Olympic Hockey-2010

Now that the olympic season is almost over, let's look back at how the Ducks players did. As you guys probably know, 9 Anaheim Ducks players were in the 2010 olympic games.

Team Canada: Corey Perry, Ryan Getzlaf, and Scott Niedermeyer

Team USA: Bobby Ryan and Ryan Whitney

Team Finland: Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu

Team Switzerland: Jonas Hiller and Luca Sbisa

Right now, I am watching the Men's Gold Medal Game USA vs. Canada. Ryan Miller and Roberto Luongo are in net. Hopefully you guys are all watching.

The Ducks are still teammates even though they are playing for different countries. For example, Teemu and Bobby.

There are even some good tweets going around:

@drosennhl Ryan and Hiller just had an exchange and Ryan ended it by tapping Hiller on the chest. They're still teammates, folks.

But it's always good to see two of your favorite players in an olympic hockey brawl.

When you're a Ducks fan, it is hard to decide which team to cheer for considering you have four countries to choose from. But, considering the gold medal game is Canada vs. USA, it will be hard to be dissapointed.

HAHAHAHAH Bobby.

Now to Team Finland. Many people are saying this will be Teemu's last olympics and last season. We all are sad to hear this. But, I am glad that his team was able to get the bronze medal.

Hiller, sadly did not win any medals, along with Sbisa. Yet, they both played really well and Bob Murray was impressed by Sbisa's performance.

So overall, olympic hockey was really intense this year. I am really looking forward to men's olympic hockey in 2014 in Russia.

The Ducks Are Hot.

Tuesday's game against the Avs was, in one word, surprising. Who would have thought that the Ducks, who are 13th in the West, would score 4 goals in about 7 1/2 minutes? Not me. The first goal by scott Niedermayer opened up the game, even though it was very controversial. Many complained that Bobby Ryan "interfered" with Anderson, but honestly, I think that they somewhat deserved it. The Ducks had 43 shots throughout the game, dominating the Avalanches 17.


So now our Anaheim Ducks are 4 in the last 5, and many are considering that the Ducks may finally be turning this ship around. 


Offense: In the game against the Yotes last Saturday, the scoring was widely spread throughout the 4 lines. Sexton still continues to be hot, and now has 5 goals in 9 games. I'm not particularly liking the Calder-Getzlaf-Perry line, and last night when the Ryan-Getzlaf-Perry line was reunited it was magical. They have amazing chemistry, and can always provide offensively. It finally seems like Randy Carlyle has four lines that actually somewhat click.





Defense: Still probably the weak part of the lineup, but their progress is very obvious. I'm still a little shaky when Wiz has the puck, but he hasn't really majorly screwed up recently. Eminger continues to be a healthy scratch(as well as Artyukhin) so we'll have to wait until the trade freeze ends to see where that goes.


Goaltending: Both goalies are looking solid as of late. Yeah, there are some iffy goals let in by both Jiggy and Hiller, but compared to earlier this season, they look good. The constant arguments of which one gets traded are starting to get old. If both goalies come in and give the team a chance to win, then why are we even worrying about who gets moved? Why not just root for both of them and let the management staff deal with that?









Right now, the Ducks are 1 game above .500, so the season isn't yet saved. The Ducks need to continue playing with desperation and they need to continue winning.


GO DUCKS!

Player Profile: Dan Sexton

Player Profile: Dan Sexton

Team: Anaheim Ducks
Number: 42
Born: April 29, 1987Birthplace: Apple Valley, Minnesota, United States

Age (for those of you too lazy to figure it out): 22

Height: 5’ 10”

Weight: 170 pounds

Notes:
• Made his NHL debut December 4, 2009 at Minnesota, went scoreless
• Recalled from Manitoba(AHL) on December 4, 2009

• Appeared in 5 games for the AHL season

• In his third NHL game with the Anaheim Ducks against the  Dallas Stars, he got two goals

Anaheim Ducks vs. Dallas Stars - December 8, 2009

On Tuesday night’s game, The Ducks were up against the Dallas Stars, who are seven points ahead of us in the standings. We started off badly in the first period, giving Dallas a 2-0 lead. But, with 1:36 left in the second period, Lupul scored getting us back into the game. We ended the second period 1-3 Dallas. Just Six minutes into the third, rookie Dan Sexton scored his first goal of the season. This put the Ducks down 2-3. After his goal, you could tell the energy in the Honda Center was up. The team started playing harder and the fans went crazier. Sexton then scored again with only about a minute to spare in regulation, tying up the game. With the score tied 3-3, the game went into overtime. With only 47 seconds left in the overtime, Koivu scores, getting the Ducks out of their 5 game losing streak.

"This is unbelievable,” Sexton said to a TV reporter right after he won first star of the game. "We never stopped fighting and never got down on ourselves. To get the result feels great. It was super exciting.” As the smallest one on the ice coming in at 170 pounds, he sure stood out. After last night’s game, I’m sure he has earned himself some good nicknames. I read the Ducks Blog on the OC Register which had an article on Sexton stating one of his new nicknames, The Big Sexy. Others are Dan Sexyton or Dan the Sexy Man. He has definitely earned appreciation from his team and from the coach, Randy Carlyle.

