Duck Season

The Anaheim Ducks have taken the Mighty out of their name, but yesterday, they were definitely, Mighty Ducks

The game started out great for the Ducks as they had 3 early power plays, and they scored on 1 to get a lead. Rob Neidermayer then scored on a beautiful rush to give the Ducks a 2-goal lead. After a period of the teams exchanging goals, the Ducks put the nail in the coffin scoring 2 goals to get a 4-goal lead. The Ducks held on for the rest of the game. The Anaheim Mighty Ducks are the 2007 Stanley Cup Champions.

For the first time, the Stanley Cup can enjoy an NHL western home, and the Ducks' victory came at the expense of Canada. The cherished trophy was born in Ottawa, but no team north of the border has won it since Montreal in 1993.

"Canada loves their hockey, and from what I heard out there, we have quite a few fans who love their hockey out here, too," said captain Scott Niedermayer, a four-time champion from British Columbia and this year's Conn Smythe Trophy winner.

When Scott Neidermayer raised the cup in front of the home crowd, the 1st person he gave it to was his brother, Rob. In 2003, it was much different, as the only things the brothers exchanged were handshakes, as Scott prevailed with the Ducks.

"I don't think I'll ever have a better feeling than that in my career," Rob said. "When he came here, I know he turned down a lot from New Jersey and he had a lot of fond memories there.

"I never touched it when he won. He's won so much, but he's never been a guy whose ever rubbed it in a guy's face. He's been rooting for me my whole career, and I'm just lucky to have him as a brother."

Teemu Selanne, who started his NHL career 15 years ago finally raised the cup over his head. "I was just like, 'I couldn't believe it, it's going to happen,"' Selanne said. "So much hard work, so many years to dream about that moment.

Possibly the player who has gone through the most adversity this year to win the cup was Chris Pronger. Even in this game, he played with a separated shoulder. "I just kind of got hit awkwardly there and went into the boards funny and separated it," Pronger told TSN.

He played the rest of the game, following a brief absence, before returning.

"I was going to be on the ice, no question," he said.

The "choke label" may be put on the Ottawa Senators again. They did get to the final, but didn't play like they did in their 1st 3 series and lost in 5 games. "They had more depth than us in this series," Alfredsson said. "We didn't play our best. We tried to come back in the second period, but that didn't last. It seemed like they were better than us."

Congratulations to the 2007 Anaheim Ducks

No Pronger, No Problem

The short-handed Anaheim Ducks were looking to get a 3-1 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final yesterday.

But it didn't start out to well for them, as Chris Neil drew 2 penalties in the 1st 4 minutes of the game. But the Ducks killed them of. It looked like it would be tied going into the 2nd, but Daniel Alfredsson scored with 1 second left in the 1st to give the Sens the lead. Anaheim didn't give up though as they came out firing. Andy McDonald got 2 goals in 1 minute to give the Ducks the lead. But Ottawa's big guns came back as Heatley ended a scoring slump to tie up the game at 2. Early in the 3rd, Dustin Penner scored to give the lead back to Anaheim. Ottawa tried to tie it up, but ran into Giguere every time. The Ducks ended winning 3-2.

Ottawa blew a lead in the 2nd after McDonald scored 2 goals in 2 minute, and that 1 minute was the key to the game. They also let Anaheim get to them without Pronger in the lineup. "Again, it just proves the point that our players have found a way to reach back and give more when it's asked of them," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said.

The Senators, even though they lost still played a pretty good game. Dany Heatley scored to get out of a scoring slump, and Alfredsson kept his hot streak going. It was only a 2-1 rush and a bad minute that did them in. But obviously, it is the NHL, and something is wrong if you lose. "They made a little adjustment in the second period and we started forcing the play," Ottawa coach Bryan Murray said. "But other than that, there was no reason to play the way we did in the second period. We started breaking down. They got 2-on-1 chances. Guys that don't normally make these plays, they tried to make tonight and they got caught and it burned us."

When the 2nd period was ending, Daniel Alfredsson decided to shoot the puck... at Neidermayer. "I looked up at the clock and saw five or six seconds left, so I wanted to shoot the puck at the net," Alfredsson said. "I braced my stick and the puck kind of stopped sliding. Then it got caught up in my feet, so I just wanted to get rid of it. I didn't mean to hit him." It was the spark the Ducks needed to really get going. "You can probably figure out what I thought about how I acted after it happened but it doesn't do us any good to talk about it, really," Niedermayer said. "I wasn't happy, yeah, there's no need to get hit with the puck at that point. I'm not going to say any more than that."


A player that I think is being overshadowed by players like Selanne and Alfredsson for the Conn Smythe Trophy is J.S Giguere. He let in only 1 goal in a 1st period that saw the Ducks get out shot 13-2 and he saved the Ducks in the final minute of the game. Already, no matter what happens, Giguere should be the Conn Smythe Award winner.

Ottawa now has the go back to Anaheim for game 5. It will be tough to win with a well rested Pronger. But if Ottawa wins game 5, than I guarantee they will win game 6.

Ducks Move On to Face Senators

The Anaheim Ducks yesterday were looking to put away the Detroit Red Wings to get to the Stanley Cup Finals. They did.

Through out most of the game, the Ducks dominated as they grabbed a 3-goal lead heading into the 3rd. But the Red Wings wouldn't give up. After the teams exchanged goals, the Wings scored 2straight to get within 1. But even with a late powerplay, the Red Wings couldn't get the tying goal.

