Well, after last nights game I expected a negative response. Well here it is along with Ducks getting nominated to the All Star team and an update on Bertuzzi'e condition.
Fox Sports has a look at why the Ducks are struggling
Last season, the Anaheim Ducks won the Stanley Cup. They were the first elite team in the NHL since the lockout. However, their start this year has not been so great. Currently, they are 6-10 (with two losses counted as regulation ties). If the season ended today they would miss the playoffs.
Under the current CBA, it is hard to keep successful teams together. However, Anaheim came out pretty well in terms of CBA-related moves last summer.
Their only significant loss was Dustin Penner to the Edmonton Oilers. They also have been hit by the sabbaticals of Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne.
The NHL season is a long and hard one and this is especially true for a team that has a long run in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Their off-season is shorter than that of most of the league and that takes a toll on your players. It takes so much of a toll that two key Ducks from last season have chosen not to play yet this season. If you subtract Niedermayer and Selanne from Anaheim, they will be a weaker team. This is especially true when these stars have not been adequately replaced.
Read the rest here - Link
The OC Register has a look at why the Ducks are struggling
Consistency, it has been said, is the key to winning championships.
If that's the case, the Ducks might be in trouble. Two days after posting one of their best performances of the season with a 5-2 victory Saturday against Phoenix, the Ducks got shut out, 5-0, by the Dallas Stars.
Only two times in the first 16 games have the Ducks been able to post back-to-back victories — Oct. 15 and 17 when the Ducks beat Detroit, 6-3, and Nashville, 3-1. Their second mini winning streak was last week when they beat Columbus, 2-1, on Thursday and the Coyotes on Saturday.
After a one-hour practice at Honda Center on Tuesday, Ducks coach Randy Carlyle didn't have many answers, saying "we are still searching" for the consistency on offense that helped the Ducks win the Stanley Cup.
"We play a couple of good games, and then we seem to falter like we did last night (against Dallas). From a standpoint of execution and structure, we are not anywhere near where we needed to be for the 60 minutes," Carlyle said. "For whatever reason we got flat in a hurry, and then from my point of view we got frustrated and then we tried to do too much as individuals and then the frustration level never stopped. We have to become more focused on our game."
Read the rest here - Link
The LA Times has a look at why the Ducks are struggling
Much of the blame for the Ducks' sluggish start has been laid at their season-opening trip to London and injuries.
Few have suggested publicly that the defending Stanley Cup champions are suffering the aftereffects of winning it all. That changed Monday night. After his team's 5-0 victory over Anaheim, Dallas Stars forward Mike Modano said, "They have a bit of a Stanley Cup hangover going on over there."I think it's tough to come back, as much as they put into the playoffs last year," he added. "You've been pushed physically and mentally only a couple months ago."
When asked Tuesday about Modano's comments, Ducks defenseman Sean O'Donnell agreed -- to an extent.Read the rest here - Link
The OC Register has a look at the fan reaction to the way the Ducks are playing
ANAHEIM Is the honeymoon over for the Ducks?
The defending Stanley Cup champions were booed off the ice by the sellout crowd at Honda Center on Monday night after giving up two goals in the final 92 seconds of the period to fall behind, 4-0.
There was more loud booing in the final seconds of the game and when the Ducks' embarrassing 5-0 loss to the Dallas Stars became official. And as the remnants of the crowd filed out of the arena, one disgusted fan in the cheap seats near the press box yelled, “Dallas had a home game tonight!”
The anger in the stands was understandable. On a night when a victory would have moved the Ducks into sole possession of first place in the mediocre Pacific Division, they instead suffered their most lopsided home loss since January 2001.
When a championship banner is raised to the rafters, expectations also go up. And there's nothing wrong with that.
Can getting booed at home be motivational?
Read the rest here - Link
AnaheimDuckFan has a look at the Stars game
The Ducks got killed by the Stars last night in a 5-0 shutout. Congrats to the always amazing Marty Turco on a great win!!! (Yes I said that!)
The Ducks failed to show up and play the game last night. It was an awful massacre that most fans couldn’t even sit through. A lot of fans left after the 4th goal was scored (end of second), and then most of the ones that were still there, left after the 5th goal was scored (about 12 minutes left in the third).Read the rest here - Link
Girl with a Puck has a look at the fan reaction
Somewhere between the first and second period, someone drugged and tied up the team that played the last two Ducks games (and won, mind you) and replaced them with a listless, irresponsible group that had conveniently forgot to play the game. They skated in circles, looked at one another with boredom, and basically rolled over and played dead.
