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Monday, October 1, 2007

Monday News

So now that the Ducks games in London are over.  What's next?  Detroit. The Ducks will be playing Detroit at 4:00 PST on Wednesday.  The days news include a brief about the Ducks in Detroit, charity work and a few other things. 

CBS Sportsline has a look at the Ducks vs. Detroit

Having survived London, the Ducks must see what they can do about Detroit.

Sunday's 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings in the second and final game of "NHL Premiere" enabled the Ducks to escape Great Britain's signature city with a split of the two games against their Southern California rivals, but that might have been the easy part. While the Kings will go home and not play again until facing the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, the Ducks will serve as the potential main course for three consecutive home openers: Wednesday in Detroit, Friday in Columbus and Saturday in Pittsburgh.

Unlike when they went to London and had four days to get used to the time change going west to east, they will have only a couple of days to try to do the reverse. What effects the travel, not to mention the back-to-back games against the Kings, will have on the Ducks remains to be seen.

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Corey Perry was the NHLPA player of the day today

Did You Know:
Corey’s line at the 2005 World Junior Championship – himself, Crosby and Patrice Bergeron – combined for 234 points last season in the NHL.

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Ducks assign the extra goalie they took with to London back to Portland

The Ducks have assigned goaltender Gerald Coleman to the Portland Pirates, Anaheim’s primary development affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL).

Coleman, 22 (3/3/85), appeared in two preseason games for the Ducks last month, posting a 1-0-0 record with a 1.00 GAA and .963 SV%.  In 60 minutes of exhibition play, he turned away 26-of-27 shots and picked up a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on Sept. 15 at Staples Center.

Acquired from Tampa Bay with a first-round selection in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for defenseman Shane O’Brien and a third-round pick in the 2007 Draft on Feb. 27, 2007, Coleman played in 11 games for Portland last season.  He earned four victories with a 2.89 GAA and .907 SV% with the Pirates.

See the original article here - Link

FSN is having a "Name the Rivalry" contest.  Submit yours here - Link

A Hodgepodge of info from the OC Register covering, Pronger's thoughts on Europe(again), the Ducks visit to London and thoughts on the new lines

The unexpected offseason departure of left wing Dustin Penner, who signed a five-year, $21.25 million offer sheet to take his game to Edmonton, left a huge void on the dynamic young PPG Line that also included right wing Corey Perry and center Ryan Getzlaf.

After having experimented with various combinations through the exhibition season and in Saturday's lackluster opener, the Ducks might have found a solution Sunday, when Perry scored two goals and added an assist.

Carlyle's decision to put Perry and Getzlaf with Chris Kunitz, who also scored a goal, not only made sense because the three had played before at times, but also perhaps because Kunitz isn't that dissimilar to the much larger Penner.

"They're different players, but in a way, they're the same player," Perry said. "Kuni is not a huge body, but he gets in there on the body, and Pens is the same way. Those two guys are kind of the same. They both have good vision on the ice, and they both can score. You saw that (Sunday) with Kuni, and you saw it last year with Dustin."

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MVN lets us know a way of another charity initiative by the Anaheim Ducks

The Anaheim Ducks flew back to the United States from London, England, after their game yesterday. They were scheduled to land in Detroit, Michigan, at 2:00am Detroit time. Poor boys have no idea what time it is or what time zone they are in. So while they have the day off to rest and recuperate before Wednesday’s game against the Red Wings, we will take a pause to think charitably.

The Ducks have numerous charitable projects throughout the year that involve not just the players but the community as well. The next event is one that thinks of children. The Ducks have scheduled their 6th annual Kids Night Out on November 1 and November 5. Anyone who has ever purchased hockey tickets know that they do not come cheap and disadvantaged kids are some of the least likely to be able to see a game. The Ducks are asking for donations to provide tickets to kids from local groups that include the Orangewood Children’s Foundation, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Orange County, Disney GOALS and Special Olympics Southern California.

There are four different packages to choose from and for every ticket purchased, the Ducks will match a ticket. The packages are as follows:

Bronze - sponsor 5 children (10 kids total) for $206.00

Silver - sponsor 10 children (20 kids total) for $420.00

Gold - sponsor 25 children (50 kids total) for $1,020.00

Platinum - sponsor 50 children (100 kids total) for $2,070.00

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The Fourth Period has some thoughts on the Ducks trip to London and some audio

"I'd never thought I'd say this, but I'm going to be glad to go to Detroit." -- An anonymous member of the Anaheim Ducks.
And there you have it, with the NHL Premiere Series in the books you have the real inside feelings about bringing the game to the land where Lord Stanley's Cup originated.

It wasn't about expanding the global reach of the National Hockey League, but the start of the 2007-08 campaign was more about jet lag, power failures and regular season games contested in an exhibition atmosphere.

On Saturday evening, the Los Angeles Kings bested the Stanley Cup Champion Anaheim Ducks 4-1 at the new (well, kinda new because there was an arena, the Millennium Dome, that was built for the Olympics previously on the grounds) O2 arena in South London.

Listen to audio clips from such players as Chris Pronger, Jack Johnson and Ryan Getzlaf about their experiences in London.

Not that there wasn't intrigue for opening night if you were a Kings' fan because the next generation of goaltenders was introduced to you that evening.

Read the rest here - Link