The whole thing was the result of an exploit in Wordpress, which has been fixed and WP updated to the latest version. Being a coder by trade, I decided to put my own protections in to prevent unruly people from inserting malicious links ever again.

I’m off for a trip through New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland tomorrow but when I return, FINALLY intend to get this site back on track with the news and my (hopefully) interesting thoughts.

Rock on, Ducks’ fans!

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Bergeron never saw a game in the Ducks’ first-round playoff loss to the Dallas Stars. He is considered somewhat of an offensive defenseman with a booming point shot, however his defensive skills appear to be severly lacking.

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I managed to watch every game of the series on television this year, a rare occurrence as I live in hockey-deprived Costa Rica. I think the series was won by the team who put more effort in; plain and simple, that team wasn’t Anaheim. Say what you want about the referees or Perry’s injury, but every player on the Dallas Stars gave 110% effort while Anaheim, with the exception of a few players, appeared lethargic at many times.

Lack of effort aside, let’s explore some of the other reasons why the Duks may have done as poorly as they did.

#1 - Cup Hangover

Don’t be so quick to dismiss this as simply an excuse; fatigue is a very real factor in teams trying to repeat their Cup-winning performance. Add in a trip across seas to London to start off the year and, Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer aside, and that toll is more than usual. It’s no surprise that of the recent Cup-winning teams, many have missed the playoffs or seen an early exit the following season.

#2 - Corey Perry

This factor, in my opinion, is a lot bigger than many people think. Without their leading goal-scorer, Anaheim just didn’t pack the offensive punch needed to get through a hard-working Stars’ defense as well as Marty Turco. When Perry came back, he did his best to get Anaheim back in the series (though, too little too late). He gets my vote for best Ducks’ player in the series, along with Jean-Sebastien Giguere. Perry doesn’t just score goals though, he is more important than that. He agitates the opposing teams, creates space, gains puck possession and is an underrated passer. He provides a spark that I felt the Ducks were definitely missing.

#3 - The Selanne/Niedermayer Situation

I’ll be the first to admit I was wrong. I thought, due to the fact both players had half the year off, they would be well rested and a dominant force for the Ducks. However, in the playoffs, they were not at their best. Thus, their ‘distraction’ to the team and handicapping Burke’s ability to make the proper moves was a severe negative.

#4 - Lack of Motivation

I believe this may be the biggest reason of all. The players, fresh off a big win last season, didn’t have that ‘hunger’ that is needed to go all the way. Sure, I would think winning two Cups in a row in this era of hockey should be challenge enough, but apparently the Ducks’ players didn’t agree with me. Last year, you had Teemu trying to win his first Cup and Scott trying to win one for his brother. Giguere, I am sure, also wanted one bad. Getzlaf and Perry were young studs on their way up and are known to be quite competitive guys. Pronger was hot off a losing trip to the Finals. I could go on. This year, in contrast, who had that hunger? Todd Bertuzzi was really the only veteran who hasn’t won one, but he didn’t show any of that drive to me.

Well, that pretty much sums up my thoughts on the matter. If you think I left anything out, or don’t agree with me on a certain factor, fee free to leave me some comments and let me know.

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It’s been a real long while since I’ve posted here and I apologize for that. Then again, hobbies often take a back seat when life gets busy. I’d like you all to know things have settled down and I find myself with time once again to post.

I’ve updated the blog to the latest version of WP, as it seems in my absense some jerk used an exploit to fill my entries with invisible gambling links, getting me flagged as a badware site. Hopefully that should be removed in a few days now. I’ve also updated some plugins, so as you can see at the top of the page the site is available in a lot more languages now.

Check back tomorrow where I’ll have a write up about the Ducks playoff performance, or lack thereof.

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First, I caught quite the tropical flu which laid me up in bed for about 4-5 days. That sucked. I have a pretty strong immune system though and recovered easily. Then, I had family come in to town which meant a lot of trips to the beach, an African reserve and basically a lot of being away from home and the internet.

Finally, I’ve been extremely busy with work, as we dealt with potential buyers for our company as well as began work on a brand-new project. I’m happy to say the former has now concluded and the latter is progressing nicely towards its goal.

