Anaheim Ducks News for Wednesday

Well I've got another Teemu Selanne retirement update and a few other news items featuring Chris Pronger, Jonas Hiller and more!

Teemu Selanne Retirement Update and a little on Drew Miller

Teemu Selanne doesn't have a decision yet, but at least he has a timetable.

"I'll take this week, and next week and we'll see how it goes," Selanne said after a 90-minute workout Tuesday morning at Anaheim Ice.

It's the most specific time frame Selanne has offered for a decision on ending his unofficial retirement. The Ducks' all-time leading scorer began a skating program earlier this month and said he would have a decision sometime in January. The team has not pressed him to make a decision.

Read the rest here - Link

Varius has some reasons for Teemu to play

It can be said that Teemu Selanne, also known to many fans as “The Finnish Flash”, was on his way downhill after landing with the San Jose Sharks and then Colorado Avalanche. He failed to win a Cup in Denver with best-buddy Paul Kariya. He seemed to be done for. However, Ducks’GM Brian Burke decided to take a chance on him. Selanne did have knee surgery and a lot of time to rest during the lockout. Selanne also had some of his best years in Anaheim, so Burke took a gamble that paid off greatly. For just 1 million, he bought himself a 40-goal scorer as Teemu found himself a new man.

Read the rest here - Link

Pronger is going to savor the all-stars

”As a defenseman, you really just have to enjoy yourself at the All-Star Game since it’s obviously a show for the offensive stars in the League,’’ Pronger told NHL.com. “The games played over the past few seasons have been pretty high-scoring affairs and we defensemen get hit in waves. I still feel there comes a point in the game when the competitive juices start to flow for us (defensemen), and we begin to play at a higher level. You certainly want to put on a good show, but at the same time you don’t want to get hurt.’’

Read the rest here- Link

A nice profile/interview of Hiller

"For people who aren't close to the team," he says, "they probably think I sit on the bench all the time and do nothing."

Hiller is the Ducks' backup goalie, No. 2 at a position that accommodates only one. His team played 60 minutes Tuesday against Dallas and Hiller, predictably, played none of them.

He did skate in warmups, faced some shots from his teammates and even extensively stretched his groin muscles.

Then he retreated to the locker room, put on a baseball cap and later assumed his usual spot, near a collection of water bottles and the wooden bin that holds the rest of the Ducks' sticks.

Read the rest here - Link

Ducks vs. Predators Preview

The Anaheim Ducks have been a much improved team with Scott Niedermayer in their lineup. Most of that success, however, has come at home.

The surging Ducks play 12 of their next 13 games on the road, a difficult stretch that begins Thursday night against the Nashville Predators.

A career high-tying three points from Niedermayer and another strong performance by goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere helped the Ducks (25-17-6) to their fourth straight win, 4-2 over visiting Dallas on Tuesday.

Read the rest here - Link

MVN Update on a lot of things

The Ducks headed out of town this morning with a four game winning streak, second place in the Pacific Division (one point behind San Jose) and fourth place in the Western Conference.  The Ducks have put together two previous four game winning streaks this season - November 9 - 17 and December 18 - 27.

The Ducks will try to put together their first five game winning streak in Nashville on Thursday.  They also visit Minnesota on Friday and Dallas on Sunday before heading home.

Read the rest here - Link

Casino Night is coming.....

“Casino Night is always such a fun and fantastic event with a great new theme every year,” said Ducks owner, Susan Samueli.  “What remains constant, however, is our commitment to raising funds for Orangewood Children’s Foundation, a nonprofit that positively impacts the lives of foster youth in Orange County.  We are proud to partner with Orangewood and support this important cause.”

Partygoers will have the chance to place bids on a variety of silent auction items and enter in opportunity drawings throughout the evening.  Silent auction and opportunity drawing items include tropical/mountain vacations, Ducks tickets and autographed merchandise and jewelry.  Admission to the Cotton Club VIP Lounge was $500 each and general admission tickets were $100 each.  For more information, please visit http://casinonight.p11.com/.

Read the rest here - Link

Scottie for the Hart Trophy?

There's not supposed to be any room for part-timers, at least not when it comes to considering candidates for major individual trophies.

Good thing, too, 'cause if they were awarding the Hart Trophy for league MVP honors solely on the basis of impact, without consideration to the number of games individuals have played, it would be a runaway race between two contestants.

