TheDucksBlog

Well, no goals at the end of the one period.

That should give me enough time to watch The Office in between periods. Thank goodness for the TiVo.

Okay, okay.

Bobby Ryan. Those who have chatted with me or seen discussions of which I have taken part about Bobby Ryan know that I wasn’t a big fan. First of all, I will cut the guy some slack because he was drafted right after Sidney Crosby. What a tough thing to keep in mind. I never understood what Burke or the other staff saw with him. I mean, who was drafted afterwards? Anze Kopitar. He’s worked otu well for the Kings, hasn’t he?

Well, truth is I feel like after this pre-season I finally feel like I was wrong. I attended the first game of the pre-season versus the Sharks in Anaheim and Bobby Ryan was great. He had two goals and an assist (I may be wrong about the number of the assists). He had a great sniper of a shot. He was in shape. He looked like he belonged on a line with Getzlaf and Perry.

Well, it’s the third. We’re down 3-0. Giggy makes a great save on an Erhoff one timer. The Sharks look good. I think the Ducks have taken some stupid penalties and not played the way they are capable. 10 minutes left in the game.

So I guess Carlyle has put Kunitz with Getz and Perry. We really need to strong front lines and I don’t think that will be solidified until we get Ryan up from the minors. Who do we deal for space room for Ryan? Marchant? Who takes him? Denton says F. Beauchemin will get traded, but I don’t see that happening. Burke and Carlyle are not ones to sacrifice solid D for offense.

Selanne’s opportunity from May looked great. I feel like we are all a bit nervous on the ice tonight. Nabokov is solid so far. I have him on a few fantasy teams. I had him all last year and he was a great goalie for me. Funny thing is, my two starting goalies tonight in one league are Nabokov and Giguere.

Okay, so with 6 min. left we are playing well and SCORE! Nice deflection from Rob Neidermayer. Should that be one of his 7 goals for the season? Kidding. Suddenly we pick up the pace towards the end of the game. I feel like that is how the Ducks lay hockey for the past year, catch up. They let the opponent go ahead and then play catch up. Is that why most people rate us to finish 5th or 6th in the west? Anyone else feel like the Sharks get rated high every year and then blow it? How about the Stars? Avery joins the team and suddenly they are the favorite to win the cup. Turco doesn’t have me convinced yet. As for the Sharks, Rob Blake will burn out.

Dang. Setuguchi scores. One more person that was drafted after Bobby Ryan. Sloppy recovery on the play. That just about seals the game right there. Cheecho gets the star of the game. Any surprise there?

Selanne and Morrison appear to be playing well together. How about May on a line? One thing that the Ducks have always done very well is forecheck. I think that is a reason we won the Cup a few years ago (Selanne’s goal on Hasek in game 6 ring a bell?). When we forecheck, we win games, we score goals, we look good.

Pros of this game: Giggy still looks good. Sure we are down 4-1, but Giggy played well, made great saves.
Cons: still need better offensive chances, more shots on goal.

Anyone want to take the next game under their wing?
Comment please.

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By now, you must have heard of this news. Let’s dig a bit deeper. Who wins this trade? I’m going to give it to the Kings. Sure, the Ducks freed some room for Ryan. Sure, they open up the 7th defenseman spot to possibly Salcido (who was cut earlier in training camp) but I’m still going to go with the Kings here for getting such a solid defenseman for nothing. The ducks received a conditional third round pick from the Kings for Odie but here’s the catch: the Ducks only get this pick if the Kings trade Odie this year. If the Kings wait it out, they don’t have to pay the Ducks a dime. In effect, the Kings would have to find a trade offer for O’Donnell that would net them a return greater than a third round pick to get Buffalo’s native third rounder. If you think about it, the chances for that are slim.

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By now, you must have heard of this news. Let’s dig a bit deeper. Who wins this trade? I’m going to give it to the Kings. Sure, the Ducks freed some room for Ryan. Sure, they open up the 7th defenseman spot to possibly Salcido (who was cut earlier in training camp) but I’m still going to go with the Kings here for getting such a solid defenseman for nothing. The ducks received a conditional third round pick from the Kings for Odie but here’s the catch: the Ducks only get this pick if the Kings trade Odie this year. If the Kings wait it out, they don’t have to pay the Ducks a dime. In effect, the Kings would have to find a trade offer for O’Donnell that would net them a return greater than a third round pick to get Buffalo’s native third rounder. If you think about it, the chances for that are slim.

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According to ESPN and the Ducks homepage, Sean O’Donnell has been traded to L.A. for a conditional pick.
I have always liked O’Donnell. I think he works well with Pronger and can fight it out in the corner.

I do like the fact that Teemu is back. I expect him to be on a line with Morrison and Kunitz.

I attended the Ducks first pre-season game last week versus San Jose at the Honda Center. I was very impressed with Bobby Ryan’s play. I have to say I didn’t think he was a great choice after seeing Kopitar bloom so quickly, but he had a great game with Perry and Getzlaf. Great sniper shot on that first goal.

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According to ESPN and the Ducks homepage, Sean O’Donnell has been traded to L.A. for a conditional pick.
I have always liked O’Donnell. I think he works well with Pronger and can fight it out in the corner.

I do like the fact that Teemu is back. I expect him to be on a line with Morrison and Kunitz.

I attended the Ducks first pre-season game last week versus San Jose at the Honda Center. I was very impressed with Bobby Ryan’s play. I have to say I didn’t think he was a great choice after seeing Kopitar bloom so quickly, but he had a great game with Perry and Getzlaf. Great sniper shot on that first goal.

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So it sounds like Teemu will be back for another year, pending the dissipation of the cap situation. Selanne is quoted as saying, “I have made a decision, I’m not going to say what my decision is, but I have made a decision and I’m skating every day.” In response to the cap situation: “There’s no rush,” Selanne said. “The only thing I can say is that I haven’t been skating every day for the last four weeks just for fun. There is a reason.” Sure, its not “official” that he’ll be back, but just yesterday a Finnish news outlet parroted these sentiments, asserted that Selanne indeed will be back for a 16th season. As a fan, that’s as good a indication as any other.
Dan Wood from the OCRegister also reports that Selanne was skating at Anaheim Ice today with Bobby Ryan and Paul Kariya. Seriously. One of these days I’ve got to head down there and see if I’m lucky enough to see these three in person.

Via OCRegister

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So it sounds like Teemu will be back for another year, pending the dissipation of the cap situation. Selanne is quoted as saying, “I have made a decision, I’m not going to say what my decision is, but I have made a decision and I’m skating every day.” In response to the cap situation: “There’s no rush,” Selanne said. “The only thing I can say is that I haven’t been skating every day for the last four weeks just for fun. There is a reason.” Sure, its not “official” that he’ll be back, but just yesterday a Finnish news outlet parroted these sentiments, asserted that Selanne indeed will be back for a 16th season. As a fan, that’s as good a indication as any other.
Dan Wood from the OCRegister also reports that Selanne was skating at Anaheim Ice today with Bobby Ryan and Paul Kariya. Seriously. One of these days I’ve got to head down there and see if I’m lucky enough to see these three in person.

Via OCRegister

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You know who I want for Schneider (and picks)? Jussi Jokinen.

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