All that said, I apologize for missing so much time on here and hope it doesn’t happen again anytime soon. The most exciting time of the year is coming quickly upon us, with the Trade Deadline and final push for the playoffs and ultimately the playoffs themselves. I think we have a solid shot to repeat as Cup champions for the first time since Detroit did it. I’m willing to bet on it, any takers?

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It can be said that Teemu Selanne, also known to many fans as “The Finnish Flash”, was on his way downhill after landing with the San Jose Sharks and then Colorado Avalanche. He failed to win a Cup in Denver with best-buddy Paul Kariya. He seemed to be done for. However, Ducks’GM Brian Burke decided to take a chance on him. Selanne did have knee surgery and a lot of time to rest during the lockout. Selanne also had some of his best years in Anaheim, so Burke took a gamble that paid off greatly. For just 1 million, he bought himself a 40-goal scorer as Teemu found himself a new man.

Then last year, Teemu Selanne put together another 40-goal campaign and won his first Stanley Cup in his first Finals appearance ever. One could say (and I imagine Teemu has asked himself), that there isn’t anything left for Teemu to do and if he retired now he would definitely be going out on top. I, however, beg to differ.

Repeating is an extremely difficult task in the new NHL, with more league parity and salary caps, but with Anaheim playing very solid hockey as of late and going on a winning streak, adding Teemu could only cementtheir status as a favorite. That would be somethingnot many players can say they have done in their career. Still, this is an obvious reason. There is another.

Jari Kurri is arguably the best Finnish player to ever play in the NHL. Personally, I give that nod to Selanne but hat Kurri did can’t be overlooked. People will say “sure, but he played on those great Oiler teams and in high offense times” and they are right; but the point is they cannot say how Kurri would have produced if he came in the league at the same time as Selanne.

Jari Kurri leads all Finnish players with 601 goals. Teemu is second, with 540 goals. Selanne has the better goals-per-game pace though with a 0.52, compared to Kurri’s  0.48. I think being the top-scoring Finnish player could be a challenge for Teemu. With the number of games left, assuming Selanne returns in a week or two at most, let’s say he manages to shake off the rust and scores 17 goals in the last 25-30 games. Can it be done? Sure. Will it be done? I’m not a psychic.

Teemu would obviously have to return next season as well as avoid injury if he wants to tak a crack at it. He’d need a 47 goal season to accomplish his task and end at 602 goals. He just had a 48 goal season. He’s had plenty of rest this year, so he might not be running on empty next season just yet. Assuming Bertuzzi - Getzlaf - Perry stay together, he’ll likely find himself getting less attention from the other teamand more chances. He will need a solid C to feed him the puck, but I think we’ll be able to find one. There are a lot of IFs, but if Selanne returned for this and next year, he couldhave a task to make him push himself in beating Jari Kurri.

Does that interest Teemu? I have no idea. Maybe it doesn’t. Then again, maybe, just maybe, it’s the incentive he’s been looking for.

Only time will tell.

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Todd Marchant, Ryan Getzlaf and Todd Bertuzzi had the other Ducks goals, with Getzlaf and Bertuzzi also adding an assist. Giguere was solid with 22 saves. Turco, the much busier goalie, can’t say the same stopping 32 of 36 in the loss. He also was beat by Brandon Bochenski on a late-game breakaway, but luckily (for Turco) the shot rang off the cross-bar. Chris Kunitz also had the first penalty shot of his career but lost control of the puck and was not able to fire a shot off.

The ducks ended their four-game homestand a perfect 4-0, beating Nashville, Toronto, San Jose and Dallas. They also moved ahead of Dallas into second spot in the Pacific Division, one point less than the Sharks (who lost tonight to Phoenix).

Niklas Hagman and Loui Eriksson scored for Dallas in the losing effort. The game however was not as close as the score.

Brad May also had a tremendous, old-school fight with Stars’ tough-guy Krys Barch.

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Chicago GM Dale Tallon has expressed an interest in acquiring an older defenseman with some offensive upside to mentor his young players. Francois Beauchemin’s name is one that has been bandied about. It’s unknown if Burke is seeking to move Beauchemin due to him struggling this year, but Burke himself has said he traded Andy McDonald in an effort to keep his D corps intact. If there were a deal, it’d likely be for picks/prospects or perhaps a young defender with a low cap hit.

