Haven't wrote anything for a while (not that anybody cares :D), because i've been so excited about the Winter Olympics and done some heavy under-age drinking when at it. Seriously, i didn't even think it's possible to be this ecstatic about matches like Czech Republic-Latvia, Sweden-Belarus etc. What an awesome event it's been already, particularly to the Ducks Olympians.
Bobby chipped some teeth -- Something every hockey players must dream of.
Selanne breaking Olympics records and Koivu on his way -- Awesome players both, couldn't be more happy for my home country heroes.
Team Switzerland and Ducks netminder Jonas Hiller almost stole the game against Canada, also making two highlight-reel saves against his Ducks teammates Corey Perry & Ryan Getzlaf -> youtube
Yeah, don't really have that much to say, just enjoying the Olympics as much as i can. And so far, so good. Can't wait for the tourney going forward when the "real games" begin. Anyhow, here's to a great Olympics! :)
GO (Finland, Canada, USA & Switzerland) Ducks!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Ducks players in the Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010.
Ducks have the most players (9) among NHL teams to participate in the Olympics this year. Makes you kind of wonder why the heck Ducks are sitting outside of the playoffs at the moment. Oh well, here are the Ducks players representing their respected countries in Vancouver:
Team Canada
#24 Corey Perry
#27 Scott Niedermayer (C)
#51 Ryan Getzlaf
Team USA
#19 Ryan Whitney
#54 Bobby Ryan
Team Finland
#8 Teemu Selanne (A)
#11 Saku Koivu (C)
Team Switzerland
#1 Jonas Hiller
#47 Luca Sbisa
Obviously we are going to cheer all of those Ducks players participating in the Olympics. Make your nations proud!
Team Canada
#24 Corey Perry
#27 Scott Niedermayer (C)
#51 Ryan Getzlaf
Team USA
#19 Ryan Whitney
#54 Bobby Ryan
Team Finland
#8 Teemu Selanne (A)
#11 Saku Koivu (C)
Team Switzerland
#1 Jonas Hiller
#47 Luca Sbisa
Obviously we are going to cheer all of those Ducks players participating in the Olympics. Make your nations proud!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Post-Game: Ducks head to the Olympic break victoriously beating the Oilers 7-3.
Boxscore
Recap
So i guess Ryan Getzlaf is good to go to the Vancouver? Just a dominate performance last night by Getzlaf, he recorded 2 goals, and 2 assists in total of 19:28 ice time. He also had 6 shots, 4 hits and 5 takeaways in the win over the Oilers. In my opinion, Getzy looked like he came to the game to make a statement, and that he certainly made. Great game by Getzlaf and to me, he looked like he's normal self and ready to head to the Vancouver winter Olympic games to represent team Canada. But enough of Getzlaf. Ducks were finally able to get a solid 60 minute effort, and it definitely made the difference in the hockey game. I know it's just the Oilers, but still, nice way to head to the break.
Ducks recorded their season-high 46 shots on goal, and tied their season-high potting 7 goals, 4 of them, which came on the powerplay. Overall, Ducks powerplay went 4 for 11, in a penalty filled match up. Infact, almost half of the game was played on special teams, as the two teams recorded only 33:37 of even strenght play. Still, the Ducks looked good the whole game long, expect for Steve Eminger, who somehow managed to be -2 on the game. I probably can't stress enough, how bad of a signing GM Bob Murray made by acquiring Eminger in the off-season. Just a terrible signing, especially considering Eminger still has one year left after this one on his contract. Hopefully Bob Murray has something planned to get rid of him, covering up his own mistake.
It took 62 games to finally see a bit of that long awaited chemistry of Finnish Olympians, Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu. Tonight they once again formed a line with Jason Blake, and i thought they looked good, especially in the early stages of the game. That's definitely good news for the ones who will cheer for team Finland, in the upcoming Olympics, such as myself. Good luck to Teemu & Saku, and the whole team Finland in the Olympics!
Finally, it's refreshing to see a road win for this hockey club. Hopefully they can manage to steal points again on the road after the olympic break. Ducks have 20 games left this season, 8 on the road and 12 at Honda Center. Make a late season push this season as well, and the Ducks should quack at the playoffs again.
But now to the long awaited Olympics break, i think these winter Olympic games should be one of the best ones ever, so get your beer on, and enjoy watching the best hockey players in the world. Good luck to all of the Ducks players, have fun out there! :)
Recap
So i guess Ryan Getzlaf is good to go to the Vancouver? Just a dominate performance last night by Getzlaf, he recorded 2 goals, and 2 assists in total of 19:28 ice time. He also had 6 shots, 4 hits and 5 takeaways in the win over the Oilers. In my opinion, Getzy looked like he came to the game to make a statement, and that he certainly made. Great game by Getzlaf and to me, he looked like he's normal self and ready to head to the Vancouver winter Olympic games to represent team Canada. But enough of Getzlaf. Ducks were finally able to get a solid 60 minute effort, and it definitely made the difference in the hockey game. I know it's just the Oilers, but still, nice way to head to the break.
Ducks recorded their season-high 46 shots on goal, and tied their season-high potting 7 goals, 4 of them, which came on the powerplay. Overall, Ducks powerplay went 4 for 11, in a penalty filled match up. Infact, almost half of the game was played on special teams, as the two teams recorded only 33:37 of even strenght play. Still, the Ducks looked good the whole game long, expect for Steve Eminger, who somehow managed to be -2 on the game. I probably can't stress enough, how bad of a signing GM Bob Murray made by acquiring Eminger in the off-season. Just a terrible signing, especially considering Eminger still has one year left after this one on his contract. Hopefully Bob Murray has something planned to get rid of him, covering up his own mistake.
It took 62 games to finally see a bit of that long awaited chemistry of Finnish Olympians, Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu. Tonight they once again formed a line with Jason Blake, and i thought they looked good, especially in the early stages of the game. That's definitely good news for the ones who will cheer for team Finland, in the upcoming Olympics, such as myself. Good luck to Teemu & Saku, and the whole team Finland in the Olympics!
Finally, it's refreshing to see a road win for this hockey club. Hopefully they can manage to steal points again on the road after the olympic break. Ducks have 20 games left this season, 8 on the road and 12 at Honda Center. Make a late season push this season as well, and the Ducks should quack at the playoffs again.
But now to the long awaited Olympics break, i think these winter Olympic games should be one of the best ones ever, so get your beer on, and enjoy watching the best hockey players in the world. Good luck to all of the Ducks players, have fun out there! :)
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Preview: Anaheim Ducks @ Edmonton Oilers (14th February 2010, 4:00 PM (PT) @ Rexall Place)
I only got one wish for this team before some of the players head on to Vancouver's Winter Olympics, and some start to enjoy this rare 2½ week vacation. Play good, solid hockey for the full 60 minutes. That's all i ask. Last year, when the Ducks kind of sucked, (before they made their late season surge) well at then, they still played hard the whole match. They didn't have all the world's skill in their offence, but they still tried their best each and every night. Now, that could be questioned, because i don't know what do tell you after last night's performance in Calgary. I just hope the players, the coaching staff, fuck, even trainers will realize how important these games actually are. It would suck to look at back in June to these games and say "oh man, how the heck they dropped the ball against the Oilers?" So let's just cheer this Ducks team to take the two points tonight, and then just enjoy watching Olympics, sound good? :)
No brainfarts and mental errors on defence, offence hard on the forecheck and along the boards, all while generating quality scoring chances against maybe the worst defensive team in the NHL. Finally Hiller, or maybe Toskala, to give us a solid performance on the net. Those things should be the keys to the game from Anaheim's perspective. Also including the, oh so important, full 60 minutes effort from all of the guys and they should be fine in this game.
Anaheim Ducks (29-25-7, t-11th in the West)
G/G: 2.72
GA/G: 2.98
PP: 19.2
PK: 80.6
Edmonton Oilers (19-35-6, 15th in the West)
G/G: 2.42
GA/G: 3.33
PP: 18.5
PK: 76.6
...from what i saw last night, the Ducks lines were kind of messed up, so i don't want to speculate them at all (probably might want to head off to OC Register for that), just hopefully Getzlaf will be back in action.
GO Ducks!
No brainfarts and mental errors on defence, offence hard on the forecheck and along the boards, all while generating quality scoring chances against maybe the worst defensive team in the NHL. Finally Hiller, or maybe Toskala, to give us a solid performance on the net. Those things should be the keys to the game from Anaheim's perspective. Also including the, oh so important, full 60 minutes effort from all of the guys and they should be fine in this game.
