Syvret, Bordson traded to Philadelphia for two AHLers.

Danny Syvret and Rob Bordson’s time in the Ducks organization did not last long.

On Sunday, Syvret and Bordson were traded to Philadelphia for a pair of forwards off the Flyers’ American Hockey League roster, Patrick Maroon and David Laliberte. Syvret’s opportunities for advancement figured to dwindle when the Ducks got defenseman Andy Sutton back off injured reserve Sunday.

More than that, their AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch were having trouble scoring.

“We were trying to get a little bit of help up front down there,” Ducks general manager Bob Murray said. “We’ve
had guys in and out of the lineup. We had a chance to get a couple of
wingers that we like. You have to give a little to get that. We went out
and made the change.”

Maroon, who had five goals and eight points in nine games for the Adirondack Phantoms, and Laliberte (2 goals, 8 points in 18 games for Adirondack) should be able to help with the scoring. A former
sixth-round draft pick by the Flyers in 2007, Maroon has yet to reach
the NHL.

According to the Philadelphia Daily News, Maroon was the Phantoms’ leading scorer through eight games before being dismissed
for what the organization termed as “behavioral issues” and “attitude
problems.”
Continue reading “Syvret, Bordson traded to Philadelphia for two AHLers.” »

Sbisa up; Syvret, Beleskey, Sexton down.

In a busy day of transactions for the Ducks, defenseman Luca Sbisa is coming back from Syracuse, while defenseman Danny Syvret and forwards Matt Beleskey and Dan Sexton were assigned to the Crunch.

It’s no surprise that the Ducks were looking for reinforcements after a grueling overtime win Tuesday night in San Jose. After starting the season slowly in Anaheim, Sbisa had rediscovered his scoring touch in eight AHL games, posting two goals, nine points and a plus-2 rating for the Crunch. Syvret had a goal and an assist in six games for the Ducks, but had been a healthy scratch the last four games.

Sexton (who missed seven games with a broken nose) and Beleskey (who missed six games with a concussion) have been deemed healthy to play – just not in Anaheim. Neither player had scored a goal this season, and prospects Nick Bonino and Kyle Palmieri were recalled for what has been a mostly successfully NHL audition in the meantime.

Their audition figures to continue tonight at Honda Center against the New York Islanders.

The 23-year-old Sexton hasn’t appeared in an AHL game since last season’s Calder Cup playoffs, when he appeared in six games for the Manitoba Moose. In 41 games with the Ducks last season with the Ducks, the right wing had nine goals and 19 points.

Beleskey appeared in just 15 AHL games at the beginning of last season prior to being recalled to Anaheim, where he had 11 goals and 18 points in 60 games last season. The 22-year-old winger was rewarded with a two-year contract extension in training camp, and with regular playing time alongside Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf in the regular season.

New Jersey 2, Ducks 1.

Based on the Ducks’ last nine games, the smart bet is an Anaheim win tomorrow in San Jose.

The Ducks failed to win back-to-back games again Friday, this time at the hands of the current cellar-dwellers of the NHL standings. An inspired effort by Jason Blake resulted in the game’s first goal, a second-chance power-play tally at 8:07 of the second period.

That was the first, last and only time the horn wound sound inside Honda Center. Jamie Langenbrunner answered at 10:39 by sneaking a short-side shot between Jonas Hiller and the goal post to even the game at 1.

The game-winner proved to be Patrik Elias’ one-timer at 1:54 of the third period. Alexander Vasyunov created the scoring chance by intercepting a long Danny Syvret pass in the neutral zone and teeing the puck up for Elias in the high slot.

Hiller finished with 25 saves, but Martin Brodeur turned in a vintage 27-save perforamance. The Ducks held the offensively inept Devils to 27 shots, the second-fewest by a Ducks opponent this season.

“We turned the puck over, especially in the first half of the game, far too many times,” head coach Randy Carlyle said. “We knew the New Jersey Devils were going to play that typical trapping style in the neutral ice. We forced pucks into that area too many times. Consequently, they had a good margin of play in our zone for about half of the game.

“We started to get away from it, were putting pucks in and got our forechecking game going. We seemed to play better, then we made a costly turnover early in the third period and they scored a goal.”

 

Detroit 5, Ducks 4.

Try as they might – and they tried mightily on Saturday – the Ducks simply can’t win a game at Joe Louis Arena.

Leading 4-3 after two periods, Anaheim let one get away when Pavel Datsyuk scored the game-winning goal with 11.4 seconds left in the game. Bobby Ryan, Ryan Carter, Danny Syvret, Teemu Selanne scored goals and Curtis McElhinney made 36 saves in a losing effort.
Continue reading “Detroit 5, Ducks 4.” »

Columbus 3, Ducks 1.

Teemu Selanne’s 609th career goal wasn’t enough for the Ducks, who gave up two quick goals in the second period, and an empty-netter late, in the opening game of their four-game road trip.

With Columbus leading 2-0, Lubomir Visnovsky hit Jason Blake with a long pass, then Blake dropped the puck for Selanne skating up the left wing. His 12-foot shot was the only puck that got past Steve Mason (31 saves).

Jonas Hiller stopped 19 of 21 shots, allowing goals to Derek Mackenzie and Rick Nash. Nash’s empty netter with Hiller on the bench at 19:32 of the final period provided the final score.

Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler missed the game with a broken nose and Danny Syvret made his Ducks debut, playing 15:27 alongside partner Sheldon Brookbank.

More to come.

Mikkelson to Calgary; Syvret up.

Defenseman Brendan Mikkelson has been claimed off waivers by the Calgary Flames, and defenseman Danny Syvret has been recalled from AHL affiliate Syracuse to take his place on the Ducks roster.

Mikkelson appeared in five games this season, posting one assist
and seven penalty minutes after winning one of the final defenseman
spots in training camp. A second-round draft pick by the Ducks in 2005, the 23-year-old Mikkelson was a healthy scratch Sunday against the Phoenix Coyotes. He
had been averaging 19:24 time on ice — fourth among Anaheim defensemen and sixth on the team
overall.

In 67 NHL games, all with the Ducks, Mikkelson had no goals, five assists and 38 penalty minutes. Only two members of the Ducks’ six-man 2005 draft class remain with the team: Bobby Ryan and Syracuse goalie Jean-Phillippe Levasseur.

Mikkelson lasted longer in training camp than Syvret, who was himself placed on waivers Sept. 30 before being assigned to Syracuse. Syvret appeared in three preseason games with the Ducks, recording a goal, an assist and a minus-1 rating. The 25-year-old had two assists in four games with the Crunch, and has 49 games, two goals and three assists to his credit in the NHL.

Festerling, Syvret waived. Update.

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.
Continue reading “Festerling, Syvret waived. Update.” »

News and notes from practice.

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:

Continue reading “News and notes from practice.” »

Ducks 5, San Jose 2.

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.

More notes from Day 3.

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.