The Ducks have signed veteran Saku Koivu to a 2-year $2.5 million contract. A good move by the management.

Hopefully more to come!!

If you would have said that Cam Fowler would be available to the Ducks at the number twelve spot, you would have been considered a lunatic. It was a no brainer for GM Bob Murray when the Ducks were on the clock. Just days after Scott Niedermayer announced his retirement, Anaheim drafted another mobile and quick defenseman.

Fowler will join a young core with James Wisniewski Luca Sbisa and Jake Gardiner. At one point, Fowler was expected to be picked 3rd overall but lucky for Anaheim, he didn’t go until much later. A theory why d-men are not drafted as high is because they take a little longer to develop as forwards but if you ask the Chicago Blackhawks, they don’t mind drafting defenseman.

Anaheim had a second first round pick which they got from Philadelphia and they went with local boy Emerson Etem. He’s got tremendous speed and strong around the net. He was expected to go at 17, so it’s safe to say that they got another steal in the first round.

As mentioned earlier, Scott Niedermayer announced his retirement a couple of days ago and he will go down as one of the all-time greats. He was the ultimate winner, having won Stanley Cups, Olympic Gold medals, Memorial Cup, Calder Cup, World Cup Gold, World Junior Gold, and World Championship. He captained the two teams he played on, he is a Norris Trophy and Conn Smythe winner. He will most certainly be a first ballot Hall of Fame entry and will be missed by the fans. The Anaheim Ducks were lucky to have him and he will surely be missed. Hopefully he can stick around and help develop the Ducks newest member.

The Anaheim Ducks didn’t have the season they were hoping for in 2009-2010 and they hope for better next season. Unfortunately, Bob Murray can’t get a head start on his roster moves, again! He has to wait for Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne to decide whether or not they will be returning for another season with the Ducks. Selanne has hinted throughout his injury plagued season that he will lean towards retirement, but with the Finnish Flash still being able to produce, he would be good for a 2-million dollar signing.

The first order of business for the Ducks is the draft in two weeks. They will be picking 12th overall and if defenseman Derek Forbort is still available, look for the Ducks to pick him. He would fill a void on their always aging blue line.

Next order of business, if you can call it that, is signing RFA Bobby Ryan. I say that because there is no reason that they shouldn’t sign the young star. He will be a part of the Ducks core for years to come; along with line mates Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf.

Up front the Ducks are respectable. They have one of the best first lines in the league and Joffrey Lupul and Jason Blake can add some good secondary scoring.

The blue line is where the most changes will come this off-season. With only three NHL ready d-men under contract for next season (assuming Niedermayer doesn’t come back). If they don’t fix those holes, it can prove to be deadly for the Ducks. Hopefully Luca Sbissa can make the full time jump to the bigs and help the thin blue line and relieve Murray of some pressure to sign or trade for some D.

It will be a busy off-season for the Ducks, but look for them to be in the playoffs next year if they get the D they need.

Here is a list of free agents that the Ducks should look at, in order of importance:

List is assuming that Niedermayer and Selanne are back for another season.

1) Anton Volchenkov

2) Dan Hamhuis

3) Niclas Wallin

All are relatively young and affordable.

I will release a complete list of MY 2010-2011 roster in the next week.

The San Jose Sharks are one win away from the conference finals and they seem to be getting better as the playoff move along. They showed adversity tonight, coming back from a two goal deficit in the third and then finishing it in overtime.

The Wings came busting out to a two goal lead before Setoguchi cut the lead in half just before intermission. The lone goal in the second was from Henrik Zetterberg, when he tossed the puck towards the net and deflected it off Douglas Murray. Down 3-1 going in the third, it seemed as if the series was about to turn towards the Wings, but the 2010 Sharks continue to surprise the naysayers. Not only did they come back to tie the game, but it was Joe Thornton, the man who throughout his career has been known to disappear every April, scored to bring the game to 3-2. Logan Couture scored the tying goal when he caught Howard cheating off his post and shot the puck from the goal-line, beating the Wings goalie.

Jumbo Joe wasn’t done after regulation. In overtime, he took the puck from an errant Jason Williams shot that rang around the boards and headed down his off wing on a two-on-one with Marleau, setting up the former captain with the game winner and major back-breaker for the Wings.

