One More Time! (and then again in like a month or so)

Well, it wasn't fantastic, but it was more than enough.

The Ducks were able to focus and play a solid game for about 60 minuets. All very important right now seeing that the season is officially 1/2 way over (::sigh::).

Beating the Kings. The Ducks are 3-1 against the cross town rivals this season. Who doesn't love beating the Kings? For some reason watching Ducks/Kings games I’m always extra tense. Like it matters that much. I guess for me, all that matters is that the co-workers (who didn’t even know that the Kings played last night) can’t make a comment, and that Ken (who decided to join us during the 3rd period just in time for 2 Ducks goals) has no room for bragging. Ken is a big hockey fan/player/overall nice guy. Too bad he’s confused and doesn’t know how to pick a good team. Last night he compared his personal to play to that of Alexander Ovechkin…I corrected him by saying that the comparison is only relevant when Ovechkin is on the bench (admittedly, I've never seen Ken play...but I have seen Ovechkin play and well...). Ken laughed, which is just another case to his fantastic-ness. Good guy, just a fan of the wrong team.

Hello Power Play scoring. Yes, it was missing and has been FOUND! Bobby Ryan and Samuel Pahlsson's goals were exactly what the Ducks needed last night. I seriously can’t get enough of Bobby Ryan right now. He’s really stepping it up and showing why he was drafted number 2. On the flip side (I feel like it would be necessary to insert a rap here or something), the Ducks seem to be having issues getting even strength goals. 8 of the Ducks’ last 13 goals (dating back to the visit to St. Louis) have come on the Power Play. So glad that it’s clicking boys. Just imagine the damage if even strength was clicking TOO (I’d rather SEE than IMAGINE though).

Other than the fact that the game was considerably uneventful, the Ducks played well enough to do what was necessary, get 2 points.

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Here’s a kicker. I was going to post something about this TODAY. I have been having this feeling in my bones that there was going to be a Ducks trade soon. It was like having a cold weather warning in my joints or something. Anyway, it’s happened. The Ducks have traded Brad May to Toronto (of all places right?). This move may be nice for May-day since he’s from Toronto. Anyway, with the way the younger core group of guys have been playing lately, I can’t say I’m surprised. I don’t know if this is because of his age or because his contract is up at the end of the season, but this just helps trim the roster a bit more. I can’t argue, if it means not having to decide between May and Ryan Carter on the 4th line…no complaints here. No doubting Brad May was a huge part of the Ducks Stanley Cup run and he’ll be missed. Good luck May-day.

Finally, Corey Perry should keep in mind that biting only gets you a 2 game suspension.

GO DUCKS!

More to come...

Just in case you haven't heard...

Ducks traded Brad May to Toronto...

I'll have more later...

Good news and Bad news...

So the good news...
Teemu Selanne doesn't need surgery
Bad news...
He's going to be out for 4-6 weeks anyway. No surgery and he's still going to be out 4-6 weeks? Does that make sense? Corey Perry was out for 6 weeks and he HAD surgery. So was Ryan Carter during his wrist injury...he also HAD surgery. So there must be something they aren't telling the public.

Of course now the question turn to the crazy line changes that are bound to take place. One thing that has been talked about for sure is that Bobby Ryan is likely to fill the void on the first Power Play unit. As far as the 5 on 5 lineups, there is no definite set up and of course, we'll probably see crazy combinations over the course of the next few games. A few of the questions are going to be:
Where will Andrew Ebbett play?
Will Brad May continue to be the healthy scratch for the 4th line?
What will happen with Bobby Ryan and Ryan Carter?

My guess is that the first and checking lines will stay as is. Kunitz-Getzlaf-Perry and Moen-Pahlsson-Niedermayer. I can't even begin to imagine what will happen to the 2nd line and the energy line.

Now some great fantastic news!!
Ducks fans have really pulled it out! I'm very happy and incredibly impressed by the turn around in voting!
Here's an update:
Ryan Getzlaf is LESS THAN 3,000 votes away from FIRST IN THE WEST!
Scott Niedermayer is in SECOND behind Lidstrom about 55,000 votes and Chris Pronger is just behind Scotty in THIRD!
JS Giguere is still in second, but has overcome a HUGE deficit to the injured Luongo and is only 4,500 votes behind first!

If we as Ducks fans can keep this up...we could potentially have 3 or 4 Ducks in the starting line up at the All Star game. WHAT A FANTASTIC WAY TO REMIND THE NHL THAT HOCKEY IS GOING STRONG IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA!!!! KEEP IT UP!

When it seems like there is nothing

Just when I thought I'd have to talk about the Ducks continuing their destruction throughout the league...

Sutherby heads to Dallas.

I'm always surprised and shocked whenever I see players traded. I don't know why.
Anyway, I can't help but think that perhaps Sutherby is going for a couple of reasons. One, this current injury he is nursing that doesn't seem to be getting any better with time. Two, I'm wondering if the way the 4th line has been playing together without him has any influence as well. Between Brian Sutherby, Georege Parros, Brad May and Ryan Carter, that line had been shuffled quite a bit. However, since Ryan Carter has stepped into the role on that All American line along side Bobby Ryan and George Parros, there has been a definite spark. This was even more so evident in the last game against the Sharks when Ryan and Carter were playing along side Teemu Selanne for much of the game. Perhaps Sutherby suddenly became expendable?

