Archive for September, 2009

As I wrote about here yesterday, the Ducks have 26 players remaining on their roster. The team must be down to a league mandated 23 players by the time the regular season starts, but the final two forward cuts might not be too difficult. The final defensive spot, however, is a completely different story. The Ducks will likely go with 14 forwards, seven defencemen, and two goalies as they have in past seasons. The roster currently has 16 forwards, eight defencemen, and two goalies. The two forwards that will probably go are Troy Bodie and Logan MacMillan. The final defenseman to cut, however, is a much more [...]

Training Camp is almost over and quite a few things have become very apparent for the Ducks. Some that come to mind are the true importance of Ryan Getzlaf (like we didn’t know that already), the softness of Luca Sbisa, and the lack of depth the Ducks actually have. But wasn’t this supposed to be the season the Ducks actually do have depth? Yes and no. We’ve obviously acquired a couple of good forwards with the additions of Saku Koivu and Joffrey Lupul to play with Teemu Selanne, and we already had a great first line in the RPG line that was [...]

The Ducks are quickly starting to round out their regular season lineup as they dropped four more players off their training camp roster. Ryan Donally and Justin Pogge were assigned to San Antonio of the AHL while Kyle Calder and Jassen Cullimore were released from their pro-tryout agreements. The moves leave 26 players on the current NHL roster for the Ducks, including 15 forwards, eight defenceman, and two goalies. Also expected to be sent to the minors is forward Troy Bodie. Unlike the others that were assigned to the minors or released today, Bodie participated in the full practice this morning [...]

This was so bad I’m not even going to bother writing about it. The Ducks were missing quite a few regular players and San Jose dressed their NHL roster tonight. From NHL.com: SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – Defenseman Doug Murray scored three goals, Evengi Nabokov made 15 saves and newcomers Manny Malhotra and Dany Heatley helped the San Jose Sharks beat the Anaheim Ducks 6-0 in exhibition play Friday night. Malhotra scored his first goal since signing a free-agent deal Wednesday, while Heatley, acquired from Ottawa on Sept. 12, had an assist for his first point. Ryan Clowe and Devin [...]

Head Coach Randy Carlyle has guarded tonight’s lineup as if it were a regular season game. The only news that’s been squeezed out from him has been that Ryan Getzlaf will most likely not play tonight because playing him in “back-to-back (games) wouldn’t be smart.” It’s good that the Ducks are being cautious with the big center, but look for him to play on Sunday night against the Kings Also look for Carlyle to get Kyle Calder, Logan MacMillan, Troy Bodie, Ryan Donally, Erik Christensen, and Andrew Ebbett some ice time tonight as the coaching staff makes final decisions on [...]

Every once in a while I have an interesting thought about the Ducks and how management or coaching should deal with the team. Today’s thoughts have to do with the best line in the NHL: Bobby Ryan, Ryan Getzlaf, and Corey Perry. The trio has shown they can score a ton of goals and lead the team to the second and almost third round of the playoffs by themselves. But this line can do so much more: they need to be our checking line. The Ducks once boasted the best checking line in the NHL. Collectively, Travis Moen, Sami Pahlsson, and Rob [...]

Playing with an almost complete NHL roster the Ducks showed they should again be one of the better teams in the Western Conference, even though they almost let the game slip away at the end. The Ducks used a consistent attack throughout the game to overcome the Canucks, out-shooting them by a wide margin through most of the game. Vancouver came back to tie the game in the final minute and played well in overtime, but Teemu Selanne used his sniper-like aim to end the game before it could get to a shootout. The Ducks again got off to a slow [...]

Here’s the Ducks’ forward lineup against the Vancouver Canucks. The fourth line isn’t completely set in stone yet. FORWARDS Bobby Ryan     -     Ryan Getzlaf     -     Cory Perry Andrew Ebbett     -     Saku Koivu     -     Teemu Selanne Evgeny Artyukhin     -     Todd Marchant     -     Petteri Nokelainen Kyle Calder     -     Ryan Carter     -     Mike Brown   If you haven’t noticed, this is pretty much a regular season lineup. The only regular player missing is Joffrey Lupul, who’s been having issues with his back. Lupul’s injury isn’t serious, but they are being cautious before the start of the regular season. To read a preview of [...]