As we continue to wait for the upcoming season, any news on Teemu and reflect on the tragedy in Russia, we are provided with some levity from goalie Timo Pielmeier. Yahoo Sports released the story and I must say I do enjoy the creativity. It really is not the breaking news on a certain superstar from Finalnd we are waiting for but with all the negative happening in the hockey world this would just be something to enjoy. Here is the link http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Goalie-mask-turns-Mighty-Ducks-into-gun-crazy-an;_ylt=AnnYyx.jqgejQuyIhYLz0yd7vLYF?urn=nhl-wp12114

As Ducks fan we all know how great a season Lubo Visnovsky is having both offensively and defensively but most of the NHL does not seem to care about d men unless your name is Nick Lidstrom, Shea Weber or you 
play on the east coast. Pierre Lebrun wrote a small article making a case for Lubo as a finalist for the Norris and it is finally good to see people taking notice of the the great year he is having.  Personally I think he should be in consideration because the Norris finalists are usually based on points. Even though its likely Lidstrom's name is probably already engraved on the Norris again, it would be nice to see Lubo nominated

Here's the link to the article: http://espn.go.com/blog/nhl/post/_/id/5488/where-is-norris-talk-for-lubomir-visnovsky

 The Ducks announced today that they have signed Luca Sbisa to a four year extension. Like usual the financial terms of the deal were not yet announced but one of our young D men will be here for four more years. Sbisa was set to be a restricted free agent at the end of this season so Murray avoided any chance that Sbisa be lost do to an offer sheet. The deal runs through the 2014- 15 season 

Just announced on NHL Live, the Ducks have acquired Francois Beauchemin from the Leafs in exchange for Joffery Lupul, Jake Gardiner, and a conditional fourth round draft pick. On every deal it seems like Beauchemin's name was tossed around and the real concern was would we overpay. Personally I feel like Lupul was not going to be given an opportunity to be a 20 plus goal scorer and this should ensure that Belesky and Sexton get in the lineup consistently.

According to ESPN. com the ducks are one of six teams asked to participate in the NHL Premiere games in Europe. The Oilers, Caps, Sabres, Rangers, and Kings, are the other five teams the NHL has asked. The Ducks have to agree to go but I'm not sure I want them to. We had some tough circumstances the last time we went over with a short summer, Teemu and Scotty pondering retirement and no break following the games in London. Recently the NHL has given sufficient rest to the returning teams but the way our schedule usually works in the first half who knows. My other question is if these six teams do go is it Ducks vs. Kings again like in London or do we see something different this time. The only way I would be real excited about this would be if we played in Finland and that convinced Teemu to stay one more year.

the Devils announced that at some point this season they will retire niedermayer's number 27. im not entirley suprised because of the great things he did with the devils but i hope this does not make the ducks decide not to retire his number in the future. i want teemu to be the first number retired, but scotty made us a legitemate franchise again and made us into a consistent cup contender. he only played 5 seasons but the impact in those years makes him worthy of that honnor

robidas was suspended one game for his hit on matt belesky in the game last night. he was automatically suspended becuase this is his second major for boarding and a game misconduct in the last 41 games. I'm not sure if he would have be suspeneded by the league if not for the automatic suspension required for his second infraction. his first infraction occured when he hit ryan clowe of san jose last season

is hiller's all black mask a permanant thing or is it just a temp? i liked the half black half white one that he had at the end of last year. i liked McEhilenny's mask and im always seeing the pics of giguere and his terminator duck mask. goalie masks are usually really creative and have some meaning to them. did hiller ever explain the "motivation for the mask" its not that big a deal but im a fan of creative goalie masks

does anyone else feel like sbisa is being treated the same way bobby ryan was when he was first coming up. ryan was orgionally not getting many minutes and was scratched or sent down until he was finally given a chance to play and he exploded. i feel like sbisa should at least get his shot with decent minutes to prove himself. we got this guy when we traded pronger so obviously someone saw something in him that stood out. now he just needs his chance to prove he can be a strong asset to the blueline for years to come

like most ducks fans, I believed j.s. giguere was going to be in our net for a long time. i always liked hiller but i finally believed him to be a true number 1 during that playoff run against san jose and detroit. he carried that momentum into the olympics and was a rock wall for a weak swiss team. since the olympics and that playoff run we have seen only small doses of that brilliant play and it leaves me wondering who is the real jonas hiller. Is hiller going to become this amazing stud of a goalie that we desperately need right now? i realize this is the first year where the crease is truely his but watching his play from the olympics and the playoffs has only left me wanting more. I know i'm being critical of the guy who replaced giggy but i feel hiller has another level to his game that for some reason I dont see on a consistent basis. if he can recapture that magic and raise himself to tht level than we have our next rock in the crease for years to come and our ducks will be a force to be reckoned with once again.

NHL. com just came out with who they bleieved who was the greatest person to wear a certain number and they said that Ovechkin is the greatest person to wear 8 and had Selanne as the honorable mention . I have a serious problem with at this time putting Selanne behind Ovie. If Ovie had a career ending injury this season his numbers would be nowhere near Teemu's. I understand Ovie will pass Selanne in goals, points etc. but as it stands now Selanne should be ahead of Ovie. Selanne is the greates rookie of all time, is a 10 time all star (i think) a stanley cup champ, has over 600 goals and 1,000 points. will ovie do most of that probably but there is no guarentee. Selanne is currently the greatest player to wear 8.

The Hockey News Yearbook came out with its predictions for next season and has anaheim ranked 11th this was written before we signed sutton and teemu.

1. Canucks

2. Sharks

3. Red Wings

4. Blackhawks

5. Kings

6. Blues

7. Coyotes

8. Flames

9. Avs

10. Predators

11. Ducks

12. Stars

13. WIld

14. Blue Jackets

15. Oilers

I think if this was written now we would be higher but cmon they have calgary in the playoffs. they cnt score outside of iginla . st louis at 6? playoffs is good but  6 seems high. halak is good but the playoffs were 1 thing can he so it for a full season. curious to see wut every1 else thinks and how u rank em.  if any1 wants the east predictions ask nd i will post em

with teem ureturning we once again push back raising number 8 to the rafters but it got me thinkong that the ducks should seriously consider raising 27 to the rafters. he wasnt here tht long but scotty took this franshise from an avg team to consistent plyoff team to cup champion. he lead the team on and off the ice, and im pretty sure leads most of the ducks all time d men records. yes it would be special for teemu to be the first number retired but there are not many players tht had a greater impact on anaheim than scotty. we need to do the right thing and honnor number 27

I was looking over nhl numbers after the rangers signed frolov and they only hav around 2 mil to go and sign staal who is restricted. we hav a weak d and enough cap space to offer 3 mil or more a yr plus alot of ice time. Living on the east coat i see this guy alot and i thnk he can rlly help us. I was rlly pissed when the oilers did this to get penner but as a ducks fan i thnk we need to do all we can to get back into the playoffs. plus i would love to screw glen sather for the bad contracts he gav to drury nd redden