Read the rest here - Link

Anaheim Ducks News - Vacation Catchup 2 - Misc. news

The Ducks have cool little tool - Link

Chris Pronger and the Ducks help fight cancer

Captain Chris Pronger Will Wear a Hockey Fights Cancer Commemorative Patch on his Game Jersey Which Will be Autographed and Donated to an Online Auction

The Ducks announced today that in support of the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Hockey Fights Cancer initiative, Ducks captain Chris Pronger will wear a commemorative Hockey Fights Cancer patch on his game jersey this Sunday, Jan. 13 when the club takes on the San Jose Sharks at Honda Center (5:05 p.m.).  As part of the 10th Anniversary celebration of Hockey Fights Cancer, the Ducks join the NHL in a weekend of raising funds and awareness for the cause during games throughout the league from Friday, Jan. 11 to Sunday, Jan. 13.

Read the rest here - Link

Ducks help at the Aces got skills competitions

Aces Got Skills is taking place over a three day period. Events were held at Anaheim Ice (January 10), Glacial Garden Skating Arena in Lakewood (January 11)and Aliso Viejo Ice Palace (January 12). Corey Perry and Kent Huskins were scheduled to be present at the events.

Read the rest here - Link

Friday Practice news

Missing from practice was George Parros. Parros was the victim of a knee to knee hit in Wednesday’s game against Toronto. Wade Belak was the player who administered the hit and it prompted their second period fight. After the fight, Parros skated off to the dressing room and did not return. His knee was evaluated and it was determined to be bruised. Parros acknowledged being sore, but that he would likely try to skate at tomorrow’s practice and see how he feels.

Read the rest here - Link

Anaheim Ducks News for Friday

Some gems from  today's practice in Calgary

Moving on, the Ducks are practicing this morning at the old Calgary Corral arena, which is across the street from the Saddledome, where they will play the Flames tomorrow night. The locker room at the Corral (which somehow hosted the Flames from 1980-83) is apparently so small you have to go outside to change your mind. Because of that, the Ducks are forced to change into their gear at the Saddledome, then walk about three minutes across a snow-covered city street with very light traffic to the Corral in everything but their skates.

 

Read the rest of the post and see more pictures here - Link

How Niedermayer brings value to the Ducks

The addition of Niedermayer has also dramatically improved the club’s penalty-killing, which had been a sore spot all season. Before Niedermayer’s arrival, the Ducks languished near the bottom of the NHL’s penalty-killing rankings, succeeding only 78.8 percent of the time, having given up 41 power-play goals in 193 times short-handed. In the past five games, opponents have converted just one power-play chance in 22 tries, giving Ducks penalty-killers a 95.5 percent success rate.

Read the rest here - Link

Weight gets profiled

Doug Weight said he didn't want to ruffle any feathers in the Ducks' room.

Just fill the bill as a second-line centre and make sure nobody in Anaheim plumage has reason to believe he's in a foul mood following the unexpected end to his six-year National Hockey League stay in St. Louis.

"I want the guys to know I care," he said Thursday morning. "I want them to know I'm happy to be here. I want them to know I don't need to run the show."

Read the rest here - Link

Marchant is a jack of all trades

With standout defensive-minded center Samuel Pahlsson back in Orange County attempting to deal with abdominal inflammation that has hampered him all season, veteran Todd Marchant figures to move into a significant role on the checking line as the Ducks open a three-game, Western Canada road swing Thursday night against the Edmonton Oilers.

Marchant, a former Oiler, will get the first crack at filling Pahlsson’s usual spot between wingers Travis Moen and Rob Niedermayer on the Ducks’ shutdown unit that spends most of its time playing against other teams’ top offensive players.

“Those are primo minutes,” Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. “We’ll see where it takes us.”

Read the rest here - Link

Is Pronger as evil as Edmonton thinks he is?

Chris Pronger pretends to be surprised by his place among the NHL's most suspended, and some would say dirtiest, players.

Ask him about his seven career suspensions, second only to Chris Simon's eight, and his jaw drops in mock disbelief.

Read the rest here - Link

Brad May gets to have some "fun"

Our Anaheim city reporter, Sarah Tully, caught up with the Ducks’ Brady May, who next week will ride in the Rose Parade with the Stanley Cup. Here’s her report:

Ducks left wing Brad May’s misfortune became a coup for the Rose Parade this week.

The forward was tapped to ride in Anaheim’s float in the New Year’s Day parade shortly after May broke his foot and was put on injured reserve. Until May’s injury, Anaheim organizers had yet to find anyone to ride on the float, except for the security guard watching the Stanley Cup.

“I would have to think I’m the easy choice since I’m not playing,” May said. “I’m sure if Scott Niedermayer could do it, they’d probably bump me at the last minute.”

Read the rest here - Link

Anaheim Ducks News - Thursday News

Well here is the rest of the non related game news.

