new divide.

i remember black skies, the lightning all around me.

i remembered each flash as time began to blur.

like a startling sign that fate had finally found me.

- new divide by linkin park

Yesterday I ventured to Honda Center to see my Ducks take on the Tampa Bay Lightning.   There was so much traffic yesterday, I ended up sitting in traffic for an hour.  Luckily, I made it there just in time to run up to my seat and see Teemu Selanne score for the first goal of the night. 1-0 Ducks after 6:38 minutes of play. Tampa Bay gets some chances in the period, but the Ducks score again on the powerplay. 2-0 Ducks thanks to Ryan Getzlaf.

Second period has an okay fight between Anaheim's Mike Brown and Tampa Bay's Zenon Konopka, it's nothing compared to the fan fight that happened after the game. I'll explain that in just a second. A minute after the fight, Tampa Bay's David Hale clips Bobby Ryan in the face with a high stick. Bobby's bleeding, it's a four minute penalty.  Bobby ends up scoring on the ensuing powerplay, 3-0 Ducks.  And then things got weird... Tampa Bay scores two goals in 18 seconds to suddenly make the score 3-2. Yes, the second of those Tampa Bay goals was pretty spectacular, but Stamkos, how about you score that goal on a night when you're not playing my Ducks?  Alright.

Third period starts with Tampa Bay on a powerplay because of a last minute Todd Marchant penalty.  Tampa Bay score, 3-3. It's the third in a row for Tampa, and people in the duck pond were pissed.  Both teams get some pretty looking shots in the third, but nothing finds the back of the net. To an overtime that shouldn't even have been necessary in the first place, we go.   Eleven seconds into OT, Ryan Malone of Tampa Bay gets a two minute cross checking penalty.  It's four Ducks to three Lightning players and it doesn't take long for the Ducks to score. Selanne to Getzlaf, Getzlaf to Niedermayer, Niedermayer gets nothing but net. 4-3 Ducks win.

But wait, it doesnt end there. This year the three stars of the game give away their sticks if they're a Duck. 3rd star was Selanne, but he was m.i.a. from the stick giveaway for some reason. 2nd star was Getzlaf and he safely hands it to a little boy through one of the photographer's holes in the glass. 1st star was Captain Scott Niedermayer and he gently throws it over the glass to a younger girl. Well, some jerkface grabs it out of her hands and fights the girl's mother over it. I wish I were joking.

ALRIGHT. apparently the guy in plaid in the video is pro-skateboarder and Ducks fan Mike V. He beat the guy in blue, and was arrested. The Ducks have severed their ties with Mike, who was suppose to launch his Ducks line tomorrow at the game.
Way to go Mike. It was bad enough that people fought over a stick at our game, but learning that mike v was involved? Horrible.
Ducks fans are getting ripped a new one.
At least our top line isn't ripping off cabbies... yet.


Ducks versus Sharks Saturday night, 7 p.m. Honda Center.

ducks freeze up at the igloo.

The Ducks took on the Penguins at Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh yesterday night.  The game did not go well for the Ducks, so instead of a traditional recap, here's what you should know about the game.

PREGAME :
Penguins have a lot of key players out of the lineup. Gologoski, Orpik, Kunitz, Kennedy, and Talbot.
Ducks have two players out, Saku Koivu & Ryan Carter.
Ducks recalled Kyle Calder from the minors and put him into the lineup. I don't know why. Calder is a Kings reject, he is the definition of suck.
Jiggy gets the goal for the Ducks, Marc Andre Fleury for the Pens.

1st period :
Pens score less than two minutes into the game. 0-1 Pens.
Corey Perry goes crashing into Marc-Andre Fleury as he tries to score, it gets a good laugh out of me.
The Ducks get an embarrassing penalty for too many men on the ice. I stop laughing.
Pens score again 0-2.
Ryan Getzlaf gets a penalty for hooking, but Corey Perry and Todd Marchant work hard to get the Ducks a short handed goal. 1-2 Pens.

2nd period:
Kyle Calder keeps getting out of position, but so does Penguin Chris Bourque. They suck equally.
Jordan Staal on a breakaway scores on Jiggy, who like always, barely moves when it comes to breakaway, or goal tending all together. 1-3 Pens.
Ryan Getzlaf takes another penalty.
No one else score, period ends at 1-3.