This will be the Ducks 2nd trip to the Finals in 4 years. They will the Senators, whose head coach played a big part in creating the Ducks.

Bryan Murray was the GM of the Ducks a few years ago. He was the main person in bringing in such players as Ryan Getzlaf, and Corey Perry.

It will be a great final, as it seems this is the time to win it for each team. Will Ottawa finally bring a cup to Canada and break Ottawa's "curse". Or will the Ducks win it and bring a cup to Teemu Selanne. It will be a very interesting final to watch.

Ducks Decline Offer Sheet for Penner

Brian Burke and the Anaheim Ducks have decided not to match the Edmonton Oilers' offer sheet to Dustin Penner. The offer sheet was worth over $4 million dollars per year, which seems to much for the Ducks to pay.

This means that the Oilers will owe Anaheim their 1st, 2nd and 3rd round picks next year. Last season, Penner scored 29 goals and added 16 assists for 45 points in 82 games. In the Ducks run to the NHL Stanley Cup, he scored three goals and added five assists for eight points in 21 playoff games.

Earlier in the week, Brian Burke, Anaheim's GM lashed out at Kevin Lowe. "I have no problem with offer sheets, they are part of the CBA," Burke said on a conference call. "I think it's a tool certainly a team is entitled to use. My issue here is this is the second time this year in my opinion Edmonton have offered a grossly inflated salary for a player, and it impacts on all 30 teams and I think it's an act of desperation by a general manager who is fighting to keep his job."

"I have not (called him) and I don't plan on it," Lowe said on a conference call. "I have one responsibility and one responsibility only - and that's to the Edmonton Oilers fans and the Edmonton Oilers ownership.

"I'm not in the business of trying to make friends. Never have, never will be."

Edmonton is now gradually getting back to the level that took them to the Stanley Cup Final 2 years ago. They got Penner, and they also signed Sheldon Souray during the free-agent frenzy. People should be looking out for them next year.

Despite all of the this controversy about "a grossly inflated salary", the Oilers still got their man. He will play a big part next year for the Oilers.

Giguere Re-Signs With Ducks

After another great NHL playoffs, in which he led the Anaheim Ducks to a Stanley Cup, J.S Giguere is now getting rewarded.

Today, the Ducks announced that Giguere has been signed to a four year, $24 million contract extension. This comes on the eve of July, when teams can sign free agents, and all contract negotiations are finished.

"J.S. Giguere has been an instrumental part of this franchise for the last six years," said Ducks Executive Vice President/General Manager Brian Burke said in a statement. "We view him as one of the top goaltenders in the NHL today, one with tremendous character and competitive fire, traits we value greatly in this organization."

Giguere found a groove in the playoffs last year playing like he did in 2003, when he won the Conn Smythe Trophy, despite being on the losing end of the Finals.

"I'm very excited to be staying with the Ducks," said Giguere in a statement. "Orange County has been a great place for my family over the last six years, and we are grateful to the entire organization for the opportunity to stay here."

Giguere will now lead the Ducks into next season, and try to repeat as Cup Champions.

The Playoff Push

It's the toughest prize to win. Bring yourself to a level of play that almost exceeds human possibilities, and you have a 1 in 16 chance at the cup. It's the quest for the Stanley Cup. 82 games that 16 teams have played have all led to these next few 7-game series. It starts now.

There are 8 series I have to cover now, and I will preview all of them.

In the 1 seed vs 8 seed series in the Western Conference, the Detroit Red Wings (1) will face the Calgary Flames (8).

The Flames in this series will be a little bit fatigued as they had to fight off the Colorado Avalanche to grab the 8th spot in the West. The Red Wings however will be well rested as they had a very high spot in the standings locked up early. It will be interesting to see how the Wings will fare without leaders Brendan Shanahan and Steve Yzerman, as they have been the best playoff performers for the Wings in past years. The key to this series is the Wings' defence and the Flames' offence. Detroit has one of the best offensive defences in the league with Nik Lidstrom, Mathieu Schneider and Chris Chelios. The Flames offence will also be a question mark as players like Alex Taungay and Tony Amonte have not lived up to expectations, reminiscent of last years Flames. I will pick the Red Wings to win this series, but Detroit has surprised many people in the past 3 playoffs losing early to Anaheim in 2003, Calgary in 2004 and Edmonton in 2006.

In the West the Anaheim Ducks (1) will face the Minnesota Wild (7).

This will be a very close series, even though the Wild is 7th, they have only 6 less points than Anaheim. The Ducks have Teemu Selanne, Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer, players who are all very experienced and came within 3 games of the finals last year. The Wild got 104 points quietly this year and also have great players with Brian Rolston and Marian Gaborik. It will be close, but the Ducks will win in 7.

In the East the New Jersey Devils (2) will face the Tampa Bay Lightning (7).

The Devils shocked the NHL last week firing Claude Julien, and might be shaken up by that. But the Devils do have Martin Brodeur, who has experienced that before and will again be awesome. Tampa will probably not matchup to the Devils talent and will lose in 4 or 5.

In the 3 vs 6 series in the West, the Vancouver Canucks (3) will face the Dallas Stars (6).

The Canucks have always been a team to be looked at ever since their birth in the final in '94. But never have they had such goaltending for the team to use during the playoffs. Roberto Luongo has carried this team and will play a big part in this series. Dallas' leading scorer this year was Mike Ribeiro with 59 points. This series will turn into a goalie battle. And if it ends up like that, than the Canucks will come out with this series. But it is still close as these teams were tied in points for the regular season, each with 105 points.