Anaheim Ducks (29-25-7, t-11th in the West)
G/G: 2.72
GA/G: 2.98
PP: 19.2
PK: 80.6
Edmonton Oilers (19-35-6, 15th in the West)
G/G: 2.42
GA/G: 3.33
PP: 18.5
PK: 76.6
...from what i saw last night, the Ducks lines were kind of messed up, so i don't want to speculate them at all (probably might want to head off to OC Register for that), just hopefully Getzlaf will be back in action.
GO Ducks!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Post-Game: Flames collects two important points against the Ducks, by the scoreline of 3-1.
Boxscore
Recap
I didn't see the whole game, as i missed about half the game due to some internet difficulties. Damn you ESPN 360! This might come up a little short, but here's my post-game tidbits anyway.
So the Ducks did not look good out there tonight. They got outplayed in every aspect of the game, and they didn't work as hard as Calgary did. Simply put, the Flames moved their legs and the Ducks did not. It resulted to the fact, that the Flames had the bounces going their way, while most of time Ducks just ended up standing still, looking silly. It was kind of weird to see how little the Ducks put effort in to this game. Truly important two points on the line, and they just came flatout terrible on this one. Who knows? Was it the fact that maybe everyone expected Getzlaf to play, and when he didn't, it turned out like this. The team's offence definitely looked like they missed their leader. Tonight, nobody could not step up into the role of the catalyst, which Getzlaf almost always is. Tough game to lose, especially when it came down like this.
Troy Bodie scored the only goal for the Ducks, by deflecting the point shot from captain Scott Niedermayer in to the net. Eric Nystrom later tied the game, by going hard to the net and beating Ducks netminder Jonas Hiller, and Jarome Iginla scored the final two goals, giving the Flames 3-1 win. In conclusion, Ducks defence once again showed, how horrible they can be when committing as many turnovers as they did. All while their offence mostly being able to create weak perimeter shots to the Flames net. Hopefully the guys can regroup tomorrow, and show a much more effort to win the final game before the break, against Edmonton.
Recap
I didn't see the whole game, as i missed about half the game due to some internet difficulties. Damn you ESPN 360! This might come up a little short, but here's my post-game tidbits anyway.
So the Ducks did not look good out there tonight. They got outplayed in every aspect of the game, and they didn't work as hard as Calgary did. Simply put, the Flames moved their legs and the Ducks did not. It resulted to the fact, that the Flames had the bounces going their way, while most of time Ducks just ended up standing still, looking silly. It was kind of weird to see how little the Ducks put effort in to this game. Truly important two points on the line, and they just came flatout terrible on this one. Who knows? Was it the fact that maybe everyone expected Getzlaf to play, and when he didn't, it turned out like this. The team's offence definitely looked like they missed their leader. Tonight, nobody could not step up into the role of the catalyst, which Getzlaf almost always is. Tough game to lose, especially when it came down like this.
Troy Bodie scored the only goal for the Ducks, by deflecting the point shot from captain Scott Niedermayer in to the net. Eric Nystrom later tied the game, by going hard to the net and beating Ducks netminder Jonas Hiller, and Jarome Iginla scored the final two goals, giving the Flames 3-1 win. In conclusion, Ducks defence once again showed, how horrible they can be when committing as many turnovers as they did. All while their offence mostly being able to create weak perimeter shots to the Flames net. Hopefully the guys can regroup tomorrow, and show a much more effort to win the final game before the break, against Edmonton.
About Mike Brown...
...was he really that good of a signing by the Ducks GM Bob Murray? We all probably thought so after the Ducks acquired him last season, in exchange for Nathan McIver. Brown had good 1/3 of a regular season, and even more better playoff performance. And whenever you check Red Wings player like this, you become an instant favorite of the Ducks fans.
So now, Brown has seen regular time, not on the ice, but in the press box. So obviously something went wrong there. Could it be the fact that he's been hitting less and less? Or because he doesn't provide the energy which the Ducks saw last season? Or should insistigate fights more? Probably only the Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle, can answer those questions.
In my opinion, Brown started the season quite well, being the same type of player he was last season. Penalty kill, hitting, being an solid energy line player, and fighting. Those are the bread and butter of Mike Brown's play. Then he started show those qualities less, and from result of that, he became regular healthy scratch in the Ducks line-up.
I honestly don't quite get this decision from Carlyle. Certainly Brown has been better this season, than a long-time Ducks enforcer, George Parros. No offence to George, who is great person off the ice, but Brown pretty much does everything better than Parros. I don't know, maybe there's more to that than i know. I just think that the 4th line Ducks had earlier this season (Artyukhin - Carter/Nokelainen - Brown) played some really good, solid hockey. They provided pretty much everything, that a good 4th line in today's NHL should bring to the table.
But answering to my own question, i still think that re-signing Brown was a good move from Bob Murray. And maybe Brown being a healthy scratch for quite some time now, is only going to motivate him doing a better job on his role, when he inevitably get's his chance again with this Ducks hockey team. And obviously we all hope that the solid play, which we have seen this season from Ducks rookies (Beleskey, Sexton, Bodie) will only continue, but if it doesn't, i think Brown is good player to have on your back-up guy.
#13 Mike Brown (5' 11", 201 Pounds, June 24th 1985, Age: 24, Cap Hit: 537,50$ Expiring: 2011)
55GP 6G 1A 7P 3+/- 61PIM 60Shots 8:37 TOI/G
So now, Brown has seen regular time, not on the ice, but in the press box. So obviously something went wrong there. Could it be the fact that he's been hitting less and less? Or because he doesn't provide the energy which the Ducks saw last season? Or should insistigate fights more? Probably only the Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle, can answer those questions.
In my opinion, Brown started the season quite well, being the same type of player he was last season. Penalty kill, hitting, being an solid energy line player, and fighting. Those are the bread and butter of Mike Brown's play. Then he started show those qualities less, and from result of that, he became regular healthy scratch in the Ducks line-up.
I honestly don't quite get this decision from Carlyle. Certainly Brown has been better this season, than a long-time Ducks enforcer, George Parros. No offence to George, who is great person off the ice, but Brown pretty much does everything better than Parros. I don't know, maybe there's more to that than i know. I just think that the 4th line Ducks had earlier this season (Artyukhin - Carter/Nokelainen - Brown) played some really good, solid hockey. They provided pretty much everything, that a good 4th line in today's NHL should bring to the table.
But answering to my own question, i still think that re-signing Brown was a good move from Bob Murray. And maybe Brown being a healthy scratch for quite some time now, is only going to motivate him doing a better job on his role, when he inevitably get's his chance again with this Ducks hockey team. And obviously we all hope that the solid play, which we have seen this season from Ducks rookies (Beleskey, Sexton, Bodie) will only continue, but if it doesn't, i think Brown is good player to have on your back-up guy.
#13 Mike Brown (5' 11", 201 Pounds, June 24th 1985, Age: 24, Cap Hit: 537,50$ Expiring: 2011)
55GP 6G 1A 7P 3+/- 61PIM 60Shots 8:37 TOI/G
Preview: Anaheim Ducks @ Calgary Flames (February 13th 2010, 7:00 PM (PT) @ Pengrowth Saddledome)
The Ducks enter to tonight's game with a 29-24-7 record in 60 games. They have won two straight and are 6-4 in their last 10, however this time, the puck doesn't drop on Honda Center. That's right, after setting a franchise record of 11 game consecutive win streak at home on Wednesday, the Ducks are back on the road with two games in hand, before the olympic break. Tomorrow against the Oilers, and today versus the Flames on Pengrowth Saddledome.
Speaking of Pengrowth Saddledome, have you ever wondered, how the Ducks have in their recent history, fared against the Flames on their home turf? Because we all know about the difficulties the Flames have had against the Ducks in Honda Center. In fact, last time Flames escaped with a win in Honda Center, was January 19, 2004. And they have won only that one match between the two teams on Honda Center, since January 13th on 1999. That's 1(!) win in a 21 game span. But here is the Ducks record on Flames home ice since the lockout:
2-6-0 (1.88 GF/G , 2.88 GA/G)
So in the last few years, Flames certainly haven't either made it easy for the Ducks to win against them outside of Honda Center. By the way, after Dion Phaneuf got traded away from Calgary, there isn't whole lot of Flames player's left from the current roster, who were in the Flames roster after the lockout. But the two notables are the captain Jarome Iginla, and the Vezina Trophy winner from 2005-2006 season, Miikka Kiprusoff. Here are both of their significant stats against the Ducks after the lockout, when the game has been on Flames home ice:
Jarome Iginla --> 7GP 2G 8A 10P +/- +2 24SOG
...and then the outstanding numbers posted by "Kipper"
Miikka Kiprusoff --> 6-1-0, .944SV%, 1.71GAA 2SO
So certainly Ducks better pray to god whenever they take shot on goal tonight, and save their breath, when Iginla makes a tape to tape pass on the offensive zone.