Brian Burke’s senior consultant, Al Coates, also took in two Bruins games recently in Boston. Coates does have personal connections in the city however, so this rumor may not be based on much more than pure speculation. The Bruins and Ducks recently completed a swap, with Anaheim acquiring Brandon Bochenski and Boston getting Shane Hnidy.

Lastly, the latest on Teemu Selanne is that he will be back in 1-3 weeks. I myself predicted we would see him back in a Ducks uniform around the All-Star game; the rumored timeframe seeks to make me correct on that. Teemu has been upping his practice schedule and practicing in full gear this week.

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Doug Weight banked a shot from the far side off the skate of San Jose defenceman Alexi Semenov and into an open net past Greiss. Francois Beauchemin, who jumped into a rush, then scored the OT winner just 33 seconds into the extra period. He one-timed a perfect pass from Todd Marchant for his first goal in 41 games.

Todd Bertuzzi continued his impressive play of late scoring a goal and adding an assist, giving him 2 goals and 4 assists over the past three Anaheim games (all wins). Milan Michalek, Jeremy Roenick and Torrey Mitchell has the Shark goals. Giguere made a key save with 5 seconds remaining on Michalek who had a strong game and got into a quasi-fight with the Ducks’ Corey Perry.

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Obviously, any team in the playoff hunt should be interested, but it’s of my opinion neither player will be a Duck anytime this season. Let’s examine why.

Mats Sundin

Obviously, Sundin is a great center who plays hard and still performs near the top of the league at this stage of his career. He has stated his feelings before on how winning a Cup with another team would make it feel ‘cheap’. The chances he’ll waive his No Movement Clause (NMC) are slim, but I feel he might if it is to a contender and the team asks him to, in an effort to acquire assets to help them in the future (as a UFA, Sundin could then resign with the Leafs in the summer).

If Sundin is moved, it’ll definitely be to the West. The most likely destination I can see is Vancouver, or possibly Detroit. Anaheim has Getzlaf and Weight as their top two centers and I don’t see that changing (despite the fact Sundin is much better than Weight). Weight is starting to build chemistry with Chris Kunitz and is producing. Getzlaf, Perry and Bertuzzi are the Ducks’ top line. Sundin doesn’t have the same value playing the wing; so he’s not a good fit for the Ducks right now. I can’t see him going to the Sharks either, who have their own top centers in Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau.

Marian Hossa

Hossa, in my opinion, is one of the top 10 forwards in the league. He would fit very nicely on the second line with Weight and Kunitz. While defenders try and stop the Getzlaf-Perry-Bertuzzi connection, Weight and Hossa would have less attention and more space to work their plays. The thing is, I feel Teemu Selanne will be back this season. Selanne fills that right-wing spot. Hossa could potentially take Kunitz’ place on the left side of that line, but playing Kunitz on the third/fourth line would be a waste to me. The other thing is, the price for Hossa will and should be HUGE. We are talking much larger than prices paid for an injured Peter Forsberg, Ryan Smyth or Keith Tkachuk last year. I do not feel Brian Burke is prepared to pay that kind of cost for a rental. Unless some major bodies moved, Anaheim would not have any shot to resign him as a free-agent for next year (as well as keep Corey Perry).

I do think San Jose will make a solid bid for Hossa. They have proven before they are interested in rentals and while Bill Guerin didn’t take them to the Cup last season, adding Hossa will definitely make them a favorite. They also have enough young talent to offer up to Atlanta. Guys like Torrey Mitchell, Logan Couture, Devin Setoguchi, Ty Wishart and Nick Petrecki would lead the list of candidates.

If Selanne doesn’t return, Anaheim is still in good shape. They can bring Bobby Ryan back up to fill the second line right wing spot after he’s missed the chance for his games played bonus, or if Bochenski produces consistently he can have the spot. Brian Sutherby is another option, as he’d create energy and not be a defensive liability. I think Anaheim has the best shot to repeat of any Cup champion in years.

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