anaheim ducks bloggers at your fingertips

–UPDATED!–

This is going to be an even tougher battle than I thought. I somehow forgot that the Ducks would be up against Detroit, the entire Media, and the NHL as a whole. Damn.

Plain and simple, the Ducks are going to have to play like angels if they want a chance in this series. There will be no room for sloppy play, because the entire NHL will be there to ensure the Ducks spend what is beyond their fair share of time in the penalty box.

So lets get right to it.

The Mike Brown hit.

–UPDATED–

Here’s a still image from the opposite angle. Thanks to Morbo over at BOC

I think he’s going to get a suspension. There is no way you lay a hit like that against the precious and untouchable Red Wings and not get slapped with a suspension…it doesn’t matter how guilty or innocent you are. Of course Mike Brown feels he’s innocent;

“I just hit him with my shoulder,” Brown said. “My elbow wasn’t up. My stick wasn’t up. It was just a clean hit. I wasn’t meaning to do any harm or anything. I was just playing physical. His head was down. I think they called it because he was cut and on the ice, but I think that was probably because of his visor. He had just gotten rid of the puck. It wasn’t late or anything.” OC Register

And of course, Jiri Hudler thinks it was dirty;

“I didn’t see him coming,” Hudler said. “It happened really quick. I didn’t have the puck for at least two seconds. It was kind of late, but there’s nothing I can do right now. Obviously, it’s a hit on the head. I don’t want to be out of line, but I hope (the League) will get a look at it and do the right thing.” From the Rink

And for a change, not every media personnel is kissing Detroit’s ass. Bob McKenzie from TSN;

“It’s really up to the National Hockey League to decide what is it that they want to do. I think the NHL is going to look at it and say it’s a five-minute major, it happened midway through the first period, Mike Brown is out of this game, there was no severe injury to Hudler other than the blood, he came back and he’s playing, and the Ducks had to play with 11 forwards the rest of the game. There may not be a suspension in this case.”Puck Daddy

My opinion? I think that the 5 minute major AND the game misconduct are more than enough. Late hit? A bit. However, a “bit” is more than enough and I’ll accept that. Hit to the head? NO. Malicious? NO. Where did the blood come from? HIS OWN VISOR! I honestly don’t think he deserves a suspension for the hit. Will they try and make this an example? Probably, even though it’s a poor case in my opinion. If the Ducks were on the other end would I want a suspension? In all honesty, even with my passionate dislike of the Red Wings, I’m going to say no. I’d like to think I have a good ability to step out of the box.

That’s my opinion. I want yours too…

Moving right along…

The Ducks lost this game because they were lazy in the final moments of the game. As much as I love Corey Perry and Bobby Effin Ryan, I’m sorry, but they failed me tonight. What were you boys doing STANDING AROUND?! There is no way you are going to win any games against Detroit if you’re busy hanging around waiting for them to make a mistake. It’s not going to happen. Instead, they waited for you to make a costly mistake in your own defensive end, and made you pay for it with less than 1 minute to go in the game. Maybe Effin doesn’t know what it’s like to see a goal in Joe Louis Arena with less than a minute to play, but Perry should remember that it’s those last minute ditch efforts that won him a cup 2 years ago.

The Ducks had their chances tonight. A few posts and shots gone wide…but again, I’ll refer you to this thought: It’s not how you play, it’s whether you win or lose. Those posts and wide misses are part of this game. You have to find a way to make those opportunities bounce in your favor. There was a huge spark of intensity from Teemu Selanne and his second linemates tonight. The chances for those guys are there. Andrew Ebbett, playing as hard as ever, taking hit after hit and still finding a way to get to the puck. Erik Christensen was right on the doorstep a few times tonight, and with a bounce here or there, the puck is in the back of the net. These guys are going to have to be the havoc makers in this series. I know Selanne can do it, the Ducks are just going to need a few more guys to step it up.

