SB Nation - Anaheim Ducks

Congrats to Dan Sexton

WCHBlog — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 05:16:59 -0000

When Dan Sexton left Bowling Green at the end of last year to sign with the Anaheim Ducks, I thought it was great he signed an NHL contract, but at 5'9" 170 lbs., I figured it was still long odds for him to see the NHL.

But thanks to a couple of injuries, Sexton got the call up to Anaheim for the past three games, and at least for one night, is the toast of the NHL. Hopefully that is the first two goals of many.

Ty Conklin, Blues shut out Red Wings 1-0

joehass — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 03:31:10 -0000

More photos » by Paul Sancya - AP

Ty Conklin stops a Tomas Homstrom shot. Conklin made 42 saves for the shut-out victory.

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During the offseason, the Detroit Red Wings made the decision to go with Jimmy Howard as the goalie of the future, releasing Ty Conklin who signed with the St. Louis Blues. Wednesday night at Joe Louis Arena, the former goalie of the future bested the current one.

Brad Boyes scored just 1:56 into the first period, and the red lights would remain off the rest of the night as the Blues shut out the Red Wings 1-0. On a night when the Red Wings had 42 shots on goal and another 43 attempts on net, Conklin stood on his head.

For a Detroit team that has been struggling all season long with putting the puck into the net, tonight's game became a painful reminder of their struggles. Henrik Zetterberg had 11 shot attempts, including seven shots. Pavel Datsuyk had 10 shot attempts. Only three skaters didn't have at least one shot on net (Brett Lebda, Brad May, and Kris Draper).

On his goal, McDonald moved the puck out from behind Jimmy Howard to his left. He passed it out to Carlo Colaiacovo between the faceoff dots. Colaiacovo spotted an open Brad Boyes about 20 feet out, who put it past Howard for his eighth of the season. It would be the only blemish on Howard's record, but it's the only one the Blues needed.

The Red Wings will have an off day before the Anaheim Ducks make their second visit to Joe Louis Arena this season.

Player of the game: Jimmy Howard. Howard's only goal allowed was more of a defensive failure than a goaltending one, but on most nights, that's the kind of performance that should garner a W instead of an L.

Defending Big D LIVE with Mike Heika Available For Download

Brandon Worley — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 23:11:51 -0000

We'd like to express our sincere thanks and appreciation to Mike for taking the time last night to talk to us. We discussed the inconsistency from game to game, the financial issues of the Dallas Stars, the issues with the young defensemen and spent a long time discussing the overall structure of this current team.

Personally, I walked away from the show with a bit of a new outlook on the team. The Stars are not the same team that they were five, even two years ago and we cannot expect them to be. They are 30 games into a new coaching and general manager regime and while it's ugly right now, Joe Nieuwendyk deserves some time to rebuild the Stars into what his vision for a successful hockey team would be. The Stars are young, and it's going to take some moves before things come together in the new direction he wants to go. We'd all like for the Stars to be successful in the here and now, but perhaps we all need to be a bit more patient.

Even Bob Gainey didn't build a champion in a month. Thanks Mike, for reminding us of that.

In case you missed it, you can find the archived show here at our Defending Big D LIVE homepage. You can also find all of our past episodes there as well.

Our show is also available on iTunes, and you find our download page here:

For those of you that download last night's show, there is an extra 15 minutes of conversation with Mike about the future of the Dallas Stars that was not aired during the live broadcast.

Stargazing: Stars Lose to Ducks in OT, 4-3

Brad G — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:37:19 -0000

Stargazing is a daily assortment of Dallas Stars and Texas Stars news, and whatever other random ramblings are bouncing around inside our heads.

[A quick note before we dive into this lovely Wednesday morning subject matter: Don't forget about Defending Big D Live tonight at 7:00pm CST. We'll have special guest Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News to talk all things Stars. You can find the show here.]

Only one team in the Western Conference has lost more games than the Dallas Stars: That would be the Ducks. The same Ducks who were the recipients of a Stars no-show in the third period last night. The same Ducks that hadn't won a game in their last five tries. Only one team in the conference has lost more games than the Dallas Stars, and that's the team that beat them in a three goal comeback last night. That is hard to swallow.

Dallas has now lost 17 of their 30 games played. It's a good thing the NHL cares about when you lose the game, because, as a fan, I have to be honest with you: I really don't. They've played 30, they've lost 17. They were out shot 42-22 last night, a 20 shot differential. You shouldn't expect to win many games when you're out shot that badly.