3rd period :
Ryan Getzlaf fights Bill Guerin, and LOSES. Getzlaf is taller, bigger and younger than Guerin but somehow manages to lose and almost bang his helmet-less head on the ice. Nice going Getz. We get it, this game is bad for you.
Martin Skoula scores for the Pens. 1-4 Pens and Skoula gets me a bunch of fantasy hockey points. I might as well get something out of this game right?
Ducks score with roughly 3 minutes left. 2-4 Pens, but it's too late to try to catch up. Way too late.
Ducks try to pull the goalie for the extra attacker, Pens score on the empty net. 2-5 Pens win.

What the Ducks take away from this game :
Not points, again.
Corey Perry's goal streak extends to 12, but the Perry & Getzlaf and Getzlaf individual streak comes to an end.
Jiggy is a bad goalie, enough said.
Kyle Calder can go back down to the minors if you ask me.
Jiggy is such a bad goalie he should be traded for the cap space, then we could buy a better Defense.
Last but always not least, fire Randy Carlyle.

Ducks vs. Lightening Thursday. Yes, i'm going, I have season tickets. I dont expect the Ducks to win and I expect Honda Center to be empty. And if you for some reason go, i'll be the person boo-ing Randy Carlyle :]

just city boys born and raised in south detroit.

Yesterday the Ducks faced the Detroit Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.  This is the third game on the four game road trip, and the back end of a back to back.  The Ducks started goalie Jonas Hiller and the Red Wings used goalie Jimmy Howard.  The first few minutes looked bad for the Ducks but great for the Wings.  The Ducks spent a lot of time in the defensive zone, but somehow managed to keep the game scoreless.  It was luck more than anything that kept the Ducks from being down a few goals in the first ten minutes, but it was clear that it was only going to be a matter of time before the Wings scored.  On the first penalty of the game, Duck Teemu Selanne goes to the box and Red Wing Dan Clearly scores.  1-0 Wings favor and Ducks fans hate Dan Clearly even more than we already do. [ In the 09 playoffs Clearly scored a dirty goal against the Ducks with 3 minutes left in game 7 of the western conference semi-finals. The goal cost us the game and the playoffs. ] Less than a minute passes before Ryan Whitney takes another penalty for the Ducks.  Wings on the powerplay again but this time don't score.  A scrum after the powerplay ensues and  Ryan Getzlaf comes out with a 4 minute penalty, two for cross-checking and an extra 2 minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. Wings score 10 seconds into this powerplay oppurtunity and go up 2-0.

The second period startes with the Ducks on the penalty kill. The Wings dont add to their lead and take a penalty. To no surprise, the Ducks don't score on the powerplay. I didn't expect them to, they've been horrible on the one man advantage.  But thankfully after the powerplay ends, Getzlaf to Perry strikes again and the Ducks get a goal. 1-2 Ducks and the point streak for Getzlaf and Perry extends to 11 game. Now if only the rest of our team would play like them, we'd start winning games.  After the goal, the play is up and down.  Good chances for both teams, but the 2nd period ends with 1-2 Ducks score.

The third period was a roller coaster of goals and for Ducks fans, emotion. At 3:47 our top line scored again and the game was even 2-2.  After a horrible first period and an okay second, it was amazing the game was tied.  I had some hope for the Ducks, but then Pavel Datsyuk scored about 2 minutes later.  2-3 Wings, but 1 minute later Joffrey Lupul ties it up again for the Ducks, 3-3 game.  Ryan Getzlaf has assists on all three goals at this point and I'm starting to wonder why he's just assistant captain and not captain.  After Lupul's goal, the Ducks almost get another but Corey Perry's shot goes off the goal post.  The Red Wings take the puck and almost score but their shot goes off the goal post. The post is either your best friend or your worst enemy.  Zetterburg takes the puck for the Red Wings, doesnt hit the post this time and Wings are up 4-3.  Wings are guilty of some penalties, giving the Ducks a 5 on 3 opportunity.  Ryan Getzlaf scores and i'm starting to think he's the only one playing.  Regardless, game is tied 4-4 and the momentum is in the Ducks favor. That is, until Zetterburg scores again. 5-4 Wings and the wind is out of the Ducks' sails. Jonas Hiller lets in another bad goal and the score is 6-4.  Zetterburg gets an empty net, 7-4 Wings win and a hat trick for Zetterburg. You think you're so cool with your hat trick Henrik Zetteburg, but you're not that cool, Getzlaf had more points than you.

