Saturday in Anaheim.

Having filed the story for tomorrow's editions on the Bobby Ryan deal, I've got plenty of news and notes lying around that won't make it in ...

Bobby Ryan has agreed to stay in Anaheim on a 5-year, $25.5 million contract, ending a lengthy summer of negotiations between the Ducks and their leading goal scorer last season.

The contract averages out to a $5.1 million salary-cap hit, just below the $5.325 million cap hit of forwards Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry - exactly what Ryan told the team he wanted earlier this summer. The sticking point was the duration of the contract. The Ducks wanted to keep the 23-year-old under contract beyond 2013, when Getzlaf and Perry were set to become free agents. Ryan was believed to be seeking a shorter-team deal than Anaheim was willing to offer.

The Ducks haven't officially announced the contract. If it's approved by the NHL, Ryan will earn $3.25 million in actual salary next season and $5,562,500 each year thereafter. That will make him the team's second-highest paid player (to Getzlaf) beginning in 2011-12.

Ryan had 35 goals and 64 points last year, his first full season in Anaheim. He had 31 goals and 57 points the year before, when he was assigned to the American Hockey League out of training camp and appeared in 64 NHL games.

According to CapGeek.com, the Ducks will have $5,793,750 in salary-cap space once Ryan's contract is made official.

1:15 p.m.: The Ducks have announced the contract as official. A conference call with Ryan is underway.

Playing their second game in less than 24 hours, fatigue seemed to catch up to the Ducks' rookies in an 8-4 loss to the Calgary Flames at the Young Stars Tournament in Penticton, British Columbia.

Tied at 3 midway through the second period, the Flames rallied for five straight goals against Anaheim goalie Marco Cousineau, who allowed all eight in his first appearance of the tournament. Forward Jon Rheault, who split last season between the AHL and ECHL, had three goals and an assist for Calgary.

John Kurtz, Jake Newton, Devante Smith-Pelly and Jake Carrick scored for the Ducks, who were outshot 41-22. Calgary had four power-play goals to the Ducks' two. Cam Fowler and Peter Holland had assists on the goals by Kurtz and Newton, respectively.

"Penalty kill is a hard thing. You have to have special people that are committed to doing it - guys that are committed to blocking shots all the time," Mark Holick, coach of the rookie Ducks, told the team's website. "We didn't jump on loose pucks and we didn't put enough pressure on their power play. Your goalie is your best penalty killer and I thought maybe a couple of those he would like back too."

The Ducks will play their third and final tournament game Wednesday against the host Vancouver Canucks (4 p.m.), a game that will be streamed live on the Ducks' website.

Nick Bonino scored during a 5-on-3 power play for the Ducks' lone goal in a 4-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks in the opener for both teams in the Young Stars Tournament in Penticton, British Columbia.

The Ducks didn't lack for opportunities against San Jose goalie J.P. Anderson, an undrafted 18-year-old invitee from the Ontario Hockey League. But too often for their liking, Anderson made a great save, or watched the Ducks misfire.

Bonino broke up the shutout by scoring in a scramble in front of the net while the Ducks held their second two-man advantage of the period.

The Sharks scored two of their four goals on the power play. They mostlhy succeeded in creating traffic in front of Timo Pielmeier, a former San Jose prospect who was acquired along with Bonino for Kent Huskins and Travis Moen back in 2009.

The Ducks didn't create nearly as much traffic in front of Anderson and relied on the breakaway for most of their chances.

The game was streamed live on the Ducks' website in nearly high-definition quality, and the stream should be available again for tomorrow's game against the Calgary Flames (4 p.m.) and Wednesday's game against the host Vancouver Canucks (4 p.m.).

The NHLPA announced today that its Executive Board has voted to accept the recommendation of the search committee (Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf, the New Jersey Devils' Jamie Langenbrunner and Brian Rolston, the Red Wings' Brian Rafalski and free-agent defenseman Mathieu Schneider) that Don Fehr be named the next Executive Director.

The recommendation to appoint Fehr will next be submitted to the full NHLPA membership for consideration, along with amendments to the NHLPA Constitution that were approved by the Executive Board earlier this summer. The NHLPA press release didn't indicate what those amendments contain but, earlier this year, according to SportingNews.com:

Fehr addressed the [players'] agents to update them on the work he and the members of the constitution committee have done on rewriting the NHLPA's unwieldy constitution that will make it much easier for the executive director -- whether it's Fehr or somebody else -- to actually do his job. When Eric Lindros and his cabal of militants were in charge of things after the firing of Ted Saskin, they essentially swung the pendulum so far in favor of the players it essentially stripped the executive director of his power. And they did it against the advice of many who saw the new setup as unworkable.

How much autonomy can Fehr expect? According to a report in the New York Post, Fehr submitted a laundry list of requests that the NHLPA would first have to agree to before he accepted the Executive Director position:

- Salary of $3M per year to run through completion of collective bargaining after the current CBA expires following the 2011-12 season.

- Salary of $1.5M for the remainder of this year.

- Ability to use his brother, Steve Fehr, currently special counsel to the MLBPA after 23 years as outside counsel to the baseball players' union, as outside advisor/counsel.

