Today was a news filled day. Not only was training camp going on, but a lot of "Official Ducks News" was released today. So on to the news!
Ducks show their new home uniform. Not much of a change is it? Here is the official announcement
The Club Joins the League-Wide Initiative in Unveiling a More Modern and Sleek Look for the Upcoming Season
The Anaheim Ducks announced that the club will debut the new Rbk EDGE Uniform System on Thursday, Sept. 13 vs. Los Angeles in the Ducks’ preseason opener. The updated look is a result of the NHL’s partnership with Reebok in developing a uniform to meet the performance demands of today’s professional athlete. This change adds an exciting twist on the new uniforms that the Ducks unveiled prior to the 2006-07 season.
“This is an exciting new technological advancement made by the NHL,” said Anaheim Arena Management and Anaheim Ducks Senior Vice President/CMO Bob Wagner. “We think both the fans and players will appreciate the new, sleek look.”
The Rbk EDGE Uniform System is being implemented after more than two years of research and testing. The system features technologically advanced materials and fabrics that are more breathable, more water-resistant, more comfortable and more compatible with equipment. It will be worn by all 30 NHL teams in their respective colors and designs. The introduction of this system for the 2007-08 season marks the first time in the history of North American professional sports that a uniform innovation has been implemented League-wide.
On June 22, 2006, a new era began for the franchise as the team became officially known as the Anaheim Ducks. In addition, a new logo and color scheme was unveiled. In shaping the new logo design, the focus was sharpened to create an overall image that expressed excitement, speed and a competitive edge. A classic color palette of black and metallic gold was developed, with an accent of orange as a metaphorical link to the team’s Orange County home. The new look proved successful as the Ducks made history, winning their first-ever Pacific Division en route to becoming the first West Coast team to win the Stanley Cup since the 1925 Victoria Cougars.
Buy yours here - Link
Ducks extend their contract with AM830 - via the official website
The Anaheim Ducks announced today that the club has extended its radio broadcast agreement with AM 830, the flagship home of the Anaheim Ducks. The multi-year deal includes pre-, regular and post-season coverage on the 50,000-watt station.
“We are very pleased to be able to extend our agreement with AM 830,” said Anaheim Ducks Director of Broadcasting Aaron Teats. “The powerful signal the station provides is a great benefit to our fans.”
The flagship home of the 2007 Stanley Cup Champions, Ducks fans will continue to enjoy pre- and post-game shows along with other hockey-related programs as part of the station’s regular lineup. Radio coverage of the Ducks’ 2007-2008 campaign begins with all eight preseason contests, starting Sept. 13 vs. Los Angeles at Honda Center (7:05 p.m.).
Steve Carroll returns for his ninth season as Anaheim Ducks radio play-by-play voice in 2007-08. Joining Carroll in the broadcast booth is Brent Severyn, who begins his third season with the club as radio color analyst.
AM 830 is owned by a partnership led by Arte Moreno, who also owns Angels Baseball. In addition to exciting Ducks play-by-play action, AM 830 carries Monday Night NFL Football, Sunday NFL Football, and is the flagship home of the 2008 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. As well as running marquis sporting events, the New AM 830 is the home of independent talk personalities such as Glenn Beck, Jerry Dole, Rusty Humphries, Michael Savage and many others.
Ducks resign Brent Severyn to a multiyear contract extension... as a radio analyst - via the official website
The Anaheim Ducks announced today that radio analyst Brent Severyn has been signed to a multi-year contract extension with the club. Severyn begins his third season with Steve Carroll in the Ducks radio booth for all pre-, regular and post-season games in 2007-08, led by flagship station AM 830.
“Brent has been a very important member of our broadcast crew for the past two seasons,” said Anaheim Ducks Director of Broadcasting Aaron Teats. “His passion for hard-nosed, physical hockey has made him a fan favorite and entertaining listen on our broadcast.”
