As the 2008-09 Anaheim Ducks training camp begins, questions are swirling around the ice in Orange County—but not the common ones you read about in the Boston Herald or Hockey News.

We all know about the Selanne Saga, about Scott Niedermeyer, and about GM Brian Burke's flirtation with Toronto.  I will not talk about the obvious questions in detail here. 

Niedermeyer and Selanne are in camp. A Schneider deal is in the works, and Schneider is staying home until it is done.  Whether Burke goes to Toronto next year or not is irrelevant to this season. I fully expect Burke to put forth full effort towards putting the best possible team on the ice, regardless of where he ends up next year.

Last year, the Ducks never quite pulled it together. Selanne and Niedermeyer's absences damaged team chemistry. They appeared slow and uninspired all year, and never really came out of their funk. They lost Andy McDonald, and his replacement as second-line C, Doug Weight, was slow and ineffective—even after Selanne returned in January.

However, despite Anaheim's substandard play, the well-reported indecision of its two biggest superstars, and injuries to Sami Pahlsson, J-S Giguere, Corey Perry, and Rob Niedermeyer, they still scored 102 points, second-most in Anaheim team history.

The Ducks experimented with line combinations last year all the way up until their last playoff series of the season against Dallas, going so far as playing Brad May on Getzlaff and Kunitz's first line to try to induce energy into a very lackluster season. This is the type of thing one would expect in the preseason, not in the playoffs.

Other than Perry and Getzlaff, and some great individual efforts by fourth-liners Parros, May, Marchant, and Sutherby, no one on the Ducks roster stood out last year.

Training camp will be interesting this year. Selanne has signed a free agent "tryout" contract in order to start camp and get into sync with his linemates—Brendan Morrission and either Bobby Ryan or Chris Kunitz.  Underachieving winger Todd Bertuzzi is gone to Calgary. And Drew Miller, Ryan Carter, and Bobby Ryan are ready to move into more prominent roles.

This is a very talented, experienced, tough, and deep Ducks team—and I wouldn't count them out of the Stanley Cup chase this year.

I am aware that most everyone has Detroit penciled in as the 2008 Champion already, but I don't. The Ducks have never backed down from the Redwings. If they can get past San Jose and Dallas, a big IF, the Ducks' North American physicality matches up well with the smaller, European-style Redwings.

Remember, Dallas had to go through Anaheim and San Jose before facing the Wings last year. The Wings had a much easier road as the #1 seed, playing Colorado and Nashville before finally ousting a physically depleted Dallas team for the right to beat up on the latest East Coast entry on the way to the Cup party.

You can count on San Jose, Dallas, and Anaheim fighting with Detroit for that #1 seed this year.

Here's how I see things shaping up for the 2008 Anaheim Ducks, line by line:

 Forwards

First Line

Ryan Getzlaff and Corey Perry are two budding superstars, both NHL All Stars, both playing on the same line, both under 25, both big strong power forwards, and both probable Canadian Olympians in 2010.  Getzlaff and Perry, along with Dustin Penner, comprised the Ducks second line in the 2006 Championship year, and they outscored Selanne-McDonald-Kunitz during the playoff run.

What remains to be seen is who plays along with them. Last year, Chris Kunitz skated with this group. Personally, I'd like to see Bobby Ryan—another young, big power forward—skate with Getzlaff and Perry. This could be one of the most feared lines in the NHL if Ryan steps up and shows he is ready to play championship hockey.

 

Second line

Teemu is back from his Finnish sauna holiday, and Brendan Morrisson—who centered one of the most dangerous scoring lines in NHL history in Vancouver (Naslund-Morrisson-Bertuzzi) is now with the Ducks.  This has the potential to be a very dangerous pairing.

Selanne is in camp under a free agent "tryout" contract. The importance of this should not be overlooked in a season where every point counts and the #1 seed is critical.  I personally think Chris Kunitz will skate with Selanne and Morrisson, with Minnesota speedster Ryan Carter vying for playing time with this line. 

Second-line scoring production should increase significantly over last year. This is a very dangerous, skillful, fast line that will create lots of points off of turnovers emanating from an aggressive forecheck.

I really like this line's potential.  It's fast.  It's tough.  It's aggressive.  And it has interchangeable parts to spare, with Minnesota's Ryan Carter and Michigan State's Drew Miller as options if they need to rest the older guys—Kunitz, Selanne, and Morrisson—to keep them fresh.