In the East, the Atlanta Thrashers (3) face off against the New York Islanders (6).

This one is also very tough to call. These teams were only separated by 3 points in the regular season. Atlanta's franchise has never been in the post-season, but does have some experience in Keith Tkachuk, Marion Hossa and Greg De Vries. The Rangers also have experience with Jagr and Shanahan. The offence of both teams is pretty even, so it will come down to goaltending. I think that the Rangers have the advantage there with Lundqvist in goal. So I choose the Rangers to down the Thrashers his round.

In what should be a great series, the Nashville Predators (4) will face the San Jose Sharks (5)

The Preds and Sharks faced off against each other last year in the playoffs and the Sharks won 4-1. But Nashville has gotten better than last year. They picked up Jason Arnott and Peter Forsberg. The Sharks did not pick up any significant players, so they will have to be led by Joe Thorton and Patrick Marleau. I believe because of the key players that the Sharks have, they will win the series.

In the final series of the 1st round, the Ottawa Senators (4) will face the Pittsburgh Penguins (5).

This should be a very exciting series as both teams are very fast and are great scorers. I would like to see Pittsburgh win the series, but I think the Sens will come out with it for these reasons. They have more experience, and they have something to prove. The Pens are some young guys who don't really have experience in the playoffs.

Tied Up At 2

Yesterday, the Anaheim Mighty Ducks were facing the Red Wings in a essential must win. One problem. They didn't have Chris Pronger who was serving a 1-game suspension for his hit on Tomas Holmstrom.

Even without one of the top defence man in the league, the Ducks played great. Remember this name: Ric Jackman. He was the player who took Pronger's spot in the lineup.

With the game tied 1-1 in the 1st, Jackman scored his 1st ever playoff goal in just his 3rd post-season game to give the Ducks the lead. Teemu Selanne then broke a 4-game scoring drought to give the Ducks a 3-goal lead. But after a 2-goal 2nd by the Wings, it was a tie game heading into the 3rd. In that 3rdperiod, Ryan Getzlaf scored to give the Ducks the lead again. Then, with the net empty, Rob Niedermayer scored to clinch the game for the Ducks.

The key to the game was all the Ducks players getting out of slumps. Selanne, who had been publicly criticized throughout this series for not scoring popped in an early one to really give the Ducks a boost. And Ryan Getzlaf, who is playing some of the best hockey of his young career contributed to the game and got out of his own scoring drought.

For game number 5, the Ducks will have Chris Pronger back and will be able to get within 1 game of the Stanley Cup Final if they win Sunday.

1st Round

The NHL playoffs have arrived and so far have been great.

In the East's 1 seed vs 8 seed series, the Sabres faced the Isles.

In game no.1 the Isles got totally dominated by the Sabres as they could not muster any offence against the powerful Sabres. The final score was 4-1. But the 2nd game was a much different story. For game 2 the Isles had Rick Dipietro back from injury. In the 1st 11 minutes, the Isles scored 2 goals from Trent Hunter and Bruno Gervais. But the Sabres scored 1 before the break to get within 1. After a scoreless 2nd Buffalo tied it up early in the 3rd. Then, on the powerplay, Marc-Andre Bergeron scored to give New York the lead. Buffalo could not come back from that as the Isles took game 2 3-2. In the 3rd game, the 2nd period was the factor. Buffalo scored 3 while NY scored 2 in that period. No teams scored any more as the Sabres took a 2-1 series lead. In game 4, the teams tied through 1. But in the next 2, Buffalo dominated scoring the only goals from the 2nd on to win 4-2. In game 5, the Sabres dominated the 1st 2 periods scoring 3 goals in that span. But after the teams exchanged goal;s, the Isles scored 2 more. But that wasn't enough as the Sabres won the series 4-1.


In the other 1 vs 8 series, the Flames faced the Red Wings.

The 1st game was all Detroit as they scored 4 goals through 2 before the Flames could muster 1, which came late in the 3rd. Detroit's defence made sure Iginla wouldn't be a factor as he had no shots on goal. In the 2nd game, the Red Wings came out good scoring on a early powerplay and again 2 minutes after that. In the 2nd, the Flames started a comeback when Dion Phaneuf scored to make it a 1-goal game. But all hopes of a comeback were squandered by a late goal in the 3rd by Detroit. Game 3. Skip to the 3rd where the game was tied, Detroit got the lead from Kris Draper. But Calgary came back as Mark Giordano scored to tie it up. Then, late in the game, Jarome Iginla scored to give the Flames the lead. Detroit couldn't come back as the Flames got back in the series with a 3-2 win. In the 4th game, Calgary came out great with a early powerplay goal. But then Todd Bertuzzi scored to tie it up. After the teams exchanged goals before the 2nd, Daymond Langkow grabbed his 2nd of the game and the lead for Calgary. A period and a half went by after that goal and no one got another one as the Flames tied up the series 2-2. In game 6, Detroit dominated scoring 4 goals before the Flames scored 1! That led to a 5-1 win for Detroit and a 3-2 lead in the series. In the game, Calgary's Jamie Mclennen slashed Johan Franzen which resulted in a 5 game suspension. In the 6th game, Detroit and Calgary traded goals in the 2nd. The next goal that was scored was in an O.T period.
In the O.T, Johan Franzen got his revenge scoring the series winner.