- Autonomy relating to all personnel decisions within the union.

- Ability to live in New York.

- Permission to co-author a book about baseball with his brother, Steve Fehr.

- Permission to open a consulting firm, though with the express stipulation that his first priority at all times will be the NHLPA.

The Executive Director and Constitution membership votes are expected to conclude following individual team meetings that will take place during training camp and the first part of the regular season, and Fehr's appointment will not become official until that time.

In the interim, Fehr will continue to assist the NHLPA as a consultant.

"I am gratified by the Executive Board's vote, and I look forward to meeting all the Players at team meetings which begin later this month," Fehr said in the release.

Fehr, 62, joined the Major League Baseball Players Association as its General Counsel in 1977, and served as the MLBPA Executive Director for 26 years until he stepped down in December, 2009.

All three of the Ducks' games at the round-robin rookie tournament in Penticton, British Columbia will be streamed live at anaheimducks.com.

Twenty-five prospects were listed on the initial roster for competition against the host Vancouver Canucks, San Jose Sharks, Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers.

Sunday, Sept. 12: vs. San Jose at 7:30 p.m.
Monday, Sept. 13 vs. Calgary at 4 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 15 vs. Vancouver at 4 p.m.

Thirty-one players have been guaranteed a roster spot in the Ducks' training camp. Restricted free agent Bobby Ryan is one of them.

This isn't neccessarily a surprise, as Ryan has been working out at Anaheim ICE most of this month with many of his past (and presumed future) teammates. Negotiations between the Ducks and Ryan's agent have continued behind closed doors, with the two sides seemingly close enough for one reporter to jump the gun on a new contract. In that sense, nothing has changed -- Ryan doesn't want to be holding out for a contract once camp starts, and the team wants him there, too.

But of course, he can't actually show up without having signed something first.

The Ducks have announced their roster that leaves Friday for a five-team tournament in Penticton, British Columbia.

The list of 25 players includes 2010 draft picks Cam Fowler, Emerson Etem and Devante Smith-Pelly; 2009 first-rounders Peter Holland and Kyle Palmieri; and San Jacinto product Jake Newton, whom the Ducks signed as a free agent earlier this year.



The complete roster:

Most signs, if not all, point to this season being Teemu Selanne's last in the NHL. So it was easy to accept his quote (translated from Finnish) in the Aug. 27 edition of Helsingin Sanomat at face value: "This is my last year on the ice."

Not necessarily, Selanne said Wednesday.

"Especially at the end of last season, I had so much fun it's hard to say I don't want to play anymore," he said after taking part in an informal practice at Anaheim ICE. "The passion, the fun of the game - if I still have it (in 2011-12) I still want to play."

The 40-year-old winger has considered retiring three times in the last four years - in 2007, after the Ducks won the Stanley Cup, in 2008 before signing a two-year contract, and again after last season before signing a one-year contract in August.

If anything, Selanne is comfortable making light of his indecision.

"Even my wife doesn't believe me anymore, so maybe nobody should," he joked.

New York Post columnist Larry Brooks wrote on his Twitter account earlier today that Bobby Ryan and the Ducks had reached agreement on a five-year contract worth "approximately $5.5M per," citing a "Source."

But the usually reliable and well-connected Brooks wrote shortly afterward that "Don Meehan, Ryan's agent, rebuts/contradicts our source on Ryan deal, says nothing is done."

Indeed, there was no contract in place and Ryan remains a restricted free agent.

Earlier this summer, Ryan told Ducks general manager Bob Murray that he wanted to be paid slightly less than star forwards Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. The team's highest-paid players are making an average of $5.325 per season through 2013, so it's unlikely that Ryan would be offered more than that.

Anaheim is believed to be offering a five-year deal. It's unlikely the Ducks want to sign Ryan to a three-year contract that would expire at the same time as Getzlaf and Perry's, but that is what Ryan is believed to be seeking.

So the wait continues.

The Ducks announced a TV package today that will see 81 of 82 games broadcast live -- the other is being blacked out by Versus -- and all 81 in high definition.

That last bit of information will come as welcome news to fans who had grown accustomed to squinting to find the puck during regular-defintion broadcasts on KDOC (Channel 56). The Santa Ana-based station has upgraded its equipment to show 17 games in Hi-Def this season. Prime Ticket and Fox Sports West will air an additional 63 games, with the three games between the Kings and Ducks at Staples Center featuring the Kings' broadcast crew behind the microphone.

The game at Boston on Dec. 20 (4:30 p.m.) will air nationally on Versus. The only game the Ducks will not televise in 2010-11 is the Dec. 21 game at Buffalo (4:30 p.m.), due to a mandatory blackout window during another Versus telecast.

Play-by-play man John Ahlers and analyst Brian Hayward return for their eighth year together as the television broadcast team.

 

The Ducks will open training camp on Saturday, September 18 at Anaheim Ice.

Times, as well as dates for the rest of camp, will be announced next week. The opening sessions are usually free to the public.

Next week, the team also will release the roster for its rookie tournament, to be held Sept. 12-16 in Penticton, B.C.