 

Third Line

The heart and soul of the Anaheim Ducks, this is a classic checking line whose sole purpose is to be on the ice against the opponent's number-one scoring line. It's hard, unrewarding work—and Travis Moen, Rob Niedermeyer, and soft-spoken Swede Sami Pahlsson have performed the task beautifully over the past several years. Sutherby has the size and attitude to mix it up with this group, as well. They do need to score more, though.

I personally thought Pahlsson was the Ducks MVP in 2006 when they won the Stanley Cup.  Niedermeyer and Pahlsson are two of three players remaining from the speedy Disney team (along with J-S Giguere) that went to the Finals against the Devils in 2003. Burke cleared the entire roster but kept these three guys—all defensive specialists—and built a champsionship team around them.

If Moen, Niedermeyer, and Pahlsson play most of their shifts in the Ducks' offensive zone, the Ducks usually win.

 

Fourth line

Don't overlook these guys. They may be belligerent, no angels here—but they were the only group that played their hearts out last year.

While the Ducks' generally lackluster performance last year was obvious to anyone who watched them closely, the fourth-line combination of George Parros, Brad May, Brian Sutherby, and Todd Marchant was the only group who appeared to give 110-percent effort on the ice.

I thought Princeton's brawler, George Parros, believe it or not, was Anaheim's MVP for the first half of the season last year-simply out of pure effort.  This group even generated a number of quality scoring chances out of pure hustle and should have had more points than their stats show. The puck just wasnt going to the back of the net last year.  

Ryan Carter and Drew Miller will be used here also, and will give the Ducks another speed-line option.  With Carter/Miller-Marchant-Sutherby/May, this group has the potential to create speed mismatches with their opponents' fourth lines.

 

Defense

First line

Of course, this is the Ducks' strength. Team Captain Chris Pronger and linemate Sean O Donnell are a force on the blueline-a perfect mix of puck handling, shooting, defense and the prerequisite belligerence expected of a Ducks player. If the forwards can generate an effective forecheck this year—unlike last year—the defensemen won't be caught on their heels.

If they don't have to reach to compensate, their play won't result in a seemingly endless series of frustrating penalties—and suspensions of Pronger. This will also depend on how the league chooses to call physical play this year. Its a Redwings/Penguin/Capitals league right now and rough play probably wont be tolerated. The Ducks' PK will have to shine as it did in 2006.

 Second line

Pronger and O'Donnell need a rest? Scott Niedermeyer and Francois Beauchemin step on the ice. This has got to be one of the best two lines of defensemen in the NHL.

Niedermeyer is in the fold from day one of training camp. Anyone who thinks that a team that scored 102 points last year without Scott Niedermeyer won't score more than 102 with him is going to be mistaken.

 Third line

Kent Huskins and newly-acquired Steve Montador.  Adequate. Huskins and Schneider were a liability on D last year. Hopefully, Montador is tougher on D than Schneider was.

 Goal

J-S Giguere is starting camp healthy, unlike last year. Jonas Hiller is re-signed. They are the best tandem of goaltenders in the NHL. Hiller allows Giguere to rest up, as necessary, and be ready for the playoff run and will be a starter himself one day.

 Summary

So, which Ducks team will we see this year? The 2006 version who fought for every puck, every inch of ice, had a chip on their shoulder, and feared no one from the first game of the season till the Cup Finals?  Or last year's team, an uninspired group who seemed to sit around waiting for Niedermeyer and Selanne to ride in on a white horse and rescue them?

Personally, I think they are pissed. They are sick of hearing how great the Red Wings and the Penguins are. They aren't even getting respect in their own division, with most prognosticators picking Dallas and San Jose to finish ahead of them.

This is a deep, talented team with five All-Star caliber players (Perry, Getzlaff, Niedermeyer, Selanne, Giguere) and nine potential 2010 Olympians (Ryan, Hiller, Carter, Perry, Getzlaff, Niedermeyer, Selanne, Giguere, Pahlsson).

They have developed a solid fan base (77 consecutive sellouts, third-most in the U.S. behind Minnesota and the Rangers, filled the second line center position with Brendan Morrisson, dumped Bertuzzi, got Selanne back, and signed Montador, Ryan, Miller, Hiller, and Carter.

This is a very dangerous team that should not be overlooked.