The Stars now lead the league in overtime losses with nine. It's easy to look at that stat and say "they need to get better in overtime and the shootout." Last night's game really doesn't apply to that ideology though, does it? The overtime period was a carry-over from a third period that saw the ice tilt so far in the Ducks favor that the outcome felt like an inevitability shortly after they scored their second goal. To the Stars credit, however, they did not take a penalty in the third period or OT. Somehow.

Dallas once again kept Perry off the score sheet, and limited Getzlaf to an assist. When these teams meet for a third time in December on the 31st, I'll take that, and challenge young Dan Sexton to beat the Stars again.

After the jump, we'll spend more time on this game for some reason...

I'd like to borrow Mike Heika's words from the third period last night, and head anyone who points their finger at the goaltender off at the proverbial pass:

The kid Sexton gets his second goal of his three-game career and ties it with 1:02 left.

It was a bad goal, but it's hard to blame Turco, who was the only reason Anaheim didn't score six that period.

So very true.

There's a certain irony to this whole Dan Sexton thing:

It was easily the most uplifting moment of the season for the Ducks (11-13-6), who snapped a five-game losing streak. And it was provided by the smallest player on the ice playing in just his third NHL game.

Recalled last week from the minor leagues to somehow take the place of the franchise face Teemu Selanne, Sexton punched in a pass from Bobby Ryan at the 6:08 mark of the third and feverishly pumped his fist as he cut the Stars' lead to 3-2.

"I'd say it was probably the coolest feeling," Sexton said. "Take my previous coolest feeling and multiply it by 10 if not more. That's what it was."

The Stars injured Selanne, and for their trouble they get this kid taking his place and scoring his first two NHL goals. The Hockey gods are not smiling on the Stars right now.

Because I like comedy, here's what Art had to say here at Defending Big D last night...

Oh you sneaky Dallas Stars... I'm on to you now! I finally figured out what your modus operandi is for this season!

You see I have it on good authority that a grade six kid in Plano last year did a school report on the possibility of an NHL team going an entire season playing nothing but overtime games and if they could make the playoffs with 82 overtime and shootout losses. The kid then forwarded his report (it got a B-minus by the way) to Marc Crawford before the start of training camp, and Crow being the ever inquisitive mind, figured "Why the hell not? I have three years on my contract, I can waste one."

Of course you Dallas Stars have kind of messed it up with the odd win in overtime and even once in a while *gasp* an odd regulation win... But you've pretty much stayed true to form and you keep losing in overtime and shootouts.

Anaheim Calling after the win...

Ducks Win!!!! Feels like forever since I've said that. The Ducks had an amazing comeback victory over the Stars. J.S. Giguere made some great save to keep the Ducks close after they had fallen down 3-0. Joffrey Lupul got the scoring going with a breakaway goal when the Stars forgot to pick him up when his penalty expired. After that rookie Dan Sexton strapped the team to his back and scored two goals in the third period. The trade winds might be blowing in Anaheim soon, but a winning streak might calm them. Three goals is the largest deficit the Ducks have ever overcome for a victory. Hopefully, that type of epic comeback, as well as three goals from the second line, will be enough to get the team permanently moving in the right direction, instead of just teasing the fans with moments of brilliance.

Must be nice.

Quotage on the road is always hard to come by...

Marc Crawford[NHL.com]:

"Anytime you have a three-goal lead and you don't bring it home … you have to want the puck, you have to want to make plays," Stars coach Marc Crawford said. "You've got to be supportive of one another. We made a couple of mistakes in the third period that were non-supportive mistakes.

"In the third period, you knew they were going to come and make a push. That's the way they play. Our forwards were so supportive, but we got away from that at crucial moments. Those few mistakes we made ended up the difference-makers."

Brenden Morrow[NHL.com]:

"Trying to sit back and hope for wins in the third is never a good recipe for success," Dallas captain Brenden Morrow said after the Stars lost for the ninth time in 12 games that have gone past regulation. "We're pretty frustrated with the way we finished in some games here and there in the first third of the season."

Brenden Morrow [Morning News]:

"That can't happen, it just can't happen," said captain Brenden Morrow. "We've got to go out and win games and not be afraid to lose. There is a big difference."

"We're giving them life," Morrow said. "They've had a rough start, and we should have sensed that, but a game like that just gives them momentum."