Hi, this is the Ducks calling…oh, and just so you know…WE’RE BACK!

OH WHERE TO START?!

So MANY great things happened for the Ducks last night. 5 assists from Ryan Getzlaf! AWESOME. Hat trick from Teemu Selanne, BEAUTIFUL (not to mention kind of eerie…I’ll get into that later)! Francois Beauchemin’s OT swat…FABULOUS! Hits galore! (Too many shots against as I’ve mentioned before and too many penalties…but hey…there was just SO MUCH MORE GOOD going on last night, we’ll ignore those this time).

First of all, I think it might be okay to make this statement, the Ducks played hard, very hard last night. 60 minuets hard? Just about. Unfortunately a slight bit of slack in their play could have cost them the game when they let a last minuet goal get by with 1:23 left in the 3rd. However, thanks to the great play during the first 58 minutes, the Ducks were able to climb out of that 3-1 hole they put themselves in to start with. More importantly, they were hitting A LOT…they were hitting HARD. It makes a difference. The Ducks have a checking line that can punish and when that punishement is handed out by everyone on the team, the Ducks get the results they want. WINS.

“You have to play every shift against them.”
Forward, Ryan Getzlaf LA Times

Hey Getz…(wait this is for everyone) HEY DUCKS…News FLASH…you have to play EVERY SHIFT against EVERY TEAM! Come on. Just think of what the Ducks could be doing to this league if they played EVERY TEAM as if they were a “Detroit”!

So yea…let’s talk Getzlaf for a second. I was really worried when he started this season struggling so much. Was it the teeth? EW, lets just disregard that for the pure gross out factor (you know what’s funny…we’re probably going to hear about this tooth/dentist/gums virus thing for the REST OF THE SEASON!!). No matter what the issue was…an assist on ALL 5 GOALS in this game shows EXACTLY what this guys brings to this team!!!! I know I’m not alone when I say this...it is WONDERFUL to see him playing the way he has since getting his first goal in Toronto. His no look pass to Selanne on the first PP goal of the night…a thing of beauty. He had a HUGE hit on Niklas Kronwall in the 3rd which led to a super feed from Corey Perry right to Brian Sutherby to put the Ducks up 4-3! I’m sure Finny loved that one!

Selanne…oh Selanne. Hat trick #21 and #12 as a Duck. Seeing Selanne do what Selanne does best…I have no words. I think it was interesting how all 3 off his goals looked almost identical. They all came from that same little sweet spot on the ice. I DID NOT think it was interesting how Detroit’s first 3 goals ALSO looked identical to one another. Jiggy didn’t either and he showed that frustration after the 3rd goal got by.

Bummer on the goal for Chris Pronger though. What a beauty of a NO goal. Honestly, I don’t really want to get into my thoughts on it because I’m really torn. Should it have been a penalty…well, that’s questionable (although if you saw the first period intermission interview with Selanne, you know he was EXTREMELY unhappy about it). Diving penalty? WHY NOT? No matter what, it was called off...but it could have meant the difference in the game. In fact, it meant the difference in going to OT in the first place. Had it been the other way around…you know Scotty pushed into Jiggy, we would have wanted it called off too. Hm, I guess I gave my thoughts on it anyway.

Most important goal of the night award goes to Francois Beauchemin in OT. Whew, I’m glad that call went the way it did. It was close and with the way calls go AGAINST the Ducks, I was sure it was going to be called no good. What a crazy way to end a game…

A couple of things that really bothered me though…
One, Brad May’s injury. I still haven’t seen anything regarding how he’s doing other than he will be getting an MRI today. It’s hard to see a guy who’s always happy, always smiling, (even after fisticuffs) looking the way he did skating off the ice. Fingers crossed he will be okay. I did catch this from the OC Register…

“I don’t think there’s a tear,” Carlyle said. “I think it’s more of a stretch or
a bruise.” OC Register

That’s hopeful news.

Another peeve. Damn octopus! I’m sorry, but this is CLEARLY a Detroit thing. Everyone knows…the NHL knows, the refs know. This should be a penalty TO THE RED WINGS no matter who’s at home or where they are playing. It’s ridiculous! It happens everywhere and so often DURING PLAYS!!!!! Come on…lets get with the program here…it’s DISGUSTING!

Anyway…phew…I just wanted to say that.

I know there is more to say about this game…it was all just so overwhelming. I’m sure I’ve left something out…if there is something I’ve missed or something else you’d love to talk about…email me anytime Ducks11eleven

WOW! Look what going 4-0 on a team building road trip does for a team! Welcome home boys!

Vancouver on Friday…anyone have a guess on how excited Finny will be to see O’B? haha.

Anyway, something more on them later…let’s not get me started on Luongo!