Bleacher Report - Articles by Tigershark

Ducks, Sharks Or One Of The Other Three: Who Wins The Pacific?

Tigershark — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:56:22 -0400

The time has come for some July predictions.

Who will win and who will lose in the NHL Pacific Division?

No need to look further.

The Pacific teams will finish in the following order in 2009:

This was a tough one. I tend to defer to the reigning champions until they are dethroned, but in this case, I made an exception.

By defeating the Sharks in the playoffs rather handily, the Ducks have already taken down the President's Trophy winner and deserve to be given the preseason top ranking in the Pacific.

And despite the coventional wisdom from those who don't consider hockey played West of Colorado "real," Anaheim has gotten better.

The draft day trade of Chris Pronger to Philadelphia, of course, was the big offseason news in the NHL. And if that is all one focuses on, it would appear that the Ducks are weaker without him.

If you ask "Are the Ducks better with Chris Pronger than they are with 19 year old Luca Sbisa playing D?"

Obviously, the answer is 'yes'.

Sbisa may turn out to be a very good player. But Chris Pronger is an all-time great and you can't replace a guy like that.

However, by trading Pronger, Anaheim was able to clear major cap space and made significant moves because of it.

If you look at the bigger picture and instead ask yourself the following question: "Were the Ducks better last year with Chris Pronger, Drew Miller and Andrew Ebbett than they are now with Luca Sbisa, Nick Boynton, Saku Koivu, and Joffrey Lupul?"

The answer, in my opinion, is a resounding "no'.

On defense, without Pronger (and Francois Beauchemin who followed former GM Brian Burke to Toronto) Anaheim still has team captain Scott Niedermayer, Ryan Whitney, Luca Sbisa, Nick Boynton, Sheldon Brookbank, Brian Salcido, Brett Festerling, James Wisnieski, Brendan Mikkelson and newly acquired veteran Steve McCarthy.

Competition in camp will be fierce for the last three spots behind Niedermayer, Sbisa, Whitney and Boynton. They have enough quality there to compensate for injury to anyone except Niedermeyer.

The Ducks have not lacked in recent years for defensmen or goaltenders. Their weakness since winning the Stanley Cup in 2006 has been second line scoring. Ever since Andy MacDonald was traded to St Louis and Chris Kunitz went to Pittsburgh , Anaheim has struggled to find a center and left wing to play effectively with right wing Teemu Selanne.

Doug Weight, Brendan Morrison, Ryan Carter, Todd Bertuzzi and even Travis Moen have tried to skate with Teemu and failed. Drew Miller and Andrew Ebbett stepped up admirably last year but never quite achieved the ability to play at the speed Selanne needs to be effective.

Even though the Ducks defeated the Sharks with Ebbett and Miller playing top six forward positions, the lack of production in their second line was exposed by a deeply talented and very physical Detroit team.

Detroit pounded Bobby Ryan into submission, dominated Ebbett and Miller, and Perry, Getzlaff and Selanne couldnt generate enough offense to win the series. Hiller kept them in most games, but the differential between Detroit's depth (Cleary, Hossa, Franzen, Samuelsson, Filppula, Hudler) and Anaheim's was obvious as the series played out.

With the signing of center Saku Koivu and the return of Anaheim's 2002 first round pick Joffrey Lupul, the Ducks' major weakness has been addressed.

Furthermore, this will be the first season that Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan work together on the top line since day one of training camp.

With solid role players such as Ryan Carter, Todd Marchant, Peterri Nokeleinen, enforcer George Parros, Ebbett, Mike Brown, Eric Christensen, and Miller competing for the 3rd and 4th line spots, this is a team with no apparent weakness.

And they still might be able to keep Rob Niedermeyer, one of two Mighty Ducks left from the Disney Western Conference Championship team of 2001, after he tests the free agent market (Giguere is the other.)

On top of all of this, the Ducks have accumulated 2009 and 2010 first round picks and a conditional third from Philly for Pronger, prospects Nick Bonino (F) and Timo Pielmeier (G) plus a conditional third from San Jose for Travis Moen and Kent Huskins (See Dumbest Trade Ever in dictionary).

And they still have to decide what to do with J-S Giguere and Jonas Hiller with Germany's best goaltender prospect Timo Peilmeier waiting in the wings.