In a 7 vs 2 series, the Devils faced the Lightning.

The 1st game was close, but Tampa was plagued by bad goaltending. With the game within 1 goal for Tampa in the 3rd, Holmqvist saved a shot, but didn't cover it up. Instead he let it go. The puck then went to the Devils and Brian Gionta scored to clinch it for the Devils. In game 2 the Lightning looked for redemption. This game was controlled more by Tampa. The Lightning scored the 1st goal in the game short-handed, but the game was later tied by Zach Parise. After the teams exchanged goals the 3rd started. Early in the 3rd, Vincent Lecavalier scored to give Tampa Bay the lead. New Jersey couldn't come back from that as the Lightning tied up the series 1-1. In the 3rd game in Tampa, the teams exchanged goals over the 1st 2 periods until the 3rd. In the 3rd period, Brad Richards scored to give Tampa a lead, but Zach Parise scored to tie it up. But then, late in the game, Tampa's Vaclav Prospal scored to give Tampa the lead. New Jersey couldn't come back as the Lightning grabbed a 2-1 series lead. In game 4, the game went to O.T. In the 1st overtime period, after some exciting end-to-end action, the Devils scored to win the game and tie the series. In game 5, New Jersey dominated not letting Tampa score in the game and getting 3 goals themselves to win 3-0 and get a 3-2 lead in the series.
In game 6, New Jersey got a 2 goal lead early in the 2nd. But Tampa wouldn't go away scoring one right after New Jersey got their 2nd goal. But that's all Tampa would muster as New Jersey took the game 3-2 and the series 4-2.

In the West's 2 vs 7 series, the Wild faced the Ducks.

In the 1st game, the Wild scored the 1st goal, but later lost the lead because of Teemu Selanne. Then, in the 3rd with 6 minutes left, Dustin Penner scored to give Anaheim a lead that the Wild could not come back from. In the 2nd game, the Ducks got the 1st goal from Beauchemin. In the 2nd though, the Wild tied it up from Marion Gaborik. But the Ducks bettered that by scoring 2 goals before the break. The Wild tried a comeback when Mikko Koivu scored with 4 minutes left, but that's all Minnesota could get. The Ducks lead the series 2-0. In game number 3, the Ducks controlled the game until the final minute, where Anaheim had a 2-goal lead. In that final minute, the Wild scored to give themselves a chance, but they could not come back to give the Ducks a win and a 3-0 lead in the series. In game 4, a game the Wild had to win, they came out good. Despite a good start, the Ducks got the 1st goal in the 2nd from Pronger. But they tied it up before the 3rd. In the 3rd, Minnesota scored 3 straight goals to grab the win and to get back in the series. In the 5th game, Minnesota didn't come out like it was a must win as they lost the series on a 4-1 game.

In the 1st 6 vs 3 series, the New York Rangers faced the Atlanta Thrashers.

In the 1st game, New York got a early 1-goal lead at the end of the 1st. After a goal by each team, New York added to their 1 goal lead to get a 2-goal lead into the 3rd. In the 3rd, Atlanta tried a comeback, but fell short to lose 4-3. In game 2 the Rangers again got an early 1-goal lead and held on to it until the 3rd. That's when Kovalchuk scored to tie up the game. But late in the 3rd, Brendan Shanahan scored to give New York a late lead. The Thrashers could not come back from that as the Rangers took game 2 2-1 and lead the series 2-0. Game 3 was all Rangers. They scored 3 in the 3rd and didn't look back scoring 4 more before the game's end to win it 7-0 and get a 3-0 lead in the series. In game 4, the Rangers looked for the sweep. After a tie through 2, New York came out with 2 quick ones in the 3rd to get a 2-goal lead. Atlanta couldn't get 2 more goals to tie it as the Rangers took this series 4-0.

In the West, Dallas and Vancouver faced off.

The 1st game of the series was very exciting. With the game tied in the 2nd at 2's, Markus Naslund scored to give the Canucks a lead. They then added to that in the 3rd. But the Stars came back as they scored 2 quick goals from Antti Miettinen and Ladislav Nagy. The game then went to O.T For the 1st 4 O.T periods , there were no goals scored. But in the 5th, Henrik Sedin scored to win it for the Canucks. In the 2nd game, the Stars came out and got 2 goals through the 1st 2 periods. Vancouver could not muster up a goal on Marty Turco which allowed the Stars to tie up the series. In game 3, it was a 1-1 tie in reglation, so the teams went to O.T. In the 1st overtime period, the Canucks' Taylor Pyatt scored to give Vancouver their 2nd O.T win of the series and a 2-1 lead in the series. Game 4 was a low scoring affair. The 3rd was where all the scoring was as the Canucks scored 2 and the Stars 1 in the period. That equaled a 2-1 win for the Canucks and a 3-1 lead in the series. In game 5, no one scored until the 1st O.T period, a period in which Brendan Morrow scored on a powerplay to get back in the series. Game 6 was another low-scoring affair. Dallas got the only 2 goals in the game which were scored by Modano and Halpern to tie the series and get it to go to a game 7. In that game 7, the Stars started out great scoring the 1st goal of the game in the 1st. But in the 2nd, Henrik Sedin scored to tie it up. Then, in the 3rd, Trever Linden scored off a tip in to give the Canucks the lead. The Stars pressed for the goal that would tie the game. But with the goalie pulled, Vancouvere scored to get a 2-goal lead. They added another to take the series 4-3.