Mark Stepneski...

Call it what you want. Sitting back. Playing safe. Playing not to lose. What ever it was, it wasn’t good and it didn’t work. It was the second straight game where the Stars should have wrapped up two points in regulation, but had to settle for one by losing a game in OT or a shootout.

But all that stuff aside, it still comes down to execution and making plays. As the game got down to crunch time, Anaheim made plays and the Stars didn’t.

I thought the game really started to turn late in the second when the Stars had those two power play chances basically back-to-back with a 3-0 lead, got nothing out of them and Joffrey Lupul scored coming out of the penalty box on the breakaway after the second one. That made it 3-1 and gave the Ducks some life and momentum going into the third. All they needed was another one to really turn the game around. They got the Dan Sexton goal off the turnover and it’s game on and it just continued to be all Anaheim. Sexton scores late on a goal I am sure Marty Turco would like to have back to tie the game. And then they the Ducks get a three-on-one in overtime and Saku Koivu scores off his own rebound.

A disappointing end to the first game of a big road trip. It will be interesting to see how they respond Friday in San Jose.

Hopefully they'll be able to focus their energies and not come out overly frustrated in San Jose. Personally, I'm more interested in the Los Angeles game. If there's one game on this trip the Stars need to win, it's that one. Taking points from LA and Phoenix is a critical part of the Stars task ahead.

Andrew's Stars Page also reports that Ivan Vishnevskiy has been sent back to the Texas Stars.

Sitting Duck

Arthur from Anaheim Calling — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 09:56:04 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

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ARTHUR:

The first true deviation from "you win, you're in" produced a victory for the Ducks, but it's hard to credit Giguere as a factor in the W as the Stars took less than 10 shots after solving the netminder three times. Jiggy will likely get the crease until the coaching staff decides he falls short of the new criterion (apparently unrelated to winning or losing).

Daniel, we both agreed that Carlyle should abolish the "you win, you're in" system, but will the new system make it more difficult for Murray to choose which goaltender he should trade?

DANIEL:

I don't think it will give Murray too much trouble in picking a goalie to trade. Murray has a tendency to just do what he wants. See the deconstruction of the checking line at last year's trade deadline, and the inexplicable signing of some 8 mediocre free agent defensemen, instead of one good one. When Murray wants to make a move, he makes one.

I complain a lot about Murray, but I think there is one thing I can definitively say about him as a GM: he won't let a free agent just walk. To me, that means that if Giguere just continues to play marginally well, Hiller will definitely get moved, simply because Murray won't let him walk for nothing. The fact is, HIller's impending UFA status makes him great trade bait in the salary cap era. Of course, his occasional flashes of brilliance help with that too, but a goalie rental for a paranoid team like the Blackhawks who almost HAVE to win this year will yield a great return.

I can't help but think that this system will inevitably drive up the value of the goalie who isn't playing. Teams won't be able to see the guy on the bench, and therefore won't be able to dissect his game as much. Instead, Murray can always say "Everyone struggled early on" and try to hide behind the team's overall struggles rather than any specific holes in a goalie's play. In the end, if Jiggy is the one who keeps manning the pipes, then HIller will be moved just to make sure he doesn't leave.

ARTHUR:

I don't think the new system will be problematic, just because I don't think these two were ever the type of player to flourish in a "you win, you're in" system. It's a romantic notion that Murray and Carlyle held, believing that one of these guys would go on a winning streak and force the other one out of the crease and, indeed, out of Anaheim. But nothing Jiggy and Hiller have done suggests that that was the best way to choose between them. Giguere doesn't perform well without his own confidence, much less the confidence of his coach, and Hiller flourished because he was given the starting job without the pressure of losing it.

I think Giguere will play a stretch until his performance degrades, then Hiller will play a stretch until his performance degrades and then the Ducks will choose and trade. And they really could have done that in November and had a guy out the door by now.

But I also think that Murray's already picked Hiller, and not just because he's already talked to Burke about Toskala. Right now, there is every reason to believe that Anaheim will be a rebuilding team next year and not the sort of team that can (or should) keep a 6M man between the pipes. And if we did keep Giguere, the netminder would have Murray over a barrel at the end of next year, when our goaltending alternative would be Justin Pogge.

Moving Giguere offers the team more flexibility. I'm not saying Murray will use that flexibility to pursue Turco or Nabokov this offseason, but there are plenty of situations that are preferable to having 6.6M tied up in the expiring contracts of Giguere and Pogge.