The Ducks have the ability to wear teams down. We saw that happen from time to time throughout this match up tonight and we saw it happen numerous times against San Jose. If they can continue to move the puck well, SKATE HARD and play smart defensive hockey, they can frustrate these Red Wings. I don’t think the Ducks played great tonight and in fact, I think we’ve seen them play BETTER here in the last few months. If you ask me…that’s a great sign. I think this means that a better game is on the way, and if that was Detroit’s best effort…well…

Anaheim fans have to remember one thing. This is definite bonus hockey for us. It looked like Anaheim wasn’t going to have a chance in hell at making the playoffs back in January. Had they made it…there seemed no way to get past the first round. Well, they’ve done BOTH of those things. We’re being treated to a special brand of bonus hockey and I think the team knows that. I don’t think this roster is going to give up without a fight.

And I kinda think they don’t like Detroit as much as the rest of us do.

GO DUCKS!!!

-Zig Ziglar

This will be my last statement about the San Jose Sharks and their first round loss to the Anaheim Ducks…I think.

This morning I was listening to XM 204 and they were talking about “what went wrong in San Jose?”

Here’s what I think about that very stupid question:

Nothing went wrong in San Jose. Nothing. A team that finishes the regular season 53-18-11 = 117 points and wins the Presidents Trophy…you did nothing wrong. Unfortunately you met up with a red hot Anaheim Ducks team and you couldn’t keep up. You paid for the Stanley Cup experienced roster in the previous off season and they helped to lead you through a regular season in an alarmingly fantastic manner. HOWEVER…your regular season pace was too slow for the post season. Now, you’re claiming injuries. Every team claims their injuries when they’ve been eliminated…no room for excuses there. I still believe that Bobby Ryan was injured in game 5. You play through those injuries in the post season.

I really wish that people would stop pointing blame at what the Sharks did wrong. Instead maybe someone will finally say…a really good team lost to a much better team. End of story.

—–

Enough of that madness, the Sharks are gone and the Ducks are moving on.

Tomorrow the puck drops on what will be a highly intense series in the NHL. Detroit hates Anaheim for the numerous upsets they have been dealt by the Ducks in the past and everyone else hates Detroit for being Detroit.

I won’t lie, they’re at the bottom of my list when it comes to opponents in the NHL. For various reasons that lie outside of their being the Yankees of hockey…I have to say one of those reasons is their fan base. I would LOVE to have a fan prove me wrong, and while yes, I can’t lump them all together…I’ve yet to meet a HUMBLE Red Wings fan. They apparently don’t posses the bone in their body that will allow them to say…hey, we lost because we didn’t play well. Or, yea…that team was better than ours. IF Detroit loses, the blame will always be on the opposing team or the refs.

So what does this mean to the Anaheim fan base? Look out. It doesn’t matter what you say about the Ducks or the Red Wings, you’re going to be wrong in their eyes. You can agree with them, and now you’re not a good enough Ducks fan. You can disagree, and they’ll be blaming YOU for the missed hooking call. You can be silent and sit back and watch and they’ll attack you for having no passion or pride in your team. It’s lose lose.

I suggest that the Anaheim fans do what they do best. Show up to games 3 and 4 and scream your ass off. Cheer like you’ve never cheered before. Wave your orange towel with pride. Suz Broughton and I will be doing just that during game 4…PROUDLY. I can’t wait!

I don’t care how many championships you’ve got. I don’t care that your fumbles in game 5 are the reasons for OUR cup. I care about tomorrow at 4pm (PACIFIC) when we meet you again in a classic battle of The NHL’s Untouchable Unicycle Wheel vs. The Always Underestimated Team that NO ONE Wants to Play.

Let the stress and the light-headedness begin!

GO DUCKS!!!

“You want to stay but you know very well I want you gone. Not fit to f*@#!ing tread the ground that I am walking on!”
-Harder to Breathe; Maroon 5

“In every adversity there lies the seed of an equivalent advantage. In every defeat is a lesson showing you how to win the victory next time.”
-Robert Collier

It’s whether you WIN OR LOSE!!!

Remember when you were five and your parents would tell you that it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, it’s all how you play the game? That doesn’t apply when you’re making 5 million a year and you’re playing for a professional hockey team in the NHL trying to win a Stanley Cup. That motto is irrelevant.

I don’t care how you play, I don’t care if you close you’re eyes for the entire game…in the end, I care if you WIN OR LOSE. Tonight, you lost.

That’s really all the post season comes down to.

