Anaheim Ducks in a Roll

What's one of my favorite things... besides Ducks hockey? Sushi! So when my Ducks Twitter pal Emily invited me as her guest to the Ducks first annual "Get Your Anaheim Ducks in a Roll" event, I was giddy with anticipation for days.

The event itself turned out to be better than either of us could have imagined. Of course, I brought Baby Rebel (pictures at all allowed events are a must) and also, for the fun of it, I brought my "Bobbyhead" (credit goes to Adam Brady) for coining the name.

Note: the lighting inside RA Sushi was elegantly beautiful to the eye, harshly cruel to the camera.


RA Sushi at Tustin's District

Not knowing anything beforehand about this event, the guests were brought up to speed by none other than John Ahlers.



Ducks James Wisniewski, Scott Niedermayer, Saku Koivu, and Mike Brown were on hand to roll their own sushi creations, with help from the RA Sushi chefs, of course. Samples of each Duck roll could be tasted, along with sake testers. If you wanted to purchase a roll or sake drink, you could and a portion of the money would be donated to the Anaheim Ducks Foundation charity. Also, each roll purchase would count as a "vote" for that particular roll.

There were also judges on hand to rate our boys' creations on various measures such as presentation, best name, creativity, taste, etc. At the end of the night, the votes would be tallied and the winning roll announced. That roll will be part of the menu at RA Sushi until November 6th, with a portion of the proceeds still going to the Ducks charity.

What a unique idea! Let's see some pictures...


Bobby would enjoy a "Zamboni" sake drink too, if he was tall enough...


Duck sushi rolls: "The Big Wisniewski" roll, "When You're Finnish, You'll Want More SAKU!" roll, "Great Scott" roll, and "Lucky #13" roll


Mike Brown, watching and learning




Saku Koivu: "This is so much fun! But you know, it's a lot harder than it looks."


Scott Niedermayer, calm and focused as always


Me: "So this is what you guys are doing during the offseason, eh?"
Wiz: "Oh heck yeah!"


Saku: "What is that stuff?"
Wiz: "Beats me, but it tastes awesome so I'm putting it in my roll!" (improvised by the blogger)




Wiz and Scotty proudly showing off their culinary creations


Mikey putting the finishing touches on his roll: "Pine nuts! That's where it's at!"


Me: "Saku! Will you and Scotty be in a picture for me?" He so wonderfully obliged... and I got the sushi chef too


Bobby gave all the rolls two thumbs, and a hockey stick, up


Why is Saku holding a spoon and a bottle of Sriracha?



All of the rolls were excellent, however I did end up voting for Scotty's "Great Scott" roll. Saku's roll was a close second for me, while Mikey's was a little too unique for my taste buds. After all of the votes were tallied, Wiz's "The Great Wisniewski" roll won and will be featured at RA Sushi for the next month.


Scotty, Bobby, and Emily

To top off an already amazing night, yours truly won the raffle for the team-signed Ducks jersey.



If you get a chance to attend this incredible event next year, I highly recommend you go!

Ducks 2009 exhibition

Our hometown heroes went out on a high note with their last preseason game. This one, played at the Ponda against the LA Kings, saw what will most likely resemble our offensive lines and defensive pairings when the puck drops for this Saturday's season opener against the San Jose Sharks.

Ducks managed to keep an edge above the Kings to win it 5-4, the majority of our goals coming from the infamous Legion of Doom line of Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, and Bobby Ryan. My boy Bobby netted two of those goals and earned the assist on another. The other goal undoubtedly had the Duck suits voicing an emphatic, "Yup, that's why we did that," as it came off a beautiful pass from Teemu Selanne speeding up the right wing, to Saku Koivu in the center who quickly tapped it to Joffrey Lupul on the left wing for a hammered home goal top-shelf.

The Ducks roster is just a few men from being complete. Yours truly has a few remarks on how things are shaping up:

Matthew Beleskey, Matt McCue, Dan Sexton, Brett Festerling, Mark Mitera, and Timo Pielmeier were all sent down to the minors. Yours truly is no hockey coach, nor do I claim to know anything about what would earn a player a spot on the roster, but I thought these boys put on an impressive show in training camp and exhibition games. Whether the issue is usability (if the Ducks actually need a player right now who possesses some of the skills these boys displayed), or just not thinking a player is ready for the NHL, I'm hoping to see them get a shot later in the season. Especially Pielmeier who, in my opinion, impressed more than Justin Pogge (our supposed #3 netminder).