The LA Times takes a look at how the Ducks have played this season

Giguere suggested the problem lies between their ears.
"It seems as if we've turned it on and off mentally at times," he said.
"This is something we can control. It has nothing to do with these teams and the way they play. It has everything to do with how we play. We've got to make sure we control what we can control, the best way we can."
The trouble, Giguere said, is that, aside from Sunday's come-from-behind win over the Kings, when the Ducks get down in games, they stay down. And talking about it hasn't helped.

Read the rest here - Link

A Great profile on Pronger via canada.com

"This season has been different for me and everyone in here because of those guys not being here," says Pronger, "but the one thing you don't want to be doing is trying to change your game to make up for somebody else. I've just tried to do the same things I've always done. I try to find the edge and be on the edge."

"There's no question he has an edge to his game," said Canucks centre Brendan Morrison the morning before he was grabbed by the scruff of the neck by his Team Canada teammate during one of the scrums Tuesday evening. Morrison has had lots of run-ins with Pronger and there is considerable mutual respect, although now he's a veritable teddy bear compared to the old days.

Read the rest here - Link

A look at the champions in the Getzlaf family - via Canada.com

"We've had a pretty good year for our family, you can't really argue with that," chortled the Ducks' star centre early Thursday afternoon, prior to a date with the Calgary Flames. "But it was an exciting thing for him to go through and to experience that.

"It's all been pretty big. My brother has spent a little time in the shadows the last little while with all the hockey going on, and it was so nice to see him get rewarded for all the work he's put in and being part of a championship team."

Read the rest here - Link

NHL Returns to the old schedule style - Via CBC

So, the games against division rivals will be reduced from eight to six, a merciful move for some, a concern for other teams. Games against conference rivals will remain at four apiece, with a single game against all of the other conference teams. Under the current system, teams play just 10 games against the other conference, missing five teams every year.
In the new/old system, that leaves three at-large, or wild-card games which, in the case of Canadian teams, will be played amongst themselves, which is a good thing.
On the horizon, though, is likely an 84-game season, though that is not entirely a lock.

Read the rest here - Link

Anaheim Ducks News for Wednesday

Well I am still sick, so no commentary by me tonight.  Enjoy the news.

The News DucksTV has been uploaded - Link

A new Duck Cast featuring Kent Huskins - Link

A new Duck Cast featuring Newell Brown - Link 

Ducks recall Ryan Carter - Link

The Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday recalled center Ryan Carter from Portland of the American Hockey League.

Carter, 24, did not record a point in four games with the Ducks earlier this season - his first in the NHL. He made his debut in the league during Anaheim's run to the Stanley Cup championship this past spring, appearing in four playoff contests - including Game Four of the Finals against Ottawa.

He had one assist and 21 penalty minutes in five games with Portland this campaign. Last season, Carter registered 16 goals, 20 assists and 85 penalty minutes in 76 contest with the Pirates.

Bertuzzi Skates via MVN and a little more on the Ryan Carter recall

Todd Bertuzzi skated for about half the practice with the Ducks this morning at the Honda Center. Bertuzzi, who has had lingering post concussion symptoms stemming from hard hit by the Wild’s Derek Boogaard on October 14. Bertuzzi has had a couple of setbacks in his recovery, but has “felt decent” for the past four days. He is following the prescribed conservative protocol for working back into the line-up.

Read the rest here - Link

Pronger does not get suspended for his fight with Handzus

At the end of last night’s game between the Ducks and Kings, Michal Handzus shot the puck after the buzzer had sounded at the end of overtime. Chris Pronger went over to Handzus to have a word or two with him and Handzus took a swipe at Pronger. Pronger responded in a terribly one-sided mismatch of a fight. The referees sent both men off to their respective dressing rooms with identical fighting and misconduct penalties. Pronger got an extra 2:00 for instigating. The instigating penalty carried with it an automatic one game suspension and $10,000 fine for the coach. Anaheim was able to appeal to the League, and Brian Burke chose to do so after the game.

AnaheimDuckFan gives her take on last nights game

The Ducks battled the Kings, in what fans decided would be called the "Freeway Face-Off". The Ducks and Kings battled hard, both carrying momentum from their previous games. The players and fans knew what type of game to expect from these cross-town rivals, and they provided just that. The game was quick, full of hard hits, and the occasional fight. Although the fights came from some different Ducks (Todd Marchant and Chris Pronger).

Read the rest here - Link

Anaheim Ducks News for Wednesday

I am officially declaring this black October for the Ducks. We have two players who cannot make up their minds about retirement, we have had multiple players down with injuries and when we get them back somebody else gets injured. I am looking forward to November. Any ways, here is today's news.

