SB Nation - Teemu Selanne

Many Happy Returns?

Arthur from Anaheim Calling — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 20:20:30 -0000

ARTHUR:

The Ducks ran into trouble last night, and Coach Carlyle immediately shifted back to his big line of Getzlaf, Perry and Ryan. Among the things he discovered: Beleskey is just as effective a banger on the second line and Calder isn't bad when you put third line expectations on him. As with all things Carlyle, the depth chart appears to be good only until the next slump, but for once this season, the players are actually responding positively to his line shuffling.

Daniel, Selanne is skating and Carter will start next week. Will it be tough to insert them in the lineup, or can we expect the team to rally around Carlyle's juggling act, just as they did last night?

DANIEL:

I don't think Carter will be as big of a problem as Selanne. Until he went down, Ryan Carter looked like a great defensive center. I honestly believed he had what it took to resurrect a true stopper line in Anaheim. In his case, I don't think the team will be greatly disturbed if Nokelainen sits and Carter plays. I also think there is space to move Nokelainen up to the third line and sit Calder, but we'll see how everything plays out. The point is, Carter is very responsible in his own end, and having him anchor the 4th line will only make us better.

The real concern is Selanne. When he comes back, where does he go? If we stick with the formula of requiring a banger on each line, then we have two options: Selanne on the top line or Sexton on the top line. I say put Selanne on the top line, because Ryan, Koivu, and Sexton have proved that they can work together. While Selanne-Koivu-Sexton sounds like a wonderfully fast and frightening line, I think they would be too much of a defensive liability to be a feasible option, even if we take into consideration Koivu's phenomenal defensive skills.

No matter what, Beleskey will be knocked out of the Top 6, and that's where I think the trouble starts. . Beleskey has earned his third line spot. If anyone should be sent to the minor leagues, it's got to be Calder. However, the X factor in all of this is the amount of Crazy Juice that Murray drinks between now and the time he has to make a decision. Ultimately, that is going to determine what kind of adjustment the team actually makes. If Murray continues to think his rookies aren't as valuable as guys who have simply played a few more games in the league, then Calder will become the Chipchura to Beleskey's Macgregor Sharp. At that point, Murray is sending the message that job security is tied to games played, not performance. And you can only expect players to rally around the lineup changes if they believe that rallying and playing well will actually keep them in the lineup.

ARTHUR:

I agree that there ARE potential missteps here. This team isn't playing so well that it can ship or sit anyone without tanking the chemistry, even if they do it to reinsert two players that were playing exceptionally well before their respective injuries.

Carlyle told the players to get their noses dirty last night and to get into the house no matter how often they were shoved or boxed out of it. You saw Perry and Ryan doing that, but you also saw Beleskey pushing his way to the crease on Sexton's goal. And I think Carlyle should fight for the players that are doing exactly what he asks of them.

I'm not saying Murray is constantly overruling Carlyle. I have no evidence of that. But I sensed a bit of quiet dissent from the coaching staff when Murray acquired Chipchura. It's not often that you hear a coach admit he knows nothing about a new acquisition, even one that split time in the AHL. I mean, this wasn't like Eminger or Brown, where the guy came from one of Carlyle's former workplaces, but you still expect that the coach was consulted or sent a scouting report when the player is just hours away from joining the team.

I think Carlyle knows what he needs out there, and he knows who's delivering it. This team should be rewarding its Sextons and Beleskeys, not acquiring identical players to keep its options open, and certainly not sending them back to the minors in favor of keeping someone like Kyle Calder.

Wingless Ducks Pay Canucks A Visit

Sean Zandberg — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 08:00:23 -0000

Ducks (12-13-7) vs Canucks (19-14-0)

GAME TIME: 7:00 PST

TV: TSN

THE OPPOSITION: Battle of California, Anaheim Calling

UPDATE (4:00 PM): Word is that Rypien will move up to the 3rd line to center Glass and Bernier.

UPDATE (1:15 PM): The Canucks are not taking the Ducks lightly, plus, Jonas Hiller will start in goal for the Quacks.

*****************************

You probably know this already, but Kyle Wellwood will be a healthy scratch against the Ducks. Alain Vigneault stated that he wants to ice a grittier team against the Ducks. So Darcy Hordichuk will most likely draw in. Wellwood said after practice on Tuesday that he isn't surprised he's riding the pine because he didn't have a great game against the Kings and was on the ice for their lone goal. Wellwood only played 9:38 and was a -1. I wonder where the Canucks' patience level is with him. Time is running out for the pint-sized slumping center.

The Canucks are looking to win 4 in a row for the first time this season. They seem to have found their groove back. Their home record is now a stellar 13-4-0. They have outscored their opponents 11-6 in the last 3 wins. Speaking of the number zero, their zero points in the overtime loss section continues to be an eyesore. They sit in 10th spot in the West while being 5 games above 500. Dallas, who has 10 overtime-shootout losses, sits in 9th.