The Ducks' only weakness at this point appears to be that the coaching staff has to decide which top notch goaltender to start and which to trade, Giguere or Hiller.

First place and a top three seed.

2. San Jose Sharks

Last year was the Sharks' year. If life was fair, the Sharks would have won the Cup in 2008-09.

But life isnt fair. The Sharks had a stellar regular season but their encroaching age and apparent lack of toughness were exposed in the playoffs by Anaheim.

Since then, the Sharks have done very little to improve. They've gotten older and, other than Devon Setoguchi, are starting to pay the price for Doug Wilson's horrible draft performances. Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton and Evgeni Nabokov were all worn out in the playoffs and it remains to be seen if they can get it up for another full campaign.

They will still win many regular season games. Count on that. They are too talented not to. But the Sharks have very little youth to spell the older guys and its showing, especially as the season wears on.

Signing Swedish League superstar goaltender Jonas Gustavsson would have been a step in the right direction but he signed with Brian Burke in Toronto.

Signing Rob Blake to a four-year deal is a positive step. Losing Moen wont hurt much since he never belonged in teal in the first place. Signing Huskins to a two-year deal for $1.7 million seems bizarre but he's serviceable.

But Roenick, Cheechoo, Marleau, Thornton and Nabokov are all on the off ramp of great careers and there appears to be no-one waiting in the wings to take their places.

The Sharks could still turn their immediate fortunes around by bringing in a guy like Danny Heatley or Alex Tanguay but there aren't many other saviors left out there. And they have no valuable assets to trade, other than Setoguchi and I would think he's untouchable.

The Sharks only true young prospects, F Nick Bonino and G Timo Pielmeier were traded to Anaheim, along with a draft choice, for Travis Moen and Kent Huskins in the aforementioned Dumbest Trade Ever so, unless Wilson loads up with free agents, this year is "FIN" for The Fin.

The Sharks are clearly a playoff caliber team and will make one more run this year for the Cup.

But the rest of the West (Anaheim, Chicago, Vancouver, Calgary, Dallas) have gotten better.

Detroit has gotten only slightly weaker.

And San Jose has just gotten older.

This is a team which had a 2-3 year window and hasnt won. Next year, it will be time to clean house and rebuild.

Signing 30 year old Anaheim castoff and turnover specialist Kent Huskins isnt going to get them there.

Second place and a playoff spot.

3. Dallas Stars

An aging Marty Turco finally gets a solid backup to spell him in Alex Auld. They are in a semi rebuilding mode. Turco will always keep them in games.

Could fight for a low playoff seed.

4. Phoenix Coyotes:

Offseason turmoil (Will they stay or will they go?) will take its toll. Good young players but cant seem to take the next step like Columbus did.

No playoffs again but they'll give Anaheim and San Jose headaches when they play them.

5. LA Kings

Its hard to get excited about the Kings. The organization just doesnt seem to care. From their dumb-ass goal song (I love LA!) to their questionable personnel moves, it's hard to take them seriously. The best thing about the Kings is Heidi Androl, and they even use her incorrectly. They are trying to create this squeaky clean, kid friendly product and it sucks. Its almost as bad as the Mighty Ducks used to be with Tinker Bell throwing fairy dust on the scoreboard. Embarrassing.

Team USA Gets No Respect...Still

Tigershark — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:25:58 -0400

The USA men's football team recently beat Spain, the No. 1 ranked team in the world and, yesterday, gave the No. 4 ranked team in the world, Brazil, a serious run for its money; leading 2-0 for the first 50 minutes of a 90 minute contest before finally succumbing to intense Brazilian pressure and losing.

Final Score: Brazil 3 USA 2.

The 'Net is awash with commentators trying to denigrate this team's accomplishments.

Mostly its just typical anti-American hate, but some of it is semi-intelligent criticism that, at least, is focusing on the game and not on American foreign policy blunders or other historic political mistakes by long dead Americans. (Welcome to World Cup Football, baby.)

"The USA was lucky. Spain and Brazil weren't trying hard. The Confederation Cup doesn't matter.", they say.

In short, to quote Rodney Dangerfield, Team USA don't get no respect.

