Haven't wrote anything for a while (not that anybody cares :D), because i've been so excited about the Winter Olympics and done some heavy under-age drinking when at it. Seriously, i didn't even think it's possible to be this ecstatic about matches like Czech Republic-Latvia, Sweden-Belarus etc. What an awesome event it's been already, particularly to the Ducks Olympians.
Bobby chipped some teeth -- Something every hockey players must dream of.
Selanne breaking Olympics records and Koivu on his way -- Awesome players both, couldn't be more happy for my home country heroes.
Team Switzerland and Ducks netminder Jonas Hiller almost stole the game against Canada, also making two highlight-reel saves against his Ducks teammates Corey Perry & Ryan Getzlaf -> youtube
Yeah, don't really have that much to say, just enjoying the Olympics as much as i can. And so far, so good. Can't wait for the tourney going forward when the "real games" begin. Anyhow, here's to a great Olympics! :)
GO (Finland, Canada, USA & Switzerland) Ducks!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Ducks players in the Vancouver Winter Olympics 2010.
Ducks have the most players (9) among NHL teams to participate in the Olympics this year. Makes you kind of wonder why the heck Ducks are sitting outside of the playoffs at the moment. Oh well, here are the Ducks players representing their respected countries in Vancouver:
Team Canada
#24 Corey Perry
#27 Scott Niedermayer (C)
#51 Ryan Getzlaf
Team USA
#19 Ryan Whitney
#54 Bobby Ryan
Team Finland
#8 Teemu Selanne (A)
#11 Saku Koivu (C)
Team Switzerland
#1 Jonas Hiller
#47 Luca Sbisa
Obviously we are going to cheer all of those Ducks players participating in the Olympics. Make your nations proud!
Team Canada
#24 Corey Perry
#27 Scott Niedermayer (C)
#51 Ryan Getzlaf
Team USA
#19 Ryan Whitney
#54 Bobby Ryan
Team Finland
#8 Teemu Selanne (A)
#11 Saku Koivu (C)
Team Switzerland
#1 Jonas Hiller
#47 Luca Sbisa
Obviously we are going to cheer all of those Ducks players participating in the Olympics. Make your nations proud!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Post-Game: Ducks head to the Olympic break victoriously beating the Oilers 7-3.
Boxscore
Recap
So i guess Ryan Getzlaf is good to go to the Vancouver? Just a dominate performance last night by Getzlaf, he recorded 2 goals, and 2 assists in total of 19:28 ice time. He also had 6 shots, 4 hits and 5 takeaways in the win over the Oilers. In my opinion, Getzy looked like he came to the game to make a statement, and that he certainly made. Great game by Getzlaf and to me, he looked like he's normal self and ready to head to the Vancouver winter Olympic games to represent team Canada. But enough of Getzlaf. Ducks were finally able to get a solid 60 minute effort, and it definitely made the difference in the hockey game. I know it's just the Oilers, but still, nice way to head to the break.
Ducks recorded their season-high 46 shots on goal, and tied their season-high potting 7 goals, 4 of them, which came on the powerplay. Overall, Ducks powerplay went 4 for 11, in a penalty filled match up. Infact, almost half of the game was played on special teams, as the two teams recorded only 33:37 of even strenght play. Still, the Ducks looked good the whole game long, expect for Steve Eminger, who somehow managed to be -2 on the game. I probably can't stress enough, how bad of a signing GM Bob Murray made by acquiring Eminger in the off-season. Just a terrible signing, especially considering Eminger still has one year left after this one on his contract. Hopefully Bob Murray has something planned to get rid of him, covering up his own mistake.
It took 62 games to finally see a bit of that long awaited chemistry of Finnish Olympians, Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu. Tonight they once again formed a line with Jason Blake, and i thought they looked good, especially in the early stages of the game. That's definitely good news for the ones who will cheer for team Finland, in the upcoming Olympics, such as myself. Good luck to Teemu & Saku, and the whole team Finland in the Olympics!
Finally, it's refreshing to see a road win for this hockey club. Hopefully they can manage to steal points again on the road after the olympic break. Ducks have 20 games left this season, 8 on the road and 12 at Honda Center. Make a late season push this season as well, and the Ducks should quack at the playoffs again.