Remember game 5 against Detroit in 2007? The Ducks, for all purposes, played AWFUL. They were terrible. They did NOT deserve to win that game…but a late goal by Scott Niedermayer with less than a minute to go sends the Ducks into overtime. Teemu Selanne roofs the OT winner…if you ask me…the Ducks win the cup with that one victory. That’s right…a VICTORY. That’s what the post season is all about. It doesn’t matter that for 59 minutes the Ducks played like crap, what matters is that they found a way to win and they DID. It’s all about the scoreboard at the end of 60+ minutes…not who had more SOG, not who made fancier passes, bigger hits, more penalties…it’s all about the scoreboard. Moral victories and motivational moments mean NOTHING in the post season. There is no time to take that and grow on it…you have to play in the now and win this game…no matter how ugly it looks getting there.

Last night, the Ducks had the opportunity to turn that in their favor, and they failed. Because when it comes down to it, the scoreboard has the final say, the final word. The Ducks were on the wrong end of that word.

I had been thinking about this idea for the last few weeks. For all purposes, the Ducks have been the team who have found ways to get the win. When they managed to tie the game thanks to Ryan Carter and Corey Perry, I was thrilled. To see the way the game had been going up to that point, there was no way the Ducks deserved to win the game. But like I said…

It’s not how you play the game…it’s whether you WIN OR LOSE.

Plain and simple…the Ducks lost. It wont matter what they did well, or what they did poorly. They lost. It wont matter that the first two periods they played like crap, it wont matter that they turned it on in the third, and it doesn’t matter that they had chances in the OT session. They lost.

We ALL know that these Ducks are better than what they showed the hockey world last night. In the same sense, we ALL know that the Sharks are just as good as they were last night, maybe better. But here’s the kicker. This is all at square one again. That’s right. We’ve heard it time and again from Randy Carlyle…10 minutes, then it’s time to move on. MOVE ON. There is still a game 6 and even better it’s in front of the Ducks’ home crowd. Going back to San Jose is NOT an option!

The only thing I can even make positive about last night was one Jonas Hiller. There is NO WAY the Ducks would be where they are in this series without his services. I’ve seen a lot of people calling him lucky lately. That’s crap. I hate that word, ‘lucky’. To me, there is nothing about hockey that is lucky. This is a game of inches. This is a game of posts, bounces, wide shots, deflections and fanned passes. Nothing about any of that is ‘luck’. Someone who faces 48 SOG is not lucky to see only 3 get past…he’s good. He’s damn good. He shouldn’t be the only factor in a Ducks victory/loss and it was the only saving factor for the Ducks last night. They provided very little support on the defensive end, and for all purposes did nothing to help on the offensive end. Here’s why…

This Ducks team has a tendency to get lazy and when they do, they STOP MOVING THEIR FEET! There is no way you can get to lose pucks, play physical hockey and move the puck well when you’re NOT MOVING YOUR FEET! MOVE YOUR FEET! We saw what that did for the Ducks on Thursday…THEY saw what it did for their team on Thursday…WHY WOULD THEY STOP DOING THAT NOW?! Oh right, they got comfortable. That’s crap! There is no time to be relaxed when you’re playing against the best team in the league. I don’t care if you’re up in this series, if you can’t close this one out…there is no point because you’ll be done, you’re gone!

As it is, I have a very hard time watching playoff hockey. Don’t get me wrong, I love it…but I am always overly tense/anxious/nervous/panicked/sweating/freaking/shouting/stressing…and games like the one the Ducks played last night…they make all of those things a million times worse.

I am VERY aware that these Sharks are lethal. I am VERY aware that there is a chance they will come back in this series and make the Ducks pay for lazy play, soft penalties and ridiculously lame efforts. I hope everyone else is aware of this as well.

More importantly, there are 20+ guys on that Ducks roster who should be DAMN aware of this fact.

You don’t have the time or space to play cute/lazy hockey. You worked your ass off for this post season, now go out there and remind the fans that you actually give a damn about doing something with it.

Yea, I’m pissed.

BUT I WILL ALWAYS SAY…

GO DUCKS!!!

“In war, there is no substitute for victory.”
-Douglas MacArthur

Let’s face it, at this point being up 2-1 against the team who is for all purposes the best team in the league…it’s not enough, but it’s better than nothing.

The Ducks needed that game last night. It hurts to lose to the Sharks at this point in the post season…but to say I saw it coming…well, I’m sure I’m not the only one.