The #1 goaltender has yet to be determined. J.S. Giguere and Jonas Hiller appear to be equally effective so far. While Hiller pulls a few moves that continue to make me VERY nervous (he tends to leave the crease and fall horribly out of position trying to get back in), he is still holding his own. I'm proud of Jiggy for what looks to be a much improved performance over last season, but I think many more games need to be played before we have a winner.

Despite retaining Scott Niedermayer on our blue line, the Ducks defense can use some work. Scotty can only do so much on his own, this I realize. To their credit, Ryan Whitney and James Wisniewski have stepped up their game quite a bit, but I can still feel some huge holes where Chris Pronger and Frankie Beauchemin once were. Here's hoping more gelling goes on between all of the new defensive faces and our older ones. And by "older," we're only really speaking about guys who've been with the team since the last trade deadline, 'cept Scotty, of course.

The Ducks have continued their love of the sin bin. One thing is true: our penalty killing is going to have to get a whole lot better because penalties still seem to be our Ducks' middle name. I do like the Big Man, Evgeny Artyukhin, and I cheer for him every time I see him out on the ice. Heck, he's hard to miss. But Arty draws a lot of penalties. He's going to have to work on that. There's a fine line between a large, effective player and a blundering oaf who becomes a liability.

This time around, size does matter. There's a huge difference having little Andrew Ebbett on that second line with Koivu and Selanne versus Lupul. Yes, Ebbett did a remarkable job centering Selanne last season. But now that Lupes is an option, and a very viable one at that, I'm not sure where that will leave Ebbett. Unfortunately, with him on that second line, there just isn't enough size and physicality. Neither Koivu nor Selanne are big, physical players. With Ebbett as the third forward, a match up with the opponent's larger players completely shuts down that line. But with Lupes, there's at least a little equaling out of the size difference. And since we're seeing Lupes gel with his Finnish teammates, I couldn't blame coach Carlyle for favoring him over Ebbett in that role. As for other line possibilities for Ebbett, he doesn't fit in the top six, but he seems too small for the bottom six. While I would hate to see Ebbett go, he plays with such heart that you can't help but love him, he would probably make excellent trade bait for a team that would appreciate and make use of his abilities.

Either way, the fans and the players are ready and anxious for the season to start. I've got a good feeling about our Ducks this time around, hopefully it turns out to be more than a feeling.

I should be able to update and finalize the side bar pictures shortly. Shooting pictures at numerous events throughout the preseason, I believe I'll be able to replace a majority of those pictures with ones that I've taken myself. As for the blog entries, I'm debating whether I should retain the format from last season, where the game entries are mostly play-by-plays? A more time-efficient approach would be simply to provide a performance review with impressions and such. For the games I actually attend, of course, I will have pictures to supplement what would be a standard review. Any reader suggestions/comments are encouraged and welcomed!

Next up, the annual Meet the Team event this Wednesday...

Ducks vs Phoenix Coyotes (preseason debut)

You could have just called this game, "Bobby, Bobby, Bobby!" and I'm not just saying that because he's my Bobby Ryan. But Bobby, with the help of rookie Dan Sexton, led our Ducks to a 3-2 win at the Ponda against the Phoenix Coyotes for their debut preseason game last night. Bobby scored all three goals, Sexton drew assists on the first two, and the third was done in the shootout. Joffrey Lupul, back at the Ponda for the first time in a Ducks sweater since being traded for Chris Pronger three years ago, would get another puck past Yotes' netminder Jason LaBarbera.


Can I get some more Bobby Ryan?


Ducks at the home bench


Coyotes at the visitor's bench

A win was a great way to mark the end of a long off-season for Duck fans. Considering how many of these fans had shown up for rookie camp and training camp, the above average attendance for a preseason game was no surprise. It isn't just the players who've been itching to get back into hockey mode.

Yours truly had never before been to a preseason game, so I'm going by word of mouth, but there were enough fans in the stands to get rousing cheers of "Let's go Ducks!" and "Bobby! Bobby! Bobby!" circulating at various times during the game.