But now to the long awaited Olympics break, i think these winter Olympic games should be one of the best ones ever, so get your beer on, and enjoy watching the best hockey players in the world. Good luck to all of the Ducks players, have fun out there! :)
Recap
So i guess Ryan Getzlaf is good to go to the Vancouver? Just a dominate performance last night by Getzlaf, he recorded 2 goals, and 2 assists in total of 19:28 ice time. He also had 6 shots, 4 hits and 5 takeaways in the win over the Oilers. In my opinion, Getzy looked like he came to the game to make a statement, and that he certainly made. Great game by Getzlaf and to me, he looked like he's normal self and ready to head to the Vancouver winter Olympic games to represent team Canada. But enough of Getzlaf. Ducks were finally able to get a solid 60 minute effort, and it definitely made the difference in the hockey game. I know it's just the Oilers, but still, nice way to head to the break.
Ducks recorded their season-high 46 shots on goal, and tied their season-high potting 7 goals, 4 of them, which came on the powerplay. Overall, Ducks powerplay went 4 for 11, in a penalty filled match up. Infact, almost half of the game was played on special teams, as the two teams recorded only 33:37 of even strenght play. Still, the Ducks looked good the whole game long, expect for Steve Eminger, who somehow managed to be -2 on the game. I probably can't stress enough, how bad of a signing GM Bob Murray made by acquiring Eminger in the off-season. Just a terrible signing, especially considering Eminger still has one year left after this one on his contract. Hopefully Bob Murray has something planned to get rid of him, covering up his own mistake.
It took 62 games to finally see a bit of that long awaited chemistry of Finnish Olympians, Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu. Tonight they once again formed a line with Jason Blake, and i thought they looked good, especially in the early stages of the game. That's definitely good news for the ones who will cheer for team Finland, in the upcoming Olympics, such as myself. Good luck to Teemu & Saku, and the whole team Finland in the Olympics!
Finally, it's refreshing to see a road win for this hockey club. Hopefully they can manage to steal points again on the road after the olympic break. Ducks have 20 games left this season, 8 on the road and 12 at Honda Center. Make a late season push this season as well, and the Ducks should quack at the playoffs again.
But now to the long awaited Olympics break, i think these winter Olympic games should be one of the best ones ever, so get your beer on, and enjoy watching the best hockey players in the world. Good luck to all of the Ducks players, have fun out there! :)
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Preview: Anaheim Ducks @ Edmonton Oilers (14th February 2010, 4:00 PM (PT) @ Rexall Place)
I only got one wish for this team before some of the players head on to Vancouver's Winter Olympics, and some start to enjoy this rare 2½ week vacation. Play good, solid hockey for the full 60 minutes. That's all i ask. Last year, when the Ducks kind of sucked, (before they made their late season surge) well at then, they still played hard the whole match. They didn't have all the world's skill in their offence, but they still tried their best each and every night. Now, that could be questioned, because i don't know what do tell you after last night's performance in Calgary. I just hope the players, the coaching staff, fuck, even trainers will realize how important these games actually are. It would suck to look at back in June to these games and say "oh man, how the heck they dropped the ball against the Oilers?" So let's just cheer this Ducks team to take the two points tonight, and then just enjoy watching Olympics, sound good? :)
No brainfarts and mental errors on defence, offence hard on the forecheck and along the boards, all while generating quality scoring chances against maybe the worst defensive team in the NHL. Finally Hiller, or maybe Toskala, to give us a solid performance on the net. Those things should be the keys to the game from Anaheim's perspective. Also including the, oh so important, full 60 minutes effort from all of the guys and they should be fine in this game.
Anaheim Ducks (29-25-7, t-11th in the West)
G/G: 2.72
GA/G: 2.98
PP: 19.2
PK: 80.6
Edmonton Oilers (19-35-6, 15th in the West)
G/G: 2.42
GA/G: 3.33
PP: 18.5
PK: 76.6
...from what i saw last night, the Ducks lines were kind of messed up, so i don't want to speculate them at all (probably might want to head off to OC Register for that), just hopefully Getzlaf will be back in action.
GO Ducks!
No brainfarts and mental errors on defence, offence hard on the forecheck and along the boards, all while generating quality scoring chances against maybe the worst defensive team in the NHL. Finally Hiller, or maybe Toskala, to give us a solid performance on the net. Those things should be the keys to the game from Anaheim's perspective. Also including the, oh so important, full 60 minutes effort from all of the guys and they should be fine in this game.