More after the jump..

Detroit, who sits in 8th spot, 1 point ahead of the Canucks, has 5 OTL's. The Canucks' 104 goals for ranks them 3rd in the West. Their somewhat impressive 85 goals against ranks them 3rd best in the West. Their 19 wins ties them with San Jose, Colorado, Calgary, Nashville and Phoenix. That is a 6-way tie for most wins in the Conference. It's frustrating to look at, but it is what it is. They just have to continually plug away and get into the playoff hunt. These wins are going to count for something (like a tie breaker perhaps) towards the end of the season.

Speaking of madness: the Ducks' 12-13-7 record puts them at the bottom of the Western Conference standings, only 8 points out of a playoff spot. They have won 2 of their last 3 games after losing 5 straight. They have had 4 days off since beating Columbus 3-1 on the 12th.

Despite losing Teemu Selanne (broken hand) and Joffrey Lupul (back issues) recently, the Ducks may be turning a corner. They are finally getting scoring from the second line (sound familiar?), and at lot of that has to do with some guy named Dan Sexton, the Ducks' undrafted free agent signing who they recently called up due to the Selanne injury. He and Koivu are clicking. Sexton has 4 goals and 1 assist in his last 4 games. Koivu has 2 goals and 3 assists. Bobby Ryan has 1 goal and 4 assists. These guy have carried the Ducks over the past few games, as the top line has cooled off.

Jonas Hiller, who stopped 35 of 36 shots against the Blue Jackets last game, may get the start for the Ducks. However, he has been anything but stellar this season.

Corey (Canuck-Killer) Perry has 4 goals and 12 points in his last 5 games against the Canucks.

The last time the Canucks played the Ducks was October 30th in Anaheim: a 7-2 loss as poor Andrew Raycroft and Cory Schneider were hung out to dry. The Canucks had built an early 2-0 lead in that game and then completely crumpled. Time to make amends for that travesty!

COMPARATIVE STATS

GOALS PER GAME AVERAGE: Canucks 4th, Ducks 16th

GOALS AGAINST PER GAME: Canucks 8th, Ducks 25th

5 on 5: Canucks 3rd, Ducks 16th

POWER PLAY: Canucks 2nd, Ducks 4th (uh-oh)

PENALTY KILL: Canucks 21st, Ducks 24th

SHOTS PER GAME: Canucks 12th, Ducks 22nd

SHOTS AGAINST PER GAME: Canucks 10th, Ducks 27th

FACE OFF PERCENTAGE: Canucks 11th, Ducks 22nd

If you are new here, some of us predict the scores, winning team and winning goal scorer each Canucks game. The leaderboard is on the left sidebar on the main page. Bragging rights! And I got 'em so far!

Let's Talk About Sexy

Arthur from Anaheim Calling — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:33:13 -0000

ARTHUR:

Dan Sexton's NHL career is off to an eye-popping start. With goals in his last three games, the half-pint forward is serving crow to his naysayers, including your blogger (who short sold Sexton's ability to perform in a physical, defensive system but should have short sold Murray's desire to maintain a defensive system in the first place).

Big Sexy is doing something truly special for the Ducks, but eventually Teemu Selanne will come back. At that point, Sexton may have to play on a line with more physical responsibility, an assignment that usually defeats Anaheim's small forwards (Shannon, Ebbett) and even some regular-sized ones (Christensen). Daniel, is Dan Sexton playing well enough to stay in the lineup, maybe even the Top 6, when Teemu Selanne comes back from injury?

DANIEL:

Dan Sexton needs to stay here when Selanne gets back. I'm not going to bore people with an analysis of his talents. Yes, he's fast. Yes, he's great in the corners and great at finding the puck. And Big Sexy's ability to shoot from anywhere to generate instant offense is very Lupul-esque.

He needs to stay here because his enthusiasm right now reminds me of Bobby Ryan's last year, when Ryan was desperate to stay in the NHL. Big Sexy is excited to be here. He's seizing every opportunity with two hands, and he's absorbing hockey wisdom like a sponge (and from Saku Koivu, no less). His energy is starting to flow through the team. Sometimes, veteran teams fall into a lull, and a spark from a rookie who has a 'no surrender' attitude can get everyone's mind right.

Since Sexton's arrival, the Ducks are 2-0-3. Not a great record, but having watched the games, I think Anaheim has started to show more urgency and started to deliver close to 60-minute efforts. I don't think that has everything to do with Sexton, but I think that, just as Ryan did last year, he brings a new source of scoring and excitement to the team.