So what can the Ducks take away from this loss?
Not points.
The fact that Ryan Getzlaf is just one man, he needs team support to get the win.
At least the point streak for Getzlaf & Perry is to 11 games, if the get the streak to 13, they'll tie an NHL record currently held by Pittsburgh's Malkin & Crosby.
The Ducks don't really have a number one goaltender. Jiggy played bad Friday, Jonas didnt do that much better Saturday.
And the fact that the Ducks / Wings rivalry is getting bigger. If I really spoke my wings hatred into this post, there would be many expletives towards the red wings and the title would be harsh. Believe me, my twitter is full of curse words towards the wings.
Last but not least, fire Randy Carlyle, trade Jiggy.

Someone make it happen. Ducks v. Penguins @ 4: 30 Monday.

this is war.

Earlier tonight the Ducks played the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena in Ohio.  It was captain Scott Niedermayer's 1200th game, the second road game out of four, and J.S. Giguere's, nicknamed Jiggy, first game back since being injured.  The Ducks got off to on okay start. The Blue Jackets gave the two Ducks two early powerplays, but the Ducks didn't score on either of them.  Less than 10 seconds after the second powerplay ended, Corey Perry dropped passed to Ryan Getzlaf, who passed the puck to Bobby Ryan who scored from his position near the net.  The Ducks were up 1-0, allowing Getzlaf and Perry to extend their point streaks to 10 games.  But the Ducks get lazy with for the next few minutes, they stop moving their feet and Columbus captain Rick Nash scored on a breakaway to tie the game 1-1.  Getzlaf gets a late penalty at 19:39 of the first for holding, but the Blue Jackets dont score and the penalty carries over.

Second period starts with the Ducks still on the penalty kill. The Jackets don't capitalize on the one man advantage, and when Getzlaf comes out of the penalty box, he immediately joins the rush, passes the puck to Marchant who then scores. Ducks up 2-1, but get caught with bad shifts and take penalties. Columbus takes advantage this time and scores with Jiggy out of position, 2-2 tie game. For Jiggy commentating to the media lately that he wants to be the number one goalie and starter for most of the games, he sure doesn't play like it. A few minutes pass and Columbus takes a couple penalties but the Ducks cant score, making then 3/27 this season on the man advantage.  Ryan Getzlaf gives fans a mini heart-attack as a slapshot he takes goes into Corey Perry, who's in his usual position in front of the net.  Corey comes back after a few minutes and everyone breathes a sigh of relief.

The third period has never been a strong point for the Ducks, and in this game the story was no different.  The Ducks spent a lot of time in the Blue Jackets' attack zone, almost giving up a goal on a few ocassions. Not to be outdone, the Ducks do get some good looking shots on goal, but Columbus goalie Garon stops them all. No one scores and the game goes to overtime. Four on four overtime is up and down for both teams with good looking chances for both. The Jackets take a penalty to give the Ducks a four on three advantage, but halfway through the powerplay, Whitney is guilty of cross-checking and the game goes to rare three on three.  No one scores again and the game goes to a shootout.

Huselius goes first for the Jackets and scores on Jiggy, who barely moves.
Getzlaf goes for Ducks, misses.
Filatov goes for the Jackets and Jiggy barely saves it.
Perry goes for the Ducks, and misses.
Nash goes the Jackets, scores of course. Jiggy didnt even move.

Jackets win 3-2 and I still hold up that Jiggy needs to be traded. You can't comment that you want to be our number one goalie and play like that. You barely moved in the shootout and you're $6 million we could be using on something else, like better defense. Time to go Jiggy and please, take head coach Randy Carlyle with you.

the devil went down to jersey.

Sorry for the break. Shit happens, macbook had to be repaired, I got in a car accident.

Now that that's over with...

Yesterday night the Ducks took on the New Jersey Devils in New Jersey.  The first game of a four game road trip did not start off well for the Ducks.  The Ducks were a wreck, probably just as bad as the car accident I was in on Tuesday.

During the first period, just 38 seconds into the game, the Devils scored on their first shot. It was an early indication that the Ducks were not going to play well.  The Ducks had two powerplays to try to tie the game, but looked worse on the powerplay. We couldn't pass, couldn't shoot, couldn't score.  The defensive looked like it imploded on itself and it didnt get better the rest of the way.

