SB Nation - Evgeny Artyukhin

Ducks Acquire Kyle Chipchura

Daniel AC — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:12:35 -0000

2 months ago: Edmonton Oilers' Steve Staios, top, and Gilbert Brule, bottom, defend against Montreal Canadiens' Kyle Chipchura during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Edmonton on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, John Ulan)

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DANIEL:

Bob Murray continued his inexplicable obsession with former first round picks who nobody else seems to want. The Canadian Press is reporting that the Ducks picked up Canadiens center Kyle Chipchura for a 4th round pick in 2011. Chipchura, besides having a pretty awesome name, has zero points in 19 games this season, and only 4 goals and 14 points in 68 NHL games. To be fair, Chipchura is considered a bottom 6 forward who will be good on the PK. Chipchura was selected 18th overall by the Canadiens in the 2004 draft. The guys at Hockey's future seem to think his main assets are his size, 6'2" 205 lbs. and his ability to be good, but not great at a little bit of everything. You can read his player profile from the last time they examined Montreal's prospects here. This is probably a move to either make Artyukhin expendable, or cover for the loss of Calder. We'll get a better idea of what Chipchura's role will be when the Ducks play the Stars on Thursday.

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.

Friday links: The Wild things are in St. Louis tonight edition

averagejoe — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:00:44 -0000

It's game day. I won't get to see any of it and I'll be out in the cold and mud watching high school football tonight, but it's game day. Get excited.

Blues news

Blues vs Minnesota Wild tonight. Here's a preview. Enjoy. [Blues]
Brad Boyes is struggling. Here's a tip Brad, hit the damn net. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
The Blues will be fighting cancer this weekend. [Blues]
Dwayne "D.J." King is back from his conditioning stint. Who plays next: King or Alex Pietrangelo? [Peoria Journal-Star]
Cam Janssen and Erik Johnson will be at a Wal-Mart in Arnold on Sunday. Too good for the Eureka Wal-Mart, Cam? I've been there many times and well, you probably are. [Blues]
Eric Brewer is making progress. [Belleville News-Democrat]
Jeremy Rutherford chatted yesterday. [STLtoday.com]

Hockey news

Hey look at that, Phoenix won. So did some other teams. [Yahoo! Sports]
Let's go Blues! ... And some other teams. [Yahoo! Sports]
Evgeny Artyukhin will be suspended for the three games for the ole slew foot. [ESPN]
Jonathan Toews might play Saturday after getting blown up Wednesday. [ESPN]
Sergei Kostitsyn is back with the AHL's Hamitlon Bulldogs. [TSN]
The KHL is still around. [ESPN]

Other links

I had two separate conversations with friends about this story yesterday. Fucking bears, man. Bears. They don't belong on skates. [CBC News]
This would be a pretty bad ass costume. [Film Drunk]
You type it, they will sing it. [Let them sing it for you]
If any of you have some extra money, I'll take this car. [Comics Alliance]

Videos

Two today. One is just stupid one is new Dave Chappelle.

New shit from someone who constantly makes me laugh.

Gametimelinks(at)gmail.com. Poor College Student has the weekend shift. I'll be back home for a high school reunion. Seriously.

Artyukhin Suspended For Hit On Niskanen

Arthur from Anaheim Calling — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 23:31:44 -0000

THE TELETYPE:

The NHL has suspended Ducks Right Winger Evgeny Artyukhin for three games for a hit on Dallas blueliner Matt Niskanen in the 2nd Period of last night's game.

No penalty was called on the play, but the league has since characterized the hit as a slew foot, a violation of NHL Rule 52.1:

52.1 Slew-footing - Slew-footing is the act of a player using his leg or foot to knock or kick an opponent’s feet from under him, or pushes an opponent’s upper body backward with an arm or elbow, and at the same time with a forward motion of his leg, knocks or kicks the opponent’s feet from under him, causing him to fall violently to the ice.

Evgeni Artyukhin Suspended By NHL for 'Hit' on Matt Niskanen

Brandon Worley — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 22:49:15 -0000

Per Mike Heika:

Anaheim Ducks forward Evgeny Artyukhin has been suspended for three games, without pay, as the result of a slew-footing incident against Dallas Stars defenseman Matt Niskanen in NHL game #117, Oct. 21. Niskanen sustained an injury on the play.

The incident occurred at 4:23 of the second period. No penalty was assessed on the play.