Preview of tomorrow's game against Phoenix

No team has been busier in the first month of the season than the Anaheim Ducks. That heavy workload has been reflected in their play.

The Ducks looks to make it 11 straight home wins over the Pacific Division rival Phoenix Coyotes on Thursday night when the teams meet for the first time this season.

After starting the season with two games in England on Sept. 29-30, the Ducks have had a very busy October, playing a league-high 11 games to this point.

Anaheim (4-6-1) continues to be a very good home team but has yet to win on the road. A 4-2 loss Tuesday at St. Louis dropped the defending champions to 0-5-1 away from Jobing.com Arena.

The Ducks looked like a fatigued team Tuesday, getting outshot 33-16 while going scoreless on five power-play opportunities.

"It was a hard-fought battle," coach Randy Carlyle said. "This is the type of game we've been involved with for a while here. I thought our guys reached back and gave us everything they had. I've got to be proud of their effort."

Already missing defenseman Mathieu Schneider (ankle) and right wing Todd Bertuzzi (concussion), the Ducks could be without top center Ryan Getzlaf and forward Rob Niedermayer on Thursday.

Read the rest here - Link

Official Ducks update on the Ducks return to Anaheim and an update on the status of Rob and Ryan.

With fire blazing through much of Southern California, the Orange County home the Ducks returned to early Wednesday morning was markedly different from the one they departed last Friday for a two-game road trip.

Starting on Saturday, fires ripped through seven counties in the Southland, claiming several lives, thousands of homes and hundreds of thousands of acres in its path. Playing in Dallas on Saturday and St. Louis on Tuesday, all the Ducks could do was watch the destruction from television screens and offer family and friends encouragement over the phone.

“It’s difficult not knowing what’s going on, the uncertainty of everything,” Ducks captain Chris Pronger said. “You’re on the road and you can’t really do anything to help. You can’t do anything to support your family.”

Coach Randy Carlyle noted after Wednesday’s practice that the families of two Ducks players had to be evacuated as a result of the fires. As of Wednesday, the properties of the two Ducks have not been damaged and their families are doing okay.

Read the rest here - Link

Update on Bert via the OC Register and on the guys who had to evacuate their families

The Ducks returned to Anaheim banged up and still winless on the road, but Todd Bertuzzi offered a silver lining to their recent woes.

Bertuzzi skated for the second consecutive day Wednesday and appears to be moving closer to a return. The big winger said he has been symptom free from a concussion for a couple of days and hasn't had any recurrences of headaches or loss of peripheral vision associated with the head injury.

Bertuzzi did not have a target date for his return but was optimistic about his progress. He is scheduled to meet with a doctor Thursday. The club won't put him in a game until he is symptom free for four or five days.

___

Coach Randy Carlyle held an optional skate with his team tired and missing healthy forwards. Ryan Getzlaf has a strained forearm, Carlyle said, and Rob Niedermayer rested a pulled groin muscle. Both are day to day.

An optional skate perhaps was appropriate amid the fire crisis in Southern California. Todd Marchant and Shane Hnidy had to evacuate their families from their homes in the Irvine area because of the Santiago fire.

Only seven players and goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere took to the ice Wednesday. Carlyle thought it was necessary to take a breather even a day before a game.

Read the rest here - Link

OC Register Ducks blog on the injuries and personnel moves

There likely are going to be some young men headed for Anaheim from Portland, Maine, on Wednesday. The Ducks were caught short one forward Tuesday night in St. Louis when checking-line right wing Rob Niedermayer did not play because of a sore groin muscle, and the situation became compounded early in the second period of a 4-2 loss to the Blues when top-line center Ryan Getzlaf left the game because of an unspecified upper-body injury. Things appeared to be even worse when rugged left wing Brad May missed the final 8:26 of the second period after a fight with Blues defenseman Barret Jackman, but May returned to action in the third period.

Read the rest here - Link

MVN coverage of the injured ducks

The Ducks continue to be hit hard by injuries. Yesterday Rob Niedermayer missed his first game of the season after experiencing groin soreness in the morning skate. That left the Ducks one man short on their bench against the St. Louis Blues. During the game, Ryan Getzlaf left after only 2 shifts in the second period with an “upper body injury.” That description does nothing to narrow down the injury. Both he and Niedermayer were to be evaluated further in Anaheim today.

