Ducks Daily Blog - An Anaheim Ducks Blog

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The All-Star break is officially here and all the “stars” will be pitted against each other. I’ve decided to create a top line using only the top players on the Ducks so far this season.

Since its been a rough season (until recently), most of the Ducks top players have not been performing to their usual talent. I’m not necessarily going with numbers alone, but also their impact on the team.

Forwards:

Teemu Selanne- No surprise here. Selanne was invited to the All-Star Game but politely declined and offered for Perry to go in his place. He leads the team in points, has the second best +/- rating (+7) and has 45 points in 48 games (15g, 30a). When the Ducks were sturggling, he was the only one actually doing anything and he NEVER gave up. I don’t think anybody would say he doesn’t deserve it.

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Comeback Kid for the All-Star Game!

The NHL announced today who would be performing at this years 2012 All-Star game. This year, rapper Drake will perform during the second intermission, rapper “Outasight” will perform during the player introductions and Javier Colon will sing the National Anthems a long with the Ottawa Senators long time singer Lyndon Slewidge.

Besides the fact that I’ve never heard of a song off anyone on that list, I still wish they would keep it relevant to the sport. Maybe a band/artist that has actually shown some interest in hockey. Is that an absurd idea?

We all saw last season how pleased the fans were when Clay Aiken sang the national anthem. I know there isn’t a ton of bands out there that are known hockey lovers but there are a few.

You know who’s got my vote? Comeback Kid. A band FROM Winnipeg, who has a shirt based off of the Jets logo.  Continue reading this post »

Getzlaf had a 2 point night

That’s 5 in a row for the Anaheim Ducks!!! The Ducks beat the Colorado Avalanche tonight 3-2, improving to 8-0-1 in their last 9 games!

The Ducks continued their winning streak, improving to 11-9-0 under Bruce Boudreau’s reign. There was a brief moment in the late minutes of the third period where it seemed like the Ducks might be collapsing but they managed to hold on. Haven’t felt that one in quite some time…

Bobby Ryan and Ryan Getzlaf both had a multi-point game. Jonas Hiller faced 45 shots tonight and stopped 43 of them. I’d prefer he not have to do that again, but I’m glad he was able to. Tonight the Ducks also faced former goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

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Corey Perry scored tonights GWG

The Anaheim Ducks keep their hot streak going by beating the Ottawa Senators 2-1! They are now 7-0-1 in their last 8 games, grabbing 15 out of a possible 16 points. They were also able to snap Ottawa’s 5 game winning streak.

The RPG line was back in top form, playing some solid hockey for the entire game. It was great to see out top guys doing what they need to be doing.

Overall, the Ducks played a tight, shutdown game and were able to stop anything the Senators attempted. Mark Bell played his first NHL game since April 5th 2008.

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Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images

Great news Ducks fans, Francois Beauchemin has been signed to a three year extension!! Beauchemin would have been an Unrestricted Free Agent at the end of the season. He would have definitely been a top free agent on the market.

The Orange County (Calif.) Register is reporting the deal to be worth a total of $10.5 million. That would be 3.5 million a season, which is a pretty good deal for Beauch.

Vice President/ General Manager Bob Murray was pleaed to have Beauchemin locked up for a little while:

“Francois is a dedicated, versatile and hard-working defenseman who is committed to our organization. We are extremely pleased to have him under contract for the next three years.”

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NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, at his finest? (via intramuralallstar.com)

Gary Bettman takes a lot of heat from a lot of fans across the league. However, he has put this league in such a great position right now. I would argue that this is the best the league has been in a long time. He has to be one of the top two commissioners among the four major sports in America, and arguably he is the best commissioner among the four. He was in the area on business last night and decided to take in the Ducks dominant win over the Phoenix Coyotes. He talked about some of the issues the NHL is dealing with right now. Continue reading this post »

Photo Credit: Ina Fassbender / Reuters

Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but holy hell… who would have thought that it would be the return of Jason Blake that would spur the return of the powerhouse Ducks we all expected from the beginning of this season? Not even changing coaches seemed to have as much effect as Blake’s return. After taking a couple of games to get his legs back it’s easy to see how much he was missed and how much depth he adds to the Ducks roster.

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Beauch!! (photo via Jae C. Hong)

Another great win for the Anaheim Ducks, as they dominated the Phoenix Coyotes 6-2. The Ducks played a full 60 minutes and got some help from their third line. It is clear the Ducks have turned over a new leaf, looking like a completely different team than they did only a month ago.

The Ducks got huge performances from Francois Beauchemin, Jason Blake, Nick Bonino and Andrew Cogliano. Without a doubt the Blake-Cogliano-Bonino line was the best of the night. They came in hard and made tons of smart plays. It paid off as they tallied 6 points on the night. Jonas Hiller is definitely back to his usual self, putting up yet another good performance (and he didn’t let in a single weak goal!).

Phoenix started off the scoring when former Ducks Kyle Chipchura scored his first goal of the season. The Ducks didn’t back down however and tied the game up when Niklas Hagman tipped in a Lubo slap shot. Only two minutes later, Francois Beauchemin gave the Ducks the lead by burying a rebound while on the power-play.

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