I have been a World Cup football fan since 1990, when my German girlfriend and I decided on a whim to drive from Frankfurt to Rome for the 1990 World Cup. We had no tickets and we had no hotel reservations but we drove to Italy in her Volkswagen Golf and had an absolute blast.

We watched the matches from pubs and I was hooked. Germany won that year and I have been a World Cup fan ever since.

I still don't consider myself a "soccer fan". I don't care about the LA Galaxy or the English Premier League or the MLS or any of it.

But, the World Cup? I'm an addict. Great athletes, drama, sports, politics, history, war, peace, drinking, half naked Brazilian women, what's not to love?

So, here are my comments on the USA's incredible run to the Finals in the Confederation Cup this past week.

The USA is currently ranked 14th out 202 FIFA nations. That's about right, in my opinion.

Arguably, they could rise past Paraguay (13) and Turkey (12) or drop to around 26th behind Mexico (25). There are some good teams between 10 and 25 and the USA is one of those teams. It should be noted that NONE of the teams in this tier are considered serious threats to win the World Cup next summer but there is always one team (Cameroon in 1990, for example.) that makes a deep run despite the expectations or rankings.

Is the US Team Top 10? Probably not. Despite their upset of Spain (1) in the Confederation Cup, Portugal and France are currently ranked at 10 and 11 and the USA should not be considered higher than them at this time. If they beat a team like France or Portugal in the World Cup, they could (and should) move into the Top 10.

That said, the USA is a hard working, gritty team with lots of heart. They don't have the one "superstar" player yet (though Landon Donovan's play against Brazil yesterday was stellar). However, they have a good, solid team that, when playing together, is a force to be reckoned with.

I'm not sure other top 10 teams like England, Croatia, or Russia would want to play them next summer. They will never fully dominate play or lead in time of possession against a team like Brazil or Spain, but they can strike quickly on counter attacks and they play great defense.

Plus, the US is known for our goaltenders. Tim Howard for the men and Hope Solo for the women are two of the best in the world. (My Dutch friend says its because Americans aren't afraid to stick their noses where they don't belong...gotta love the political undercurrent of this game!)

Germany (3) would roll over them but I think Germany is going to win the whole thing next summer...easily.

My point is, on the one hand, people say that rankings don't matter. On the other hand, if you say the US is as good as Russia or Croatia, they say "But Russia and Croatia are the 8th and 9th ranked teams in the world!"

Or they say the Confederation Cup doesn't matter. (The hundreds of Brazilian fans dancing in the streets of San Francisco yesterday might disagree).

Or they say the USA was just lucky (Which sport doesn't involve some luck?)

Or they say Spain and Brazil didn't try very hard and the USA snuck up on them. Of course, it was an upset. No-one, including the players on Team USA, was claiming that the USA wasn't the underdog.

So, what does it take to get respect? I dont know but here are some thoughts.

If winning the World Cup is the only thing that matters, then there are many teams in the world who are simply "capable of getting results" just like the USA and should not be considered "elite". The current #1 and #2 ranked teams in the world, Spain and Holland, are included in this category.

Obviously, this isn't the case. Spain and Holland are considered elite teams, as they should be.

If winning the World Cup is the true measure, then consider this:

Only seven nations have ever won World Cups since it began in 1930, some more than once (Uruguay, Italy, Germany, England, France, Argentina, and Brazil).

That leaves 195 FIFA nations who have never won, including top ranked teams such as Spain (1), Holland (2), Croatia (8), Russia (9) Portugal (11), Greece (12) Paraguay (13), and the USA (14).

If beating the best team in Africa and the best team in Europe and leading the best team in South America 2-0 for 50 minutes doesn't get you any respect, what does?

San Jose Sharks, We Hardly Knew Ye!

Tigershark — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:21:00 -0400

Anaheim's light-work done, a couple comments and then we can move on to the much more formidable Red-Wings:

1. Congratulations on your President's Trophy. Anaheim has never won a President's Trophy. We Ducks fans are very jealous of this.

2. Joe Thornton is not a loser and he is not soft. The Ducks are just a better hockey team than the Sharks. To prove it, please trade Thornton to Anaheim (we will give you Brett Hedican and a 4th rd draft pick). He will have his name on the Cup next year.

