Ducks vs San Jose Sharks

Nothing all too remarkable about this game... Ducks didn't show up to play until the 2nd period, after the Sharks had already put three goals on the board. Although, it didn't help matters much that the first Shark goal got past Jonas Hiller only 14 seconds into the game.

Yes, 14 seconds. It was gonna be one of those games.

You could see it too, Hiller wasn't on the ball. He looked slow and sluggish. After the game, the news was released that Hiller wasn't feeling well. Fatigue and dizziness would take him out of the next couple of games.

Luckily, backup Curtis McElhinney was able to stop the bleeding. The Ducks turned up to play, with goals from Joffrey Lupul, Cam Fowler, and Bobby Ryan bringing the Ducks within one. But bringing the equalizer just wasn't in the cards tonight. Our boys would lose this one 3-4.

I'd paid good money for great seats in the lower bowl, so at least I have a few good pictures to show for it!


Jason Blake, Luca Sbisa, and Teemu Selanne waiting for the puck drop


Corey Perry trying to get one past Sharks' netminder Antti Niemi


As center, one of Bobby Ryan's new tasks is facing off against some of the league's best centers at the faceoff dot


Curtis McElhinney, taking over for Jonas Hiller after the 3rd unanswered Shark goal in the 1st


Bobby, Perry, and Andreas Lilja


Joffrey Lupul was credited with the Ducks' first goal of the night


And Cam Fowler got the second

The next time I splurge for awesome seats, I'd really appreciate a win!

Ducks vs Dallas Stars

"Ducks have failed to show again"

This was my text to a fellow hockey fan during the second period of last night's contest between the Anaheim Ducks and the Dallas Stars. The game was half over, Ducks were down an embarrassing (yet not entirely shocking) 0-3, and most of the minimal "crowd" at the Ponda looked as disappointed as I felt.


Like rats jumping off the Titanic...

Through the first period and the first half of the second, our offense was nonexistent. So was the defense, for that matter. I noted way too much space between Ducks' D and oncoming Stars forwards. What happened to keeping them on the perimeter? What happened to knocking the puck away or blocking shooting/passing lanes? It was as if our defensemen forgot what they were supposed to be doing out there.

J.S. Giguere got the start in net but he, too, didn't look 100% in the game. The Stars took advantage of every odd-man rush, and Jiggy was out of position for most of them.


As much as I despise Stars' netminder Marty Turco, I have to admit he's a damn good goalie

It also didn't help that, for whatever reason, Ducks couldn't seem to buy a power play.


Sheldon Brookbank trying to light a fire under his mates by knocking fists with Stars' Krys Barch after the Stars go up 0-2 in the 1st

As valiant as Brookbank's fight was, he got in some great punches, our boys would remain off the scoreboard well into the second period. Joffrey Lupul took a penalty for tripping with less than four minutes left. Luckily, the Ducks PK stepped up to fight that one off and Ryan Getzlaf, with perfect timing, manages to fire the puck right to Lupes as he rushed out of the sin bin.

Lupes neatly completed the pass at center ice and sped off toward Turco. He stuffed the puck five-hole and, even though Turco actually made the save, his backward momentum from having to match Lupul's speed sends him and the puck into his net.

Yours truly breathed a sigh of relief as our Ducks headed into the second intermission with a goal on the board. At least we wouldn't get shut out.

And then, in the third, the team actually shows up. There's more energy on the ice and in the stands of the Ponda. Then, the unsung hero emerges.

*cue inspirational music*

My boy Bobby Ryan makes a play in front of the net, but loses the puck off his stick. New linemate Dan Sexton is also in the crease and flips the puck past Turco. It's only Dany's third NHL game, but he has given his team a fighting chance.


A rookie's favorite moment: his first NHL goal

I do remember stating, back during the preseason exhibition, that Dany and Bobby had a certain chemistry. I had even pondered the possibility of a scoring line built around the two wingers. With Teemu Selanne out for the next 4-6 weeks, I think a line consisting of Dany, Bobby, and Saku Koivu might do just nicely. How about it, Carlyle?

Either way, Dany continued to shine. He put a game-high nine shots on goal and dominated the ice every time he was on it. The energy inside the Ponda had become infectious. Fans fed off our boys and our boys fed off us. A majority of the third period was spent in the Stars defensive zone, and when the puck would enter the Ducks zone, our defense was there to keep things under control.

Why can't we play all three periods like this?