I was more than ready to see my Bobby back out on Ponda ice. But I also wanted to get a glimpse of Timo Pielmeier, who had looked awesome between the pipes in training camp. Timo didn't disappoint. He let in only one goal for his 1.5 periods between the pipes, and kept both Coyotes' shootout attempts from scoring.


"Timo" sounds a lot like "Teemu", and "Pielmeier" is just too long to yell at games. I'll have to find an alternate nickname for him.

And of course, no slight to Jonas Hiller, who I was also excited to see back in the Ponda crease. Hiller had last been there during the incredible game six of the Ducks vs. Red Wings playoff series, and he'd done everything except stand on his head to push his team to a game seven back at The Joe.


Hillsy, Sheldon Brookbank, and Phoenix Coyotes' Daniel Winnik

A few more observations of interest:
- Steve Eminger, who had looked good in training camp, also showed his stuff against the Yotes.
- Evgeny Artyukhin is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. I love watching the big man out on the ice. You'd be surprised how fast he actually is. He even found himself on a two-man breakaway, but wasn't able to complete the pass and shoot on the net.
- Peter Holland, the Ducks first round draft pick earlier in the year, looked very promising.
- A hint to coach Randy Carlyle: How about putting Danny [Sexton] and Bobby on a line for tertiary scoring?
- Mike Brown came back with a vengeance. He delivered hit after delicious hit, garnering cheers from the crowd every time.
- Troy Bodie dropped gloves for the first of two fights for the night (the other engaged Sheldon Brookbank), and did very well holding his own.
- Luca Sbisa continues to impress. He has the grit of a true Duck with awesome puck-moving capabilities. And to think, he's only 19 and destined to get even better.


Ducks celebrate their first preseason win with Timo Pielmeier

Our Ducks are looking good! I'm hoping Teemu, Saku, and Scotty and the boys can put us 2 for 2 tonight against the Vancouver Canucks. Let's go Ducks!!

Meet & Greet with Joffrey Lupul

He might be busy getting worked in training camp, but ex-Duck-ex-Flyer-now-reDucked winger Joffrey Lupul made the time tonight to be interviewed by the OC Register and maybe about 100 readers who came to the Meet & Greet.


Lupes is the one on the left

The modest attendance made for an extra special intimate event for those who did show. Joffrey answered questions from OC Register columnist Jeff Miller, and then questions from the audience. Yours truly had one for him: "You don't know who you're going to be skating on a line with, but rumors have it that you'll be matched with [Teemu] Selanne and [Saku] Koivu. How do you feel about that?"

Joffrey: "As long as they speak English... I'm fine with it."

The crowd laughed and he cracked a smile.

Joffrey: "Seriously though, I think that would be great. I've played a lot against Saku, since he was in the Eastern Conference with us [Flyers] and he's going to be a fan favorite. He's not a big guy, but he plays well and the fans here are going to love him. And Teemu, I mean, he's amazing. I'd be honored to play alongside him. Especially since this might be his last year. Hopefully not, but I think he mentioned something about that. He's an incredible player, and he just keeps getting faster. I feel like he's a lot faster now than he was three years ago when I was last here."

(My quotes are approximated, I didn't have a recorder with me, nor did I take any notes. Just fiddling with the camera---in this case, Baby Rebel---is challenging enough for my multitasking abilities.)



Joffrey's answers were fun and lighthearted, he did well. I can imagine it might be a little intimidating to do such an interactive interview before the season even starts, with a new team. I say "new" because, as Joffrey pointed out, only five of the guys on the team were here when he last was: Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Scott Niedermayer, Teemu Selanne, and J.S. Giguere.

He spoke about his feelings regarding getting traded back to Anaheim (to say he's okay with that is definitely an understatement), his earlier hockey days (he started playing at the age of 4), his enthusiasm for the season ahead with the Ducks, and some of the things he does in his spare time (he loves music and plays the guitar).

After all the questions had been answered, Joffrey took the time to sign autographs and take pictures with any and all of the fans that wanted to.





Again, another awesome Duck player who turns out to be a really nice guy. You can check out the Q&A interview from the OC Register here: http://www.ocregister.com/articles/ducks-player-first-2568026-laughs-play

Start of Training Camp

There was an excitement in the air as nearly 1,000 fans gathered early Sunday morning at Anaheim Ice to get a glimpse of the new 2009 Anaheim Ducks. This would be the first time many of Bob Murray's off-season acquisitions would be seen wearing a Ducks logo, and the fans were very curious indeed.