I know the practicality of keeping him is rough. Personally, I think the most viable option is to put Selanne on the top line, and keep Sexton, Koivu, and Bobby Ryan together. Lupul is responsible enough to play on a third line with Marchant and Nokelainen, and that line's offensive plan can just be to get Lupul the puck. While breaking up Koivu and Selanne might seem like disrespecting Koivu's original purpose in coming here, I think Koivu is more interested in winning. And if Ryan, Sexton and Koivu keep playing like this, they shouldn't be broken up. It's also important to keep Ryan on a scoring line, just so that he doesn't develop more negative feelings that might have him walking at the end of the year. Lupul, on the other hand, is happy to be here and locked up contractually. He'll suffer on a third line if it means he can play in the Top 6 next year, when Selanne will likely retire.

ARTHUR:

I definitely agree that the key to keeping Sexton in the NHL is to NOT put him in the Bottom 6, but it's also hard to put Lupul there when he played so well after coming back from his back injury. He, too, was a source of enthusiasm for this team in recent games. Then again, with Loops suffering from a new nagging ailment every few games, a demotion might do him some good. We might get a longer stint out of him if he wasn't part of the overworked top line, and he's definitely gritty enough to play on a checking line, more so than Sexton, Selanne or even Ryan.

If Dan Sexton stays with the Ducks this season, he stays because he can create offense. Not just the shoot-first, look-into-pass-options-later offense that made a young Joffrey Lupul so good, but the sort of playmaking offense that can really frustrate the opposition. I've been clamoring for longer attack sequences this year, and Sexton and Koivu have been able to create that. Teams were weary of our heavyweight line last season, but now we have a welterweight line. They're making plays in the middle of the ice with a dangerous Bobby Ryan coming off the boards. Teams are in the ring with Manny Pacquiao when it's Sexton-Koivu-Ryan; they just don't know where the punches are coming from out there. And I can't imagine Carlyle will give up the option of sending Pacquiao over the boards when Ali comes back to the bench.

Of course, the coach has downplayed Sexton's success, noting that he sees it as the success of a line. And Carlyle has traditionally asked his rookies to earn their spot in the Top 6, regardless of size or playmaking ability, so why would Big Sexy be any different? But I think Sexton stays in the Top 6 because I see his quick NHL start as a sea change in the Ducks organization. Anaheim is finally playing a system where David McNab's undersized stars can shine. It would be a step backwards to put his playmaking ability on the backburner just because 'that's the way we've always done it.'

Gameday Preview: Dallas Stars @ Anaheim Ducks (9:00pm CST)

Brad G — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:37:57 -0000

Next Game

Dallas Stars
@ Anaheim Ducks

Tuesday, Dec 8, 2009, 9:00 PM CST
Honda Center

Local TV:FSSW

Radio: Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket

Complete Coverage >

Tonight the Dallas Stars travel to Anaheim to face the ~~Mighty~~ Ducks, and start their longest road trip of the season. It's a five game stretch that will see the Stars go fourteen days between home games, and includes games on both the West and East coasts. This morning the Stars find themselves in 8th place with 34 points, only 4 away from the 12th place Edmonton Oilers, and 5 points away from the third place Blackhawks. This critical stretch against quality opponents is yet another opportunity for the Stars to come together and find the consistent play they've been looking for, or else fall to the wrong side of eighth place in the conference. Knowing the Stars this season, they'll somehow find a way to go 2-2-1 on this trip and end up right back where they started. Which wouldn't be all bad.

These teams met just five days ago in Dallas. The Stars were held off the score sheet through two periods, and a bit of a goaltending duel (or a contest of offensive ineptitude) had carried into the late stages of the game when Dallas finally broke through with two of the more embarrassingly fluky goals you'll ever see. Brenden Morrow added an empty netter and the Ducks lost the game in regulation, as well as Teemu Selanne. Since that meeting Thursday, the clubs have combined to lose three shootout games over the weekend: Dallas to Edmonton, and Anaheim to Minnesota and Ottawa.

Follow the jump for a look at both teams and the injury situation...

The Stars:

The big news for Dallas tonight will likely be the season debut of young defenseman Ivan Vishnevskiy, according to the Dallas Morning News. Dallas recalled Vishnevskiy from the Texas Stars and placed defenseman Karlis Skrastins on IR with a lacerated finger.

Our own Brandon Worley opined on the subject:

When news first came that Skrastins was out indefinitely with a cut finger on his hand, it was just about inevitable that he would have to go to injured reserve at some point. The cut is on the hand that grips the top of his stick and it's going to take at least a week for it to heal to a point where he can play comfortably. What I hoped would happen is that the Stars would recall Maxime Fortunus or Garrett Stafford when this happened, in order to provide some intelligent and physical relief on defense while Skrastins was out. Neither are flashy guys, but both are solid defensemen who won't make many mistakes.