And then, with only a minute left in regulation, Dany comes up big again. His second goal, a shot that capitalizes on a mistake by Turco, ties the game up 3-3. Suddenly, we're looking at overtime.

Ducks continue OT with the same fervor they showed during the third. The Stars were all but caught back on their heels. Remembering our recent failures in the shootout, I prayed we'd score before the five minutes were up.

Luckily, the hockey gods were listening. With only a minute left in OT, Saku got his stick on the puck after a battle along the boards and took it up on a 3-on-1 rush. Converging on Turco, his first shot is blocked, but he catches the rebound and sends it over the leg pad for the win!


"Ducks win!!"



The celebration on the ice is nearly as big as the one in the stands. What an amazing comeback!


A very deserving Dan Sexton gets the first star of the game

Ducks vs Vancouver Canucks

Our hapless Ducks went into tonight's contest against the Vancouver Canucks with the loathsome record of 3-6-1, second worse in the Western Conference. Having sat through three gameless days with the bad taste of Monday's 6-3 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs lingering in their mouths, our Ducks sounded determined to turn things around.

As a fan, I can say, "Oh, I've heard that before..." and roll my eyes. But, as a TRUE Ducks fan, I can say, "Okay boys, we still believe in you, the season is still young, let's fight for this..." and then pray that we come out of tonight with a win.

The season is only young for so long, of course, and our Ducks do need to be playing better if they expect to get anywhere near playoff contention. While it's natural to feel angry and frustrated, I'd say these are the times that are the most important to show our support for our boys. After all, anyone can support a winning team. Only loyal fans stick with a losing team.

It was with a certain amount of anxiety that fans filed into the Ponda Friday night, Halloween Eve. Would our boys leave dressed as game winners? Or would they drop yet another game and fall officially into last place (the Minnesota Wild won their game that night so a loss would drop our Ducks to the bottom)?


Duck's starting lineup during the National Anthem, probably saying their own prayers under their breaths.

The night started off bleak, with the Canucks finding the net a mere 66 seconds after puck drop. They would score again for a 2-0 lead later in the first period.


Bobbyhead surveys the miserable scene from the 224B Suite Box

And then, miracle of miracles, our boys decide to show up. Jonas Hiller would pull his game together to stop every remaining Canuck shot on goal, Corey Perry decided to add to his point tally as lead scorer for the team, and our fourth line rallied to put some points on the scoreboard too.

Perry's first goal would come towards the end of the first, as Joffrey Lupul shot a tight pass to him at the top of the slot. Converging on the net, Perry wristed the puck past netminder Andrew Raycroft.

Our Ducks would blow the game wide open in the second, with big George Parros and Mike Brown scoring their first goals of the season. Georgie's goal came from a bid on net by Ryan Carter, thankfully back on the ice since his foot injury. George was right in front of Raycroft and, falling through the crease, pushed the rebounding puck twice, the second time past the goaltender.

Mikey's goal came off an odd-man rush. He, along with Carts who assisted, sped towards Raycroft and cleanly netted the puck with a neat backhander. A nice career-first shorthanded goal for Mikey, scored against his former team.


Mike Brown, I repeat, one of the best things we ever picked up from Vancouver

Perry would put in his second goal of the night before the period's end with a tip-in in front of his favorite spot in the crease. My boy Bobby Ryan would grab an assist on this one, and then put in his own goals in the next period. Captain Scott Niedermayer grabbed the second assist, his official 700th NHL point. We fans gave him a standing ovation.


The large number of Canuck fans before us sat begrudgingly as Duck fans jumped to their feet to celebrate another Duck goal

Bobby's first goal came off a beautiful cross-slot feed from Ryan Getzlaf during the power play. Bobby quickly converted with a slap shot that beat Cory Schneider, who took over for Raycroft at the start of the third. His second goal came less than three minutes later, with Perry lending the assist. Bobby caught a rebound off Schneider and was able to wrist it over the netminder's pads. See, good things happen when you hang around the crease!


Yours truly is personally VERY happy to see Bobby add to that goal tally, and judging by the huge grin on his face after, I don't think I'm the only happy one!

By this time, the Duck victory was safely in the bag, but just to be safe, the Ponda thought it might help out with a fluke goal that sealed the Canucks' fate, 2-7. Lupes would send the puck along the glass and into the Canuck zone and Schneider, expecting to move things along behind the net, left his crease to meet the puck. A strange bounce off a stantion angled the puck directly at an open net. Lupes would get credited with the goal, one of the strangest ones I've ever seen live.