Ducks Reassign Bickel And Sharp To Rampage

Arthur from Anaheim Calling — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 07:49:33 -0000

THE TELETYPE:

Per JP Hoornstra, Anaheim has reassigned Stu Bickel and MacGregor Sharp from Bakersfield to the AHL's San Antonio Rampage. The pair have spent the entire season with the Condors, though MacGregor Sharp was called up to the NHL for eight games.

Anaheim has managed to find AHL playing time for many of its prospects, but fans attending next week's game against the Reign can still expect to see top prospects like Mark Mitera, Logan MacMillan and Timo Pielmeier toiling in the ECHL.

Ducks Win 4-3 in Yet Another Stars Overtime Loss

Art_M — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 06:32:35 -0000

More photos » by Chris Carlson - AP

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Oh you sneaky Dallas Stars... I'm on to you now! I finally figured out what your modus operandi is for this season!

You see I have it on good authority that a grade six kid in Plano last year did a school report on the possibility of an NHL team going an entire season playing nothing but overtime games and if they could make the playoffs with 82 overtime and shootout losses. The kid then forwarded his report (it got a B-minus by the way) to Marc Crawford before the start of training camp, and Crow being the ever inquisitive mind, figured "Why the hell not? I have three years on my contract, I can waste one."

Of course you Dallas Stars have kind of messed it up with the odd win in overtime and even once in a while *gasp* an odd regulation win... But you've pretty much stayed true to form and you keep losing in overtime and shootouts.

I'm on to you Stars. Oh boy, I am so on to you guys and while I tip my hat for such dedication to a cause, if you don't mind I do have a bit of advice concerning your 'plan' as you all move forward:

STOP IT!! For the love of Baby Hockey Jesus please stop this madness!!

The Stars had a 3-0 lead for nearly two full periods... and they blew it! It was like they tried to out-pathetic themselves from the Edmonton game.

"Hey... you guys think tanking a 2-0 lead was bad? Wait til ya see what we got planned for tonight!"

(The gory details after the jump...)

They had a great first period again which has been pretty much par for the course the last couple of weeks... Got goals from Brad Richards and Mike Modano... Both were beautiful plays. Richards was great out there and James Neal who was returned to the Richards line was playing well also. The defense was making nice crisp passes out of their zone. Steve Ott was banging and flying out there and even though he got stopped on yet another breakaway we Stars fans kinda laughed it off.

"Oh those Stars, always failing on breakaways and penalty shots... Ha ha..."

The Stars ended the first period up 2-0 and looking better than they had in weeks. Even their good efforts against Detroit and Edmonton couldn't match how well this first period went for Dallas. Not to mention the Ducks - who were going through a December that ranked only slightly better than Tiger Woods' December - were playing so bad that you could have sworn they reverted back to their mighty purple and teal, lets let Guy Hebert try to win this by himself days.

And then the second period hap... No... Wait... Actually the second period wasn't that bad either! At least it didn't start that bad.

Sure the Ducks came with more pressure and sure the Stars seemed to lose a step and were playing on their heels a bit more, but it wasn't that bad a period. Brad Richards added a second goal on the night to make it 3-0 after some more nice work by Neal and Loui Eriksson. And hell, if not for a couple of strong plays made by the Ducks defense, Dallas could have added a fourth or fifth goal. Near the end of that period though the Ducks started getting too much of an advantage in terms of puck possession and shots on goal. The Stars young defense - made younger by the playing of Ivan Vishnevskiy tonight - were really starting to struggle in terms of getting the puck out and the rest of the team seemed to go into snooze mode.

A snooze that you thought they should have broken out of the moment Joffrey Lupul got out of the penalty box with no Star keeping him in check and picked up a breakout pass from Ryan Getzlaf and then proceeded to drill Marty Turco into his own net with a five-hole shot that Marty did stop with his pads, but sadly slid in behind the goal line anyway under those pads along with the rest of Turco.

(We can argue all day if Turco was actually 'pushed' into that net by Lupul's stick and I'd buy the argument he was, but at that point Marty was backing up pretty quickly himself so I'm pretty sure his own momentum carried him in, push or no push.)

But still, Stars up 3-1 after two... That's not so bad. The Stars can make adjustments and come out better in the third. Only, they didn't. It got worse. Much worse.