Brad May also hurt his hand during a fight with Barrett Jackman. Jackman suffered quite a few stitches to close a cut that left a good deal of blood on the ice. A cut face doesn’t stop one from skating, but a hurt hand makes it tough to hold your hockey stick. May took only a couple of shifts in the third period but that was it. During the fight he was shaking the hand vigorously leading the tv announcers to ponder if he was trying to shake off his elbow pad. However, considering the grimace on his face, you knew May was hurt.

Read the rest here - Link

The LA Times coverage of the personnel issues

The Ducks reduced their logjam in goal Tuesday by sending Jonas Hiller down to their American Hockey League affiliate in Portland, Maine.
Hiller gave up one goal in defeating the Kings in his first start and gave up five goals in a loss to Pittsburgh. The move was probably made now because the team is at last confident that Jean-Sebastien Giguere is fully recovered from hernia surgery.
Giguere made 29 saves Tuesday, allowing two goals to Brad Boyes and one to Keith Tkachuk in a 4-2 loss. Ilya Bryzgalov remains the primary backup.
Meanwhile, the Ducks could dip into Portland for some help up front if the injuries to forwards Rob Niedermayer and Ryan Getzlaf keep them out of the lineup for Thursday's home game against Phoenix.
Among those who could be considered for recall are center Petteri Wirtanen and winger Jason King.
Coach Randy Carlyle followed through with his plan to juggle the lines and it worked to some degree against the Blues.

Read the rest here - Link

Saint Louis Today interview of Chris Pronger

The remnants of Chris Pronger's nine seasons with the Blues are nearly gone.
Pronger, 33, has sold his house in St. Louis. His No. 44 Blues jerseys are only occasionally spotted in the crowd. Few mention his name anymore in relation to how rebuilding the Blues could have been different. Even his trips to town aren't met with the same emotion that awaited him after he was traded to Edmonton more than two years ago.
With Pronger now on his second team since leaving St. Louis, the only difference between his visit tonight with the Anaheim Ducks and his trips to other cities is that his family — wife Lauren and sons Jack, 5, and George, 3 — are with him to visit Lauren's parents.
"We come back to see the in-laws and let them see the grandkids," Pronger said.

Other than that, all ties are cut. Pronger is now a West Coast guy, a neighbor of former Cardinal Mark McGwire, and a hockey star who may be forever remembered in NHL history as a Duck after winning his first Stanley Cup last season.

Read the rest here - Link

Ryan Getzlaf gets a cameo in a commercial - Link

Thursday News - Part 1, Ducks/Red Wings coverage

Well I have more coverage of last nights game as well as pictures and video.  There is a preview of the Ducks vs. Columbus game as well.

Video via the Anaheim Ducks official site - Link

OC Register Coverage

The shot clock certainly didn’t indicate it, and neither did the final score.

The Ducks wouldn’t even really acknowledge it after the fact, but they made a mighty impressive statement Wednesday night at Joe Louis Arena.

Despite winding up on the short end of a monumental 42-15 difference in shots on goal and ultimately suffering a 3-2, shootout loss to the Detroit Red Wings, the Ducks displayed healthy degrees of the passion and verve that just might ultimately put to rest the many troubling questions trailing the defending Stanley Cup champions.

With stars Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne still kicking back in Orange County while pondering possible retirement, and returning standouts Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Samuel Pahlsson, as well as prize free-agent addition Mathieu Schneider, on the injured list, the remainder of the Ducks met their latest challenge barely 2½ days after having returned from a questionably planned season-opening, two-game split with the Kings in London, of all places.

To gain a point in the standings, in any fashion, in Detroit’s season-opener no less, had to be considered an unmitigated success.

Read the rest here - Link

LA Times Coverage

Joe Louis Arena isn't the haunted house in which the Ducks have spent many a torturous night.
They've got four wins against the Detroit Red Wings in their last five playoff games there, and since the perennially strong Red Wings can't sell out any home playoff games, much less their season opener Wednesday night, the Ducks might as well feel downright comfortable in what were once hostile surroundings.
Not so fast.
The Ducks were unable to break their five-year regular-season drought in Detroit, losing, 3-2, on Jiri Hudler's decisive goal in the shootout.
Even though the Ducks haven't won a regular-season game in Detroit in nine tries dating to March 19, 2002, it was still a point earned by the short-handed Ducks, whose legs still appeared to be in London.
"We've got to be happy we got a point, but at the same time I don't think we played nearly as solid as we needed to," Ducks forward Todd Bertuzzi said. "The positive is it's a big point, we can get out of here and move on."
As early season games go, it was a vivid reminder of the riveting six-game victory by the Ducks last June. The teams traded leads over the course of the 60 minutes of regulation, with the Red Wings often carrying the play and Anaheim repeatedly turning them away.