But we'll take it!


Bobbyhead kickin' it on the suite couch. Scoring two goals and an assist in one game is tiring! (photo courtesy of @HillerNtheNet)

It was like our boys could do no wrong, at least for the 2nd and 3rd periods. The Duck faithful fans in attendance were strongly rewarded for their loyalty, and we were more than happy to be there. Now, if our boys could only use this newfound energy to springboard a winning streak?


Ducks celebrate a long-awaited win with second star of the night, Jonas Hiller


First star of the night, Bobby Ryan

Duckie in the Big Apple

As mentioned in the previous entry, yours truly spent a few days in New York, specifically Manhattan. While I was away, our Ducks played home games against the Dallas Stars on the 21st and the Columbus Blue Jackets on the 24th. Both games were losses, 2-4 and 4-6 respectively, but I'll comment positively that we weren't shut out.

Notables on the Dallas game, which I was able to watch after the fact:

Ryan Getzlaf's first goal this season was a fancy display of deft puck handling, with a quick shot between Marty Turco's arm and blocker. Getzy wasn't the only one happy to see him finally get one up on that scoreboard.

James Wisniewski returned after a shoulder injury. Thank god Wiz is back on the ice. We can't afford to be down any defensemen this season, more or less one as pivotal as Wiz. He was looking good too, completing hits and sweeping pucks out of the slot.

Jonas Hiller (and J.S. Giguere) need to stay within their paint. Something discouraging that was pointed out to me by one of my more goalie-oriented Duck pals, our netminders are handling the puck a lot more this season... and the effects haven't been favorable. Our goalies are getting caught repeatedly on the wrong side of the net, gift-wrapping soft goals for the opponent. I don't know if it's an ill-effect of a Pete Peeters lesson or what, but it needs to stop. When he was actually in his crease, Hiller did a great job with the saves.

My boy Bobby Ryan trading places with Joffrey Lupul. Not a fan of coach Randy Carlyle's constant switching up of the lines, I do like the new line combinations of Perry-Getzlaf-Lupul and Selanne-Koivu-Ryan. Ducks' second goal came off a pinball pass from Perry to Lupul in the slot. One can only hope Carlyle will keep these boys on these lines long enough to actually gel a bit.

It didn't look like a bad game, honestly. Our boys still lack that confidence that allows them to be the aggressors on the ice, but I thought they did a good job creating scoring chances for themselves.

The night after the Dallas game, Ducks Joffrey Lupul and Ryan Carter appeared at the Huntington Beach Inline for the first of the season's Rink tours. For coverage of the event, click here.

I wasn't able to watch the Blue Jacket game at all, but highlights included two goals from Lupul, one from Captain Scott Niedermayer, and one from Selanne. Jiggy was doing a good job between the pipes until a too-quick save aggravated his previous groin problem. Hiller took over for the remaining minutes. You'd think that, with four goals, you'd win the game. Not so when your opponent gets six.

While in Manhattan, I couldn't pass up a visit to the NHL Store. Conveniently located a few quick steps from the Rockefeller Plaza, I spent nearly two hours at this mecca of all things pro hockey.


Hockey goodness in the heart of the Big Apple


Yay, Ducks gear right in the front display


While there was limited representation of West Coast teams (as I had expected), pre-customized player jerseys were a steal should you find your favorite player in the racks


Home of the NHL Live radio show every weekday afternoon


The store also boasts the only NHL-themed Starbucks... which really came down to a wall with hockey-type paintings

If you're a hockey fan, no trip to Manhattan is complete without a visit to the NHL Store. Make sure you put aside an hour or two!

Rinks Tour - Getting to the NHL

While yours truly was busy bumbling about the streets of lower Manhattan, Ducks fans back home were treated to the first of the Rink Tour speaking series. Joffrey Lupul and Ryan Carter spoke in front of an audience of Duck fans and youth hockey players at the Huntington Beach Inline rink about their experiences playing in college and junior hockey leagues.

The following pictures and story graciously provided by my Ducks Twitter pals @HillerNtheNet and @SKeleven, respectively.

Lupul played junior league games with the Alberta Medicine Hats. He talked about long bus rides and a packed schedule of 75 games per year that didn't leave much time for school. (Click thumbnails for larger pics)



On the opposite end of the spectrum, Carter's early hockey career consisted of college league involvement with Minnesota State-Mankato. Playing only 40 games a year, players had more time to focus on school and classes.