Anaheim Ducks (29-25-7, t-11th in the West)
G/G: 2.72
GA/G: 2.98
PP: 19.2
PK: 80.6
Edmonton Oilers (19-35-6, 15th in the West)
G/G: 2.42
GA/G: 3.33
PP: 18.5
PK: 76.6
...from what i saw last night, the Ducks lines were kind of messed up, so i don't want to speculate them at all (probably might want to head off to OC Register for that), just hopefully Getzlaf will be back in action.
GO Ducks!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Post-Game: Flames collects two important points against the Ducks, by the scoreline of 3-1.
Boxscore
Recap
I didn't see the whole game, as i missed about half the game due to some internet difficulties. Damn you ESPN 360! This might come up a little short, but here's my post-game tidbits anyway.
So the Ducks did not look good out there tonight. They got outplayed in every aspect of the game, and they didn't work as hard as Calgary did. Simply put, the Flames moved their legs and the Ducks did not. It resulted to the fact, that the Flames had the bounces going their way, while most of time Ducks just ended up standing still, looking silly. It was kind of weird to see how little the Ducks put effort in to this game. Truly important two points on the line, and they just came flatout terrible on this one. Who knows? Was it the fact that maybe everyone expected Getzlaf to play, and when he didn't, it turned out like this. The team's offence definitely looked like they missed their leader. Tonight, nobody could not step up into the role of the catalyst, which Getzlaf almost always is. Tough game to lose, especially when it came down like this.
Troy Bodie scored the only goal for the Ducks, by deflecting the point shot from captain Scott Niedermayer in to the net. Eric Nystrom later tied the game, by going hard to the net and beating Ducks netminder Jonas Hiller, and Jarome Iginla scored the final two goals, giving the Flames 3-1 win. In conclusion, Ducks defence once again showed, how horrible they can be when committing as many turnovers as they did. All while their offence mostly being able to create weak perimeter shots to the Flames net. Hopefully the guys can regroup tomorrow, and show a much more effort to win the final game before the break, against Edmonton.
Recap
I didn't see the whole game, as i missed about half the game due to some internet difficulties. Damn you ESPN 360! This might come up a little short, but here's my post-game tidbits anyway.
So the Ducks did not look good out there tonight. They got outplayed in every aspect of the game, and they didn't work as hard as Calgary did. Simply put, the Flames moved their legs and the Ducks did not. It resulted to the fact, that the Flames had the bounces going their way, while most of time Ducks just ended up standing still, looking silly. It was kind of weird to see how little the Ducks put effort in to this game. Truly important two points on the line, and they just came flatout terrible on this one. Who knows? Was it the fact that maybe everyone expected Getzlaf to play, and when he didn't, it turned out like this. The team's offence definitely looked like they missed their leader. Tonight, nobody could not step up into the role of the catalyst, which Getzlaf almost always is. Tough game to lose, especially when it came down like this.
Troy Bodie scored the only goal for the Ducks, by deflecting the point shot from captain Scott Niedermayer in to the net. Eric Nystrom later tied the game, by going hard to the net and beating Ducks netminder Jonas Hiller, and Jarome Iginla scored the final two goals, giving the Flames 3-1 win. In conclusion, Ducks defence once again showed, how horrible they can be when committing as many turnovers as they did. All while their offence mostly being able to create weak perimeter shots to the Flames net. Hopefully the guys can regroup tomorrow, and show a much more effort to win the final game before the break, against Edmonton.
About Mike Brown...
...was he really that good of a signing by the Ducks GM Bob Murray? We all probably thought so after the Ducks acquired him last season, in exchange for Nathan McIver. Brown had good 1/3 of a regular season, and even more better playoff performance. And whenever you check Red Wings player like this, you become an instant favorite of the Ducks fans.
So now, Brown has seen regular time, not on the ice, but in the press box. So obviously something went wrong there. Could it be the fact that he's been hitting less and less? Or because he doesn't provide the energy which the Ducks saw last season? Or should insistigate fights more? Probably only the Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle, can answer those questions.
In my opinion, Brown started the season quite well, being the same type of player he was last season. Penalty kill, hitting, being an solid energy line player, and fighting. Those are the bread and butter of Mike Brown's play. Then he started show those qualities less, and from result of that, he became regular healthy scratch in the Ducks line-up.
I honestly don't quite get this decision from Carlyle. Certainly Brown has been better this season, than a long-time Ducks enforcer, George Parros. No offence to George, who is great person off the ice, but Brown pretty much does everything better than Parros. I don't know, maybe there's more to that than i know. I just think that the 4th line Ducks had earlier this season (Artyukhin - Carter/Nokelainen - Brown) played some really good, solid hockey. They provided pretty much everything, that a good 4th line in today's NHL should bring to the table.