3. Patrick Marleau, on the other hand, is soft. He's a good hockey player but, in no way, should be the Captain of a team playing in the brutal Western Conference. The Sharks tried so hard to model themselves after the Ducks and then made *this* guy their Captain? Ouch.

4. Keeping Nabokov instead of Kiprusoff was mistake (as any Finn will tell you.) If you want to win with Nabokov, you need a solid regular season back-up so he isn't worn out by playoff time.

5. Jeremy Roenick is over. Stop pretending that he isnt. He will have a long run on Dancing With the Stars, though.

6. You had a good regular season, be proud. You lost to a superior team, learn from it.

7. A final word of consolation to Bay Area Shark fans: You always have the Raiders and their new first round draft choice (a kick returner, basically) to root for.

Good bye and see you next year.

Anaheim Ducks-San Jose Sharks: Why the Ducks Are the Better Team

Tigershark — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:37:28 -0400

Why are the Anaheim Ducks leading the San Jose Sharks 3-1, out-scoring them 12-6, in a year where virtually everyone outside of Anaheim thought the Sharks were a lock to make it to the Western Conference Finals?

Let’s toss out the sour grapes reasons regularly heard from Sharks fans and analyze the reality of the situation. (i.e, the Ducks have no class, are just lucky, are thugs, goons, cheaters, ad nauseum.)

The answer comes as no surprise to Anaheim fans.

The Anaheim Ducks, quite simply, are a better hockey team than the San Jose Sharks. To quote Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times, the Ducks are giving the Sharks "a lesson in ferocity."

In fact, if not for a phantom hooking call on Corey Perry in the third period of Game 3, this series would already be over in four games with the Ducks dominating the Sharks as easily as the Redwings took out the Blue Jackets.

Sportswriters and fans continually repeat the same delusional nonsense in explaining Anaheim's “unlikely” 3-1 lead:

Namely:

The Sharks are the better team but Jonas Hiller’s otherworldly play has saved the eighth seeded Ducks against the superior Sharks offensive onslaught.
The Sharks are the better team but, for some unexplainable reason, Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton haven’t shown up yet.
The Sharks are the better team, but the Ducks are just too dirty for the Sharks to deal with. The league should suspend Pronger, Perry, and the rest of the Ducks because they are too physical and the Sharks should be granted a second round berth by default.
The Sharks are the better team and its just one loss (I mean two losses, I mean three losses,...) and the Sharks superior skills will eventually win out over the pugnacious style of the Ducks.

These reasons, of course, are not true.

The reasons the Ducks are leading 3-1 in the series are as concrete and explainable as why tears of disappoinment freeze on a Sharks fans face when the temperature drops below 32 degrees F.