I thought of writing down a bit about Anaheim's road numbers this season, but then again i thought to myself, those stats are pretty depressive enough. No need to make myself even more negative entering tonight's game. But i did grap some good news for tonight's game:
Our defencemen have been quite productive as of late. Scott Niedermayer, James Wisniewski & Ryan Whitney have combined one goal and seven assists over the course of last four games. Also, Corey Perry is riding on a 5-game point streak, which has seen 2G, 4A & 6P. So, that's got to count for something, right?
Flames dropped the ball on their home ice in Thursday night, against the Dallas Stars, the match which they lost 3-1. Jarome Iginla was the only goalscorer for the Flames on that game. So, extremely important game for both these teams. We can probably expect some nervousness from both teams to start the game, but later on, i think the game is going for the heated physical play, with lots of chippiness and scrums after the whistles.
Some key stats for the game:
Calgary Flames
--------------
GF/G: 2.46
GA/G: 2.44
PP%: 17.0
PK%: 83.1
S/G: 28.4
SA/G: 29.1
FO%: 47.7
Anaheim Ducks
-------------
GF/G: 2.75
GA/G: 2.98
PP%: 19.3
PK%: 80.4
S/G: 29.1
SA/G: 33.2
FO%: 48.2
It's still not known whether or not Ryan Getzlf will be dressing for tonight's game. My guess (who cares) would be, that he will not be available tonight.
Also Rene Bourque will not playing for the Flames, as he's still nurturing his shoulder injury.
GO Ducks!
Speaking of Pengrowth Saddledome, have you ever wondered, how the Ducks have in their recent history, fared against the Flames on their home turf? Because we all know about the difficulties the Flames have had against the Ducks in Honda Center. In fact, last time Flames escaped with a win in Honda Center, was January 19, 2004. And they have won only that one match between the two teams on Honda Center, since January 13th on 1999. That's 1(!) win in a 21 game span. But here is the Ducks record on Flames home ice since the lockout:
2-6-0 (1.88 GF/G , 2.88 GA/G)
So in the last few years, Flames certainly haven't either made it easy for the Ducks to win against them outside of Honda Center. By the way, after Dion Phaneuf got traded away from Calgary, there isn't whole lot of Flames player's left from the current roster, who were in the Flames roster after the lockout. But the two notables are the captain Jarome Iginla, and the Vezina Trophy winner from 2005-2006 season, Miikka Kiprusoff. Here are both of their significant stats against the Ducks after the lockout, when the game has been on Flames home ice:
Jarome Iginla --> 7GP 2G 8A 10P +/- +2 24SOG
...and then the outstanding numbers posted by "Kipper"
Miikka Kiprusoff --> 6-1-0, .944SV%, 1.71GAA 2SO
So certainly Ducks better pray to god whenever they take shot on goal tonight, and save their breath, when Iginla makes a tape to tape pass on the offensive zone.
I thought of writing down a bit about Anaheim's road numbers this season, but then again i thought to myself, those stats are pretty depressive enough. No need to make myself even more negative entering tonight's game. But i did grap some good news for tonight's game:
Our defencemen have been quite productive as of late. Scott Niedermayer, James Wisniewski & Ryan Whitney have combined one goal and seven assists over the course of last four games. Also, Corey Perry is riding on a 5-game point streak, which has seen 2G, 4A & 6P. So, that's got to count for something, right?
Flames dropped the ball on their home ice in Thursday night, against the Dallas Stars, the match which they lost 3-1. Jarome Iginla was the only goalscorer for the Flames on that game. So, extremely important game for both these teams. We can probably expect some nervousness from both teams to start the game, but later on, i think the game is going for the heated physical play, with lots of chippiness and scrums after the whistles.
Some key stats for the game:
Calgary Flames
--------------
GF/G: 2.46
GA/G: 2.44
PP%: 17.0
PK%: 83.1
S/G: 28.4
SA/G: 29.1
FO%: 47.7
Anaheim Ducks
-------------
GF/G: 2.75
GA/G: 2.98
PP%: 19.3
PK%: 80.4
S/G: 29.1
SA/G: 33.2
FO%: 48.2
It's still not known whether or not Ryan Getzlf will be dressing for tonight's game. My guess (who cares) would be, that he will not be available tonight.
Also Rene Bourque will not playing for the Flames, as he's still nurturing his shoulder injury.
GO Ducks!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Post-Game: Ducks pull a 4-2 win against Edmonton Oilers, and make a franchise record at the same time.
Boxscore
Recap
Best way to describe this match, probably would be saying that it was definitely ugly. Seriously, sometimes the back and forth play by both teams, it certainly made the game at times look more like an AHL match, rather than NHL match. But still, however, the Ducks were able to collect the 2 points, which puts the Ducks 2 points short of the final playoff spot in the west. So definitely important two points consider how tough the west is, in terms of playoff race. Anaheim also made a franshise record of 11-game win streak at home. So Hockey at Honda Center once again favors the Ducks! :)
But now back two the fact, that the Ducks certainly didn't bring their A game tonight. I think that if the Ducks would've brought this game tonight against any other opponent in the NHL, i doubt they would've walked away with stolen points tonight. And when i say stolen, i mean particurlary the play of Jonas Hiller. Once again, Hiller was sensational all game long, making 37 on 39 shots. Hiller has certainly been on fire lately, as he's now 13-4-0 in the last 17 games, while averaging .928 SV% and a 2.29 GAA. Hiller definitely is showing he deserves the new contract he signed with the Ducks on January 30th.
However, what almost cost the Ducks this game, was the Powerplay. Not the Edmonton Oilers powerplay, which went 0 for 4 on the game. I'm talking about the Ducks powerplay, which recorded 1 for 7 number, while giving up 2 shorthanded goals to the Oilers. Powerplay didn't look good for the Ducks at all, and it was pretty clear, that they hadn't had the time to practice much the powerplay without the injured Ryan Getzlaf. Thankfully Bobby Ryan bailed the Ducks out, scoring with a beautiful snap shot on the powerplay. Ryan also scored the opening goal, when Corey Perry made a nice pass in to front of net, where Ryan was able to put the puck in the net. Todd Marchant re-directed the point shot from James Wisniewski, giving the Ducks the game winning goal on the 3rd period.
I've got to say, all the defensive zone mistakes and bad coverage which have give the Ducks plenty of head scratching this season, well , in this game they probably had their worst defensive effort of the season. Bad turnovers & giveaways on critical moments, which two of them resulted directly in Edmonton goals. Also, they almost everytime lost the puck battles in their own zone and which opened up lanes to quick passing, and good scoring chances for the Oilers. Unfortunaly to them, and fortunately for the Ducks, Jonas Hiller was able to bail the Ducks out quite of many times.
So yeah, not a whole of positive things on this game, expect of course, the 2 points, and in the end that's all that matters. Ducks were able to grap the critical points, albeit unconvincing fashion, so now they can focus on upcoming trip to Alberta this weekend, where they face Flames on Saturday, and then again Oilers in Sunday. Hopefully the Ducks can get Ryan Getzlaf back, and be able to win these two crucial games in hand, before the Olympic Break.
Way to go Ducks!
Recap
Best way to describe this match, probably would be saying that it was definitely ugly. Seriously, sometimes the back and forth play by both teams, it certainly made the game at times look more like an AHL match, rather than NHL match. But still, however, the Ducks were able to collect the 2 points, which puts the Ducks 2 points short of the final playoff spot in the west. So definitely important two points consider how tough the west is, in terms of playoff race. Anaheim also made a franshise record of 11-game win streak at home. So Hockey at Honda Center once again favors the Ducks! :)
But now back two the fact, that the Ducks certainly didn't bring their A game tonight. I think that if the Ducks would've brought this game tonight against any other opponent in the NHL, i doubt they would've walked away with stolen points tonight. And when i say stolen, i mean particurlary the play of Jonas Hiller. Once again, Hiller was sensational all game long, making 37 on 39 shots. Hiller has certainly been on fire lately, as he's now 13-4-0 in the last 17 games, while averaging .928 SV% and a 2.29 GAA. Hiller definitely is showing he deserves the new contract he signed with the Ducks on January 30th.