If you were one of those fans that couldn't bother to stay up so late for the game, kudos to you for having the forsight to avoid such a train wreck that was the Stars defending a lead in the third period.

They again played not to lose. (Remember what I said about that last time kids?) Ducks played like they had nothing to lose. The Stars defense couldn't hold on to the puck in their own zone. They refused to hustle for loose pucks instead allowing Anaheim to pick up scraps in exchange for not being the guy that may be out of position. The Stars forwards weren't any better as they either stood high in the zone and hope a puck floated to them or hopelessly chased Ducks around the ice.

Honestly, I've seen dogs chase down their tails better than the Stars did pucks in that third period.

And when the Stars did manage to get the puck once in a while, it was a case of getting the puck past center, dumping it in and then having one forward kinda go after it, but not really with any gusto.

Turco was the only reason the Stars made it to overtime.. And yet somehow with the third Ducks goal, a Dan Sexton wrister from an odd angle a shot that Turco should have easily stopped, Turco was the reason it went into overtime. Not that Turco was to blame for the entire game, in fact anyone who does blame Turco for this loss clearly just didn't watch the game. The simple truth is, when your team is outshot 14-2 in the third period and 21-4 when you put together the third and overtime periods, you don't deserve a win. Turco can not be expected to stand on his head and stop the Ducks shooting gallery from getting anything past him.

(A quick little footnote here: Dan Sexton was awesome in that third period for Anaheim. He at least had the right idea. Fire pucks from every angle possible. Nine shots in a game? Wow!)

The Stars did get a point... Hard to get worked up or feel good about it though. This is a game they shouldn't have lost. Personally. that third period was some of the worst hockey I've seen from the Stars in the last twenty years of me being a dedicated follower of this franchise.

Unless you're really hoping to find out if a team can keep losing in overtime like the Stars do and still make the playoffs, as a fan this game tonight from about the second period onward should leave you feeling at least a little ill. We can only hope it does the same for the Stars themselves and lights a fire in them.

Defending Big D 3 Stars of the game

1st Star: Dan Sexton (ANA) - Two goals - first two of his NHL career, nine shots... He was all over the place and giving the Stars fits.

2nd Star: Bobby Ryan (ANA) - Had a nice, kinda quiet game... Two assists, six shots, +2... Wasn't flashy but was very solid.

3rd Star: Brad Richards (DAL) - Two goals early and was one of the few that bothered to shoot the puck on goal in the second and third periods.

Ducks Gameday -- Happy Blogniversary!

Earl Sleek — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:21:48 -0000

Dallas Stars (13-8-8, t-7th in west) at Anaheim Ducks (10-13-6, 15th in west), 7 pm
Anaheim Calling and Defending Big D more game-relevant perspectives.

Well, with the Ducks still winless in December I figured today was a good opportunity to do something distractionary. Plus it's a big date on the blog calendar -- exactly one year ago today, us misfits at Battle of California packed up our bags and left the old blogspot home to relocate our silliness to SB Nation.

Thank goodness I didn't make this cartoon about regular season dominance.

It's been a pretty crazy 2009 for the ol' BoC, and while this isn't really the blog's true birthday (that's in May, mom), it's nice to do something besides bitch and moan about the Ducks' current failings. It certainly helps that the past year was highlighted by the first ever playoff meeting between BoC squads, of course, which was huge -- added plenty of fuel to the divisional fire and gave me a permanent Twitter background, too.

This past year has had plenty of drama from all sides, though -- fake intra-BoC trades (Pronger to the Kings, Marleau to the Kings), actual blockbuster trades (Heatley to the Sharks, Smyth to the Kings, Pronger to the Flyers), emerging young stars (Doughty, B. Ryan), a wealth of superstars (Kopitar, Getzlaf/Perry, Thornton), and even the ill-fated Presidents' Trophy, which is still quite an achievement. It's been a blogger madhouse, that's for sure -- there's been optimism, pessimism, prognostication, superstition, bets made, bets paid, and even squirrels!

Plus it's been a good year for State Rapes, too -- victims include Chicago, Columbus & St. Louis, Edmonton, St. Louis (again) & Boston, plus even the surreal California-on-California -- what a busy year for porno-cartography!

