All-Star voting begins today.

Teemu Selanne, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan are on the ballot for the NHL All-Star Game, which will be played Jan. 30 at the RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C. Voting began at midnight and closes Jan. 3 at vote.nhl.com.

Ryan has never appeared in an All-Star Game in three NHL seasons. Perry played in the 2008 game; Getzlaf appeared in the 2008 and 2009 contests and Selanne invented the game as a youth. Not quite, but he got his first All-Star bid as a 23-year-old in 1993 and has played in 10 Games during in his 18-year career.

Selanne could well make it 11. He is tied with Getzlaf for ninth in the league in scoring with 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists) in 19 games. Perry is tied for fifth with 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists). Ryan is tied for 19th with 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) and his plus-7 rating – for whatever that is worth in fan balloting – is the highest of the Ducks’ quartet.

Interesting to note: Jean-Sebastien Giguere (2.62 GAA, .899 save pct.) is on the ballot. Jonas Hiller (2.83 GAA, .920 save pct.) is not. The other ex-Ducks on the ballot include Chris Pronger (Philadelphia) and Ilya Bryzgalov (Phoenix).

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.

Getzlaf, Perry shine in Canada’s win.

Scoreless after one period with Norway, Team Canada suddenly realized it was Canada and finished off an 8-0 victory in its Olympic opener on Tuesday in Vancouver.

Ducks teammates Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry each had a goal for the host squad. Scott Niedermayer had an assist, as did former Duck Chris Pronger.

Getzlaf and Perry played on the same line, usually at left and right wing, respectively, centered by the Carolina Hurricanes’ Eric Staal. Getzlaf and Perry also enjoyed some power-play time on either side of center Sidney Crosby.

Pronger and Niedermayer were split up for the most part, defying prognosticators, as head coach Mike Babcock used the game against an easy opponent to mix-and-match. But at one point during a second-period power play, Staal was at center with Getzlaf, Perry, Niedermayer and Pronger.

Canada plays Switzerland in its next game

Niedermayer, Giguere, Pronger on SI’s all-decade team

Sports Illustrated senior hockey writer Michael Farber has chosen three standouts from the Ducks’ 2007 Stanley Cup-winning squad for the magazine’s all-decade team, part of a series of all-decade teams in the major sports that will hit newsstands tomorrow.


Scott Niedermayer was named a first-team defenseman, along with Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom. Jean-Sebastien Giguere was chosen the second-team goalie (behind Martin Brodeur), and is joined by defenseman Chris Pronger.

Also, Mike Babcock was named the all-decade head coach. Babcock got his first NHL head coaching job with the Mighty Ducks in 2002, leading the team to the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals, before joining the Detroit Red Wings in 2005-06.