But answering to my own question, i still think that re-signing Brown was a good move from Bob Murray. And maybe Brown being a healthy scratch for quite some time now, is only going to motivate him doing a better job on his role, when he inevitably get's his chance again with this Ducks hockey team. And obviously we all hope that the solid play, which we have seen this season from Ducks rookies (Beleskey, Sexton, Bodie) will only continue, but if it doesn't, i think Brown is good player to have on your back-up guy.
#13 Mike Brown (5' 11", 201 Pounds, June 24th 1985, Age: 24, Cap Hit: 537,50$ Expiring: 2011)
55GP 6G 1A 7P 3+/- 61PIM 60Shots 8:37 TOI/G
So now, Brown has seen regular time, not on the ice, but in the press box. So obviously something went wrong there. Could it be the fact that he's been hitting less and less? Or because he doesn't provide the energy which the Ducks saw last season? Or should insistigate fights more? Probably only the Ducks head coach Randy Carlyle, can answer those questions.
In my opinion, Brown started the season quite well, being the same type of player he was last season. Penalty kill, hitting, being an solid energy line player, and fighting. Those are the bread and butter of Mike Brown's play. Then he started show those qualities less, and from result of that, he became regular healthy scratch in the Ducks line-up.
I honestly don't quite get this decision from Carlyle. Certainly Brown has been better this season, than a long-time Ducks enforcer, George Parros. No offence to George, who is great person off the ice, but Brown pretty much does everything better than Parros. I don't know, maybe there's more to that than i know. I just think that the 4th line Ducks had earlier this season (Artyukhin - Carter/Nokelainen - Brown) played some really good, solid hockey. They provided pretty much everything, that a good 4th line in today's NHL should bring to the table.
But answering to my own question, i still think that re-signing Brown was a good move from Bob Murray. And maybe Brown being a healthy scratch for quite some time now, is only going to motivate him doing a better job on his role, when he inevitably get's his chance again with this Ducks hockey team. And obviously we all hope that the solid play, which we have seen this season from Ducks rookies (Beleskey, Sexton, Bodie) will only continue, but if it doesn't, i think Brown is good player to have on your back-up guy.
#13 Mike Brown (5' 11", 201 Pounds, June 24th 1985, Age: 24, Cap Hit: 537,50$ Expiring: 2011)
55GP 6G 1A 7P 3+/- 61PIM 60Shots 8:37 TOI/G
Preview: Anaheim Ducks @ Calgary Flames (February 13th 2010, 7:00 PM (PT) @ Pengrowth Saddledome)
The Ducks enter to tonight's game with a 29-24-7 record in 60 games. They have won two straight and are 6-4 in their last 10, however this time, the puck doesn't drop on Honda Center. That's right, after setting a franchise record of 11 game consecutive win streak at home on Wednesday, the Ducks are back on the road with two games in hand, before the olympic break. Tomorrow against the Oilers, and today versus the Flames on Pengrowth Saddledome.
Speaking of Pengrowth Saddledome, have you ever wondered, how the Ducks have in their recent history, fared against the Flames on their home turf? Because we all know about the difficulties the Flames have had against the Ducks in Honda Center. In fact, last time Flames escaped with a win in Honda Center, was January 19, 2004. And they have won only that one match between the two teams on Honda Center, since January 13th on 1999. That's 1(!) win in a 21 game span. But here is the Ducks record on Flames home ice since the lockout:
2-6-0 (1.88 GF/G , 2.88 GA/G)
So in the last few years, Flames certainly haven't either made it easy for the Ducks to win against them outside of Honda Center. By the way, after Dion Phaneuf got traded away from Calgary, there isn't whole lot of Flames player's left from the current roster, who were in the Flames roster after the lockout. But the two notables are the captain Jarome Iginla, and the Vezina Trophy winner from 2005-2006 season, Miikka Kiprusoff. Here are both of their significant stats against the Ducks after the lockout, when the game has been on Flames home ice:
Jarome Iginla --> 7GP 2G 8A 10P +/- +2 24SOG
...and then the outstanding numbers posted by "Kipper"
Miikka Kiprusoff --> 6-1-0, .944SV%, 1.71GAA 2SO
So certainly Ducks better pray to god whenever they take shot on goal tonight, and save their breath, when Iginla makes a tape to tape pass on the offensive zone.