And Mike Heika agreed:

I personally would have called up Maxime Fortunus and played him beside Fistric, but I think they like what Vishnevskiy has done so far this year with the Texas Stars. It's probably only for one game and Skrastins will come back Friday against San Jose, so we'll see how this works.

It appears as though Woywitka will be the odd man out tonight, but Marc Crawford has surprised us before.

While trying to keep Perry and Getlzaf away from Marty Turco with an increasingly young and inexperienced group of blue-liners, the Stars will also continue attempting to right the ship on offense. Two goals against the Ducks on Thursday (and an empty netter) and two goals against Edmonton on Saturday gives Dallas only two goals scored in an eye popping 12 of their last 16 games. James Neal will likely be reunited with Richards and Eriksson tonight to further the cause.

Marty Turco will be in net. [link]

The Ducks:

Anaheim, in spite of having one of the scarier offensive pairs in the league in Perry and Getzlaf, have lost five straight and will be looking to get off the slide with a win tonight. Ducks forward Joffrey Lupul returned from injury after the Dallas game, tallying three goals already in two games.

It's tough to figure out which goaltender is starting for Randy Carlyle these days. The OC Register explains...

The fact is Giguere and Hiller have been alternating starts the last four games since Hiller got the nod against the Kings after a start Giguere made against Phoenix in which he played well but lost in a shootout to Phoenix.

Neither goalie has won since and it’s left Giguere wondering what would have happened had Carlyle stuck with him during a run where he went 3-0-1 with a 1.71 goals-against average.

"If you keep going, good things could happen," Giguere acknowledged. "Sometimes a judgment call is more appropriate than that. I think at this point, Jonas and I have got to just take it one day at a time, not worry too much about the next game and just worry when you’re called upon and try to give the team a chance."

Carlyle’s basic approach has been to foster competition between the two would-be No. 1 goaltenders. But could it be having a reverse effect where it’s more you lose you’re out that win and you’re in.

"I’d be lying if I’d say it’s not in the back of our minds," Giguere said. "My mind anyway, I don’t about Jonas. You go into the third, it’s a tie game or whatever and you think about if you want to keep playing, you absolutely need to win. You can’t give up that next goal.

The pattern suggests Hiller tonight, which is a real shame, because I think we all enjoyed Giguere's third period performance on Thursday immensely.

Injuries:

Anaheim: Teemu Selanne (hurt by a Karlis Skrastins slap shot. Broken hand)

Dallas: Karlis Skrastins (hurt later the same game. Lacerated finger)

Have a prediction? Make it in the comments.

Monday Links: Getting good at shootouts edition

averagejoe — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 11:00:27 -0000

Monday is here again. Back to the grind.

Blues news

The Note take on the Colorado Avalanche tonight. Unfortunately, it's at home. [CBS Sports]
The Blues are getting confident in shootouts. That's nice, but how 'bout the team wins in regulation. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]

Hockey news

Red Wings and Senators won on Sunday. [Yahoo! Sports]
Lots of games on a Monday night. Way to go up against the NFL, Gary. [Yahoo! Sports]
Your standings for Monday. Although the Blues are still last in the Central, they have played two fewer games than just about everyone else. [NHL.com]
The NHL is considering renaming the post-season awards. That's a big fail. [Puck Daddy]
From CCR comes this article about Brendan Shanahan. Dude can hold a grudge. Do you think Craig Janney does? [NJ.com]
Teemu Selanne has a broken hand. [TSN]
Dan Carcillo will get four days to think about what he has done. [TSN]
Rick DiPietro allowed three goals in first action of the season in a rehab start. [ESPN]
The Thrashers future is now — and by that Scott Burnside means if they don't sign Ilya Kovalchuk, they have no future. [ESPN]
With Cam Ward coming back from injury, what happens to Manny Legace? [Canes Country]
A look at how the media views the same play. [Japers' Rink]

Other links

This is just funny. [Pic]
A year in Jesus sightings. [Buzzfeed]
If you take public transportation, you might appreciate this. [Holy Taco]

Video

It's always good when people fall down. And mess up. And are just morons.

Gametimelinks(at)gmail.com GDT tonight. Don't forget.

Ducks Season Gone in a Flash?

