Down on the farm, some Ducklings are hatching.

The Syracuse Crunch can loosely be broken down into two
groups of players: Those who are still developing, and those you might see in
Anaheim this season.

Nick Bonino and Kyle Palmieri cut to the front of the
promotion line with strong performances last week. By Wednesday they were in
Ducks uniforms, playing against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

That might have been ahead of the curve for both, who are
just beginning their first full season in professional hockey. Even though
Ducks fans have been hearing about Bonino and Palmieri for more than a year, if
anything they have been fast-tracked to the NHL.

“In baseball, most of the top prospects get put into
Single-A and work their way up,” said David McNab, the Ducks’ senior vice
president of hockey operations. “It doesn’t appear that they draft a player and
immediately stick them in Triple A. that’s what the American League is:
Triple-A baseball. It’s a tough league. There’s a lot of veteran hockey players
in the American Hockey League who are great players. It takes time.”

Continue reading “Down on the farm, some Ducklings are hatching.” »

Ducks 3, Tampa Bay 2, OT.

Kyle Palmieri’s first NHL goal, in his first NHL game, came with 4:20 left in the third period of a game the Ducks were trailing 2-1. Ryan Getzlaf showed up on the scoresheet with 2:07 left in overtime.

Clutch scoring and tight defense against the NHL’s highest-scoring team almost seemed to much to ask from the Ducks, but it was exactly what the announced crowd of 13,034 was treated to Wednesday.
Continue reading “Ducks 3, Tampa Bay 2, OT.” »

Kyle Palmieri recalled from Syracuse.

Recognizing the need for more offense against the NHL’s best offensive club, the Ducks have recalled right wing Kyle Palmieri from AHL affiliate Syracuse.

In his second week as a professional hockey player, the 19-year-old had five goals in three games last week for the Crunch to earn AHL player of the week honors. For the season Palmieri had seven goals (tied for the league lead) and nine points in nine games.

On Monday the Ducks recalled Nick Bonino, who had been centering the line with Palmieri and left wing Nicolas Deschamps, and the two could will be paired together (according to Randy Carlyle) tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“It’s all positives when you’ve got young players in their first foray into the American Hockey League and they’re playing to a top level,” Carlyle said Tuesday.

Ducks assistant general manager David McNab said Tuesday that Palmieri and Bonino will both have to prove they can perform at the NHL level before determining whether they can be counted on long-term to help the Ducks. But Palmieri’s accomplishments in a short time in the AHL speak for themselves.

“I don’t know if there’s another 19-year-old in the AHL or not. Most guys are in junior until they’re 20,” McNab said. “Very few under-20 players play in that league. He’s walked in and scored goals, done everything that you wanted. He’s been – not a surprise – but to play this well this early, and score as many goals as he has, just his play all around as well, he’s a guy who likes to shoot the puck, likes to score goals, gets chances and plays hard. In a 30-team league and your second week as a pro hockey player, to be player of the week in the AHL, not many guys do that.”

More from McNab on the development of other Ducks prospects in the AHL in a future blog soon.

Chipchura day-to-day with concussion; Bonino next in line?

Kyle Chipchura was diagnosed with a concussion and placed on injured reserve Tuesday, the result of a hard hit delivered by San Jose Sharks defenseman Douglas Murray on Saturday. The center is listed as day-to-day.

Chipchura joins forwards Matt Beleskey (concussion), Dan Sexton (broken nose) and Joffrey Lupul (blood infection/back), along with defenseman Andy Sutton (thumb) on a growing injured list for the Ducks. He’ll miss games Wednesday and Friday and is eligible to return Sunday at the earliest.

For Chipchura, who hasn’t had a concussion since his final junior season of 2005-06, Sunday could be a realistic goal.

“I think it’s very mild,” he said. “Talking to other people, when they had more
severe (concussions), this seems nothing like that. I just got a little
discomfort with headache. Nothing too major. The neck is really the most
uncomfortable thing.”

Nick Bonino was summoned from AHL affiliate Syracuse on Monday. He has practiced with the team the last two days and is a candidate to take Chipchura’s place in the lineup tomorrow against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Bonino had a subpar training camp – by his own estimation and that of head coach Randy Carlyle. With some motivation behind him, Bonino rebounded nicely in Syracuse, posting seven assists and nine points in eight games on a line with Kyle Palmieri and Nicolas Deschamps.

“Training camp was just a new experience,” Bonino said. “I wasn’t totally happy with the way I played, confidence-wise I was kind of nervous. Everyone is. I certainly didn’t play like I thought I could play.”

Bonino wore a fourth-line jersey Tuesday along with Aaron Voros, Josh Green and George Parros (who shaved his moustache for “Movember.” It looks weird.)

It’s official: Fowler will remain in Anaheim.

Cam Fowler was not playing hockey when he knew he had arrived, so to speak, as a full-fledged NHL defenseman.

“The last few days they told me to start moving some of my stuff into Scotty (Niedermayer)’s house and get my car out here,” he said. “That was kind of a good tip that at least they were going to keep me around for a little while.’

It became official Tuesday when Ducks general manager Bob Murray announced that he intends to keep the 18-year-old defenseman in the NHL this season. Fowler, who has played six games and is set to play his seventh on Wednesday, could have played up to nine games before Murray had to keep him or return him to his junior squad, the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League.
Continue reading “It’s official: Fowler will remain in Anaheim.” »

After two years on the job, evaluating Bob Murray.

Almost as soon as Randy Carlyle was rumored to be on the hot seat (see here, here and here) Bob Murray usurped an undesirable share of responsibility for the Ducks’ 4-7-1 start (see here and here).

The general manager has certainly traded away his share of popular players (Chris Pronger, Chris Kunitz, J.S. Giguere) and acquired some underachievers (Ryan Whitney, Evgeny Artyukhin, Petteri Nokelainen, Nick Boynton). He’s also had to cope with a shrinking internal budget in a time when many teams are pushing closer to a rising salary-cap ceiling – not to mention the fact that he inherited a team in November 2008 with only eight players signed beyond the end of the season.

A little research reveals some more specifics. We research, you decide:

Continue reading “After two years on the job, evaluating Bob Murray.” »

Palmieri named AHL Player of the Week.

Prospect Kyle Palmieri was rewarded Monday for his big week with AHL affiliate Syracuse.

The 19-year-old right wing, who had five goals and an assist in three games, is the league’s Player of the Week. Palmieri notched his first career hat trick in a 5-4 loss to the Hamilton Bulldogs on Wednesday, had the game-tying goal in a 4-3 loss to the Hershey Bears Friday, and the go-ahead goal and an assist in 3-2 win over the Albany River Rats on Saturday.

The 26th overall pick in the 2009 draft, Palmieri now co-leads the AHL with seven goals. His nine points are tied for second among AHL rookies. He was tied for the team scoring lead with Nick Bonino, who was recalled Monday by the Ducks.