   

Three Stars:

1. Dan Sexton

2. Saku Koivu

3. Joffrey Lupul

Player Evaluation Time

After an amazing 3-0 win vs. the Chicago Blackhawks, It's time to briefly touch up on each of the players progress through the first 24 games.

1-Hiller: Came off a great post-season but seemed a little shaky in some of his appearances so far.

4-Boynton: Not bad, but not a standout player yet.

7-Eminger: In the same boat as Boynton. They can both probably be better, but they haven't been awful.

8-Selanne: Proving that age is just a number. He's showing that he's still got it. Always seems to be open for Koivu's passes.

9-Ryan: Off to a decent start, but a couple more goals would be nice.

10-Perry: Becoming a great defensive player on top of already being fantastic offensively.

11-Koivu: The chemistry between Teemu and himslef is starting to resurface.

13-Brown: Wonderful forechecker and skater. Always hussles and gives it his all. Seems to have some difficulty clearing the puck at times.

14-Lupul: In the first games he was in, he showed promise. When he returns from his injury, will there be a suitable place for him now that the second line is performing well?

15-Getzlaf: Amazing offensive and defensive center. Slow start goals-wise, but definitely showing his superstar passing abilities.

16-Parros: Always fun to watch a nice Parros fight.

17-Nokelainen: Seems to match well with Calder and Marchant. Getting more scoring chances recently.

19-Whitney: When he used to touch the puck, most Ducks fans would cringe 'cause he could not hold the blue line. But there's been definite improvement.

20-Carter: Mr. Bad Luck. Hit in the foot twice with a puck during pratices. He's probably in the same boat as Lupul. When he comes back, where would he fit in?

21-Brookbank: Not really all that noticable. Is that good or bad?

22-Marchant: Great hussle and effort every game. Glad to see he's getting the occasional goal.

24-Artyukhin: Huge and fast. He's getting some great chances now that he's on a line with the Fins.

27-Niedermayer: Always seems to succeed in overtime. Still probably one of the best defensive skaters out there.

32-Calder: Questionable when he was first brought up, but seems to be great with Noki.

34-Wisniewski: So far so good. Wicked shot, he should use it more though.

35-Giguere: Slowly returning to the amazing goalie he was. Looked great in the past three games.

60-Mikkelson: Showing great progress. But, he always seems to be on the ice when the ducks are scored against..

67-Sharp: Filled in well, but not quite ready for the big league yet.

LETS HOPE THE DUCKS CAN CONTINUE RIDING THIS WINNING STREAK!!

Go Ducks!

Looking Back and Moving On

      


       Through 20 games this season, the Ducks have been very up and down. Mostly down. While there were some games that gave fans hope and promise, a majority of them have been embarassing.

      Compared to the first 10, these most recent games have been good. Not as sloppy, not as slow. Ryan Getzlaf seems to have his legs back and proves to be a great passer. Especially to the other team. How many times are you going to blindly throw the puck in front of your own net, and have it wind up on the tape of the opposing players stick, and eventually into the back of your teams goal?! I guess his NHL leading 22 assists sorta makes up for that..

   
      Corey Perry is still off to an amazing start with a 13 game point streak. He always seems to find the open guy, or the back of the net. Perry is definitely makin a good fight towards being on Team Canada next February.

                                               
      It seems like the rest of the big players are getting themselves going, so these next games at home are going to be vital to the teams sucess. The Ducks play San Jose, Calgary, Carolina, Chicago, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. Some of those games are going to be difficult, but this will test the team and give us a look at the skill, effort, and determination of the players. If they dont reach around .500 by the end, they'll find themselves in a pretty deep hole.

Ducks Drama

written by K

Yesterday, J.S Giguere made some comments that stung many Ducks fans in Southern California. The quote that really stuck out was, "I'd rather retire than be a backup goalie." 
-Obviously he is just trying to show people that he doesnt want to earn his $6 million while sitting on the bench. He's got a passion for the game and wants to prove that he is still a no. 1 goaltender in the NHL.

                          

Many fans were upset, saying that he is being whiny and dramatic. Also adding that all this does is lower his trade value. While I do agree that it was not the smartest move venting to the media, I'm glad that he let people know that he is not having a good time being a benchwarmer.


Today, Giguere clarified some of the statements he made. He told reporters in New Jersey: "I want to be the number one goaltender in Anaheim, I love playing here. I want to be here." Jiggy also added that he was being sarcastic about retiring, he was just trying to say that something has got to change.


Most Ducks fans have taken one of two sides on this whole Jiggy drama:
1) Get rid of him, his time here is done.
or
2)Give him a fair chance to prove that he was just in a funk last season.


Personally I think that Giguere can bounce back and prove that he is number one in Anaheim. Although, I'm not exactly sure when he will get his chance because of the way Jonas Hiller is playing. Hopefully Randy Carlyle will stick to his plan of having them compete to be number one and giving them both fair shots.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NOW: Scott Niedermayer said in an  interview with Rich Chere from the Star Ledger, that he may be interested in a trade that would send him back to the New Jersey Devils. Niedermayer stated that his 1 year contract with the Ducks didn't involve a no-move clause, so being traded may be a possibility.
-It's not looking good to be a Ducks fan at the moment or in the future..

ALSO: Drew Miller was claimed off waivers by the Detroit Red Wings. It seems like all of our ex-players move on to bigger and better things.