Anaheim defenseman Francois Beauchemin’s (#23 in above photo) return to the lineup after a five month injury rehab, and the late season acquisitions of defensemen Ryan Whitney, Sheldon Brookbank, and James Wisnieski have transformed the Ducks defense from a ragtag bunch of "just-guys" (Montador, Huskins, Hedican) circling around between Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermeyer (#27 in above photo) shifts to a three-line force of All-Star defensive pairings. No offence intended to the Sharks' Rob Blake and Dan Boyle. They are both very good defensemen. But they are two versus the Ducks six. And they are not in the same league as Pronger and Niedermeyer, at least not defensively.
On the occasions where the Sharks offense has penetrated the Ducks D, Hiller has come up big. The Sharks have outshot the Ducks in the series by a wide margin but many of their shots and passes have been rushed and ill-advised. Sharks center Joe Thornton likes to slow the game down and control the pace but the Ducks checkers are collapsing on him so hard and fast he is forcing shots and passing sooner than he normally would, thus allowing Jonas Hiller unfettered lines of sight to make relatively routine saves. (And occassionally, spectacular ones.)
The Ducks penalty kill is something like 13-of-15 and its not just about Niedermeyer and Pronger. In Game 1, with 4 minutes left and the Ducks leading 2-0, Pronger and Niedermeyer sat out the last two minute PK of the game. Ducks coach Randy Carlisle let Beauchemin, Wisneiski, Brookbank, and Whitney handle the entire two minute kill in order to save Pronger and Niedermeyer for the last two minutes of even strength play. Can you imagine any coach having the confidence in his third through sixth defensemen in a 2-0 game with four minutes left against the Sharks on a power play...in the playoffs?!!? That's amazing to me. Add Nokeleinen, Brown, Carter, Marchant, RNiedermeyer and George Parros to this squad and you have a defensive juggernaut in the making. They NEVER quit and rarely miss assignments.
The Ducks have two good goaltenders. The Sharks have one. Nabokov is a great regular season goalie but he doesn’t have the stamina of a Marty Brodeuer (Who does?) The Ducks have made a living off of having two great goaltenders on the roster over the past few years. The Sharks need to take more care to save Nabokov for the playoffs. They are good enough to win with Boucher in the regular season against lesser teams and rest Nabokov for the playoffs. The Ducks have to win 13 more games to win the Cup. The Sharks have to win 15. Both Hiller and Giguere are fresh and up to the task. Nabokov already looks beaten.
Ryan/Getzlaff/Perry have out-skated Marleau/Thornton/Setoguchi thus far in the series, in large part because the Ducks defensemen play better defense than the Sharks' defensemen do. If you get past Ryan and Perry's forecheck without turning the puck over (check out the third goal in last night's game for how relentless these two guys are on the forecheck), you still have Getzlaff, Niedermeyer/Beachemin or Pronger/Whitney to deal with, along with Ryan and Perry's back check.
The Chops. Andrew Ebbett and Drew Miller were brought up from the Iowa Chops to play with Teemu Selanne. After losing Andy McDonald to the Blues last year and Chris Kunitz to the Pens this year, Anaheim finally has a couple guys who can make plays and skate at Selanne-velocity, something Doug Weight, Brendan Morrisson, Travis Moen, and Sammy Pahlsson tried but couldnt do effectively. Teemu, even at 38, is still too fast for most centers.

There is a reason why Anaheim fans chanted “WE WANT THE SHARKS” the last home game of the season. Knowledgeable Ducks fans knew all along the Ducks matched up well with the Sharks (and didnt want to travel to Michigan yet.)

It’s not over yet. The Sharks are a great team and have won three in a row many times this year. But beating this particular Ducks team three straight games, with the defense they are putting on the ice, is going to be a tall order to fill.

If the Sharks can pull it off, they will deserve all the accolades heaped upon them.

Thus far, the accolades have been premature.

But, as has been often said in sports, "That's why they play the games."

Anaheim Ducks Are Championship Caliber In 2008-09

Tigershark — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 13:28:33 -0400

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.

Jacques Rogge, Euro Coward, Destroys Olympic Dreams

Tigershark — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 10:12:27 -0400

Imagine, if you would, the following scenario: Peter Ueberroth, Chairman of the USA Olympic Committee, is promoted to the head of the International Olympic Committee.

As Chairman of the IOC, Ueberroth loads the IOC Committee with Americans, and maybe a Canadian or two. Ueberroth then holds a closed door, secret meeting to have a secret vote whether to keep football (soccer) out of the next Olympics.

Why? Well, America and Canada aren't very good at it. Its not really a sport we play here, at least not after the age of 10, especially for men.

Ueberroth manages to get the vote he was looking for and announces that soccer will be banned from the 2012 and 2016 Games, because European and South American countries are too dominating and its just not fair to Americans and Canadians to keep a game in the Olympics that they don't have a chance of winning.

Besides, its just soccer. We don't care about soccer. Endless ties. 1-0 shoot outs. Diving Italians crying over an untied shoelace. Get rid of it.

Sound far fetched? Not at all. This is EXACTLY what IOC Chairman Jacques Rogge did to softball and baseball. In July 2005, Rogge, coward that he is, held a secret meeting to remove softball and baseball from the Olympics. His argument for doing so was that Americans were too good at it.

No mention that island nations, south and central American nations, Canada, and Asian nations all play the game. His concern was that Americans were too good at it and how could Europeans compete with America unless he tweaked the rules (aka, "cheated") a bit. So, Rogge and his team of Euro Cowards removed the sport from the Olympics for one reason and one reason only, because Europeans do not play it.

Oddly enough, we still see ping pong and badminton in the Olympics. (Yes, I said ping pong and badminton.) These are games Americans would only play after drinking too much beer at a barbecue.