The second period gave the Ducks some hope as Corey Perry scored early into the second to tie the game.  It was even on the scoreboard, but on the ice the gameplay clearly favored the Devils.  The Devils score two more times in the period, once when the were shorthanded, and it was a sign that we were going to lose.

The third period was a snore. Nothing positive happened for the Ducks and I even changed the channel to the Kings game. The Kings won 5-2 to Carolina and I felt like I got robbed out of watching a good hockey game by being loyal to the Ducks.

With the loss, the Ducks are 14 / 15 in the Western Conference.
We can't seem to win more than two games in row.
Jiggy came back from his injury with a bad attitude.
Our defensive imploded.
Corey Perry & Ryan Getzlaf are on 9 game point streaks.
Wiz has been back from his suspension for a two games now, but he's playing like he's still on forced vacation.
Ryan Whitney is inconsistent in his defensive.
And oh, we should still fire head coach Randy Carlyle. The bandwagon got derailed after a couple wins, but believe me, I'm still driving it.

the pen is mightier than the duck.

Ducks / Penguins.

First meeting of the Ducks and Penguins since we traded Kunitz for Whitney. Of course the game was going to be epic. Reigning Stanley Cup champs against our boys? Bring it.

So let's get this clear first, Ducks are my #1, Pens are my #2. Got it? Good. Time for duck,duck,penguin.

Getzlaf & Perry did their usual batman & robin. Pears scores 3:57 into the first period.

1-0 Ducks.

Bad plays, here's looking at your delay of game Mikkelson.

Pens go on the powerplay four times.

I think Ryan Whitney spilled some pens secrets in the locker room, because we killed all four.

SECOND.

Pens score twice. They go where Jonas keeps the cookies.

2-1 Pens.

There's more penalties.

Sid complains about his stick breaking, save it for the kings.

our Batman & Robin strike again.

2-2 Ducks.

THIRD.

'

Alex Goligoski is a beast. He might be better than Mike Green.

put that in your perogie and eat it ovechkin.

Ducks & Pens agree, we hate the Caps.

Goligoski gets the go ahead for the Pens 7:55 into the 3rd.

Saku says NON, scores for us about 30 seconds later.

3-3 Ducks.

Ducks get too excited, fall apart.

Too much traffic for Jonas and Dupuis gets nothin but net.

3-4 Pens.

Clock ticks, Duck shoot.

J-Staal blocks a glorious opportunity for Bobby.

Perry still cant get his first hat trick.

Saku buries his head into his hands.

Perry cusses.

Joff misses.

Bobby looking like number two in the draft.

Sorry Bobby, but i can't remember the last time we cheered your name :[

Crosby goes double stack.

Marc Andre Fluery, Mandre, robs us.

Props to you Mandre.

We brought on an onslaught at the end, couldnt find the net.

Pens win 4-3

real pictures, no photoshops = here.

FREE WIZ.

Ducks/ Preds tomorrow.

toronto turns over a new leaf.

Yesterday I attended the Ducks versus Toronto Maple Leafs game at Honda Center. I walked into the building expecting the boys to find their groove and win against the worst team in the National Hockey League. What was delivered was a grueling 2-6 defeat at the hands of Toronto.  Yesterday was by far, the worst game I have ever been to. I spent most of the time boo-ing my own team instead of rooting for them.  The Ducks were either one of two things last night, over-physical or not paying attention.  There were several line brawls, countless fights and what seemed like an entire game powerplay for Toronto. The penalty box was loaded with some of our best scorers, so of course Toronto scored and eventually won. Sure, there were some bad calls by the referees, but that's no excuse for the bad gameplay. If the Ducks are looking for the guilty, they need only look into a mirror. The Ducks put no heart into the game last night and it showed.

Technically, the Ducks amounted to 28 shots on goal, 43 penalty minutes and only 3 goals.  This was a horrible effort and every game is starting to be the same story. Star power on our first and second forward lines, a four time Stanley Cup winner leading our defensemen, a normally solid goalie who's getting no help from his team and a losing game.

Meanwhile, fans are beyond frustrated. I left the game early, as a lot of others did. Honda Center seemed to have more Leafs fans than Ducks fans. The Duck pond doesn't quite feel like home anymore. Home is where you're suppose to feel safe, secure, and expected to win. After dropping five out of six at home, Honda Center isn't home anymore. It's just a building until we start building something out on the ice and start winning.

heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it's off to camp we go!

welcome back to ducks hockey.

pictures of anaheim ducks training camp 2009 CLICK here ;]