Artyukhin, who was suspended for two games January 19, 2009, now is considered a repeat offender under the terms of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Because of an insanely busy day at work today, I never had the chance to post my thoughts on the game last night which would have included a lengthy diatribe on these types of hits in the NHL. The big, open ice hits that get all the attention are bad but it's these hits that can be the most dangerous. I believe every Stars fan was incensed that no penalty was called during the game, when it was obvious almost immediately what had happened.

I can't tell you how good it is to see the NHL has stepped in and done what was right. This was a calculated hit that could have cause serious and career-threatening injuries to Niskanen, and he's lucky to have been able to skate away (sort of).

Matt Niskanen is out tonight and is out (unofficially) indefinitely with a head injury. The team won't say it, but they are taking the necessary precautions for a concussion. Typically a player will need around a week to get back to playing after even a mild concussion.

For more thoughts on how Mark Messier is fighting these types of injuries, check out my interview with the Hall of Fame player here.

To Err Is Artyukhin

Arthur from Anaheim Calling — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:23:38 -0000

More photos » by Charles Krupa - AP

(AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

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ARTHUR:

The Blues opened scoring last night on the man advantage after Evgeny Artyukhin was sent to the box for Tripping. I've made the joke before that Artyukhin was suspended for two games for hitting Antoine Vermette with his own helmet, but really he was suspended for one year to be served in two minute increments for the rest of his career.

The Ducks are 75%, 6 for 8, when killing off an Artyukhin penalty, and that's on par with their 21st in the NHL 74.4 overall kill percentage. But when you look at the penalties, the big Russian has only 2 Roughing minors (the penalties you assume will happen in the rhythm of his game), and the opposition has scored on neither. But his double minor for High-Sticking against the Rangers and his Tripping penalty to open scoring last night were both bad penalties which were converted in shutout losses.

Daniel, the referees are watching Artyukhin very closely. Should Randy Carlyle scratch him until he gets the needless penalties out of his game, or should the Ducks accept this as the cost of being in the Artyukhin business?

DANIEL:

My concern with scratching Artyukhin is that he is such a unique player. His combination of size and speed are literally unmatched. I don't think Nokelainan has the same presence along the boards or the break out speed, and that's who would end up taking his place on that line. If Ebbett were still around, you could put him on the second line and drop Christensen down. Lupul-Marchant-Christensen could still work well as an energy line; I'm just worried we might lose too much toughness.

I think this still comes back to the PK issue. Artyukhin will take penalties. Even if it's mundane penalties, we can't surrender goals on the first two penalties and then decide to kill. Yes, Artyukhin needs to learn to defend with his body and not his stick, but he will take penalties. And it shouldn't matter if it's Roughing or Tripping, it should be killed. I just think we're blaming Artie for a bigger problem.

ARTHUR:

Well I would agree with an argument that if the rest of the Ducks don't have to watch their bad penalties, why should Artyukhin?

But I think we're missing a lesson learned from Chris Pronger's playoff performance last year. Knowing he was facing a deadly power play with the Sharks, Prongs limited himself to one bad penalty, a Holding call, and two good Cross Checking calls to let the Sharks and Cheechoo know the front of the net wouldn't be friendly.

Pronger knew he was going to be watched closely (as usual), and he found a way to be clean AND effective. But he didn't become a teddy bear; he didn't refrain from taking the penalties he had to take. As a physical player, if you put a borderline check on a guy or you protect the front of the net, your teammates should be happy to kill that penalty. That's a strategic penalty that affects the way the other team plays. But if you're slashing and tripping guys, you're just disrupting your team's flow, and you can't expect them to be excited to back you up because you're too lazy to use your feet instead of your stick.

And I see your irrational love of Ebbett in your suggestion, but scratching Artyukhin would just mean going to a seven defensemen set where Mikkelson plays on the fourth line and Brown (or maybe Carter) sees time with Marchant and Lupul. The important thing is to send the message to Artyukhin, the other players and maybe even the referees that lazy penalties won't be tolerated from R2. Carlyle has used the healthy scratch as a coaching tool to send that message before; I don't see why Artyukhin would be immune from that treatment.

Ducks Gameday -- Now gloating on a multisport level.

Earl Sleek — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 13:21:29 -0000

Anaheim Ducks (2-1-1) at New York Rangers (3-1-0)
Go visit Blueshirt Banter for your Avery longings.