But Rogge, whose own shady under-the-table dealings with the Chinese secured the Beijing Olympics in the first place, would never consider removing games that only the Chinese are good at. Olympic Ping Pong?. Really? What's next? Olympic Grand Theft Auto?

Rogge agreed to allow Chinese Internet censorship in Beijing without telling anyone he agreed to it. He did nothing when the Chinese clearly entered 12- and 13-year old girls in the gymnastics competition. He did all these things, including the removal of softball and baseball from the 2012 games to hurt American athletes. That's his only reason.

He is a COWARD and a disgrace to International Sport. He should be immediately removed from his position as IOC Chairman, and baseball/softball should be reinstated immediately for the 2012 games.

Euro Coward Rogge has ruined the dreams of many young athletes, mostly young women, by banning baseball/softball from the Olympics. The men have a chance to play pro ball some day.

There really isn't a viable women's softball league anywhere in the world. The Olympics are the pinnacle of the sport for these exceptional young athletes. Without the Olympics, they have nowhere to play.

Rogge, arrogant Euro coward that he is, has seen to that.

Congratulations to Japan for winning the Gold Medal in women's softball. I guess Team USA wasn't as dominating as Jacques Rogge thought they were.

Why Teemu Selanne Will Be Back with the Anaheim Ducks in 2008

Tigershark — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 09:46:43 -0400

Many hockey fans and writers believe Teemu Selanne's failure to give Ducks' GM Brian Burke a commitment to play by July 1 indicates that Selanne will not be back in 2008.

I disagree.

The Ducks' other indecisive superstar, Scott Niedermeyer, was under contract with Anaheim. Niedermeyer was absolutely obligated to give Burke a decision in a timely manner this year, and he did.

Selanne, on the other hand, is a free agent. He has no contractual obligation to the Ducks whatsoever. He is in Finland right now enjoying the beautiful Finnish summer.

As anyone who has ever been to Helsinki in July knows, the Finns go all-in during the summer. Many businesses shut down for several weeks when it warms up.

The idea of a lengthy "holiday" is built into the Finnish way of life. It is difficult for work-obsessed Americans to understand, but when it comes time to party in the summer, the Finns stop working and PARTY.

Teemu, despite his roots in Orange County and the great things he's done with the Children's Hospital here, is a Finn first and foremost. The ever-present Finnish flags and Suomi National Team or Jokerit Helsinki Selanne jerseys at the Honda Center are a testament to that.

But, let's put the cultural differences aside for a minute and talk hockey.

From a purely technical perspective, I think Teemu is coming back.

Here is why:

The Ducks only have three right-handed shots on the entire roster, including defensemen. One of them is Ryan Getzlaff, their All-Star, first-line center. Todd Bertuzzi, a natural right wing, is gone to Calgary. All-Star RW Corey Perry is already slotted into the right side of the first line, with Getzlaff at C and either Bobby Ryan or Chris Kunitz at left wing.

That leaves George Parros as the only other RW on the entire roster. Parros is a fan favorite and gives 110-percent effort. But he can't skate with newly acquired speed C Brendan Morrisson or LWs Ryan and Kunitz.

All six defensemen on the roster—including team captain Chris Pronger and perennial All Star and Norris Trophy finalist Scott Niedermeyer—naturally shoot left-handed. The Ducks can't effectively move someone up front from the blue line, even if they needed to.

Selanne knows this, and can clearly see that Burke has nobody on the roster to play the key second-line scoring position.

The Ducks third and fourth lines are there to check people. Second-line production is the key to Anaheim's success. With it, they earned the second seed and won the Stanley Cup.

Without it, they were seeded fourth, and knocked out in round one by a surging Dallas team—a team they would have fared better against in the later rounds, in my opinion.

With Morrisson (shoots L), Samuel Pahlsson (shoots L), and hard hitting Brian Sutherby (shoots L) slotted to play the second-, third-, and fourth-line C positions, Ryan Carter is looking for a place to play. He has the speed to skate on the second line, but he is a natural center—and, you guessed it, shoots left handed.

Selanne can take all the time in the world, knowing there is no urgency to his decision. My personal opinion is that he'll be back at Anaheim Ice after the Finnish summer winds down in a few more weeks, and help lead the Ducks to their third consecutive 100-point season.