In the 1st 5 vs 4 series, the Ottawa Senators faced the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The 1st game was all Ottawa as they scored 2 early goals and didn't look back winning 6-3. n the 2nd game though, Pittsburgh came out great as they scored early in the 1st. But in the 2nd, Ottawa scored 2 quick ones to grab the lead. In the 3rd, the Sens were still up by 1 when the Penguins scored 2 quick ones to take the lead. The Sens couldn't come back from that as the Pens took game 2 4-3. In game 3, the Senators dominated yet again capped of by a 3-goal outburst in the 2nd to take it 4-2 and to take a 1 game lead in the series. In game 4, the teams exchanged goals through 2 to lead to a tie. In the 3rd, Ottawa scored to get a 1-goal lead. Pittsburgh couldn't come back from that as they go down 3-1 in the series. In a must win game for the Pens, they played bad. They couldn't get a goal and gave up 3 in the 2nd. That led to a 3-0 win to close out the Penguins season.

In the final series, the San Jose Sharks faced the Nashville Predators.

Skip to the the 3rd period in game 1 were the Preds were down by 2. They scored 2 quick ones in the final 7 minutes to tie it up. The game ended up going to O.T, where in double overtime, Patrick Rissmiller scored to win it for the Sharks. In game 2, the Preds dominated San Jose outscoring them in 2 periods and winning 5-2 to tie up the series. In game 3, after a quick Nashville goal, the Sharks dominated. They scored 3 goals in the next periods to win 3-1. In a must game 5 for the Preds, the Sharks came out with the 1st goal. But they tied it up in the 2nd. And then, with 4:21 left in the game, Patrick Marleau scoree to silence the Preds and win the series 4-1.

Senators Get Back in Series

Yesterday's game 3 of the Finals was unlike any of the other finals games we've seen this year.

Fired up by a Ottawa crowd who was watching their 1st Stanley Cup Final game in 80 years, the Sens looked to get back in the series. But it was the Ducks who scored 1st when Andy McDonald scored for Anaheim. But with 4 minutes left in the 1st, Chris Neil scored to tie it up. The game was tied up at 1 at the end of the 1st. After the teams exchanged goals at the beginning of the 2nd, Anaheim grabbed a 1-goal lead off the stick of Ryan Getzlaf. But the Sens came back scoring goals 2 minutes apart to take the lead. Then, in the 3rd, Anton Volchenkov scored to give the Senators a 2-goal lead. Anaheim wouldn't come back from that as the Senators won game 3 5-3.

This was a very different style of game than what we saw in Anaheim. The goalies didn't play particularly well, and the forwards actually scored! One thing that the teams did have in common from games 1 and 2 was the physical play. The hits kept on coming, and a huge scrum occurred after a questionable hit.

'We can play physical and we can play with the puck,'' said Alfredsson. ''We can handle any situation. It was a character game because we came back a few times.''

Chris Pronger was also heard again as he laid a hard elbow on Dean McCammond in the 3rd. "He's known for that. Hopefully they'll call something on it," Neil said.

"It was an elbow to the head," Murray added. "I don't want to say too much because I'll get accused of complaining."

Randy Carlyle, coach of the Ducks talked about his team's lack of discipline in the 3rd period. "Obviously, the frustration level showed in our group into the third period," Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle said. "But we have to take responsibility for our actions and we played nowhere near our capabilities. And discipline was an issue."

The key to this game was the 5-5 scoring. Coming into this game, all of the Sens goals in the series had come on the powerplay, but scored 4 this game. Ottawa will have to keep it up to tie up the series on Monday

Chris Pronger Cheap shot

Game 1

82 games. 15+ playoff games, and now, it all comes down to this series. The Stanley Cup Finals. The Senators and Ducks were playing in game 1 yesterday.

The Sens started out great getting the 1st goal 1:38 into the 1st. But Andy McDonald tied up the game about 10 minutes later off an amazing shot to the top-corner. The 1st period ended with the game tied 1-1. The only goal of the 2nd was scored by Wade Redden off a bad giveaway. But in the 3rd, the Ducks made a comeback. 1st, Ryan Getzlaf scored on a backhand to tie it up. And then, with 3 minutes left in the game, Travis Moen scored to give the Ducks the lead. Ottawa wouldn't come back from that as the Ducks took game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

The key to this game was obviously hitting. The Ducks gave Ottawa a pounding anytime they could. Another key to this game was the shots. Anaheim fired 32 shots at Emery, while Ottawa only got 20.

If Ottawa is going to win this series, they are going to have to get tougher. They can't get pushed around all the time and not fight back. And if they can't do that, than Anaheim will sweep this series.

2nd Round

In the 2nd round, 2 Canadian teams had a real chance of going to the conference finals.

In the 1st Canadian round, the Canucks faced the Ducks.
In the 1st game, the Canucks got outplayed scoring only once and letting 5 goals go in as the Ducks took game 1 5-1. In game 2, Vancouver played their style of game scoring only once through regulation as did the Ducks. It was 1-1 going into O.T. This was not a good sign though as J.S Giguere was 8-0 in playoff O.T. But that streak was ended as the Canucks' Jeff Cowan scored to win the game and tie up the series. In game 3, both teams exchanged goals through 2, to make the score 2-2, but the only goal of the 3rd came off the Ducks' Corey Perry. This ended up in a 3-2 win for Anaheim. In game 4, Vancouver had a 2-goal lead in the 3rd. But the Ducks came back to tie it before the game ended. In the overtime period, Travis Moen scored for the Ducks to wi it and get a 3-1 series lead. In game 5, the Canucks had the game tied into O.T. After a 1st overtime period, the Ducks capitalized on a fatigued Luongo to win the game and the series.