Daniel AC — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:20:50 -0000

More photos » by Mark Avery - AP

8 months ago: Anaheim Ducks right wing Teemu Selanne, left, of Finland, puts a shot over Dallas Stars goalie Marty Turco to win the game during the shootout in an NHL hockey game in Anaheim, Calif., Friday, April 10, 2009. (AP Photo/Mark Avery)

Browse more photos »

DANIEL:

This is Anaheim Calling to the hockey world. The Ducks chances of crawling out of the cellar just went form bad to abysmal. TSN is reporting that Teemu Selanne will be gone for the next 4-6 weeks with a broken bone in his left hand. Selanne is a key component of the Ducks secondary scoring in 5 on 5 situations along with Saku Koivu. More importantly, Selanne is third in the league with 7 power play goals, and second in game winning goals with 4. Aside from being a fan favorite, Selanne is very important to the overall performance of the Ducks, and with Joffrey Lupul still sidelined with back spasms there is no indication of who will replace Selanne's goal scoring abilities.

Recent acquisition Kyle Chipchura has played with Saku Koivu before and might be an accidental success with the space that has oppened up on Koivu's wing. Lupul has been skating recently and might only be a couple games away. Chipchura would provide a big body to go along with Koivu's playmaking and Lupul's shoot first mentality. Possible chemistry could ensue. This would lead to a demotion for Artyukhin whose only bad game in the past week was against the Kings when he took three offensive zone faceoffs penalties, a trend he had seemed to reverse.

Perhaps the best hope for the Ducks was just called up from the AHL. Dan Sexton, a.k.a. Big Sexy, had a phenomenal year in the ECHL posting 13-13=26 in 18 games. Dan Sexton is generoulsy listed at 5'10" and a 170 lbs. More importantly, the guy is crafty in the corner. During training camp I was most impressed with Sexton's ability to come out of the corner with the puck against bigger opponents. He uses his speed and lack of size to his advantage. Think Andy McDonald, only as a winger instead of up the middle. I'm excited to see what Big Sexy brings to the team. If nothing else, I expect energy and better play along the boards. I'd love to see an all rookie line of Beleskey-Sharp-Sexton. This line would have Arthur's favorite combination from old Nintendo, the fat guy, the regular guy and the skinny guy.

No matter what happens, the Ducks are going to have to solve this problem from the inside. There's a report that the best s ource for talent via trade, the cap strapped Blackhawks, don't need to move any players until the off season. The Ducks' rookies can get it done. The Ducks need to let their depth start doing a little work, otherwise the top players won't have any guess for a potential stretch run.

Selanne Injured, Sexton Recalled

Arthur from Anaheim Calling — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:07:51 -0000

More photos » by Jae C. Hong - AP

I'm not sure if I can play with this injury. I definitely can't drive a car until it heals. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Browse more photos »

THE TELETYPE:
The Ducks confirmed that Teemu Selanne suffered a fractured hand in the game against Dallas last night. The break is above the knuckle on Selanne's left middle finger. They have set no timetable for his recovery, but The OC Register expects the Ducks to place Selanne on IR. Accordingly, Anaheim has called up Dan Sexton from Manitoba.

Sexton was the leading scorer for the Ducks' ECHL franchise before they were able to find an AHL affiliate to play him. He has one goal and two assists in five games with the Moose.

Road Troubles Continue for Carolina: Ducks 3, Canes 2

Bob Harwood Waeghe — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:23:04 -0000

More photos » by Mark J. Terrill - AP

29 days ago: Anaheim Ducks center Todd Marchant, left, tries to score on Carolina Hurricanes goalie Manny Legace during the second period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Browse more photos »

The Carolina Hurricanes are now all alone in the NHL basement with the worst record, (5-14-5), and fewest points, (15), in the league, as they dropped yet another road game on Wednesday night, this time to the Anaheim Ducks by a score of 3-2.

The Canes are doing a great job of tying franchise records this season, but unfortunately, they are records of the wrong type. After previously tying a franchise worst 14 consecutive games without a win, they now have started the season with 12 consecutive road games without a win, (0-9-3), tying a franchise record dating back to the 1981-82 season.

To the team's credit, they jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead, but then watched the Ducks control the puck most of the rest of the game, as Anaheim cycled, cycled, and cycled some more, and put on a clinic in front of their home crowd.

Tom Kostopoulos got Carolina off to a good start as he put a Matt Cullen pass in at just 1:23 into the game. This was TK's 400th career NHL game and second goal of the season.

The Hurricanes had some jump in the first period and continued to control play for a bit after the goal. They drew an interference penalty about five minutes in, but the ensuing powerplay failed to generate anything worthwhile and the momentum shifted Anaheim's way.

Even though Anaheim controlled the puck for long periods of time in the Carolina zone, Manny Legace was once again excellent in goal. For the most part, the Canes were able to keep the Ducks to the outside during their relentless cycling, but when they did get shots, Legace was like a man possessed in net. He made diving saves, post-to-post saves, and glove saves galore.

But late in the second period, Eric Staal was called for high-sticking right off of a faceoff, and the Ducks would take advantage of their powerplay with the help of a nice pass by Teemu Selanne and shot by Scott Niedermayer. The shot by Niedermayer looked like a mis-hit, but he got under the puck just enough to send a floater over Legace's head to tie the score.