What a nice east coast swing Teemu Selanne is enjoying the past two games -- fall behind by a goal, Teemu will score you a pair to pull ahead. Fall behind by two goals, Teemu will score you a pair plus a shootout winner. For those of you scoring carefully, Teemu has scored on his last five shots-on-net (counting the one shootout goal) -- that's a charmed life.

Originally posted May 7, but never more appropriate than today.

Then again, Artoo (Evgeny Artyukhin, but I don't intend on spelling it out much longer) is still humming along at 100% shooting accuracy -- two goals on two shots this season, and he nearly stole Teemu's dying-seconds heroics with a barely-wide shot near the end of period 3. We'll let his offensive zone penalty slide for one day, at least -- wins tend to overshadow sins.

And speaking of sins, I suppose it's time I committed some:

I'm a sucker for popular demand, I suppose. In case you're unfamiliar with State Rape, this BoC tradition all started back two-and-a-half years ago, and has made odd appearances ever since. As always, I'll start with the justification:

Oct. 7 @L.A. Dodgers 5, St. Louis Cardinals 3.

Oct. 8 @L.A. Dodgers 3, St. Louis Cardinals 2.

Oct. 10 L.A. Dodgers 5, @St. Louis Cardinals 1.

Bonus win: Oct. 10 L.A. Kings 2, @St. Louis Blues 1.

Totals: Los Angeles 15, St. Louis 7.

L.A. wins 'em all. Of course, I've already made a State Rape cartoon for Missouri before, so this was easy enough to update:

Hey, what do you know? There actually was a Second Missouri Compromise. Thanks, history!

* * *

This one's not yet complete, but it is promising:

Oct. 8 @L.A./Anaheim Angels 5, Boston Red Sox 0.

Oct. 9 @L.A./Anaheim Angels 4, Boston Red Sox 1.

Today -- G3 @ Boston, 9 am. Go Halos.

Bonus win: Oct. 8 Anaheim Ducks 6, @Boston Bruins 1.

Totals so far: Anaheim 15, Boston 2.

I don't want to jinx anything, though, so I'll just leave a placeholder.

Probably this is too much, but hey, it's not my team's playoff curse on the line.

[Update 1pm -- Boston blows it with two outs in the ninth, karma has been preserved. Angels 7, Boston 6. Another SoCal sweep.]

Sweet, sweet revenge.

* * *

And don't think you're off the hook just yet, New York. Ducks are in town for a game today on a seesaw streak*, and it's looking like there could be an Anaheim-NY collision coming in baseball, too. Plus, I already have a template.

* Sharks score 4 goals, then Ducks score 1. Ducks score 3 goals, then Wild score 4. Bruins score 1 goal, then Ducks score 6. Flyers score 2 goals, then Ducks score 2-plus. Every game seemingly has exactly one turning point -- no more, no less. Perhaps that's the upside to terrible first periods.

Prediction: Ducks 5, Rangers 3. Goals by Whitney, Marchant, Perry, Lupul, and Koivu. I may be getting to this game's comments a bit late today -- because of the carto/porno-graphic sinning on display today, I'll be spending the morning confessing in church, and will have a DVR'd Angels game to go through once I get home. Still, feel free to comment on whatever -- baseball, state rape, hockey, or confession. Today, it's all relevant.

Go Ducks.

2009-10 NHL Season Preview: Tampa Bay Lightning

James Mirtle — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 12:00:15 -0000

More photos » by Ryan Remiorz - AP

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Who's in: Todd Fedoruk, Kurtis Foster, David Hale, Victor Hedman, Drew Miller, Antero Niittymaki, Mattias Ohlund, Alex Tanguay, Stephane Veilleux, Matt Walker
Who's out: Evgeny Artyukhin, David Koci, Marek Malik, Josef Melichar, Cory Murphy, Matt Pettinger, Vinny Prospal, Radim Vrbata

Outlook: There's really no way around it: The Lightning's roster is in a bit of upheaval yet again this season.

Unlike last season, when the kooky brass acquired a boatload of forwards via free agency and didn't have room to play them all, this year's edition of the Bolts has too many NHL defencemen, as GM Brian Lawton added no fewer than five more bodies on the back end in the summer. Of the newcomers, Mattias Ohlund and 2009 second overall pick Victor Hedman are obviously welcome additions, but finding playing time for the rest of the gang could prove difficult.

Another solid addition is Antero Niittymaki in the backup role, and he could surprise by picking up quite a few starts should Mike Smith not be up to full speed.