In the other round the Sens were facing the Devils.

The Senators got off to a great start in the 1st game scoring 4 in the 1st. But the Devils wouldn't go away, depleting Ottawa's lead to 1 goal. But the Senators got another goal to put the game out of the reach of New Jersey to win 5-4. In game 2, the Devils were the ones to come out good scoring the 1st 2 goals of the game. But with their lead cut down to 1, Dany Heatley scored with 26 seconds left in regulation to tie it. Then, in the 2nd O.T period, Jamie Langenbrunner scored to win the game and tie up the series. But in game 3, Ottawa had the edge shutting out the Devils and scoring twice to win 2-0. In game 4, the Sens had the lead going into the 3rd. Then, Mike Fisher scored to get a 2-goal lead. New Jersey couldn't come back from that as Ottawa took a 3-1 lead in the series. In a must win game 5, the Devils crumbled. After getting a lead into the 2nd, they let in 3 goals in the 2nd for Ottawa to take the lead. New Jersey scored 1 more after that, but couldn't get another for the Sens to win the series and move on to the conference final.

In another Eastern Conference series, the Sabres were facing the Rangers.

In the 1st game, the Sabres dominated New York getting to them in the 2nd to win 5-2. In game 2, it was a tie game through 2 periods. But in the 3rd, the Sabres started playing. They scored 2 quick ones and held on to that lead for the rest of the game to win 3-2 and get a 2-0 series lead. In a must win for New York, both teams didn't feel like scoring as the game was 1-1 after regulation and an O.T period. But in the 2nd overtime period, Michal Rozsival scored to win the game and the New York back in the series. It was a low scoring affair in New York, but it was a good game. New York had a 2-goal lead in the middle of the 3rd, when Buffalo got within 1. But that's all they could muster as New York tied up the series. In game 5, the Rangers had the lead in the final seconds of the game. But with 7 seconds to go, Drury scored to tie the game. Then, in O.T, the Sabres scored again for an amazing comeback and to lead the series 3-2. In game 6, Buffalo had a 1 goal lead in the 3rd when they scored again to get a 2 goal lead. But New York wouldn't go away getting within 1 goal. But that's all they could come up with as Buffalo won game 6 and the series.

In the final round, the Red Wings were facing the Sharks.

In game 1, Detroit did not look like the team they were in the regular season getting scored on 2 times in the game and not scoring at all themselves to lose 2-0.
In game 2, Detroit again came out flat letting the Sharks get another early 2 goal lead. But the Red Wings got within 1 before the 1st intermission. After a scoreless 2nd, Detroit came out with an early goal in the 3rd. Then, with the game still tied, Pavel Datsyuk scored with just under 1:30 left in the game. San Jose wouldn't come back from that as the Red Wings took game 2 3-2. In game 3, Detroit got am early lead, but was later squandered by a Sharks goal. Then, San Jose added another in the 3rd. Detroit couldn't come back from that as the Sharks took game 3 2-1. In game 4, the teams were tied after regulation. But in overtime, Mathieu Schnieder scored to win the game and tie the series. Game 5 was all Detroit, after the Sharks got a ear;y lead, Detroit quickly got rid of it and scored 3 more to win 4-1.

Not Quacking

The Anaheim Ducks had a tied series going into today's game against the Red Wings. They were looking to make it a 3-2 lead for them going into game 6.

After a scoreless 1st, the Wings got the 1st goal of the game off the stick of Andreas Lilja. They then held on to that 1-goal lead for the rest of the 2nd and most of the 3rd. But a 1-goal lead isn't good enough when facing the Ducks. With a powerplay and an empty-net, Neidermayer scored with about a minute left in the game to tie it.

In O.T, Teemu Selanne scored off one of the worst plays in a overtime in NHL history.

Lijla, who scored earlier in the game for the Red Wings, gave the puck way in front of his own net right to Selanne.

It was Selanne's 1st O.T playoff goal since 1994, and he couldn't have picked a better time to score one.

The Ducks can now clinch the series on home ice on Tuesday. Right now, there firing at all cylinders, and they will be pretty tough to stop if they keep it up.

The NHL Opener

Sorry about not putting up an alert saying that I would be away for a week. I just forgot. But now that I'm back, it's time to do one of the biggest stories of the year.

The NHL season opener is today at 12:00pm with the Kings facing the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Anaheim Ducks. Don't think I made a mistake with the time. The game is being played in a special place. London, England! Yes the great city of London is hosting it's 1st ever NHL game. But right now, the teams aren't thinking about showing hockey off to English fans. They are just thinking about winning the opener. ''There's a subtle feeling that comes over a team,'' said Kings head coach Marc Crawford. ''And you can see it in the players, there's a little more focus in their eyes."

Although the Kings might be focused as Crawford said, I don' think they have a chance at winning this game. The Ducks did suffer some blows during the off-season, losing Maurice Richard Trophy candidate Teemu Selanne to free-agency, Dustin Penner to Edmonton, and maybe Scott Neidermayer to retirement. But they do have some young players ready to step up, like Corey Perry, and Ryan Getzlaf, how everyone is choosing to have a breakout year.