The Hurricanes had two more powerplay chances in the second period, but failed to capitalize. As a matter of fact, the second one looked horribly out of sync as they could barely gain possession of the puck in the Ducks' zone and were called for offsides on three occasions while trying to enter the zone. It was not a pretty sight.

The Ducks were out-shooting and controlling play again in the Hurricanes zone when the team finally broke down in the third. Sergei Samsonov was pushed off the puck by Todd Marchant, who flipped a backhanded pass to Kyle Calder, who flipped another backhanded pass to Petteri Nokelainen. The Finn out-hustled Andrew Alberts and chipped the puck over a surprised Legace to make the score 2-1.

That was another fluky goal, but one well deserved because of the hustle involved.

Later in third, both Carolina defensemen pinched, the puck got behind them and Saku Koivu fed a wide open Teemu Selanne who easily made the score 3-1 and put the game out of reach.

The Canes tried to make a game of it though as they finally got some possession time in their own zone. Brandon Sutter would score with less than a minute left as Eric Staal got the puck through the crease to him, but it was too little too late and the Canes would face another long flight home as losers.

Their next game is at the RBC Friday night against the Atlanta Thrashers.

Game Notes:

The lines were like a "Land of Confusion" as Maurice mixed and matched them all night long. The defensemen were not left out of the quagmire either as different pairings were tried throughout the game as well. The good news is that there were not any "too many men on the ice" calls this game.
Brandon Sutter, who is tied for most goals scored on the team, (6), had just 12:46 of playing time. He was moved off the first line after the opening period or so and did not get as much powerplay time (52 seconds) as he was getting previously. Usually very good on the penalty kill, he got zero shorthanded time. Maurice complimented him after the game, but apparently forgot about him earlier.
Eric Staal led the team with six shots on goal but looked rusty and was undisciplined at times. In the third period, he was frustrated as a Duck was hooking him and he grabbed the stick and tossed it, which could have easily resulted in another penalty against him. Somehow, he needs to control that frustration and not lose his temper when things are not going his way.
Legace was diving and sprawling all night long to make his saves, while Jean-Sebastien Giguere barely broke a sweat. Was that evidence of a difference in goaltending style, or the quality of shots each goalie faced? Giguere hardly moved, blocking shots easily with his chest or blocker most of the night. Great positioning on his part and poor shot selection by the Canes.
The team had 25 hits led by Tim Gleason's six.
Staal and Cullen took the majority of faceoffs with 17 each, while Sutter took nine, Yelle took eight, and Brind'Amour took four. None of them won over 50%.

2010 Winter Olympics Hockey: Anaheim Hopefuls

Arthur from Anaheim Calling — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:00:13 -0000

ARTHUR:

Anaheim calling to the hockey world...

Welcome to the Anaheim edition of SBN's look at the Olympic roster hopefuls across the NHL. Site Managers were provided with the following rubric, but as the resident noob, your blogger is the only one who will likely take them seriously.

"Pack Your Bags"
"Nearly A Lock"
"Fairly Safe Bet"
"In A Battle"
"Work To Do"
"Moving Up"
"Moving Down"

TEAM USA

Bobby Ryan

#9 / Right Wing

Height: 6-2

Weight: 208

Born: Mar 17, 1987

GP G A P +/- PIM PPG SHG GWG GTG SOG PCT

2009 - Bobby Ryan 21 9 6 15 1 14 4 0 0 0 69 13.0

"Nearly A Lock"

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Bobby Ryan	21	9	6	15	1	14	4	0	0	0	69	13.0

The Cherry Hill native has plenty of skill, but he's also developed a physical game, giving him the blue collar credibility that Brian Burke wants on this year's squad. Then again, the Team USA GM has made the decision to cut Ryan on more than one occasion.

Ryan Whitney

#19 / Defenseman

Height: 6-4

Weight: 219

Born: Feb 19, 1983

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Ryan Whitney	21	2	8	10	0	22	2	0	0	0	32	6.3

"Nearly A Lock"

Whitney was just one of a handful of 6'3"/6'4" defensemen at Orientation Camp, but the Boston-born defender has proven himself an ice-time gormandizer with the Ducks and should be a steady force on the red, white and blue line.

TEAM CANADA

Ryan Getzlaf

#15 / Center

Height: 6-4

Weight: 221

Born: May 10, 1985

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Ryan Getzlaf	21	3	22	25	3	29	2	0	0	0	43	7.0

"Pack Your Bags"

The Regina-bred centerman missed Orientation Camp after offseason hernia surgery, but he has looked tip-top opening the year in Anaheim. Canada will need his directly proportional size and skill up the middle.