Where there may be issues is up front, as there's a real drop off in depth after the top five forwards and injuries could expose that weakness. Bringing in Alex Tanguay on a bargain basement deal may be the only thing saving Tampa Bay from being one of the lowest scoring teams in the league, and his health and readiness will be a big factor in coach Rick Tocchet being able to ice two effective lines.

And you still look at this roster and wonder who will play the dirty minutes, at even strength and on the penalty kill.

I know this goes against the grain a little bit, but it's really not out of the question that the Lightning are picking in the top five for the third consecutive year come June. How ready Steve Stamkos and Victor Hedman are to be impact players will be the difference between another year as an also ran and joining the pack as a playoff contending bubble team.

X-factor: Victor Hedman

For a more in-depth Bolts preview, visit Raw Charge
For more NHL analysis, check out the McKeen's Hockey Yearbook

Poll

Where will the Bolts finish in the Eastern Conference this season?

1

8 votes

2

1 votes

3

0 votes

4

0 votes

5

1 votes

6

6 votes

7

17 votes

8

20 votes

9

20 votes

10

19 votes

11

14 votes

12

33 votes

13

29 votes

14

25 votes

15

16 votes

209 votes | Poll has closed

2009-10 NHL Season Preview: Anaheim Ducks

James Mirtle — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:00:16 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

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Who's in: Evgeny Artyukhin, Nick Boynton, Steve Eminger, Saku Koivu, Joffrey Lupul, Luca Sbisa
Who's out: Francois Beauchemin, Bret Hedican, Drew Miller, Rob Niedermayer, Chris Pronger

Outlook: Bob Murray's first off-season in the big chair was a busy one.

The Ducks were faced with having to pare payroll with owner Henry Samueli in legal trouble, and the biggest name exiting stage left was former Hart Trophy winner Chris Pronger in a deal to the Flyers for Joffrey Lupul, Luca Sbisa and two first-round picks. Also on the way out was Francois Beauchemin, who former GM Brian Burke signed to a big-ticket contract in Toronto.

The results will see Anaheim ice a much difference defence core this fall, one still built around captain Scott Niedermayer but which will also rely heavily on Ryan Whitney, James Wisniewski and free agent signings like Nick Boynton and Steve Eminger in key minutes. The Ducks struggled last season with goals against even with Pronger in the lineup (with some of those issues attributable to Jean-Sebastien Giguere's play) but there may be more growing pains to come in that department given this cast.

Where there should be gains is up front, as Murray added popular former Canadiens captain Saku Koivu on a bargain $3.25-million contract, and he will likely experience some success with long-time Team Finland linemate Teemu Selanne. Add in Lupul's contributions in his second go-round with the Ducks and the fact Bobby Ryan will finally get a full season in the NHL and this should be one of the more dangerous offensive teams in the Western Conference.

Where that likely puts Anaheim is back on the bubble, battling to stay on as a low playoff seed with the potential to slide in somewhere in the middle if Jonas Hiller proves the real deal.

X-factor: Ryan Whitney

For a more in-depth Ducks preview, visit Battle of California
For more NHL analysis, check out the McKeen's Hockey Yearbook

Poll

Where will the Ducks finish in the Western Conference this season?

1

30 votes

2

33 votes

3

25 votes

4

59 votes

5

59 votes

6

84 votes

7

41 votes

8

34 votes

9

22 votes

10

14 votes

11

4 votes

12

0 votes

13

2 votes

14

2 votes

15

15 votes

424 votes | Poll has closed

SB Nation NHL Preview: Your 2009-10 Anaheim Ducks

Earl Sleek — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:00:17 -0000

Hello, BoC readers and visitors! Today begins a 15-day gauntlet of season previews from all across our SBN hockey megaplex. Each day one eastern conference team and one western conference team will be profiled by team bloggers, and since we're sticking with the time-tested tradition of alphabetical order, our Atlanta Thrashers site -- Bird Watchers Anonymous -- and our Anaheim Ducks guy -- yours truly, until Anaheim Calling gets its act together -- get today's inaugural honors. A warning to regular BoC readers: this preview is intended for a wider audience than usual, so be prepared -- for purposes of this post, I'll probably use more traditional language -- "Getzlaf" instead of "Baldy" and "San Jose Sharks" instead of "Chokers up north". Enjoy!