I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to say to that because when you – Mr. Hockey Player(s) Extraordinaire – cannot present the general public with a quality product – i.e. decent to awesome 60 minute hockey game – guess what? FANS LEAVE. They boo. They ditch out and throw up their hands in disgust.
One fan, seated a few rows behind me, put it bluntly: “There you go, Ducks! You suck!”Read the rest here - Link
Ducks think they are ready to move forward
While they were humbled in a 5-0 defeat to Dallas on Monday, the Ducks returned to Honda Center for practice Tuesday in search of consistency, which appeared to be building after back-to-back wins over Columbus and Phoenix last week.
“We play a couple of games and then we falter like we did Monday night from a standpoint of execution and structure,” coach Randy Carlyle said. “We were not anywhere near where we needed to be for the 60 minutes.”
While he acknowledged the Ducks’ roller coaster ride of a season thus far, second-year defenseman Kent Huskins said the team needs to push forward to find a solution.
Read the rest here - Link
A great profile on Corey Perry from the LA Times
Corey Perry is doing his best to help the Ducks' struggling offense.
Perry is coming off his biggest game of the season Saturday night at Phoenix where he scored two goals, assisted on another and also dropped the gloves with the Coyotes' Daniel Carcillo in a 5-2 victory.
It was a so-called "Gordie Howe hat trick" -- a goal, an assist and a fight. More important, Perry now has eight goals, almost halfway to the 17 goals he scored last season.
The third-year forward is beginning to emerge as the first-line pure scorer that the Ducks envisioned when they took him in the first round of the 2003 draft.
"I think it's awful early to say that he's doing this or doing that," Coach Randy Carlyle said. "I think he's showing the maturity process that takes place in a young hockey player.Read the rest here - Link
An update on Bertuzzi's condition
Todd Bertuzzi has felt like himself the last three days, but he knows his real test is ahead.
Bertuzzi hasn't appeared in a game for the Ducks since Oct. 14, when he suffered a concussion as a result of an open-ice hit by Minnesota Wild enforcer Derek Boogaard. When Bertuzzi plays next remains undetermined.
Over the last three weeks, recurring headaches and dizziness have prevented him from resuming his off-ice workouts.
"I wasn't even coming down to the games here" anymore, Bertuzzi said. "I'd come down between periods and I'd get dizzy and get all sick again. I've been at home, laying around and doing nothing. It's frustrating."
Bertuzzi watched practice Sunday. He said he has not had any of the headaches that plagued him the last two weeks.Read the rest here - Link
The Ducks are starting the auction on autographed helmets on 11/07/07 - Link
A look at Burke's trade proposal
So, Anaheim Ducks general manager Brian Burke is proposing that the NHL allow teams retain a portion of a player's salary in a trade.
It is the same proposal Burke launched a year ago, you might recall, and it is still a good one.
The purpose is to inspire a little more trading activity in the NHL and to create a buzz. You might have noticed, there haven't been a lot of trades this season and there haven't even been a lot of serious trade talks and, by extension, rumours. There is a reason why everyone is so focused on the game, dissecting it, and fixating on the flaws, real or imagined.
There is nothing else of consequence to talk about.
Read the rest here - Link
Nominations for the All Star game have been posted, Ducks get 5
Ducks defensemen Francois Beauchemin and Chris Pronger, forwards Ryan Getzlaf and Andy McDonald and goaltender J.S. Giguere have been named to the ballot in XM/NHL All-Star Fan Balloting, Presented by 2K Sports, which opens Nov. 13.
Beauchemin, Getzlaf and Giguere are looking to make it to the All-Star Game for the first time. Pronger has played in five All-Star Games, while McDonald made the Western Conference team for the first time last season. Both Pronger and Giguere were likely selections last year, but were injured.
For the second consecutive season, the NHL-All Star Fan Balloting process will be entirely digital. From Nov. 13 through Jan. 2, fans around the world can “Vote Now, Vote Often” online at NHL.com to select the starting lineups for the 2008 NHL All-Star Game in Atlanta. In addition, U.S. fans also can cast votes through Verizon Wireless cell phones.
The 2007-08 season marks the 20th year in which fans will determine the starting lineups for the NHL All-Star Game. Fans can vote for six Eastern Conference All-Stars and six Western Conference All-Stars: three forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender for each team. If a player is not listed on the ballot, a space is provided for “write-in” votes. The three forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender from each Conference receiving the most votes will comprise the starting lineups. Each of the 30 NHL clubs has at least two representatives on the ballot.Read the rest here - Link
