Recently in Anaheim Ducks/NHL Category
"I don't know if there is a good time" to face the Chicago Blackhawks, Ryan Getzlaf said Thursday, but tomorrow might be as good as any for the Ducks.
They have won three of four to start their current homestand. Even the lone loss, a 4-3 defeat at the hands of San Jose on Saturday, was "the best game we played this year," in the words of head coach Randy Carlyle. Their two wins since, a pair of 3-2 decisions against Calgary and Carolina, matched the Ducks' longest winning streak in a difficult season.
To win an unprecedented third straight, they'll have to slow a runaway L-train that has won eight in a row, including a 7-2 blowout Wednesday in San Jose.
Evgeny Artyukhin did an interview (in Russian) with RussianHockeyFans.com. Much like a New Jersey-based reporter asking Scott Niedermayer if he could possibly join the Devils this season, this KHL-slanted interview yields some interesting answers. But Artyukhin makes it clear he's not jumping ship any time soon: "I'm going to spend the rest of this season in the NHL fullfilling my contract, which expires this summer. And after it I will be open for offers, if I get any -- I'm ready to get in talks."
Also, 2009 draft pick Igor Bobkov began play for the Russian Junior Selects in Victoria last night, stopping 40 shots in a 2-1 loss to the Western Hockey League all-stars. Here's the recap from the Victoria Times-Colonist:
Six-foot-four Russian goalkeeper Igor Bobkov, a 2009 Anaheim Ducks third-round draft pick from Metallurg Magnitogorsk, was outstanding in holding the WHL at bay for as long as he could.The WHL, which held a glaring territorial advantage, finally broke through when Levko Koper, a seventh-round draft pick of the Atlanta Thrashers, snapped a wrist shot past Bobkov at 1:00 of the third period to make it 1-0.
"He [Bobkov] played great the whole game but we kept on doing what we were doing," said Koper, who plays for the Spokane Chiefs.
Teemu Selanne, Scott Niedermayer and Petteri Nokelainen scored goals, and Corey Perry registered an assist to extend his NHL-leading scoring streak to 16 games.
Jean-Sebastien Giguere started and won his second straight game with a 28-save performance.
More details in tomorrow's editions.
The Ducks have re-assigned goaltender Justin Pogge to the San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League.
Pogge joins two goaltenders in San Antonio -- Al Montoya and Josh Tordjman -- assigned by their parent NHL club, the Phoenix Coyotes.
Two goaltenders were the last to leave the ice at the Ducks' practice Tuesday. One was Jonas Hiller. The other, donning the full pads and a goalie mask, was Pete Peeters.
Yes, the Ducks' new goaltending consultant is impossible to miss when he's on the ice. And while he advocates the pads-on approach, Peeters isn't being paid to turn heads in practice, but rather make the Ducks' goalies better in games.
It's been working so far on the current homestand; Peeters flew in from Edmonton to work with Hiller and Jean-Sebastien Giguere, and was pleased with the efforts of each in his last start. Hiller allowed three goals in a loss Saturday to the San Jose Sharks, the league's highest-scoring team, and Giguere surrendered two goals against Calgary en route to his first win of the season Monday.
What words of wisdom did Peeters impart?
"Basically it's making sure that we're having the proper depth in the crease when we're facing a rush or an in-zone play," Peeters said. "That we're far enough on top of the crease or are in the crease without taking ourselves out of a play, being able to put pressure on the play with good depth in the net."
In other words, nothing too profound -- merely getting back to the basic aggressiveness that seems to have eluded the Ducks' duo at times. Their 3.32 goals allowed per game rank 27th of 30 teams in the league.
When he was hired in July, Peeters said, he promised Ducks general manager Bob Murray that he would be available to the team in an emergency. This was a scheduled visit, not an emergency, though the Ducks' place in the Western Conference standings (eight points back of eighth place) might qualify as one.
Certainly Giguere's performance Monday was badly needed, if not overdue, for both the team and the goalie.
"Pete's been trying to make me a little bit more aggressive," Giguere said. "I tried to remind myself of that (Monday) when I played -- be aggressive, make sure that you challenge ... and it seemed to work.
"You forget when you're in a slump ... how to play sometimes.
You need to be reminded. I'm going to have to keep thinking about it for a
little while, for sure."
Eric Staal is back in the Carolina Hurricanes' lineup.
The team said Wednesday it activated the All-Star center from injured reserve and says he is eligible to play later that night at Anaheim.
The 25-year-old missed 10 games with an upper body injury sustained Nov. 1 against San Jose. He had three goals and two assists in the Hurricanes' first 13 games before he was hurt.
Before he missed a game at Florida on Nov. 4, Staal had skated in 349 consecutive games -- the second-longest string in franchise history.
This piece on ESPN.com about Brendan Burke, the son of former Ducks general manager Brian Burke, could be an important one for anyone with a passing interest in sports.
About J.P.
J.P. Hoornstra has been covering the Anaheim Ducks since 2007. Eight months after the University of Wisconsin won its third NCAA hockey championship, he was born in a frigid Madison winter. He betrayed his blue-blooded beginnings by graduating from UCLA in 2003, and welcomes any and all dialogue on the finer points of hockey.
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