2008-09 Season Recap: The Ducks' season was one of prolonged mediocrity for the first 69 games of the schedule -- through mid-March, seemingly every bit of good luck was countered by an equally bad one. Bobby Ryan was top notch, but Brendan Morrison couldn't get his act together. Jonas Hiller emerged as a top netminder, but J.S. Giguere turned awful. The power play was a deadly weapon, but the penalty kill was a disaster. The Ducks scored 3 goals regularly but typically allowed 4. Through Game 69, the Ducks sat one game above .500 and looked frustratingly out of a playoff spot. Longtime Ducks Chris Kunitz, Sammy Pahlsson, Travis Moen, and Kent Huskins were all shipped out via trade, and the Ducks began retooling for the future.

However, when Anaheim's back was squarely against the wall, the Ducks flipped on a magic "urgency" switch and began winning with regularity -- they ended the season with a whopping 10-2-1 record which was somewhat illusory (the Ducks blew four 3rd period leads in the stretch but won all four in OT/SO) yet effective. With a 2 point margin, the Ducks snagged the 8th playoff spot on the last day of the season, and prepared to meet their doom at the hands of the Presidents' Trophy ~~Chokers up no~~ San Jose Sharks -- a team with plenty to prove in the postseason.

It was, of course, a long-awaited series for this blog, a postseason Battle of California that finally featured modern-day franchises. And of course it was an awesome result -- not every franchise gets the sweet opportunity to end Jeremy Roenick's career. The Ducks upset the Sharks in six games, and even pushed the 2nd-seeded Red Wings to a tight game seven before folding. The Ducks proved one lesson: regular season success does matter; it is really tough to keep winning as an 8th seed, because you're guaranteed a steady dose of top opposition.

The 2008-09 season was also the closing chapter for a couple notable eras in Anaheim -- longtime general manager Brian Burke, after spending all the money he could in Anaheim, left the Ducks in November to take a higher-spending position in Toronto, leaving Bob Murray at the helm. Also, it became the final season for Chris Pronger in Anaheim; three years after his acquisition, the Ducks traded the opposition-despised defenseman to the Flyers, which seems fitting -- in Philadelphia, a substandard moral code is usually rewarded by a hearty pat on the back.

In fact, now that the dust has settled from all the offseason activity, the Ducks have only eight players left from their Stanley Cup team two summers ago -- Giguere, S. Niedermayer, Selanne, Marchant, Getzlaf, Perry, Carter, and Parros. It's certainly a lot of roster turnover, but it also reflects the salary cap realities of a mid-market team with success; Burke built an expiring roster structure that left his successor with plenty of flexibility -- one aspect I really respect him for. And while many former Ducks have turned their cup success into valuable paydays elsewhere, GM Murray has filled out the roster with affordable talent that can hopefully keep the Ducks playoff-bound while readjusting the franchise to its proper mid-market spending budget.

Who's In: Saku Koivu (C, UFA-MTL), Joffrey Lupul (RW, trade-PHI), Luca Sbisa (D, trade-PHI), Nick Boynton (D, UFA-FLA), Evgeny Artyukhin (RW, trade-TBL), Steve Eminger (D, UFA-FLA), Steve McCarthy (D, UFA-KHL), Justin Pogge (G, trade-TOR)

Who's Out: Chris Pronger (D, trade-PHI), Francois Beauchemin (D, UFA-TOR), Drew Miller (LW, trade-TBL), Bret Hedican (D, retirement), Rob Niedermayer (RW, UFA)

Team strengths: Offseason additions of Saku Koivu and Joffrey Lupul should help Anaheim's forward depth considerably; during the playoffs the Ducks' offense mainly consisted of the Getzlaf-Perry-Ryan top line plus Teemu Selanne, with an odd triple-overtime goal by Todd Marchant sprinkled in for effect. That top line was fantastic, though -- over their final 26 games (the 13-game stretch run plus the two rounds of the playoffs), the trio combined for 39 goals and 48 assists, always in must-win situations and often against top-line opposition.

Against the Red Wings in Round 2, however, the Ducks were overcome by Detroit's ability to roll multiple scoring lines vs. Anaheim's ability to essentially roll one. The hope is that by fortifying the forward roster, the Ducks can imitate that pattern of offensive depth, which almost seems necessary -- they'll likely have to make up for some extra goals-against in Pronger's absence.

One other team strength is depth in net -- it's unclear right now who will emerge as Anaheim's #1 this season, though Jonas Hiller is probably the frontrunner. J.S. Giguere has been a marvelous goalie in the past, though; if he rebounds it provides the Ducks with two strong options in goal.