Because of this, I think the Ducks will beat the Kings in the season opener today. But be ready to see a re-match tomorrow, also at 12:00pm.

Pronger Gets a 1-Game Suspension

Today, Chris Pronger got disciplined for his elbow to the head in the game last night.

Pronger is to miss 1 game for his elbow, and he and the Anaheim Ducks staff are not happy.

'We'll take our one game,'' said Burke. ''That's Colin's job and it's a tough one and we'll take it." Pronger was also suspended for a game during the Western Conference final against Detroit, which makes him just the third player ever to be suspended twice during one post-season.

This a huge bonus for the Senators, who look to tie up the series on Monday. For the entire series, Pronger has had his way with the Sens, but will now not be able to contribute to the game.

But the suspensions are not entirely his fault. His 6,6 height makes it tough for him not to hit smaller players in the head.

''He doesn't go around trying to knock guys heads off,'' said defenceman Ric Jackman, who will see more ice time in Pronger's absence. ''It's unfortunate that it's happened twice in the Stanley Cup playoffs for us, but I wouldn't classify Chris as a dirty player. He plays hard. He's a competitor. Stuff like this happens.

Pronger talked about possibly changing his physical ways in the future. "I don't think I can, for me to be the type of player I can be," Pronger said. "Obviously, it's a fine line and getting finer every year, and we have to make subtle adjustments. But I don't think I can make wholesale changes and still be the type of player I can be."

Dean McCammond, who took the hit also talked about the Pronger suspension. "It wasn't incidental. It's not like that couldn't have been avoided," McAmmond said in the release. "I'm feeling pretty much the same as I was [Saturday], -- a little bit 'headachy,' not feeling quite right. I'm going to do everything I can, or as little as I can, to feel good [Monday]. I want to play, but at this point in time, I'm not sure right now."

Ottawa will now have a easier game to play on Monday. But the last time Pronger was suspended, the Ducks won the game without him. We'll see if the Ducks can do it again.

Neidermayer Ponders Retirement

Until today, everything was looking good for the future of the Anaheim Ducks. They had solid young players in Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perrey, a good goalie in either Iyla Bryzgalov or J.S Giguere, and solid veterans in Chris Pronger and Scott Neidermayer. But one of those veterans may not be coming back.

After winning his 1st Stanley Cup as a captain this year with the Ducks, all-star defenceman Scott Neidermayer is now contemplating retirement. This morning, he informed his GM of his the possibility of retirement. ''Scott has indicated that he's thinking about retirement,'' Ducks GM Brian Burke told The Canadian Press on Tuesday.

ESPN asked Neidermayer some questions about this today. 'I think every player, as they get older, begins to think about how much longer they're going to play,'' Niedermayer told the website. ''I know I think about it.''

Scott Stevens was also questioned about this topic. He captained the New Jersey Devils to 3 Cups with Neidermayer. 'When I was playing with him, he never seemed, in my opinion, like he was planning on playing that long, or as long as I did,'' Stevens, who played 22 NHL seasons, told CP on Tuesday. ''I kept saying to him, `You'll have no trouble surpassing my amount of games and this and that.' And he'd say, 'Oh no, you won't see me doing that.' But there's no question the guy can play as long as he wants.''

Although he only turns 34 on August 31st, he still may call it quits. ''He's earned the right to walk if that's what he wants to do,'' said Burke. ''We told him we'll support him.

Ottawa Gets Blanked, Goes Down 2-0

Yesterday, the Ottawa Senators were facing the Ducks in game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final. They had to win, or they would go down 2-0.

The 1st 2 periods of the game went scoreless. But it seemed Anaheim had the advantage in momentum. In the 3rd, both teams were still having troubles scoring. But with about 6 minutes left in the game, Samuel Pahlsson scored with a shot in between the defence man's legs. Ottawa couldn't come back from that as the Ducks took game 2 1-0 and lead the series 2-0.

After the game, Pahlsson talked about his goal. ''I shot it through the legs of the defenceman and somehow it went in,'' said Pahlsson. ''The most important thing is to win the game but of course it's great to score the goal.''

This game was much more physical than the last one, where the Ducks controlled the physical play. ''We knew that if we just continued to play the same way we were and get pucks in deep, keep playing physical and cycling the puck . . . we were getting a lot of chances and getting traffic in front,'' said Pronger. ''We were bound to get one by them.''

The story of the series so far is the lack of offence from Ottawa's top line. For the 2nd straight game, Heatley, Spezza and Alfredsson were held off the score sheet. Bryan Murray split up the line for the beginning of the game, but later put them back together. Emery must be frustrated that he only allowed 1 goal, and he lost the game.

But now, the games shift to Ottawa, where they have the last change which will help Ottawa immensely. 'We've won our two home games and, let's face it, you're supposed to win your home games,'' said Anaheim defenceman Chris Pronger. ''Now it's in their court.''

Ottawa will look to become the 2nd team in NHL history to win the cup when losing the 1st 2 games at the other teams arena.

It's Their Time To Shine

With the Stanley Cup Conference Finals coming up, 4 teams are fighting for the cup. Many have stars that may have had an easy ride through the 1st 2 rounds, but will now have to step it up against their opponents now.