However, what almost cost the Ducks this game, was the Powerplay. Not the Edmonton Oilers powerplay, which went 0 for 4 on the game. I'm talking about the Ducks powerplay, which recorded 1 for 7 number, while giving up 2 shorthanded goals to the Oilers. Powerplay didn't look good for the Ducks at all, and it was pretty clear, that they hadn't had the time to practice much the powerplay without the injured Ryan Getzlaf. Thankfully Bobby Ryan bailed the Ducks out, scoring with a beautiful snap shot on the powerplay. Ryan also scored the opening goal, when Corey Perry made a nice pass in to front of net, where Ryan was able to put the puck in the net. Todd Marchant re-directed the point shot from James Wisniewski, giving the Ducks the game winning goal on the 3rd period.
I've got to say, all the defensive zone mistakes and bad coverage which have give the Ducks plenty of head scratching this season, well , in this game they probably had their worst defensive effort of the season. Bad turnovers & giveaways on critical moments, which two of them resulted directly in Edmonton goals. Also, they almost everytime lost the puck battles in their own zone and which opened up lanes to quick passing, and good scoring chances for the Oilers. Unfortunaly to them, and fortunately for the Ducks, Jonas Hiller was able to bail the Ducks out quite of many times.
So yeah, not a whole of positive things on this game, expect of course, the 2 points, and in the end that's all that matters. Ducks were able to grap the critical points, albeit unconvincing fashion, so now they can focus on upcoming trip to Alberta this weekend, where they face Flames on Saturday, and then again Oilers in Sunday. Hopefully the Ducks can get Ryan Getzlaf back, and be able to win these two crucial games in hand, before the Olympic Break.
Way to go Ducks!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Ducks player look: Dan Sexton
#42 (5' 10", 170, April 29th 1987, Age: 23, Cap Hit: $750,000 (RFA) --> End: 2011
Stats from the 2009-2010 season:
w/Ducks - 28GP 9G 9A 18P +/- -1 14PIM 2PPGoals 65Shots
w/Moose - 7GP 3G 2A 5P +/- 3 0PIM 1PPGoal 21Shots
w/Condors - 18GP 13G 13A 26P +/- 8 14PIM 1PPG 92Shots
Anaheim Ducks signed Dan Sexton to an ELC on April 7th, from Bowling Green (NCAA). He started his professional career however, on an ECHL club Bakersfield Condors, which was (still is) Anaheim's only farm affliate club this season. There, he played 18 games, notching total 26 points, 13 goals and 13 assists. Later, he played a couple of games for Manitoba Moose (where he was later then again assigned) before being recalled to Ducks on December 4th. He certainly made the most of his chance immediatly, when scoring 2 goals just playing in his 3rd NHL game against the Dallas Stars. Before he was sent down, he played 28 games scoring 9 goals and giving 9 assist, total of 18 points in his rookie year. That's so far, because Ducks GM Bob Murray has hinted he plans to bring "Big Sexy" back at some point. And now later, so has head coach Randy Carlyle.
Sexton is a quite small (5' 10", 170 pounds), but he certainly has the abilty not make his size too problematic on the ice. Sexton plays with heart, and he also is a gritty player, despite his size. He's sort of a hyprid of an energy line player, and a scoring winger. He is very agile & quick player, which is direct result, why he is such a great skater and a fast player. His defensive game has to be one of the main things, why he became the odd man out in Ducks roster. So, defintely he should work on his defensive game while in the A, but also be the kind of scoring player he is, and build up confidence, which i am sure, he still has.
One thing is for certain, Dan Sexton is all but finished with the Ducks this season.
Stats Look: How much Ryan Getzlaf means to Anaheim Ducks?
I thought it would be intresting to look at this question statistically, because we've all seen Ryan Getzlaf enough to know how great of a hockey player he is, and what kind of offensive catalyst he's been to this Ducks club for quite some time now. So what i deciced to show you, is couple of numbers and stats so you can see for yourself to determine what Getzlaf actually means to the Ducks, in terms of statistics, of course.
Ryan Getzlaf stats from 2009-2010 season:
Games Played: 55 (T-6th)
Goals: 15 (4th)
Assists: 42 (1st)
Points: 57 (1st)
+/-: 3 (T-4th)
Penalty Minutes: 66 (3rd)
Game Winning Goals: 4 (1st) -- 0.26 of Getzy's goals have resulted in Game Winning Goals..Shoot the Puck more Getz!
Shots: 127 (3rd)
Time on Ice/Game: 21:56 (4th, 1st in Forwards)
Shifts/Game: 25.7 (4th, 1st in Forwards)
Faceoff Win Percentage: 48.3 (4th in regural centermen, one area Getzlaf need's to work on)
Even Strength Assists: 29 (1st)
Powerplay Assits: 13 (2nd)
Assists/Game: 0.76 (1st)
Even Strenght Goals: 10 (T-3rd)
Powerplay Goals: 5 (3rd)
Goals/Game: 0.27 (6th)
Even Strength Points: 39 (2nd)
Powerplay Points: 18 (T-1st)
Points/Game: 1.04 (1st)
Hits: 159 (1st)
Blocked Shots: 44 (7th, 2nd on forwards)
Takeaways: 33 (T-1st)
Even Strength Time on Ice/Game: 17:33 (4th, 1st on forwards)
Powerplay Time on Ice/Game: 3:45 (1st)
...obviously i excluded many statistics, but felt these were the most important one's to show you, how Getzlaf ranks in these categories inside the Ducks team. I tried to work on Behind The Net statistics as well, but came to conclusion, that i should leave that stuff to pro's :') Hope that this still made you even more convinced, that if the Ducks could somehow clone another Ryan Getzlaf, they would probably win every single match day in and day out.
And finally, great news from the Ducks camp. Getzlaf is now officially on day to day list, and he hopefully don't have to miss any games at all, expect the game against Oilers tonight. Also great news for Team Canada. Needless to say, Getzlaf won't probably be even close to 100%, when he decides to come back, but Ryan Getzlaf, let's say, at 75%, is still a better player than most any given night.
Go Ducks (&Getzlaf)
Ryan Getzlaf stats from 2009-2010 season:
Games Played: 55 (T-6th)
Goals: 15 (4th)
Assists: 42 (1st)
Points: 57 (1st)
+/-: 3 (T-4th)
Penalty Minutes: 66 (3rd)
Game Winning Goals: 4 (1st) -- 0.26 of Getzy's goals have resulted in Game Winning Goals..Shoot the Puck more Getz!
Shots: 127 (3rd)
Time on Ice/Game: 21:56 (4th, 1st in Forwards)
Shifts/Game: 25.7 (4th, 1st in Forwards)
Faceoff Win Percentage: 48.3 (4th in regural centermen, one area Getzlaf need's to work on)
Even Strength Assists: 29 (1st)
Powerplay Assits: 13 (2nd)
Assists/Game: 0.76 (1st)
Even Strenght Goals: 10 (T-3rd)
Powerplay Goals: 5 (3rd)
Goals/Game: 0.27 (6th)
Even Strength Points: 39 (2nd)
Powerplay Points: 18 (T-1st)
Points/Game: 1.04 (1st)
Hits: 159 (1st)
Blocked Shots: 44 (7th, 2nd on forwards)
Takeaways: 33 (T-1st)
Even Strength Time on Ice/Game: 17:33 (4th, 1st on forwards)
Powerplay Time on Ice/Game: 3:45 (1st)
...obviously i excluded many statistics, but felt these were the most important one's to show you, how Getzlaf ranks in these categories inside the Ducks team. I tried to work on Behind The Net statistics as well, but came to conclusion, that i should leave that stuff to pro's :') Hope that this still made you even more convinced, that if the Ducks could somehow clone another Ryan Getzlaf, they would probably win every single match day in and day out.
And finally, great news from the Ducks camp. Getzlaf is now officially on day to day list, and he hopefully don't have to miss any games at all, expect the game against Oilers tonight. Also great news for Team Canada. Needless to say, Getzlaf won't probably be even close to 100%, when he decides to come back, but Ryan Getzlaf, let's say, at 75%, is still a better player than most any given night.
