So it was a nice beautiful day in Souther California. There was a slight chill to the afternoon air. That means hockey is here! That means lots of news and video. So here is final coverage from last nights game and other news.
Some great fans posted highlights from the game against the Yotes.
Bertuzzi scores in the shootout
Photos set to music from the game
Video from the game
Analysis of the game by AnaheimDuckFan
The Ducks faced the Phoenix Coyotes and lost in the Shootout 2-1. Jess & I went to the game without Finny or Rachel. Jess’ brought along her friend Crystal, who was a hockey virgin. She knew so little about hockey that she asked, "What’s a goaltender?" I kid you not, she asked that.
Anyway, we arrived early and staked out our spot at the glass for warmups. Several of the guys looked over to see that the "girls" were at the glass. Ahhh, nice to be back. Sean O’Donnell was sporting a slightly black right eye, along with some stitches. What is it about a hockey player with a black eye or stitches, that just "does it" for a girl. Well, maybe that doesn’t do it for all girls, but for the true hockey fans, it does. Maybe because it shows the passion in the sport? Maybe because it’s just hot? Anyway, moving on...
Anaheim Lineup:
Jonas Hiller, Andy McDonald, Joe DiPenta, Aaron Rome, Bobby Ryan, Bobby Bolt; Todd Bertuzzi, Shane Hnidy, Chris Kunitz, Maxim Kondratiev, Sean O'Donnell, Dan LaCouture, Stephen Dixon, Rob Niedermayer, Mike Hoffman, Andrew Ebbett, Brett Skinner, Petteri Wirtanen, Eric Tangradi
At 2:39 into the first Ducks’ Mike Hoffman & Josh Gratton got into it, with Hoffman being the clear winner. 16 seconds later, Chris Kunitz got a breakaway, and it’s 1-0 Ducks. Then the penalty parade began, with each team taking a penalty. Ducks trivia came on and I knew the answers to both. I yelled them out, but the guy they were asking, didn’t know the second answer. The guy behind me said he was impressed by my hockey knowledge. (Ya, big shock, I know my hockey!) Coyotes took another two penalties, but no luck for the Ducks on the PP. Right before the period ended both teams take penalties, so the Ducks will start the second on the 4 on 4.
Read the rest here - Link
A nice article on Bertuzzi
Todd Bertuzzi played 17 minutes and 30 seconds his first game for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Saturday night on a line with young stars Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf.
Life doesn't get much better for a hockey player.
But of course Bert has no idea with whom he'll be playing when the season starts. And he apparently won't be in the lineup tonight against Vancouver when the Canucks begin their preseason schedule at GM Place against the defending Cup champions, or at least people quacking around in their uniforms.
But the former Canuck winger who seems to engender so much passion in this town is sounding positive, lively and as happy as he's ever been since coming to Vancouver when discussing the prospects of the oncoming NHL season.
Having signed as a free agent with the Brian Burke-directed Ducks for two seasons at $4 million US per, he has no reason not to be feeling chipper. Money aside, the real reason for the mood surge is his health. The bad back that bothered him so much during his last year in Vancouver and peaked with his need for surgery last year in Florida is finally feeling great, offering him no problems at all so far.
"I feel great, young and healthy," said Bertuzzi, having had five days of consecutive organized workouts under his belt before getting started against the Kings Saturday.
"It was tough during my time with Detroit, I was really only at about 50 per cent, all beat up and sore during those games. It wasn't so much my back but everything else was all smashed up -- my tail bone was sore, I was a mess.
"Looking back on it, maybe I would have been better off not playing at all last year, but the summer was good and really, the opportunity was too good to pass up, playing with those guys. And we were really close to winning. That series (with the Ducks in the conference final) could have gone either way, at least we felt that way.
Read the rest here - Link
An article on the recent success of professional teams from Anaheim
Mike Scioscia remembered the feeling very well. As the final seconds ticked down in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Anaheim Ducks and Ottawa Senators, Scioscia looked down at the Ducks’ bench and could see the anticipated excitement.
Finally, the horn sounded, the crowd erupted into a deafening roar and the Anaheim bench emptied onto the ice in celebration. The Ducks were Stanley Cup champions.
Scioscia knows that championship feeling. Just three years before he managed the Anaheim Angels to a World Series championship over the San Francisco Giants.
“Not bad with two World Championships in two different sports in just three years,” said Scioscia, in his eighth season as manager of the now Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. “We’re very happy for the success the Ducks have experienced.
“Not bad for a city that a little over a half-century ago was made up of mostly of a farming area.”
Quite true. A little over 50 years ago, the city of Anaheim had a lot of orange groves. Then a guy by the name of Walt Disney came along and built a Magic Kingdom. Then “The Cowboy,” Gene Autry, rode into town with his Angels in the mid-1960s. Finally, three decades later, the Ducks arrived on the scene. Today, with the 21st Century less than a decade old, Anaheim is a city of champions and the Angels are very proud of their neighbor’s success.
“It’s a special time here in Southern California,” Scioscia said. “And not just for the city of Anaheim. It’s more far reaching than that. It’s fun to be a part of it. There are a lot of parallels that can be drawn between the two organizations. Just a few years back, both organizations were owned by Disney.
“Both teams have carved out an identity for themselves in a very high profile area like Southern California. Over the past five or six years we’ve managed to turn our organization around into a winning one.
“During the same time, the Ducks have turned their franchise around as well. They’ve become a world-class organization by not only winning the Stanley Cup, but by the way they operate and what they do. It’s been exciting for us to watch them rise to the top of their sport.”
One man who worked for both teams during the Disney-owned era was Tim Mead. Now a Vice President of Communications for the Angels, Mead sees similarities between the two organizations.
“We were very excited here with the Angels to see the success the Ducks have had,” Mead said. “I think those of us who worked for the Ducks at one time were even more excited, especially when they won the Cup. To watch them from their infancy to being Stanley Cup Champions was great. And when you think about it they did it in a very short period of time. It took the Angels 42 seasons to win a World Series. It took the Ducks much less time to achieve their success. I think the Ducks’ success is great for hockey on the West Coast. I think it’s great for hockey all over.
Now that Brian Burke has assembled a Stanly Cup championship club, there are now two world-class organizations in Anaheim.
“I think the thing that impresses me so much about the Ducks is their whole system. Brian Burke and David McNab and everyone else have done such a great job. What shouldn’t be lost on people is that the year the Angels changed their uniforms they won a World Series. The year the Ducks changed their uniform, they win a Stanley Cup.
“The Ducks have now become a club that has been built for now as well as the future. When you have people look at you and say that you are a model franchise, that may almost be a better comment than saying that you are a Stanley Cup champion. That’s what people are saying about the Angels. We are considered a model franchise. That is a very high compliment to pay to a team.”
Read the rest here - Link