With Anaheim facing the Red Wings, many people have the Ducks winning, despite Detroit having another stellar season. In the 1st 2 series, Teemu Selanee was unheard of as he scored only 3 goals and got the same amount in assists. Ryan Getzlaf, who is already having a great playoff will have to keep it up also for Anaheim to win.

On Detroit's side, Robert Lang may be the key with Detroit. With all of Detroit's usual stars going for them, Lang would be a great surprise player in this series that the Ducks will not be focusing as much on. These circumstances also apply to Daniel Cleary. Cleary had his best NHL regular season and can step it up more now in the post-season.

I believe the Ducks will take the series as they have to much talent on the front and the back.


In the other series, the Sens and Sabres will fight it out. In Buffalo, Maxim Afinogenov will need to play up to his full potential as he only has 5 points so far in the playoffs, unlike the play he had during the regular season. Jason Pominville can also be better.

On Ottawa's side, everyone is doing great. If Heatley, Spezza and Alfredsson can play like they are, than they will have a good chance. Also, if Chris Kelly can be better, Ottawa will be very tough to beat.

I pick the Senators to win this series in 7.

The Stanley Cup In European Hands?

Never. Never has a European player raised the Stanley Cup as a captain. But this year, 2 players have the chance to do just that.

For many years, the Detroit Red Wings have been a great team, and won 3 Stanley Cups while being captained by Steve Yzerman. But now that he is retired, Nicklas Lidstrom is now the captain of the Wings. His team is now in the middle of a Western Conference series against the Anaheim Ducks. If the Red Wings win the series, they will move on to the Stanley Cup Finals were they are historically very good closing out the playoffs.

The other player is Daniel Alfredsson, who is the captain of the Ottawa Senators. After years of criticism for not performing in the playoffs and multiple team failures, he and the team is finally looking like a team that can win the cup. After winning game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Buffalo 5-2 and having Alfredsson scoring a goal, it looks like this may be the year that the Sens go all the way.

Kings Beat Ducks in '07-08 Season Opener

It was a historic day in the world of hockey today. Not only was the 2007-08 NHL season getting underway, but the 1st ever NHL game was being played in London, England, and 2 future stars took to the ice for the 1st time in their NHL careers.

It was packed at the O2 Arena in London with fans from all over the world in attendance. After a short delay due to the lighting, the game got underway. Mike Cammaleri got the 1st goal of the new season early in the period to give the Kings the surprising lead. It was then a full period and 2 minutes until the next goal was scored, and that was in part due to the Kings goaltender, Johnathon Bernier. Bernier played 2 games for Canada in the Super Series and looked superb, and he looked the same facing the games best. He saved shot after shot as the Ducks tried to tie the game up, but Bernier didn't flinch.

Then, in the middle of the 2nd period, the Kings were on a powerplay. Anze Kopitar fired a shot that didn't get through all the way. The puck laid in the crease and to the back of the unsuspecting Ilya Bryzgalov when Rob Blake tapped it in to give the Kings a 2-0 lead. Los Angeles didn't wait long to get goal number 3, as Cammaleri scored his 2nd goal of the game early in the 3rd to give the Kings a 3-0 lead. From then on, Bernier took over... again. He was a brick wall and seemed to have no jitters as he neared closer and closer to his 1st NHL win. His day would of been perfect if it hadn't been for another rising star.

While on the powerplay, Chris Pronger fired a shot from the blueline that was saved by Bernier. But a huge rebound came to the 2nd overall pick in 2005, Bobby Ryan. Ryan showed no hesitation, as he went quickly to his backhand and potted the puck in. But that goal was all for none, as Micheal Handzus scored a empty-net goal shortly after to clinch the game for the Kings. The final score was 4-1.

All the talk after the game was the stellar performance from 19 year-old Johnathon Bernier. "I don't think you could've expected a better game from a 19-year-old goaltender," Kings coach Marc Crawford said. "There was a lot of pressure tonight, and he looked like a really solid, solid goaltender. Not very many pucks bounced off of him, and he made a couple of great saves."

''It's pretty amazing,'' said Blake. ''At 19 years old, the way he plays is very calm. He just stands in there, he doesn't move too much, he seems to swallow those pucks. They got that goal and started coming at us pretty good and he smothered two or three pucks and you could see our bench calm down.''

They other key to the game was Anaheim's lack of discipline. 3 of the Kings 4 goals were scored on the powerplay, and the 4th goal as you might remember was just a empty-netter. ''Our inability to stay out of the box obviously killed us today,'' said Ducks captain Chris Pronger. ''You're going to lose a fair amount of games if you take that amount of penalties.''

The 2 clubs meet tomorrow at the O2 Arena for what promises to be a good re-match.

Emery Cashes In

The Ottawa Senators have avoided salary arbitration with Ray Emery by signing him to a last-minute contract today.

According to TSN, Emery has signed for 3 years and $9.5 million dollars, which is $3.16 million per year. This is a big raise from the $925,000 he earned last season.

Emery had a break-out season last year beating out Martin Gerber for the number 1 goalie spot, and leading the Sens to they Stanley Cup Final, where they lost in 5 games to the NHL champs, The Anaheim Ducks.

Emery is now another young star that has signed a new, multi-million dollar contract. Henrik Lundqvist of the New York Rangers signed for $3 million after 2 stellar years in goal. Sidney Crosby also cashed in signing a 5-year, $43.5 million contract extension which is worth about $8.7 million per year.

These young kids are growing up before our eyes, and now, they are getting grown-up money as well.