Go Ducks (&Getzlaf)
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Preview: Edmonton Oilers @ Anaheim Ducks (February 10th 2010, 7:00 PM (PT) @ Honda Center)
We all are probably thinking the same thing here. Oilers suck and that the Ducks absolutely must come up with a way to win. Oilers season didn't start that good, when Ales Hemsky suffered a shoulder injury only 22 games into the season, and they've also have lost more key players to injuries this season. Nikolai Khabibulin and now more recently, Sheldon Souray (who has been officially on the trading block for quite some time), to name a few. So, how bad Edmonton has really sucked since the start of 2010 calendar year? Here is a look at the numbers:
Oilers started the 2009-2010 season by making a 16-21-4 record in 41 games, while averaging 2.78 GF/G and 3.27 GA/G. Then came in the year 2010, and since then Oilers have registered really depressing numbers: 2-13-2 record in 17 games, while averaging 1.82 GF/G and 3.82 GA/G. Their home record is 11-16-4 and their road record stands at 7-18-2. Their Powerplay is clicking at 18.7% and their Penalty Kill stands, as of now at 75.5%. And their overall goal differential in this season is -54, which is league's worst at the moment.
So in conclusion, this is a must win for the Ducks, if they want to climb up the standings and keep their playoff hope's alive. These are the type of games in my books, that the Ducks should win with or without Ryan Getzlaf. Speaking of Getzlaf, it looks like the Ducks have survived by a scare, as he looks to return to the line-up hopefully on the upcoming weekend. It's not yet fully known how serious the injury is, however, or can Getzlaf make it to represent Team Canada in the Winter Olympics.
For now, i'm not going to speculate the Ducks lines to the game, but i will tomorrow update this post, or add another post if i feel there is more things left to be mentioned before the game. Still couple more things to wrap this up:
- Dustin Penner is back in town, and so far, he's been one of the few bright spot's on Oilers this season. Here is a good statistical analysis of Penner's performances in goal-scoring department on this season. (Link leads to a fantastic Oilers Blog at SBN. Check it out if you're interested about the Edmonton Oilers)
- James Wisniewski is apparently not too concerned about the trade rumours surrounding him, as he openly joked to the OC Register Ducks Blog's Eric Stephens about it. Wiz really seems like stand-up guy, but still, with what he have seen from him this season, i figure we all can agree that he isn't going to be worth the raise he's likely to be looking.
- Quite old news already, but i forgot to mention about the fact, that the former Ducks GM Pierre Gauthier has taken over reigns from Bob Gainey, as he was named General Manager of the Montreal Canadiens. We all obviously wish Pierre to succeed and...wait, what? This guy found himself again a GM job? :D
But yeah, that's it. Feel free to post any thought's at all to the 'comments' section :)
GO Ducks!
Oilers started the 2009-2010 season by making a 16-21-4 record in 41 games, while averaging 2.78 GF/G and 3.27 GA/G. Then came in the year 2010, and since then Oilers have registered really depressing numbers: 2-13-2 record in 17 games, while averaging 1.82 GF/G and 3.82 GA/G. Their home record is 11-16-4 and their road record stands at 7-18-2. Their Powerplay is clicking at 18.7% and their Penalty Kill stands, as of now at 75.5%. And their overall goal differential in this season is -54, which is league's worst at the moment.
So in conclusion, this is a must win for the Ducks, if they want to climb up the standings and keep their playoff hope's alive. These are the type of games in my books, that the Ducks should win with or without Ryan Getzlaf. Speaking of Getzlaf, it looks like the Ducks have survived by a scare, as he looks to return to the line-up hopefully on the upcoming weekend. It's not yet fully known how serious the injury is, however, or can Getzlaf make it to represent Team Canada in the Winter Olympics.
For now, i'm not going to speculate the Ducks lines to the game, but i will tomorrow update this post, or add another post if i feel there is more things left to be mentioned before the game. Still couple more things to wrap this up:
- Dustin Penner is back in town, and so far, he's been one of the few bright spot's on Oilers this season. Here is a good statistical analysis of Penner's performances in goal-scoring department on this season. (Link leads to a fantastic Oilers Blog at SBN. Check it out if you're interested about the Edmonton Oilers)
- James Wisniewski is apparently not too concerned about the trade rumours surrounding him, as he openly joked to the OC Register Ducks Blog's Eric Stephens about it. Wiz really seems like stand-up guy, but still, with what he have seen from him this season, i figure we all can agree that he isn't going to be worth the raise he's likely to be looking.
- Quite old news already, but i forgot to mention about the fact, that the former Ducks GM Pierre Gauthier has taken over reigns from Bob Gainey, as he was named General Manager of the Montreal Canadiens. We all obviously wish Pierre to succeed and...wait, what? This guy found himself again a GM job? :D
But yeah, that's it. Feel free to post any thought's at all to the 'comments' section :)
GO Ducks!
What to do with Nick Boynton & Evgeny Artyukhin?
#4 Nick Boynton 42GP 1G 6A 7P +/- 1 59PIM 39Shots 16:45 TOI/G
Cap Hit: $1,500,000 (UFA) -- End: 2010
Age: 31
#24 Evgeny Artyukhin 37GP 4G 5A 9P +/- 0 41PIM 21Shots 9:04 TOI/G
Cap Hit: $950,000 (UFA) -- End: 2010
Age: 26
Above there is some general information about Boynton & Artyukhin. I suggest you head to a great NHL stats site called Behind The Net for more detailed stats. I leave the more detailed stats for you guys to check out, and i'm just going voice my general opinion about the players in question -- I'll start with Nick Boynton.
Boynton first was put on to waivers by the Ducks in February 1st and no team took the chance to grab Boynton then. Day later, he was put to Re-Entry Waivers, but was cleared again. Then he was assigned to Manitoba Moose, part of the American Hockey League. Personally i'm kind of wondering, how no one wanted to take their chances with Boynton. By any means, he isn't a bad defenceman, just not that good fit to Ducks, because they already have players working the same role, that Boynton is capable of handling. That is, of course, #5-6th defenceman. Boynton is a regular defensive defenceman, who isn't maybe particularly tough or good at clearing the crease, but he does have a good active stick, and he also has a pretty solid defensive positioning. On the offensive side of thing, he is quite good at pinching in sometimes, and keeping the puck in on the opponent's zone. And he also fights (in this vid Derek Boogard was after the Ducks rookie Dan Sexton and Boynton came in to defend his teammate) and he lays pretty decent hits sometimes. Maybe some team GM would like to grab Boynton by dumping another contract at a trade? Pure speculation on my part. But i can say for certain, that Boynton is far from being useless bum, and i think he could add some defensive depth to a team with injuries, or maybe upgrade some team's defensive depth.
Artyukhin is another story. He's been in and out of head coach Randy Carlyle's doghouse all season long, and currently, he's in. Best way to describe Artyukhin would be, that he has pretty decent skillset, but for "some reason" he hasn't been able to put it all together yet -- and that "some reason" is that his hockey IQ is just terrible. It's clear as a day when you watch Artyukhin play. It just seems like most of time he's just lost, especially on the defensive zone. He does has, however great wheels for a 6' 4", 255 pound guy. It's actually quite tremendous how fast he can skate when he goes on to full speed, and that is definitely one of Arty's greatest strength's. Other asset on his play would be his physical play, as most of time when he goes into corners, he does come out with puck on his tape. And he looks pretty intimidating when he goes to finish his check's. Artyukhin probably isn't going to be re-signed by the Ducks, so maybe he could be traded to a team, which is short on big, physical forwards. It's a whole another story what he could possibly fetch at the deadline, and i'm not going to get into that right now.
But anyhow, feel free to post any comments about what do you think that the Ducks should do with above mentioned guys.
Go Ducks
Cap Hit: $1,500,000 (UFA) -- End: 2010
Age: 31
#24 Evgeny Artyukhin 37GP 4G 5A 9P +/- 0 41PIM 21Shots 9:04 TOI/G
Cap Hit: $950,000 (UFA) -- End: 2010
Age: 26
Above there is some general information about Boynton & Artyukhin. I suggest you head to a great NHL stats site called Behind The Net for more detailed stats. I leave the more detailed stats for you guys to check out, and i'm just going voice my general opinion about the players in question -- I'll start with Nick Boynton.