A roar erupted as the first players appeared on the rink. Bobby Ryan, J.S. Giguere, Scott Niedermayer... Surely, on the opposite Olympic rink, Ryan Getzlaf, Jonas Hiller, Teemu Selanne and Co. were getting the same rousing welcome. There was more applause for our notable newcomers Joffrey Lupul and Luca Sbisa on the NHL rink, and ex-Habs captain Saku Koivu on the Olympic rink.

Our boys opened with practice drills. They'd been divided into color groups, characterizing different lines. Later, they participated in two 40-minute scrimmages, during which they were divided into a white-jerseyed group and a black-jerseyed group.

In between the pipes, Jonas Hiller faced off against J.S. Giguere (the goaltender battle of the century). Timo Pielmeier, Justin Pogge, Marco Cousineau, and J.P. Levasseur rounded out the netminders.

After the scrimmages, there were more speed drills and skating laps. Even the goalies did laps in their full gear, pads and all. Looked like one heckuva workout!

Allow me to share a few observations/opinions about opening day and our new Ducks.

Regarding goaltending:

- Jiggy was looking pretty strong in goal. He's a man fighting for his job, that's for sure. Hiller held his own, and between them, they let in an equal number of goals (I believe it was just one each) for the day.

- Yours truly couldn't attend camp after day one (unfortunately, Duck blogging does not pay my bills), but had a Duck buddy armed with a texting cell phone to provide news and tidbits. Supposedly, Jiggy was more off his game on the second day, letting in five goals.

- Timo Pielmeier, one of the pieces of a trade made between the Ducks and Sharks back at the deadline, was looking very good in the crease. Good thing too, we lost both Travis Moen and Kent Huskins to the Sharks in that trade. Nothing against Justin Pogge, who is expected to take the #3 goaltender position, but yours truly thinks Pielmeier should get it.

Regarding defensemen:

- Luca Sbisa once again didn't disappoint. This kid is amazing out there! He's confident, poised, and exacting in his decisions on the ice. I'm very excited to see how he will be tomorrow night in the Ducks first preseason game.

- Steve Eminger, picked up as a free agent, looked good as well. I saw some solid skating and good speed.

- Brett Festerling was out there hitting everything that moved.

- James Wisniewski looked grittier than ever.

- Ryan Whitney appears to have picked up quite a few pointers from sharing the blue line with Chris Pronger last season. I'm excited to see just how much he's learned (hopefully, he didn't pick up Prongs' nasty elbow habit).

Regarding forwards:

- Evgeny Artyukhin lives up to his name as a BIG MAN. According to the roster, he clocks in at a monstrous 6'5" 254lbs, and he looks every bit of that on the ice. He was a steady skater with the puck and a solid wall in the corners. Guys were literally bouncing off of him trying to knock him away from the puck.

- Erik Christensen and Ryan Getzlaf played little, if any, game time during the scrimmages. Both are healing from summer surgeries.

- Saku Koivu. What can I say about Saku except that I was impressed and also not surprised. I already love the fact that we have him for a whole year.

- My boy Bobby Ryan, back again with those beautiful hands.

And now for some pictures!


Mike Brown and Arty


Jiggy in net


Shooting exercise


Justin Pogge in net


Saku!!


Getzlaf


Skating drill


Todd "The Warrior" Marchant


Hiller, ready to rock and roll


Corey Perry and Hiller


George Parros


Wiz


Getzy up close


Selanne up close


Look at those big grins!


The guys watch and listen as a play is diagrammed


Hiller up close


Bobby skidding to a halt


Ryan Carter


Petteri Nokelainen


Oh Captain, my Captain...


Joffrey Lupul


Carter screening Pielmeier


Lupes, Koivu, and Selanne... our possible new second line??


Saku giving Bobby fashion tips? Probably not...


Saku and Ebbett doing the tango at the faceoff dot

Training camp also serves as one of the best ways to meet the players.


"Bobby, Bobby!"


Ryan Whitney

But in some cases, it's more of a Duck Drive-Thru.


Erik Christensen


Mike Brown


Andrew Ebbett


George Parros

And in some cases, you get lucky.


Selanne and a fan


Hiller and yours truly

Hockey preseason starts Wednesday night at the Ponda. See you there? Go Ducks!!