Read the rest here - Link

JPowers65 posted pictures to his flickr stream

See the rest here - Link

Chris Pronger interver via Versus

Perry's fight

Friday News

Today was a slow news day. Well other than having a new captain and the season opener is tomorrow. Just a few articles on Pronger being made captain, some coverage of the london visit via the official Ducks blog, John Ahlers gives us the last preview of the Ducks I will post (finally) and some pictures from today's practice.

Official Ducks Blog coverage of the London Visit

The Ducks had a busy afternoon, even after practice ended. Chris Pronger was named team captain and sat for the media for a bit. We have that story right here.

Then the Ducks attended a VIP reception held for the fans who came to London via the NHL Premiere package. That was held in one of several restaurants in the expansive main entrance area at O2 Arena. It's a part of the place that really doesn't make it feel like a sports/event arena. It's a huge, wide open section with restaurants and shops. And sprinkled throughout the area are these attractive helper girls, all of whom inexplicably wear angels wings on their backs. I can't believe we don't have a photo of that, but we don't. You'll get a better look at all of this when Ducks TV does a tour of the arena, which we'll post later tonight.

Anyway, here are photos from the afternoon.

Read the rest here - Link

Here are some pictures from the last practice.

Official Ducks Gallery - Link

Coverage of the naming of Pronger as captain via the LA Times

LONDON -- Defenseman Chris Pronger, a Norris Trophy finalist and perpetrator of two nasty hits that earned him two league-imposed suspensions in the playoffs last spring, was appointed the Ducks' captain.
He will become the seventh Ducks player to wear the "C," an honor valued more highly in hockey than other sports. Coach Randy Carlyle said Friday that Pronger would retain the captaincy if Scott Niedermayer, who held the position on last season's Stanley Cup championship team, returned from his apparent retirement.
Carlyle said the Ducks, though reliant on many players for leadership, needed to designate a permanent captain to be a leader in team decisions. He said Niedermayer had been told he would not regain the captaincy if he returned.
"It's not that we forgot Scott Niedermayer is still out there. It's just the hand that we've been dealt here in allowing him the time he needs," Carlyle said.
"Our lives go on. So does his. But it's going on in a different manner."
The alternates, also appointed by the coaches, will be Chris Kunitz and Rob Niedermayer. The alternate to the alternates will be Todd Marchant.

Read the rest here - Link

CBC has their coverage

Scott Niedermayer hasn't yet decided if he's ready to move on, but the Anaheim Ducks have.

With the star defenceman sidelined for at least the start of the season as he mulls retirement, the Ducks handed his captaincy to fellow blueliner Chris Pronger on Friday."I'm following a tremendous leader in Scotty," Pronger told a news conference at O2 Arena in London, England, where Anaheim is preparing for its season opener against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday (CBC, 12 p.m. ET).

While Niedermayer may still return, the Ducks, who are also waiting to hear from star forward Teemu Selanne about his possible retirement plans, decided they'd be better off transferring the C to someone who will be on the ice from the start.

"It's of vast importance to us to move forward," said Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle, who made the decision. "We're about living the now — we can't live in the past. That's how we've tried to deal with it. We've made the statement that, yeah, we'd love to have Scott Niedermayer back, we'd love to have Teemu Selanne back, but that's not reality.

"This is our group and we're preparing for our first game.

Read the rest here - Link

John Ahlers has a look at the Ducks

DUCKS DEALT DIFFICULT HAND
By John Ahlers
Repeating as Stanley Cup Champions has proven to be a difficult task as no team in the NHL has pulled off the feat in the last decade. However, in the salary cap era that emerged from the lockout of 2004-2005, the task of putting back-to-back titles on ice has become more daunting.
Enter the Anaheim Ducks of 2007-2008. Like the Carolina Hurricanes before them, Randy Carlyle’s team has a different look from that of the group that skated around Honda Center on June 6, hoisting Lord Stanley’s gift to North American ice hockey. Unlike the Canes though, the Ducks challenge entering the season does not stop there. Among the list of obstacles in Anaheim’s way is a shorter offseason than even those who accompanied them late into last spring’s Playoff tournament, but also key chemistry hurdles, a very early scheduling test and the ever-present target that appears on the defending champions’ back.
The roster changes that Anaheim has undertaken are not the type any team would brush off, let alone the top team from the previous year. Gone from the Ducks are the top two goal producers from last season in Teemu Selanne (contemplating retirement) and Dustin Penner (free agent signing with Edmonton). Not only are their 77 goals looking to be replaced, but their collective absence affects both of the proposed top two lines coming into the season. That, coupled with Captain Scott Niedermayer’s continued retirement contemplation leaves the offense in need for more than one individual to step up. The veteran defenseman not only led all blueliners in the NHL in point production,, but leaves an on-ice leadership void as well.