Boynton first was put on to waivers by the Ducks in February 1st and no team took the chance to grab Boynton then. Day later, he was put to Re-Entry Waivers, but was cleared again. Then he was assigned to Manitoba Moose, part of the American Hockey League. Personally i'm kind of wondering, how no one wanted to take their chances with Boynton. By any means, he isn't a bad defenceman, just not that good fit to Ducks, because they already have players working the same role, that Boynton is capable of handling. That is, of course, #5-6th defenceman. Boynton is a regular defensive defenceman, who isn't maybe particularly tough or good at clearing the crease, but he does have a good active stick, and he also has a pretty solid defensive positioning. On the offensive side of thing, he is quite good at pinching in sometimes, and keeping the puck in on the opponent's zone. And he also fights (in this vid Derek Boogard was after the Ducks rookie Dan Sexton and Boynton came in to defend his teammate) and he lays pretty decent hits sometimes. Maybe some team GM would like to grab Boynton by dumping another contract at a trade? Pure speculation on my part. But i can say for certain, that Boynton is far from being useless bum, and i think he could add some defensive depth to a team with injuries, or maybe upgrade some team's defensive depth.
Artyukhin is another story. He's been in and out of head coach Randy Carlyle's doghouse all season long, and currently, he's in. Best way to describe Artyukhin would be, that he has pretty decent skillset, but for "some reason" he hasn't been able to put it all together yet -- and that "some reason" is that his hockey IQ is just terrible. It's clear as a day when you watch Artyukhin play. It just seems like most of time he's just lost, especially on the defensive zone. He does has, however great wheels for a 6' 4", 255 pound guy. It's actually quite tremendous how fast he can skate when he goes on to full speed, and that is definitely one of Arty's greatest strength's. Other asset on his play would be his physical play, as most of time when he goes into corners, he does come out with puck on his tape. And he looks pretty intimidating when he goes to finish his check's. Artyukhin probably isn't going to be re-signed by the Ducks, so maybe he could be traded to a team, which is short on big, physical forwards. It's a whole another story what he could possibly fetch at the deadline, and i'm not going to get into that right now.
But anyhow, feel free to post any comments about what do you think that the Ducks should do with above mentioned guys.
Go Ducks
Post-Game: Ducks beat Kings 4-2 in Honda Center, but paid a prize to do so.
Boxscore
Recap
Well, the good news is that Ducks finally found a way to win the Kings for the first time this season (Matter of fact, first win against a California team, as the Ducks have not yet beat the Sharks either this season). The bad news is that Ryan Getzlaf was injured on the 2nd period, when he got tangled up with the Kings captain, Dustin Brown and then fell down awkwardly, suffering a left angle sprain and he did not return to the game. Getzlaf went through x-rays, but they came back negative. He reportedly is going to go through some test's in Tuesday and it remains to be seen, how serious the injury actually is. Tough loss for the Ducks, and we obviously wish Getzlaf a quick recovery, so he can come back to help the Ducks race towards the playoffs, and also, help Team Canada to win gold in the upcoming Winter Olympics.
Besides Ryan Getzlaf injury, there is not a whole lot to complain about the Ducks win here. Anaheim played well from the drop of the puck to until the final whistle, even though in the 3rd period, Ducks play seemed a bit shaky, but that was probably mainly because of the new forward lines, that Ducks Head Coach Randy Carlyle had to put in order after Getzlaf went down with an injury. Otherwise, Ducks looked sharp. They were outshot 37 to 33, but still it was quite obvious, expecially on the 1st & 2nd period, that the Ducks controlled the play and from the result of that, they were able to capitalize most of their chances. Corey Perry put the puck back in the net in 2nd period on the Ducks powerplay, but the referee Kelly Sutherland ruled that it was a goalie interference, and therefore the no-goal ruling. Few seconds later, Ducks scored on the same powerplay, when Saku Koivu found the back of the net, potting his 11th goal of the season.
Hiller played also well, and made some important key saves on the 3rd period. Although he left couple of juicy rebounds on the crease at times, but the Ducks defence was able to bail Hiller out a couple of times. Ryan Whitney expecially played particular well on the game and it seems like Whitney has started to get himself going lately, although it may be because he was named to the USA Olympic team as Paul Martin's replacement a while ago. It would be good for the Ducks, if Whitney could keep this kind of play up even after the Olympics. Don't get me wrong, in my opinion he still is, and always will be as soft as a butter, who's defensive play probably isn't going get whole lot better as his career advances. Hope he proves me wrong though, and that he could be an integral part of the Ducks's blueline down the road, seeing as his current contract ends in 2013.
Corey Perry played great and we all hope he is finally going to break that slump of his, which came after his 19-game point streak halted. He's certainly on his way to improve his play, as he now has 6 points (2G 4A) in the last four games. Powerplay also is starting to get on track, now that Teemu Selanne is back from his injury. He scored a PP goal again last night. Ducks were 2 for 4 on the man advantage, and it was one of the key parts on this Ducks win.
Overall, good game by the Ducks. Solid win and much needed 2 points. Hopefully the Ducks can build on this, and maybe go for a bit of a winning streak before the Olympic break.
My 3 Stars to the Game:
* Ryan Getzlaf (Was downright dominant before he went down with an injury. He made lots of things happen in the offensive zone, and he also scored the goal to put Ducks up 2-1 in the second period.
** Saku Koivu (Hard work, hard work & hard work. Koivu once again lead by example, giving the team everything he's got all night long. Koivu scored the game-winning goal and notched an assist.
*** Corey Perry (1G 2A 3P +/- +2 5Shots 18:17 on TOI. Perry played a great game, and those stats support that claim. Hopefully Perry' play won't be too much affected, if Ryan Getzlaf misses any significant time with an injury.
Recap
Well, the good news is that Ducks finally found a way to win the Kings for the first time this season (Matter of fact, first win against a California team, as the Ducks have not yet beat the Sharks either this season). The bad news is that Ryan Getzlaf was injured on the 2nd period, when he got tangled up with the Kings captain, Dustin Brown and then fell down awkwardly, suffering a left angle sprain and he did not return to the game. Getzlaf went through x-rays, but they came back negative. He reportedly is going to go through some test's in Tuesday and it remains to be seen, how serious the injury actually is. Tough loss for the Ducks, and we obviously wish Getzlaf a quick recovery, so he can come back to help the Ducks race towards the playoffs, and also, help Team Canada to win gold in the upcoming Winter Olympics.
Besides Ryan Getzlaf injury, there is not a whole lot to complain about the Ducks win here. Anaheim played well from the drop of the puck to until the final whistle, even though in the 3rd period, Ducks play seemed a bit shaky, but that was probably mainly because of the new forward lines, that Ducks Head Coach Randy Carlyle had to put in order after Getzlaf went down with an injury. Otherwise, Ducks looked sharp. They were outshot 37 to 33, but still it was quite obvious, expecially on the 1st & 2nd period, that the Ducks controlled the play and from the result of that, they were able to capitalize most of their chances. Corey Perry put the puck back in the net in 2nd period on the Ducks powerplay, but the referee Kelly Sutherland ruled that it was a goalie interference, and therefore the no-goal ruling. Few seconds later, Ducks scored on the same powerplay, when Saku Koivu found the back of the net, potting his 11th goal of the season.
Hiller played also well, and made some important key saves on the 3rd period. Although he left couple of juicy rebounds on the crease at times, but the Ducks defence was able to bail Hiller out a couple of times. Ryan Whitney expecially played particular well on the game and it seems like Whitney has started to get himself going lately, although it may be because he was named to the USA Olympic team as Paul Martin's replacement a while ago. It would be good for the Ducks, if Whitney could keep this kind of play up even after the Olympics. Don't get me wrong, in my opinion he still is, and always will be as soft as a butter, who's defensive play probably isn't going get whole lot better as his career advances. Hope he proves me wrong though, and that he could be an integral part of the Ducks's blueline down the road, seeing as his current contract ends in 2013.
Corey Perry played great and we all hope he is finally going to break that slump of his, which came after his 19-game point streak halted. He's certainly on his way to improve his play, as he now has 6 points (2G 4A) in the last four games. Powerplay also is starting to get on track, now that Teemu Selanne is back from his injury. He scored a PP goal again last night. Ducks were 2 for 4 on the man advantage, and it was one of the key parts on this Ducks win.
Overall, good game by the Ducks. Solid win and much needed 2 points. Hopefully the Ducks can build on this, and maybe go for a bit of a winning streak before the Olympic break.