Scott Niedermayer

# 27 / Defenseman

Height: 6-1

Weight: 195

Born: Aug 31, 1973

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Scott Niedermayer	21	2	12	14	-4	6	2	0	1	0	53	3.8

"Pack Your Bags"

Already packed.

Corey Perry

#10 / Right Wing

Height: 6-3

Weight: 209

Born: May 16, 1985

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Corey Perry	21	13	14	27	4	24	2	1	0	0	71	18.3

"Moving Up"

After a game with the Ducks, Sidney Crosby noted how impressed he was with the Peterborough product, who faked out the Penguins captain on more than one occasion. Perry's dominant performance so far this season makes him a contender for a spot at finisher, but Stevie Y may opt to go older in his final spots, even though he's generally noted a willingness to bring a young squad to Vancouver.

TEAM FINLAND

Saku Koivu

#11 / Center

Height: 5-10

Weight: 182

Born: Nov 23, 1974

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Saku Koivu	16	2	7	9	-1	14	1	0	0	0	31	6.5

"Pack Your Bags"

The stat sheet doesn't bear out Koivu's return to form, nor does a nagging lower body injury that sidelined him this month, but the Turku native has been the Ducks' most consistent player while playing almost two more minutes of ice time per game than he did in his last year in Montreal.

Petteri Nokelainen

#17 / Center

Height: 6-1

Weight: 191

Born: Jan 16, 1986

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Petteri Nokelainen	16	1	1	2	-4	8	0	0	0	0	18	5.6

"Moving Up"

Finland's camp this year was all about theory and gelling as teammates. That could be an advantage for the Imatra-bred Nokelainen, who has proven his value as a versatile role player with the Ducks .

Teemu Selänne

#8 / Right Wing

Height: 6-0

Weight: 200

Born: Jul 03, 1970

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Teemu Selänne	21	11	4	15	-8	12	5	0	2	0	61	18.0

"Pack Your Bags"

On pace for a 40 goal season, the sheen isn't fading from Helsinki's second Finnish Flash, and Selänne has no doubt been waiting for this day since he bitterly claimed the Silver in Turin.

TEAM SWITZERLAND

Jonas Hiller

#1 / Goalie

Height: 6-2

Weight: 193

Born: Feb 12, 1982

	GP	MIN	W	L	T	EGA	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Jonas Hiller	17	933	7	8			47	3.02	517	470	.909	1

"Pack Your Bags"

Cut in favor of Martin Gerber and David Aebischer four years ago, Hiller is dedicated to making the roster this time around. And after his playoff performance against the Sharks last year, the Felben Wellhausen product is the favorite to man the plumbing for the Swiss.

TEAM RUSSIA

Евгений Артюхин
(Evgeny Artyukhin)

#24 / Right Wing

Height: 6-5

Weight: 270

Born: Apr 04, 1983

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Evgeny Artyukhin	18	2	0	2	-3	27	0	0	0	0	13	15.4

"In A Battle"

His raw tools (size, speed and snarl) got him an invite to the team's Olympic camp, and a slightly slow hockey sense may be the only thing that could keep the Moscow-born mammoth from the final roster.

Cooke, Staal, Guerin fuel a team effort; Pens take down Ducks 5-2

Hooks Orpik — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:26:06 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

about 1 month ago: Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, right, makes a second period save on a shot by Anaheim Ducks' Petteri Nokelainen (17) of Finland during an NHL hockey game in Pittsburgh Monday, Nov. 16, 2009.(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Browse more photos »

Ducks vs Penguins coverage - Anaheim SB Nation team blog Anaheim Calling

Down seven regular players to injury, it has to be a team effort to get by. The Penguins found it tonight as they got contributions from everyone. Even the power-play kicked in with a goal, snapping a streak of weeks without one. Sure the Penguins gave up a short-handed goal, but hey, one step at a time.

Just a minute and a half into the game, Matt Cooke collected a turnover from the Ducks and deposited it past Jean-Sebastien Giguere for the first goal. Then a few minutes later, the power-play finally broke through when Sidney Crosby rifled the puck to Bill Guerin and the old man whipped it from the high slot for a 2-0 lead.

Anaheim would halve the lead when after some lackadaisical Pittsburgh power-play work resulted in Todd Marchant getting a step on the defense and he beat Marc-Andre Fleury to take the score at 2-1 into intermission.

Jordan Staal made a play short-handed that ended up being the game winner. Credit Deryk Engelland who got the puck, kept his head up and made a great pass up to Staal. As has become his habit, Staal beat the defensemen and used his reach to deke the goalie out. 3-1 Pens.