Team weaknesses: There's a ton of uncertainty about how the Ducks' blueline will cope with the losses of Pronger and Francois Beauchemin. Captain Niedermayer will obviously be the key -- he's played 347 games in a Ducks uniform, while the next highest defenseman, Sheldon Brookbank, has played only 42. Bob Murray has brought in quite a few useful defensemen, though -- Ryan Whitney, James Wisniewski, Nick Boynton, Luca Sbisa, and Steve Eminger all have NHL experience elsewhere -- but for three years Ducks fans have enjoyed a blueline featuring two of the game's best, a luxury that will be missed.

Quite simply, my concern is about every Ducks defenseman not named Niedermayer or not paired with Niedermayer -- the captain has proven to be quite a good babysitter for learning defensemen in the past. If the bottom four can't keep their heads above water, though, it's probably going to be a tough year in Anaheim. Plus there are loads of special teams minutes that need to be filled -- Pronger was a boost in all situations, and his absence could hurt the Ducks there, as well.

(I should also add that per my opening cartoon, another team weakness is clearly the Ducks' knack for taking too many penalties, but by now that complaint has grown stale -- these days it makes for a better cartoon than a discussion topic, I think.)

Depth Chart: (note -- with so many players new to the team, it's best not to read too much into line combinations or depth rankings; Coach Carlyle will decide those things. I should note one oddity -- the Ducks don't have any natural left wingers; all forwards are either right wings or centermen):

Forwards

Bobby Ryan	Ryan Getzlaf	Corey Perry
Joffrey Lupul	Saku Koivu	Teemu Selanne
Andrew Ebbett	Todd Marchant	Petteri Nokelainen
Evgeny Artyukhin	Erik Christensen	Mike Brown
George Parros	Ryan Carter

Defensemen

Scott Niedermayer	Ryan Whitney
Luca Sbisa	James Wisniewski
Nick Boynton	Steve Eminger
Brendan Mikkelson	Brett Festerling
Sheldon Brookbank	Steve McCarthy

Goalies

Jonas Hiller

J.S. Giguere

Justin Pogge

What's particularly nice about the depth chart is that there seems to be a good amount of competition for every position -- NHL-caliber players will be denied playing time this season, it appears. That's one source of hope for this year's Ducks -- they have plenty of roster options to experiment with; hopefully they can concoct a winner.

Prediction for 2009-10 season: Even though the Sharks have lost some depth, shook up their lineup, and are hugging the salary cap ceiling, they're still the reigning Presidents' Trophy winner, and will probably take the Pacific Division again. That's OK, though -- Anaheim has only taken the division title once since the lockout, but more importantly they have been the longest-surviving team from the Pacific Division in three of four post-lockout postseasons. If they can continue that trend, I'll likely be satisfied -- I can drink Shark tears all day.

On paper, the Ducks look like they have a solid enough roster to make the postseason and survive the Post-Pronger Curse, but there's still enough unknowns about the team (plus other contenders in the western conference) to say for sure -- what say you, readers? Take a stab at the poll -- c'mon, it took me sixteen separate steps to create! And feel free to leave a comment about any part of the Ducks preview -- what are you hoping to see out of the Ducks this year?

I know I can't wait; the season is nearly upon us! Go Ducks.

Poll

Prediction Time: Where will the Anaheim Ducks finish in the western conference this season?

1st

22 votes

2nd

29 votes

3rd

29 votes

4th

49 votes

5th

46 votes

6th

32 votes

7th

23 votes

8th

1 votes

9th

9 votes

10th

9 votes

11th

6 votes

12th

1 votes

13th

0 votes

14th

0 votes

15th

28 votes

284 votes | Poll has closed

SB Nation - Evgeny Artyukhin

Ducks Acquire Kyle Chipchura

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"

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***Artyukhin Suspended For Hit On Niskanen***

Evgeni Artyukhin Suspended By NHL for 'Hit' on Matt Niskanen

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Where will the Bolts finish in the Eastern Conference this season?

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2009-10 NHL Season Preview: Anaheim Ducks

Where will the Ducks finish in the Western Conference this season?

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SB Nation NHL Preview: Your 2009-10 Anaheim Ducks

Prediction Time: Where will the Anaheim Ducks finish in the western conference this season?

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

7th

8th

9th

10th

11th

12th

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)

Artyukhin Suspended For Hit On Niskanen