My 3 Stars to the Game:
* Ryan Getzlaf (Was downright dominant before he went down with an injury. He made lots of things happen in the offensive zone, and he also scored the goal to put Ducks up 2-1 in the second period.
** Saku Koivu (Hard work, hard work & hard work. Koivu once again lead by example, giving the team everything he's got all night long. Koivu scored the game-winning goal and notched an assist.
*** Corey Perry (1G 2A 3P +/- +2 5Shots 18:17 on TOI. Perry played a great game, and those stats support that claim. Hopefully Perry' play won't be too much affected, if Ryan Getzlaf misses any significant time with an injury.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Gameday: Tonight's probable line-up.
Bobby Ryan - Ryan Getzlaf - Corey Perry
Jason Blake - Saku Koivu - Teemu Selanne
Kyle Chipchura - Todd Marchant - Troy Bodie
Mike Brown - Petteri Nokelainen - Evgeny Artyukhin - George Parros - Ryan Carter
(Two of those five players will serve as healty scratches, it is not known yet which two.)
Scott Niedermayer - James Wisniewski
Steve Eminger - Ryan Whitney
Sheldon Brookbank - Brett Festerling
Jonas Hiller
(Vesa Toskala)
Funny story, according to OC Register Ducks Blog Vesa Toskala asked the management if he could wear the number #35 (Formerly Jean-Sebastien Giguere number, who was traded to Toronto Maple Leafs just a few days ago) and his request was turned down, so he chose number #36 instead. Maybe if Toskala performs well at this new chance, maybe we all won't feel so strongly about him taking Jiggy's number ;)
In all seriousness, i feel that Giguere's number should hang in Honda Center's rafter when his career is over. He was big, big part of the Ducks organization for over 10 years and gave his everything to this club we all root for.
...two shutout's already with Toronto, keep it going Jiggy! :)
Jason Blake - Saku Koivu - Teemu Selanne
Kyle Chipchura - Todd Marchant - Troy Bodie
Mike Brown - Petteri Nokelainen - Evgeny Artyukhin - George Parros - Ryan Carter
(Two of those five players will serve as healty scratches, it is not known yet which two.)
Scott Niedermayer - James Wisniewski
Steve Eminger - Ryan Whitney
Sheldon Brookbank - Brett Festerling
Jonas Hiller
(Vesa Toskala)
Funny story, according to OC Register Ducks Blog Vesa Toskala asked the management if he could wear the number #35 (Formerly Jean-Sebastien Giguere number, who was traded to Toronto Maple Leafs just a few days ago) and his request was turned down, so he chose number #36 instead. Maybe if Toskala performs well at this new chance, maybe we all won't feel so strongly about him taking Jiggy's number ;)
In all seriousness, i feel that Giguere's number should hang in Honda Center's rafter when his career is over. He was big, big part of the Ducks organization for over 10 years and gave his everything to this club we all root for.
...two shutout's already with Toronto, keep it going Jiggy! :)
Ducks player look: Matt Beleskey
I thought it would be cool if every once in a while i'd take a closer look at some Ducks player and first, i thought i would chat a bit about Matt Beleskey.
#39 Matt Beleskey (6'0", 204, Jun 7th 1988, Age: 21, Contract: Cap Hit: $666,667 (RFA) --> End: 2011
Stats from 2009-2010 Season: 36GP 6G 4A 10P +/- -7 19PIM 79Shots 14:06TOI/G
First thing you notice when watching Matt play, is that he works hard every single shift and it's not because he's trying impress the coaching staff. No, it's because that's how Beleskey plays the game and it's definitely one of Beleskey strenghts on the ice. He also isn't shy to play physical style of hockey, seeing as he's thrown 60 hits already in 36 games. Beleskey is used to going hard into to the corners to play the puck and it's one of the reason's why he has seen ice-time on the top line with Ryan Getzlaf & Corey Perry.
Beleskey also has a very good and hard shot, as he recently registered a 98 mph shot at the Ducks practice. He's probably not the fastest skater around, but he definitely ain't slow either and he is surprisingly strong on skates.
Personnally i think, that Beleskey has shown with his play this season that he has pretty good offensive instincts, all while being defensivly responsible. I look forward to seeing how Matt Beleskey's career with the Ducks turns out, and if his play this season is any indication, i think we can expect some pretty good things from the 21-year old Windsor, Ontario native.
Stats Look: Honda Center is the place to be
I grapped some intresting statistics from NHL.com about Ducks games when playing in home at Honda Center:
Home (Record: 17-8-2)
GP: 27
G: 90
GA: 78
PPG: 25
PPGA: 19
SHG: 3
SHGA: 2
+/- : +6
and then again outside of the Honda Center..
Road (Record: 10-16-5)
GP: 31
G: 68
GA: 97
PPG: 13
PPGA: 29
SHG: 2
SHGA: 4
+/- : -13
So we can see the difference is huge, and obviously Ducks have played their best hockey in Honda Center. This certainly helps, considering the tight playoffs race the Ducks are in, because out of the final 24 games the Ducks play 14 at home and only ten outside Honda Center. Hopefully these stats can carry along the rest of the way and that the Ducks could also get some much needed points on the road.
And also the difference in Special Teams on Home/Road have favored the Honda Center heavily:
Home PP: 25.2%
Road PP: 12.8%
Home PK: 82.9%
Road PK: 77.0%
So if these mark the way for the future, i think Ducks just have to fight their way through the road games, and meanwhile continue their strong play at the Honda Center and of course, grap the 2 points often as possible.
Home (Record: 17-8-2)
GP: 27
G: 90
GA: 78
PPG: 25
PPGA: 19
SHG: 3
SHGA: 2
+/- : +6
and then again outside of the Honda Center..
Road (Record: 10-16-5)
GP: 31
G: 68
GA: 97
PPG: 13
PPGA: 29
SHG: 2
SHGA: 4
+/- : -13
So we can see the difference is huge, and obviously Ducks have played their best hockey in Honda Center. This certainly helps, considering the tight playoffs race the Ducks are in, because out of the final 24 games the Ducks play 14 at home and only ten outside Honda Center. Hopefully these stats can carry along the rest of the way and that the Ducks could also get some much needed points on the road.
And also the difference in Special Teams on Home/Road have favored the Honda Center heavily:
Home PP: 25.2%
Road PP: 12.8%
Home PK: 82.9%
Road PK: 77.0%
So if these mark the way for the future, i think Ducks just have to fight their way through the road games, and meanwhile continue their strong play at the Honda Center and of course, grap the 2 points often as possible.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Speculation: James Wisniewski - Chicago bound (again)?
Link
Daily Herald is throwing rumor around that James Wisniewski might be on his way back to Blackhawks, team that last year traded him to Ducks at the Trade Deadline for Sami Pahlsson & 4th round draft pick. They mention that Chicago could probably swap him for Cam Barker, former 1st round draft pick, who so far in his career has failed to live up expectations the Blackhawks has had for him from since he was drafted back in '04. The report also mention, that he has been in Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville's doghouse all season long, and from the result of it, Barker has seen his ice-time diminish somewhat, as he's been on part with the Chicago's third defensive pair. Needless to say, change of scenery could do Barker some good, and maybe in Anaheim, he could gain some physicality in his game under Ducks coach Randy Carlyle and also work on his defensive game, since right now, Barker is all about offensive play. So, he could get a lot of PP time with the Ducks, seeing as Ryan Whitney apparently isn't no longer part of Carlyle's plans for the 1st PP unit.
Of course, for now this is just a rumor, but an intresting one, nonetheless. It's hard to say what Barker could do in Anaheim or would he be imminent help to Ducks defence corps. Personally, from Ducks perspective, i would definetly take this rumored deal even if it doesn't exaclty fill the specific (net-clearing) defensive need. I think Barker still has potential to become better, and he could be fine addition if he can get a frest start here in Anaheim. Besides, i doubt that Wisniewski is still in Bob Murray's long-term plans, Barker, however, i think could be.