What's in store for Year Two? Already the BoC drama gods are stirring again -- the Sharks have annual questions that can't be answered before April but are killing the regular season, the Kings are learning to deal with the newness of on-ice success and overall relevance, and the Ducks are coming to terms with the comedy of repeated suckitude. Over the next year we've got Olympics coming, a stretch-run and playoffs for two of the teams, and then a Ducks-heavy entry draft conveniently hosted in L.A. Exciting times.

Overall, I have to say that I'm very pleased with the year at SB Nation -- BoC is still a square peg in a network of round holes, but that's fine by me -- I'm glad we've been able to keep up the nonsense and randomness in the new digs, even when aligned with much more "legitimate" blogs. Plenty of thanks to Rudy, Mike, the rest of the occasional writers, the tolerant SBN folk, and of course the awesome commenters and readers -- you guys are aces!

Here's to a great Year Two. Feel free to share your overall thoughts or favorite moments about BoC-at-SB-Nation in the comments. Then pour a drink later and join the game comments when the Stars ~~beat up~~ play the Ducks.

Prediction: Shockingly, all three BoC teams offer plenty of intriguing storylines over the next year as well. Stay tuned!

Go Ducks.

Poll

One year in, how do you feel about BoC moving to SB Nation?

The Rumor Mill: Toskala Trade Still A Possibility?

Arthur from Anaheim Calling — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:27:41 -0000

More photos » by Frank Gunn - AP

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ARTHUR:
USA Today reports that Bob Murray was in the Air Canada Centre press box last night. That's the news.

The rumor is tied to the fact that last night was Vesa Toskala's first start since Nov. 23rd, and the goaltender came away with a win. According to Randy Youngman, there were preliminary talks for a Giguere/Toskala trade in early November. Obviously, nothing has materialized, but the Ducks have since, reportedly, inquired into the availability of other Toronto players, such as Niklas Hagman. Bob Murray's attendance could mean that a Toronto trade, principally involving Toskala, is still a viable option during Youngman's "long before the trade deadline" timeframe.

No Wins Situation

Arthur from Anaheim Calling — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:51:17 -0000

More photos » by Jae C. Hong - AP

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DANIEL:

This is Anaheim Calling to the hockey world.

The Ducks continue to find impressive ways to lose. Wisniewski is apparently continuing to play with the flu and making mistakes rather than admitting he can't play-- thanks for being tough Wiz. The offense from the top line is picking up again with an upright Joffrey Lupul, but secondary scoring is non-existent. And now, it also seems the power play is drying up. But that's all the bad stuff. While it might be more prudent for Anaheim fans to start thinking of the 2010 draft rather than the 2010 playoffs, can you tell me if there's a bright spot on the Ducks roster right now that can have Ducks fans tricking themselves into believing a playoff run might be in our future?

ARTHUR:

No.

DANIEL:

Well, that was an inspiring answer. I don't know if it will be enough for a full fledged playoff push, but the play of the rookies and the scoring chances that are starting to come from the top three lines have given me a little bit of hope for our season. Sexton is doing everything I thought he would. He enters scrums in the corners, and leaves with the puck. He's finding holes in the defense and creating shots and scoring opportunities, eventually the puck's going to start going in for him. Beleskey is finishing his checks and making smart plays in the defensive end. I think that Beleskey and Sexton have shown they can play in this league. I'm not saying there aren't consistency issues, defensive awareness or other factors that don't need to be improved, but they have shown that they have the required tools to play at the NHL level.

The Ducks youth, Sharp included, have demonstrated an ability to step into adverse situations and play strong hockey. The problem we're really facing is management's inability to let the rookies play. I think the play of the rookies has shown that we are a lot deeper up front than we originally thought. That means a forward for defenseman swap can be made without losing too much. Hopefully a move like that can get us a better shut down mentality for the third period and lead to a few more victories.

SB Nation - Anaheim Ducks

Congrats to Dan Sexton

Ty Conklin, Blues shut out Red Wings 1-0

Defending Big D LIVE with Mike Heika Available For Download

Stargazing: Stars Lose to Ducks in OT, 4-3

Sitting Duck

***Ducks Reassign Bickel And Sharp To Rampage***

Ducks Win 4-3 in Yet Another Stars Overtime Loss

Defending Big D 3 Stars of the game

Ducks Gameday -- Happy Blogniversary!

One year in, how do you feel about BoC moving to SB Nation?

The Rumor Mill: Toskala Trade Still A Possibility?

No Wins Situation

Ducks Reassign Bickel And Sharp To Rampage