In addition to his in-game duties with AM 830, Severyn also serves as co-host for the Ducks’ Post-Game Radio Show immediately following every home game in front a live audience, giving fans a chance to interact with the hosts and various players. Before coming to Anaheim, the former Duck logged five years of hockey broadcasting experience in both radio and television. He worked as an analyst with FSN Southwest in Dallas, and with the Stars’ post-game radio coverage on 1310 AM, The Ticket.
A seven-year NHL veteran drafted by Winnipeg in the fifth round (99th overall) of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft, Severyn played 328 games between Quebec, Florida, the New York Islanders, Colorado, Anaheim and Dallas. In 1999, he was a member of the Stanley Cup-winning Dallas Stars.
A native of Vegreville, Alberta, Severyn was a member of the 1997-98 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. He is actively involved in the community and has been the recipient of the community service award for both the Ducks and the Dallas Stars. Severyn works extensively with athletes from all competition levels and has started his own community program called Sevy’s Bikes for Kids and Assistance.
Brian Burke was on a conference call with the GM from the other Socal team
Ducks Executive Vice-President/General Manager Brian Burke and L.A. Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi sat down for a media conference call Tuesday. Here is a transcript:
Q. How do you like your team's chances to defend this first championship regardless of whether or not some players come back into your fold?
BRIAN BURKE: Well, I think it's tough to defend. It's always been tough to defend, and I think in a cap system it's even harder to defend because if you look at teams that defended in the old system, often there was a payroll disparity that prevented them from doing that. So we think we play in the toughest division in the National Hockey League. I think a lot of our success last year was because of the playoff pairings that we got by winning our division, and it's going to be tough. It's always tough.
Q. Brian, who do you see as the teams to beat other than yourself, the teams you know will be hard to beat?
BRIAN BURKE: Well, I'll leave that to you guys. We broke a record that was 50 years old I think at the start of the season for the best start in the history of the NHL with points in our first 16 games, and that broke a record I think 40 or 50 years old, and it still went down to the last weekend of the season. When we went on the ice for our last game in Columbus, we were still watching the San Jose and Vancouver game. Vancouver won in overtime and that's how we won our division. That's how tough our division is. We have a very healthy respect for all the teams in our division. In the west we've got you guys. I think the west is a terror for a general manager.
Q. Brian, first of all, welcome back. I guess this is the way you want it, a nice short off season. I guess that means you did well, correct?
BRIAN BURKE: Correct.
Q. Talk about how this trip to London might take both clubs out of their routine? And that's pretty much what athletes are into, is a routine.
BRIAN BURKE: Well, we were honored. The LA Kings, AEG Entertainment operates the building where we're going to play these games, and I'm told it's a beautiful venue. When the league asked us to go, we were honored to go. First off, we have a very healthy rivalry with the Kings. We think that to take regular season games to Europe is a milestone for our league, so we were honored to be asked. Is it ideal from a preparation standpoint, no and I'm pretty sure Dean would agree so. But I think when the league asks you to go, you go. I think, like I said, we were flattered. We were honored. We told our players this is the schedule. We have three road games when we come back that are all going to be tough, and it's going to be a tough five-game start to the season, but we have to deal with that.
Read the rest here - Link
Here is a very nice article on Todd Marchant by Randy Youngman of the OC Register
ANAHEIM -- Who's that little guy?
Ever since he laced up his first pair of skates as a youngster in suburban Buffalo, Todd Marchant has stood out on the ice.
He was always the smallest kid at the rink — and usually the fastest.
"My dad has some video of me when I was 6 or 7 years old," Marchant said Tuesday at Anaheim Ice after the Ducks' first official practice as the defending Stanley Cup champions. "I looked like a little waterbug flying around the ice."
When he was playing "mite" and "squirt" hockey, it was cute to be so small and so talented.
But as he got older and the competition got better, Marchant's size became a perpetual obstacle he had to overcome, at least in the eyes of those who judge talent.