Read the rest here - Link

Anaheim Ducks name Chris Pronger Team Captain!

This is not truly a surprise.  He has the experience and has been captain before.  What is a surprise is that Chris Kunitz was named alternate captain.  I was thinking Getzlaf would get the job.  Rob Niedermayer continues as the other alternate captain.  Here is the official PR release.

Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle announced today that defenseman Chris Pronger will take over as captain, with last year’s captain Scott Niedermayer still mulling retirement.

“The coaching staff and management had a discussion and ultimately it was left up to us, the coaches, to make that decision and we made it through consultation through the last 48 hours,” Carlyle said. “We came to the conclusion that we thought Chris Pronger would be best suited to fit the captaincy role.”

Carlyle also announced that Rob Niedermayer would again be an alternate captain and Chris Kunitz would also be an alternate captain for the first time with the Ducks. “Rob Niedermayer was an [alternate] last year and did a fine job, and we thought it was important to involve our younger players in the leadership role. Chris Kunitz fit that role.”

Said Pronger, “It’s a tremendous honor. I’m following an excellent leader in Scotty and I’m certainly trying to build on what he’s done the last couple of years, things we’ve accomplished as a group and as a team. I’m just going to pick up where he left off and use the other leaders we have in the room to further develop as a group and try to repeat or play as well as we can.”

Pronger first became a captain in the NHL as a 23-year-old in St. Louis, and said that he would approach it differently this time. “Certainly I will,” Pronger said. “I was a little wet behind the ears then and now I have more experience in this league and more experience with this team.”

Carlyle acknowledged that several Ducks veterans could have fit any of the three captain role, but “we don’t just rely on these three individuals. Some are more noteworthy in the sense they have more experience, like Todd Marchant. It wasn’t like we passed Todd Marchant over. We just felt that he didn’t need the letter to establish his leadership role. We feel it can spread out through our whole hockey club.”

See the original here - Link

One more Pronger interview via NHL.com

Thirteen is supposed to be an unlucky number. But for Chris Pronger, it was more like a lucky charm.

For Pronger, 13 was the number of times it took before the Anaheim Ducks’ defenseman finally got to hoist the most prestigious trophy in all of sports, the Stanley Cup.

That’s 13 training camps. Thirteen Octobers of wondering if this was going to be the year. Thirteen trade deadlines where he paced back and forth, unaware of which of his teammates were staying or going. The soon-to-be 33-year-old admitted it took some time to come to the realization that his name would, indeed, be etched on Lord Stanley’s Cup.

“It took a while,” Pronger said. “Obviously, you’re doing the party thing and enjoying the time with the Cup. It doesn’t really set in for a while. You have your day with the Cup, and it starts kind of setting in that; ‘You know what? My name is going to on here.’

”The ramifications of winning it, and how big a deal it is, you start to kind of look at the history and all the players that are on it,” Pronger said. “It starts hitting you then that you’re in a select group of people that have had the honor of winning the Cup and having their names put on that trophy. It’s pretty special.”

Read the rest here - Link

Friday News - I am sick....sigh... this better go away by Sunday!

I am sick so this post will be short and to the point.  Here is today's news.

Dipenta gets some coverage - Link

Evidently, people missing their faces does not bother Pronger - Link

Pronger is no fan of Europe either - Link

Pronger also had a conference call today, here is the text - Link

Jason King really wants to be a Duck - Link

The Stanley Cup Journal was updated with Tim Ryan and Michael Shulman - Link

Go Ducks!

Wednesday News

A bit slower of a news day today.  I have some player interviews, analysis and some new player photos.

The Ducks have updated their profile pictures (Thanks AnaheimDuckFan) - Link

An interview with Chris Pronger via the Globe and Mail

ANAHEIM, Calif — A little known fact about Chris Pronger:

On that sunny California night when the Anaheim Ducks won the Stanley Cup last June, Pronger separated his right shoulder after getting checked from behind into the boards. No one said anything about it at the time for two good reasons: the Ducks obliterated the Ottawa Senators in that decisive fifth game anyway; and when you spend your life pursuing a dream and then finally realize it, the celebration helps to distract from the pain.

But Pronger would have been touch and go to play a sixth game ("I guess if you shoot it up enough, sure you could go," he says, smiling) and was thankful that he didn't have to make the choice.

"It was nice to see the score get run up like that so I didn't have to worry about it," said the amiable big man, "because it was pretty sore the next couple of days.