I couldn’t imagine the Ducks were going to take two in San Jose…and the thought of sweeping the number 1 seed seemed even more unimaginable…but when it comes down to it…the Ducks are going to have to be a MUCH better team on Thursday to make it out of round 1 alive. (I’m planning on being more positive as this post goes on…I promise)

Sometimes I know what to say…yet finding the right words is often tricky. Good thing I have an amazing Swiss goalie to sum it up perfectly for me…

“We had a little more offensive zone time than the last few games, but I think they had a decent first period. They had a lot of shots. They are the best team in the league not just because they were lucky. They are very skilled over there. They are a good team. I think we can play better, and that’s what we’re going to do.” - Jonas Hiller OC Register

I don’t really think I could sum up last night any better than that.

The Ducks are just asking to give up 3 or 4 goals a game to a team that has a great Power Play unit. It was only a matter of time that the Sharks were going to figure out a way to break in, and they have done just that. It gives more pressure to the Ducks to play smart hockey, move their feet and move the puck well. There were so many times last night that I felt like the Ducks were WAITING for the puck to come to them. There is no time to wait in these games. No time and definitely no room for cute passes or sloppy plays.

By putting extra pressure on San Jose’s attack, the Ducks were able to create many turnovers in their favor. With San Jose struggling to clear the puck in the third period, the Sharks slid a great little feed to Chris Pronger who jumped in on the play just in time to shoot a fireball into the net. It reminded me so much of Corey Perry’s goal in the final minutes of game 5 against the Senators in the 2007 finals that I had to smile at the post season similarities. It’s great that the Ducks were able to capitalize on the San Jose turn overs, but they are going to have to start creating scoring chances for themselves. They are going to need to work on getting the puck into the zone to allow for a successful set up. The Ducks have been having trouble getting quality control in their own zone and that is going to be a must in game 4.

I’d really like to see the Ducks play a little more aggressive on their own end. What happened to you Corey Perry? Have you forgotten your role on the team as “goaltenders worst nightmare”? I’d like to see some more aggressive movement around the net, get Nabokov on some shaky ground and pick up some dirty goals!

The game was very physical, far more so than in the previous two games. I don’t think the Ducks were ready for that change in pace to the game. San Jose made good work of shutting down and wearing down both Bobby Ryan and Teemu Selanne. While it’s physically more difficult to bring down someone like Ryan Getzlaf, they did managed to get under his skin enough to throw off his game. That is going to happen from time to time, and the only way to get past that is to rely on OTHER players! This is a team guys, remember that.

So who do I rely on? The forward defenseman that is Scott Niedermayer. He was all over the place last night….I wondered when he ever stepped off the ice. I can honestly say that when I watch Scotty play, I’m never disappointed. He was my first star of the night - by far.

I can’t imagine that San Jose is going to let up now that they have found a way to win. In fact, I think this one win will only add fuel to their fire. Here’s hoping that this Ducks loss will only add fuel to their fire as well.

This series is FAR from over. We’ve all been witness to the Ducks under pressure and scrutiny. We’ve all seen these Ducks come from behind and go far…and here’s the best part…they’re NOT behind. The Ducks are very much in this thing and have a lot of power and pride to take this series into their own hands.

Hold tight Ducks fans…this is going to be a bumpy ride!

GO DUCKS!!!

“Champions aren’t made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them: A desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.”
-Muhammad Ali

These Ducks MUST have the will tonight. They must go above and beyond. As each game progresses they must work hard, play physical smart hockey and become more and more determined to succeed. Each game their opponent will come at them harder and stronger…and the Ducks MUST have the will to be the better team.

Tonight, 3 things will be key (well, millions of things will be key…but these are just 3 that I think will be the most imperative).

The first key is far and beyond the most obvious…STAY OUT OF THE BOX! I know THEY know this…FANS know this…just do it! SMART HOCKEY!

Jonas Hiller has got to be the man…AGAIN tonight. The Ducks are facing a very powerful offense…Anaheim’s defense must continue to be BETTER!

Home ice, home crowd. The fans MUST be a factor in tonight’s game. As a whole, we have to be behind our team with 100% of the support they deserve.

OH! And for a 4th key…tons of DUCKS GOALS (that’s just as obvious as the first…but sometimes, it needs to be said!)!

GO DUCKS!!!