"I was always the smallest guy on my team, at every level," he said. "And the people involved in the sport would always say, 'Good player, but he won't excel at the next level because he's too small.'
"I didn't hear it all the time, but my parents heard it. And you know what? It was motivation for me, to go out and prove people wrong. ... I'm still probably one of the smallest guys on the team — and in the league, for that matter. So I have to go out and prove myself every single day."
Read the rest here - Link
A little brief on Schneider and Bertuzzi's quiet debut at training camp via the OC Register
ANAHEIM -- Most anywhere else, in most any other season, the addition of marquee free agents Mathieu Schneider and Todd Bertuzzi would be the focal point of an NHL team's training camp.
Schneider and Bertuzzi, who left the Detroit Red Wings to join the Ducks in early July, have remained mostly under the radar because of a preoccupation with the potential retirement of team captain Scott Niedermayer and unrestricted free-agent right wing Teemu Selanne.
While neither Niedermayer nor Selanne was present Tuesday when the Ducks opened camp at Anaheim Ice, Schneider and Bertuzzi were there — noticeable for sure but still minus the hoopla that might have greeted their arrival otherwise.
"I think Todd and I both enjoy that," Schneider said. "It takes a lot of pressure off us."
Given the huge roles played by Niedermayer and Selanne when the Ducks captured their first Stanley Cup championship last season, their absence will create more than enough pressure to go around. Schneider, 38, certainly doesn't lack for experience, having won a Stanley Cup ring with Montreal in 1993.
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Burke's take on the London road trip via the CanWest News service
For Brian Burke, having the Stanley Cup-champion Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings open the NHL's regular season in England is as much about salesmanship as it is about being a good corporate citizen.
"We've got to look at extending our brand outside North America whenever we can," Burke, the Ducks GM, said yesterday. "The league's been, I think, very successfully taking the NHL overseas.
"If the league asks you to go, you go."
The Kings and Ducks will play on Sept. 29 and 30 at O2 Arena in London - the first regular-season games ever played in Europe.
Ducks suspend Niedermayer: Star defenceman Scott Niedermayer, who is still trying to decide whether he'll return to the Ducks for the 2007-08 NHL season or retire, was officially suspended yesterday by the Stanley Cup champions, Burke said.
The move, which was expected by the player and the team, means the $6.75 million Niedermayer was to earn this season won't count against the league's $50.3-million salary cap.
The original article is here - Link
The New England Hockey Journal has a great interview with Brian Burke
Two of the Anaheim Ducks general manager’s would-be returning stars – Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne – are currently in roster limbo and still deciding whether they want to return to active duty.
And then there was that matter of Edmonton luring young forward Dustin Penner away from the defending Stanley Cup champions with a lucrative Group 2 offer sheet.
But three months removed from watching his team skate away with the most coveted trophy in hockey, Burke can still relish what the Ducks accomplished – even as he’s looking forward at a difficult defense of the title.
“Well, if anyone on this call hears me complain about anything, they should throw something heavy at me,” Burke said with a laugh during a conference call Tuesday. “It's what we aspire to, to wake up in the morning dreaming of winning that trophy, and you go to bed at night dreaming of ways to win it. No complaints here.
“I would say it was a rather unique set of circumstances when two, I believe, locks for the Hall of Fame tell you they're not sure if they're coming back, so it's required us to take some steps maybe we wouldn't have otherwise. I assured the local media on July 1 that we would not be active, and we ended up signing two guys. From my perspective, no complaints. We like the character of our group, and it's our intent to defend.”
The two additions Burke made after free agency opened were defenseman Mathieu Schneider (Mt. St. Charles, R.I.) and forward Todd Bertuzzi, who were both teammates in Detroit last season – on a team that lost to the Ducks in the Western Conference finals.
Read the rest here - Link
AndyMacAttack from the official Ducks board has posted a couple of pictures from his visit with the cup and....... Sammy Pahlsson!
See the originals here - Link