Many of the kids in the audience also got a chance to ask Lupes and Carts a few questions. And, as always, the boys were nice to sign autographs for everyone.



To read more about the event, please check out SK's blog post.

Can't wait for more public appearances and insider info from future Rink Tours!

Ducks at New York, vs Rangers

Our hometown heroes start off a long home stretch tonight in their game against the Minnesota Wild. Yours truly is hoping they take back those two points they so ungracefully lost last week. With Wild forwards Sykora and Clutterbuck out of the lineup with injuries, I think our Ducks have a good chance of winning this one.

In the meantime, I will mention that our Ducks finished off their 4-game road trip with an afternoon scuffle against the New York Rangers. A completely unremarkable game, our boys were tired and lifeless much through the first period. They picked up a bit in the second and third, but couldn't generate any offense. To his credit, J.S. Giguere was on his game, practically standing on his head to keep Ranger pucks out of his net for the first two periods. He kept the final score from becoming something along the lines of 0-13.

Ducks were shutout 0-3, with the Rangers scoring three times in the third period, before heading back to the West Coast.

Overall, the road trip generated a total 5 points. Not too shabby. Let's hope they can improve on last season's lackluster home stats.

In other news, Ducks winger Joffrey Lupul has been brought on to write a blog for the Ducks official site. Lupes has a candid style of writing which makes his blog a fun read. There's a link to a form that allows fans to send questions and comments to Lupes; he'll answer the best questions in upcoming posts. The link to his blog, "In the Loops" is in the sidebar.


Joffrey Lupul shares the puck experience from a player's point of view

Ducks at Minnesota, vs Wild

Hoping to forget the awful home opener, our Ducks made their first appearance of a four-game road trip tonight in St. Paul, Minnesota. Hopefully what the kinder analysts had to say would be true: an early road trip gives a team with a lot of new players the chance to bond, thus improving their game.

Some items of interest to look forward to in this game:
- J.S. Giguere will be in net tonight.
- Niklas Backstrom, an amazing butterfly goaltender in his own right, will be in net for the Wild. Offense will have to step it up on both sides to get by these veteran netminders.
- This will be only the fifth matchup of the Koivu brothers. Which team has the better Koivu?
- Andrew Ebbett and Nick Boynton will suit up for the first time this season. Yours truly is quite curious to see how they will do.

The 1st period of the game went scoreless, but I was happy to see that our Ducks didn't look like they were skating through quicksand (as they looked in their opener against the Sharks). Passes were completed, there were considerably less Duck turnovers in the neutral zone, and the forecheck looked good.

Our hometown heroes blew the game wide open in the 2nd period, with three Ducks earning their first goals as Ducks. Joffrey Lupul redirected a one-timer from Ryan Whitney into the net, before blocking a puck with his face later which sent him off for the rest of the period. Backstrom was beat a second time by a quick pass from Corey Perry across the slot to Evgeny Artyukhin, who hammered it home. The big smile on Arty's face afterwards said it all. And the third goal would come from Saku Koivu, off a rebound from James Wisniewski's bid on Backstrom.

It started to look as if our boys had found themselves. Ebbett added a welcomed element of speed and energy to the Todd Marchant-Mike Brown line. Grit and physicality dominated. Passing and shooting lanes were more effectively blocked, and some big hits were made. Jiggy looked top-notch between the pipes with great positioning and few rebounds.

Unfortunately, the 2nd period ended and the 3rd period began. Our boys started to look tired and less aggressive. Big George Parros got worked over in a fight with John Scott, and the game went rapidly downhill with three Wild goals (Koivu, Sykora, Belanger) that brought on OT. Wiz took an ill-timed roughing penalty and the Wild capitalized to win it.

It shouldn't have been. Our Ducks basically threw in the towel with 10 minutes left in the game. The defense isn't strong enough to withstand 10 minutes of continual puck chipping into the offensive zone and then trying to protect against the opponent's rush. Throw in a flat-out dumb penalty and... ugh.

Let's hope for a better outcome Thursday as the Ducks take on the Boston Bruins. If our Ducks can improve as much as they did from Saturday's game to tonight, I think they might actually win the next one. At least, it couldn't be worse than the last time they faced the Bruins (0-6).

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...

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