Cam Barker 6'3", 215, APR 4th 1986 (23y old) Cap Hit: $3,083,333 (RFA) ---> End: 2012
Stats from the 2009-2010 season so far:
50GP 4G 10A 14P 7+/- 58PIM 73Shots 13:06TOI/GM
Daily Herald is throwing rumor around that James Wisniewski might be on his way back to Blackhawks, team that last year traded him to Ducks at the Trade Deadline for Sami Pahlsson & 4th round draft pick. They mention that Chicago could probably swap him for Cam Barker, former 1st round draft pick, who so far in his career has failed to live up expectations the Blackhawks has had for him from since he was drafted back in '04. The report also mention, that he has been in Blackhawks head coach Joel Quenneville's doghouse all season long, and from the result of it, Barker has seen his ice-time diminish somewhat, as he's been on part with the Chicago's third defensive pair. Needless to say, change of scenery could do Barker some good, and maybe in Anaheim, he could gain some physicality in his game under Ducks coach Randy Carlyle and also work on his defensive game, since right now, Barker is all about offensive play. So, he could get a lot of PP time with the Ducks, seeing as Ryan Whitney apparently isn't no longer part of Carlyle's plans for the 1st PP unit.
Of course, for now this is just a rumor, but an intresting one, nonetheless. It's hard to say what Barker could do in Anaheim or would he be imminent help to Ducks defence corps. Personally, from Ducks perspective, i would definetly take this rumored deal even if it doesn't exaclty fill the specific (net-clearing) defensive need. I think Barker still has potential to become better, and he could be fine addition if he can get a frest start here in Anaheim. Besides, i doubt that Wisniewski is still in Bob Murray's long-term plans, Barker, however, i think could be.
Cam Barker 6'3", 215, APR 4th 1986 (23y old) Cap Hit: $3,083,333 (RFA) ---> End: 2012
Stats from the 2009-2010 season so far:
50GP 4G 10A 14P 7+/- 58PIM 73Shots 13:06TOI/GM
Quick look at Western Conference Playoffs race with the Ducks hopefully climbing up.
So, right now the Ducks have a 27-24-7 record and they have played 58 games and only 24 to go. They are sitting on the 12th spot with 61 points and the Nashville Predators are holding the eight spot with 66 points. Other Teams on the race are Minnesota Wild (62p), Dallas Stars (63p), Detroit Red Wings (64p) and Calgary Flames on the seventh spot with 67 points. So right now there is a tough, tough race going and every point holds better chances to playoffs, and the Ducks certainly need points as much as possible on the upcoming 24 games if they want to get in for the 5th straight time. There is 4 games left until the Winter Olympics break and the change to gain 8 points out of those remaining games should be pretty good if they show effort and are truly motivated to get these crucial points before the break. The remaining games are against Kings, Flames & 2 games vs the Oilers.
All in all, Ducks certainly still have a chance to grap a spot on this year's playoffs, but they've got show consistency to win games with their defence, not just with Offence & Hiller. The next two months should be more than intresting, and hopefully Ducks gan get their game going, now when it matters the most.
All in all, Ducks certainly still have a chance to grap a spot on this year's playoffs, but they've got show consistency to win games with their defence, not just with Offence & Hiller. The next two months should be more than intresting, and hopefully Ducks gan get their game going, now when it matters the most.
Preview: Los Angeles Kings @ Anaheim Ducks (February 8th 2010 , 7 00: PM (PT) @ Honda Center)
Kings won the Ducks last thursday, but tomorrow, it's a new night. Ducks must be hungry for the 2 points, especially when their comeback was spoiled by Kings and Dustin Brown on the final minutes of the 3rd period (Anze Kopitar sealed the deal on the Powerplay, after Ryan Getzlaf got called on tripping).
Anyhow, the way i see this, Ducks really have to get their legs moving from the get go, and they must keep moving their legs the full 60 minutes. Something they've had hard time to do all season long. Also, they must tone down the defensive zone turnovers if they want to win (I'm looking at you, Whitney & Wisniewski).
There was not whole lot of postives on Ducks's game against LA the last time, but one thing however, stood out: There weren't whole lot of negatives either. Hiller played well, of course when a goalie allows six goals, usually goalie hasn't played on top of his game. But still, Hiller played well and lot of the goals weren't really his fault, as they were defensive mistakes. Ducks defencemen inability to clear the net was shown once again this season, and you got a wonder what GM Bob Murray is up to in defence department, because team that has this big of D problem and is desperately trying to make the playoffs, something has to happen. Scott Niedermayer maybe isn't the same defenceman he was a few years ago but even if he was, we'd still have the same problem and in my opinion, it need's to be fixed sooner rather than later.
RPG (Ryan-Getzlaf-Perry) line was put back together on the last game, but despite the dominance along the boards , they failed to generate great offensive chances and thus Coach Carlyle put Ryan in second line with the Wonder Finns and but Rookie Matt Beleskey back together with Getzlaf & Perry. Beleskey scored a goal in that line and i really hope that Carlyle is going to play that line again in tomorrow. Besides, Bobby has shown already he can carry a line whoever the other guys are. And now that Selanne is starting to, albeit slowly, get back in shape we can hope that the Powerplay is going get better and of course more effective. Even though Ducks already tried it earlier in the season and it didn't quite work out back then, i'm thinking they could move Ryan Getzlaf back to the point and let Niedermayer be the rover he always is and put Selanne, Ryan and on the walls and Perry in front of the net.
Also, Vesa Toskala has worked his work-visa problem and has joined the Ducks team and is going to be the back-up to Jonas Hiller in tomorrow's game. So, welcome to the Ducks, Vesa! :)
Beleskey - Getzlaf - Perry
Ryan - Koivu - Selanne
Bodie - Chipchura - Marchant
Blake - Carter - Nokelainen
Niedermayer - Wisniewski
Whitney - Brookbank
Eminger - Festerling
(Those probably ain't going to be lines that the Ducks Head Coach Randy Carlyle plans to use, that's more of a personal thinking from my end. I will post the more probable line-up later)
Also, some stats to tomorrow's game:
Los Angeles Kings (36-19-3) @ Anaheim Ducks (27-24-7)
Goals/Game: 2.93 - 2.72
Goals Against/Game: 2.69 - 3.02
PP%: 19.5 - 18.9
PK%: 80.4 - 79.8
GO DUCKS!
Anyhow, the way i see this, Ducks really have to get their legs moving from the get go, and they must keep moving their legs the full 60 minutes. Something they've had hard time to do all season long. Also, they must tone down the defensive zone turnovers if they want to win (I'm looking at you, Whitney & Wisniewski).
There was not whole lot of postives on Ducks's game against LA the last time, but one thing however, stood out: There weren't whole lot of negatives either. Hiller played well, of course when a goalie allows six goals, usually goalie hasn't played on top of his game. But still, Hiller played well and lot of the goals weren't really his fault, as they were defensive mistakes. Ducks defencemen inability to clear the net was shown once again this season, and you got a wonder what GM Bob Murray is up to in defence department, because team that has this big of D problem and is desperately trying to make the playoffs, something has to happen. Scott Niedermayer maybe isn't the same defenceman he was a few years ago but even if he was, we'd still have the same problem and in my opinion, it need's to be fixed sooner rather than later.
RPG (Ryan-Getzlaf-Perry) line was put back together on the last game, but despite the dominance along the boards , they failed to generate great offensive chances and thus Coach Carlyle put Ryan in second line with the Wonder Finns and but Rookie Matt Beleskey back together with Getzlaf & Perry. Beleskey scored a goal in that line and i really hope that Carlyle is going to play that line again in tomorrow. Besides, Bobby has shown already he can carry a line whoever the other guys are. And now that Selanne is starting to, albeit slowly, get back in shape we can hope that the Powerplay is going get better and of course more effective. Even though Ducks already tried it earlier in the season and it didn't quite work out back then, i'm thinking they could move Ryan Getzlaf back to the point and let Niedermayer be the rover he always is and put Selanne, Ryan and on the walls and Perry in front of the net.
Also, Vesa Toskala has worked his work-visa problem and has joined the Ducks team and is going to be the back-up to Jonas Hiller in tomorrow's game. So, welcome to the Ducks, Vesa! :)
Beleskey - Getzlaf - Perry
Ryan - Koivu - Selanne
Bodie - Chipchura - Marchant
Blake - Carter - Nokelainen
Niedermayer - Wisniewski
Whitney - Brookbank
Eminger - Festerling
(Those probably ain't going to be lines that the Ducks Head Coach Randy Carlyle plans to use, that's more of a personal thinking from my end. I will post the more probable line-up later)
Also, some stats to tomorrow's game:
Los Angeles Kings (36-19-3) @ Anaheim Ducks (27-24-7)
Goals/Game: 2.93 - 2.72
Goals Against/Game: 2.69 - 3.02
PP%: 19.5 - 18.9
PK%: 80.4 - 79.8
GO DUCKS!
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