Kukla's Korner Hockey

Category: Anaheim-Ducks

Morning Line

by Paul on 11/20/09 at 08:54 AM ET
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One win doesn’t cure their ills. And it won’t send the scouts home. The Ducks still have goaltending issues to resolve and a defense that’s short on toughness since Chris Pronger was traded to Philadelphia last summer. A better and more physical defense should make the goaltenders look better and help them to at least give the Ducks a chance to win.

Thursday’s victory probably forestalled a fire sale but didn’t cancel it. The team that began this homestand might not be the same as the one that’s here at the end, for better or for worse.

-Helene Elliott of the LA Times.

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Scott Niedermayer Stick Toss Causes A Ruckus

by Paul on 11/20/09 at 07:41 AM ET
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 Tags: Scott+Niedermayer,

Watching The Ducks

by Paul on 11/19/09 at 04:32 PM ET
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from Helene Elliott at the Fabulous Forum,

The vultures are circling, even though the Ducks’ carcass is still breathing.

Fifteen NHL scouts were given credentials for their game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday at the Honda Center, a sure sign the last-place Ducks are considering personnel moves or already have some changes in the works.

Scouts often time their visits to Southern California for when the weather in Canada is coldest or when the Ducks and Kings have several home games within a few days. But 15 scouts is a lot to have at a game so soon before the March 3 trading deadline, and it’s likely the Ducks will look different by the time they end the seven-game homestand that starts tonight.

continued

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Ducks Need To Get Rolling

by Paul on 11/19/09 at 01:46 PM ET
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from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

Can the real Anaheim Ducks please present themselves to the nearest NHL arena?

Because so far this season I haven’t seen the team that knocked off the San Jose Sharks last spring. This team is too talented to be sitting last in the Western Conference at the quarter-pole mark of the season.

The Ducks open up a seven-game home stand against Tampa Bay on Thursday night, a critical juncture in their season before they lose their grip on it.

“These next seven games at home will be very crucial and hopefully they will turn our season around,” defenseman James Wisniewski told ESPN.com.

A 6-10-3 start has produced lots of meetings—some with players only, some with the coaching staff. They are looking for answers … before it’s too late.

continued

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Time For Points, Not Excuses For The Ducks

by Paul on 11/19/09 at 08:54 AM ET
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from Curtis Zupke of Ducks Blog at the OC Register,

Hiller, who voiced displeasure after the Detroit game about his teammates allowing scoring chances, reiterated, along with Giguere and Carlyle, that it’s a group effort.

“Right now all we need is points,” Hiller said. “Goaltending can definitely (give you) a chance to win. That’s what we want to do and I think that’s what we try to do. But it’s not always that easy. It’s got to be the whole team.”

Tonight will mark the 20-game point of the season for the Ducks, who seem to carry an undercurrent of uneasiness after general manager Bob Murray’s recent comments that players will depart before Carlyle does if the losing continues.

Giguere bluntly stated that the feeling-out period is long over.

“We’re 20 games into the season,” he said. “If you don’t know the system, you’ve got to go and ask the coach. If you have any question about anything, you’ve to go ask (captain) Scotty (Niedermayer) or go ask the coaches. Right now there’s no more excuses.”

more

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Ducks Get Home From Long Road Trip… And Practice

by Paul on 11/17/09 at 07:51 PM ET
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from Mark Medina of the Fabulous Forum,

Despite the Ducks having a week-long, winless, four-game trip, Coach Randy Carlyle held a noon practice Tuesday hoping that more time on the ice will change the team’s fortunes....

“We should try to and get on the ice as much as possible to try to improve our overall execution level,” he said after Tuesday’s practice at Honda Center. “That, first and foremost, was missing last night. It wasn’t where it needs to be in the last three games, four games. That’s been frustrating for everybody.”

more

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Ducks Not Doing Their Job

by Paul on 11/17/09 at 08:17 AM ET
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from Eric Stephens of Ducks Blog, Center

Todd Marchant said that despite a stretch that’s seen them lose 10 of their last 13 games, the players haven’t tuned out Carlyle. When asked if the group is still listening to him, Marchant said, “Oh yeah. Absolutely.”

“I’ve been in situations like this before and that seems to be a common question,” Marchant added. ”Are people not listening to the coach? I don’t see that at all. I’ve never seen that at all. I’ve never seen where players don’t listen to the coach.

“For whatever reason, things just don’t work out the way you want them to. They don’t work out the way you draw them up.”

Carlyle visibly expressed his frustration following the loss to the Penguins. Marchant said the coach’s reaction is understandable.

“He’s as frustrated as anybody,” he said. ”The difference is we can go out and do something about it and he can’t. Coaching staffs can only do so much. They can only give you so much information. They can only diagram things so many times.

“It’s the players that ultimately have to go out and perform. That’s our job. Bottom line, you’ve got to go out and perform.”

read on

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Ducks Dealing With Criticism

by Paul on 11/16/09 at 10:13 AM ET
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from Eric Stephens of the OC Register,

Ducks general manager Bob Murray, his team mired in a rut that has seen it lose nine of 12 games and fall to the bottom of the Western Conference, lashed out Thursday to light a fire under his underachieving squad.

How did they react to Murray’s comments that “it’s about time some of these people prove that they’re good hockey players” and that he doesn’t think they’re serious enough about playing the game?

It depends on who you ask.

“It’s the first I heard of it,” center Ryan Getzlaf said Saturday night after a 7-4 loss to Detroit. “I don’t read anything anyways. I’ve haven’t been here that long, but I’ve been here long enough not to read stuff.”

Ducks captain Scott Niedermayer also claimed to not know of Murray’s tongue-lashing. But when he was made aware, Niedermayer did not have any problem with the team taking the brunt of the criticism for their 6-9-3 start.

“Rightly so,” Niedermayer said. “We feel the same way. The coaching staff probably feels the same way. We feel we need to be playing better. Tonight (Saturday) we didn’t do it again for as long as you’re supposed to and we paid the price for it.

“We all probably have that same opinion.”

continued

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Talking Niedermayer & Blackhawks

by Paul on 11/14/09 at 06:51 PM ET
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from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

• To clear matters, Niedermayer sent ESPN.com this comment on Saturday prior to his game in Detroit: “I don’t want to be traded. I love it in Anaheim, and the only thing I’m focused on right now is helping our team get back on track and make the playoffs. That’s it.”

Via text message to ESPN.com, Murray also reiterated that he has no intention of trading Niedermayer, UFA July 1, and wants to see the future Hall of Fame retire a Duck....

• I don’t think it was ever in doubt, but I’m hearing that talks between the Chicago Blackhawks and star forwards Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are going very well and that both sides are close to a deal. Both players are slated for restricted free agency July 1, and other GMs were salivating at the chance at plunking down offer sheets for them, but that’s not going to happen. I would expect an announcement sometime in the next two weeks.

more chatter and talk…

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Evening Line

by Paul on 11/14/09 at 06:33 PM ET
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I see where the NHL has reinstated Henry Samueli as owner of the Anaheim Ducks after he was suspended indefinitely from any involvement with the team on June 24, 2008. Multiple sources tell me he’s now being measured for a Hockey Hall of Fame blazer.

-Red Fisher of the Montreal Gazette.  More hockey notes from Red via Faceoff.com.

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 Tags: Henry+Samueli,

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