Duck bits

This is the worst time of the offseason. The free agency frenzy has ended, the NHL schedule has been released, the Hall of Fame inductees have already been announced, and training camp hasn't started yet.

What is a hockey fan to do?

Why, you spend a lazy day off work trolling the internet for bits of hockey news, of course! I've found a smattering of tasty treats to temporarily curb the hockey withdrawal of the Duck faithful.

First, a few headlines and announcements.

- The Ducks have named a new goalie consultant, Pete Peeters, formerly with the Edmonton Oilers. I personally do not know anything about this guy, except that he won the Vezina trophy some odd 348 years ago. I'm hoping he turns out to be a good fit for Jonas Hiller and J.S. Giguere, particularly with Hiller because I don't want to see our Swiss Shark Killer packing his bags once his contract is up next year!

- Petteri Nokelainen signed a one-year contract extension. Yay, Nokie will be with us a little longer. I like this guy. How many times did we see him breakaway with the puck on a short handed turnover? I want to see him putting those pucks in the back of a net this next season. Maybe having fellow countrymen Selanne and Koivu on the team will help.

- Ducks Tweetup at the Science Discovery Center. The wonderful friends I've made recently through Twitter will be meeting up at the Science Discovery Center to enjoy the Ducks hockey exhibit there in late August. We might have some Ducks personalities in attendance. Yours truly will bring Rebel.

- NHL.com is doing the "30 in 30." They'll be covering all thirty NHL teams during the 30 days of August. The 31st will be a smorgasbord of extras and fan treats. It all starts with our very own Anaheim Ducks on the 1st. That's this Saturday!

And now for the visual part of today's entry. "The Element" has put out some new videos, footage from the roadtrip to Vegas for the NHL Awards, and then some footage from the red carpet ceremony. Once again, yours truly managed to get her mug on there, at approximately 57 seconds into the clip. I also noticed my new Ducks friend Polka Dot got on there too, at 23 seconds in.

Here's the roadtrip:



And then the red carpet:



And lastly, just a few favorite YouTube Duck clips of mine. Always fun to watch and re-watch! Here's Chris Pronger's surprise appearance. Corey Perry is mic'ed up during this play. So is Ryan Getzlaf at a Youngstars game. The "brat," by the way, is Teemu's kid. Perry and Getzlaf duking it out, with Getzlaf completely owning. And finally, a favorite interview with Perry and Getzlaf, despite the sad editing to include the interviewer.

I can't wait for the season to start!