Early in the 3rd period, Martin Skoula scored his first career goal as a Penguin, shooting a puck from the point past the screen of Mike Rupp into the net. Teemu Selanne got a goal late in the game to bring the Ducks within two goals but Cooke put the icing on the cake with an empty netter for a 5-2

Down their top four defensemen (in terms of minutes played) the Penguins needed and got contributions from everyone. Engelland, as mentioned, made a great pass to make the game-winner possible and also played phyiscal with five hits. Nate Guenin looked confident and comfortable in his NHL season debut, also credited with five hits. Mark Eaton carried the load, playing a lot of the power-play in route to a game-high 27:09 of ice-time. Skoula, as mentioned above, got his first goal. Ben Lovejoy got an assist and generally played well.
Jay McKee, the final member of tonight's defensive corps, was his usual shot-blocking self; getting 5 on the night. The last one appeared to sting him, but he still took shifts deep into the 3rd period. Hopefully it wasn't enough to cause an injury,
Guenin and Engelland I think deserve a little more recognition for their efforts. Neither one of them tried to be a guy like Sergei Gonchar or Alex Goligoski -- they played within themselves. But they played very well. Several little plays showed they made good decisions and executed them well all night long.
Keeping on the theme of team contributions: every Penguin who took more than one faceoff was better than 50% in the circle; led by rookie Mark Letestu who won 75% of his eight draws.
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin absolutely unleashed some rockets on the power-play with slapshots. Judging from those, I'd say about all systems are go for those two. Again though, Crosby got the PP assist but Geno was point-less. This win wasn't about them.
It was about guys like Staal and Cooke. 2/3 of the third line went a combined 3 goals, 1 assist and +5, 5 shots on goal, 6 hits.
Several more "ohh man" moments by Chris Bourque, who didn't win anyone to his bandwagon tonight; including missing another wide-open net.
For Anaheim, they just don't look like they have it all together. Given the talent on their roster, and the fact they won the Cup just over 2 years ago, it's hard to believe they're in last place in the entire Western Conference. Then you see some of the turnovers they make in the game, the careless penalties they take and it sets in a little. They have some pieces, but it's not coming together correctly.

The biggest thing to take away from this game was the team effort. Marc-Andre Fleury got 23 of 25 shots, only eluded by a breakaway and late game goal. The patchwork, mainly minor-league level defense held up very well and they all played well to a man. Grinders showed up on the score sheet and skated hard all around.

More than that, they played a style Dan Bylsma had to like; a lot of puck possesion and controlling the pace of the game. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has a saying that goes something like "the standard of expectation hasn't changed" when it comes to replacements pressed into duty due to injuries. That was the case tonight. Obviously it's impossible to replace the skill of guys like Gonchar, Goligoski and Kris Letang on the blueline, but everyone that got a jersey did his job, and did it well. That's all you can ask.

The Penguins now have a two day break before they embark on seven games in 11 days to close out the month of November, starting off with a three game roadie. The games are about to come but hopefully reinforcements will be trickling in. But the standards of expectation will not, and cannot change. Whoever plays has to produce, and they have to perform exactly like they did tonight.

SB Nation - Teemu Selanne

Many Happy Returns?

Wingless Ducks Pay Canucks A Visit

Let's Talk About Sexy

Gameday Preview: Dallas Stars @ Anaheim Ducks (9:00pm CST)

Next Game

The Stars:

The Ducks:

Injuries:

Monday Links: Getting good at shootouts edition

Ducks Season Gone in a Flash?

***Selanne Injured, Sexton Recalled***

Road Troubles Continue for Carolina: Ducks 3, Canes 2

2010 Winter Olympics Hockey: Anaheim Hopefuls

TEAM USA

#9 / Right Wing

GP G A P +/- PIM PPG SHG GWG GTG SOG PCT 2009 - Bobby Ryan 21 9 6 15 1 14 4 0 0 0 69 13.0 "Nearly A Lock"

#19 / Defenseman

"Nearly A Lock"

TEAM CANADA

#15 / Center

"Pack Your Bags"

# 27 / Defenseman

"Pack Your Bags"

#10 / Right Wing

"Moving Up"

TEAM FINLAND

#11 / Center

"Pack Your Bags"

#17 / Center

"Moving Up"

#8 / Right Wing

TEAM SWITZERLAND

#1 / Goalie

TEAM RUSSIA

Евгений Артюхин(Evgeny Artyukhin)

#24 / Right Wing

"In A Battle"

Cooke, Staal, Guerin fuel a team effort; Pens take down Ducks 5-2

Selanne Injured, Sexton Recalled

GP G A P +/- PIM PPG SHG GWG GTG SOG PCT

2009 - Bobby Ryan 21 9 6 15 1 14 4 0 0 0 69 13.0

"Nearly A Lock"

Евгений Артюхин
(Evgeny Artyukhin)