"Now, it feels good. It feels really good."

Pronger is one of only two NHLers to qualify for the Stanley Cup final in each of the last two years (Martin Gerber is the other) and thus knows better than his Ducks' teammates about the challenges of a short summer. Two years ago, Pronger's Edmonton Oilers made it to the seventh game of the Stanley Cup final, only to lose to the Carolina Hurricanes.

Thanks to the Olympic break, the playoffs during the Oilers' run of 05-06 spilled into the third week of June. Soon after that, Pronger asked for - and received - a trade out of Edmonton, a controversial and head-line grabbing decision that created, among other things, a great deal of personal stress for him and his family.

"So that was a little different situation," he said. "But what I learned was that you need to give yourself a break. I didn't give myself enough of a break the year before, so I felt awful at camp last year. During the summer, my elbow was swollen. My back was sore. My knee was sore. I took a week off and then I started training again. That wasn't enough time.

"This year, I made sure I took a month off and took it easy. I'm not 25 anymore."

Read the rest here - Link

Another Bertuzzi interview via the Globe and Mail

ANAHEIM — Todd Bertuzzi is looking not for redemption, exactly, but for a fresh start in southern California. He's in a market suddenly crazy for hockey again, playing for a manager, Brian Burke, who stood by him during the darkest days of the Steve Moore incident, with its resultant suspension and pending lawsuit.

He's wearing the single digit No. 4 on his Anaheim Ducks jersey instead of the more familiar 44 because that number belongs to Rob Niedermayer, and fellow winger Chris Kunitz had dibs on 14.

Bertuzzi looks slimmer than he has in years, down to 230 pounds from the 245 that he played at for most of his career, seeking to get his career back on the rails again, after three mostly nightmarish seasons, played out in medical rooms and court rooms and just about everywhere but on the ice.

Bertuzzi made it into only seven regular-season games for his next-to-last employer, the Florida Panthers, before back surgery cost him virtually all of the 2006-07 regular season. The Detroit Red Wings picked up his playing rights at the trading deadline and two games into the series against the Calgary Flames, he made his playoff debut.

In all, he got into 16 games, scored seven points and had a few decent moments playing on the line with Robert Lang and a revolving cast of right-siders.

Mindful of the fact that Teemu Selanne, his leading goal scorer, might retire after winning the Stanley Cup last spring, Burke gave his former Vancouver Canucks employee a two-year, $8-million (U.S.) contract and a chance to play as a top-six forward on the defending champions.

Nominally, Bertuzzi took Selanne's place on the team's payroll, but realistically, the style he plays makes him a more logical replacement for big, burly Dustin Penner, who scored 29 goals for the Ducks last season and then left to join Edmonton as a free agent.

Read the rest here - Link

Earl from BOC has some great analysis (again) of the Ducks.  In this case it is about "what needs to be replaced"

Well, now that camp is halfway done and it’s become apparent that Niedermayer or Selanne have no imminent plans to rejoin the team, I think I can finally sit down and start writing up a season preview. Previewing this Anaheim team is still a bag of questions, however, as I don’t really know how forward lines or defensive pairs will be laid out, but in any case a good first step is to determine precisely what’s missing from last year. Essentially, this can be boiled down to three significant players and their contributions: Teemu Selanne, Dustin Penner, and Scott Niedermayer. These three combined for 103 goals over 103 games (regular season plus playoffs), but let’s delve in a bit to see where those goals really came from.
To study this, I am going to compare Selanne & Penner’s output to the results of the rest of the Anaheim forwards. Then I will compare Niedermayer’s output to the results of the rest of the defensemen. Finally, I will look at all three players’ results compared to the rest of the team.
Note that this strictly is dealing with on-ice productivity, ignoring such factors as experience, leadership, salary, or popularity. I will also be talking a bit about quality of minutes based on Behind the Net’s quality of teammate and quality of opposition metrics, which basically provide a context for the ice time based on the other players on the ice.

Read the rest here - Link

The Stanley Cup in HB

Here are some links to photos from the Cup's visit to Huntington Beach and the latest on Chris Prongers second day with the cup from the Hockey Hall of Fame

Anaheim Duck Fan - Link
Somebody's Flickr set - Link
Greeting from HB blog - Link
HHOF - Link

Morning News Links

Shockingly enough most of these links are about Penner. However I actually have on that is not. Here they are!

Penner

Analysis - Link
Brian Burkes relationship with Lowe - Link

The Stanley Cup pays a visit to a local pub with Chris Pronger. - Link

HHOF Friday update, Stanley visits Newell Brown, Sean Skahan and David McNab - Link