I thought of writing down a bit about Anaheim's road numbers this season, but then again i thought to myself, those stats are pretty depressive enough. No need to make myself even more negative entering tonight's game. But i did grap some good news for tonight's game:
Our defencemen have been quite productive as of late. Scott Niedermayer, James Wisniewski & Ryan Whitney have combined one goal and seven assists over the course of last four games. Also, Corey Perry is riding on a 5-game point streak, which has seen 2G, 4A & 6P. So, that's got to count for something, right?
Flames dropped the ball on their home ice in Thursday night, against the Dallas Stars, the match which they lost 3-1. Jarome Iginla was the only goalscorer for the Flames on that game. So, extremely important game for both these teams. We can probably expect some nervousness from both teams to start the game, but later on, i think the game is going for the heated physical play, with lots of chippiness and scrums after the whistles.
Some key stats for the game:
Calgary Flames
--------------
GF/G: 2.46
GA/G: 2.44
PP%: 17.0
PK%: 83.1
S/G: 28.4
SA/G: 29.1
FO%: 47.7
Anaheim Ducks
-------------
GF/G: 2.75
GA/G: 2.98
PP%: 19.3
PK%: 80.4
S/G: 29.1
SA/G: 33.2
FO%: 48.2
It's still not known whether or not Ryan Getzlf will be dressing for tonight's game. My guess (who cares) would be, that he will not be available tonight.
Also Rene Bourque will not playing for the Flames, as he's still nurturing his shoulder injury.
GO Ducks!
Speaking of Pengrowth Saddledome, have you ever wondered, how the Ducks have in their recent history, fared against the Flames on their home turf? Because we all know about the difficulties the Flames have had against the Ducks in Honda Center. In fact, last time Flames escaped with a win in Honda Center, was January 19, 2004. And they have won only that one match between the two teams on Honda Center, since January 13th on 1999. That's 1(!) win in a 21 game span. But here is the Ducks record on Flames home ice since the lockout:
2-6-0 (1.88 GF/G , 2.88 GA/G)
So in the last few years, Flames certainly haven't either made it easy for the Ducks to win against them outside of Honda Center. By the way, after Dion Phaneuf got traded away from Calgary, there isn't whole lot of Flames player's left from the current roster, who were in the Flames roster after the lockout. But the two notables are the captain Jarome Iginla, and the Vezina Trophy winner from 2005-2006 season, Miikka Kiprusoff. Here are both of their significant stats against the Ducks after the lockout, when the game has been on Flames home ice:
Jarome Iginla --> 7GP 2G 8A 10P +/- +2 24SOG
...and then the outstanding numbers posted by "Kipper"
Miikka Kiprusoff --> 6-1-0, .944SV%, 1.71GAA 2SO
So certainly Ducks better pray to god whenever they take shot on goal tonight, and save their breath, when Iginla makes a tape to tape pass on the offensive zone.
I thought of writing down a bit about Anaheim's road numbers this season, but then again i thought to myself, those stats are pretty depressive enough. No need to make myself even more negative entering tonight's game. But i did grap some good news for tonight's game:
Our defencemen have been quite productive as of late. Scott Niedermayer, James Wisniewski & Ryan Whitney have combined one goal and seven assists over the course of last four games. Also, Corey Perry is riding on a 5-game point streak, which has seen 2G, 4A & 6P. So, that's got to count for something, right?
Flames dropped the ball on their home ice in Thursday night, against the Dallas Stars, the match which they lost 3-1. Jarome Iginla was the only goalscorer for the Flames on that game. So, extremely important game for both these teams. We can probably expect some nervousness from both teams to start the game, but later on, i think the game is going for the heated physical play, with lots of chippiness and scrums after the whistles.
Some key stats for the game:
Calgary Flames
--------------
GF/G: 2.46
GA/G: 2.44
PP%: 17.0
PK%: 83.1
S/G: 28.4
SA/G: 29.1
FO%: 47.7
Anaheim Ducks
-------------
GF/G: 2.75
GA/G: 2.98
PP%: 19.3
PK%: 80.4
S/G: 29.1
SA/G: 33.2
FO%: 48.2
It's still not known whether or not Ryan Getzlf will be dressing for tonight's game. My guess (who cares) would be, that he will not be available tonight.
Also Rene Bourque will not playing for the Flames, as he's still nurturing his shoulder injury.
GO Ducks!
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