Not only was the win huge because the Sharks now have a stranglehold on the series, but it must be reassuring to management, coaches, and especially fans, that Joe is starting to produce after he stops receiving a pay check. Coming into the playoffs he, along with others, was on very thin ice. If he continues to improve as the playoffs role on, he will finally be considered a great player to have on your team, no matter what time of year.

It was a roller coaster season that ended in disappointment for the Ducks. They were hoping to build off of their second round elimination in the 2009 season, but it was clear from the start of the year that the loss of Chris Pronger took it’s tole on the team. The moves made during the off-season did not bring the success that was expected, which made it tough for the organization to build on any momentum from last year.

Following the Pronger trade, Ryan Whitney was expected to handle some of the load he left behind. Unfortunately, Whitney’s tenure was a short one. In a surprising move, he was shipped off to Edmonton for 32 year old, Lubomir Visnovsky.  While he was an upgrade on the offensive side, he has little to no toughness to his game. So in the end, losing Pronger, an all around D man, was devastating for the Ducks.

The off-season signing of Saku Koivu was supposed to be a great compliment to Teemu Selanne. The two Finn’s were expected to contribute offensively and alleviate some of the pressure from the Getzlaf, Perry and Ryan line. Koivu brought 56 points in 71 games but got off to a slow start.

It wasn’t all bad news for the Ducks during the ’09-10 season. The emergence of Dan Sexton and Kyle Chipchura was a pleasant surprise for the Ducks. Perry, Getzlaf and Ryan all continued their development and were one of the leagues most dynamic lines.

Individually, Ducks players had some success and received some hardware. Getzlaf, Perry, Ryan, Koivu and Selanne all received Olympic medals. There was also a huge milestone this season. Teemu Selanne became the 18th member of the exclusive 600 goal club. In dramatic fashion, the future Hall of Famer was able to achieve the milestone at home, in front of the Ducks faithful.

The end of the season trades allowed the Ducks to prepare for a busy off-season in 2010. With the uncertainty of what Scott Niedermayer’s future plans are, the Ducks may have only four D men under contract this summer and one goalie.

Although the didn’t end how the Ducks were hoping, with some good draft picking and solid free agent signings, they should bounce back for at least a playoff birth next year.

Coming soon: Ducks draft options & potential free agent signings.

It’s been a while since I’ve written and a lot has happened to the Ducks this past week.

Let’s start off with the ugly incident between James Wisniewski and Brent Seabrook. By now all of you saw what happened and know that Wisniewski received an eight game suspension.

By no means am I condoning the hit, but the timing of the hit could not have come at a worse time the Wisniewski. Yes it was a dirty hit, and yes, he is a repeat offender, but I find it hard to believe that he would have been given eight games if this hit happened in November, and not a week after the Marc Savard hit. The NHL disciplinary committee has been under attack from the media, the fans, and NHL players, after they decided that the blatant head shot to Marc Savard would go unpunished. Combine that with the NHL GM meetings that took place in Florida that same week, where their main topic of discussion were head shots. It was the worst time for this to happen for Wisniewski. That being said, there is no reason he should have charged him the way he did, and hits like that need to be taken out of the game right away.

Now on to some good news. Teemu Selanne finally got his 600th goal of his career, only the 18th player to do so. With only four home games left, he was able to do it in Anaheim.  “I was a little nervous that if it didn’t happen tonight, it might not happen here at all. It’s great, but it’s way more special happening at home.”

This will most likely be the last season in Selanne’s great career and it was nice to see the Ducks all-time scoring leader get his 600th.

In case you missed the goal, here is a link. Not one of his prettiest goals, but I don’t think he’s complaining!

Teemu Selanne Scores 600th Career Goal

It was a busy weekend for the Ducks management, signing Jonas Hiller to a four year contract, with a cap hit of $4.5 million. It was clear that there was no more room for Giggy and it was a matter of time until he was on his way out.

In return the Ducks get two overpaid and underachieving veterans. Toskala and Blake had contracts that seemed to be un-moveable in today’s cap world. Luckily for the Ducks, Toskala is only under contract for the rest of this season. If they decide to sign him, it will most likely be for much less than the $4 million he’s making this year. Blake however, is locked up until 2012.

We will have to wait and see what Blake will bring to the Ducks, but it’s nice to see that Hiller has finally earned the number one spot in nets.

The Ducks finish off their Eastern Conference road trip in Florida tonight to play the Panthers, before heading home to play the Wings on Wednesday night. Jason Blake will be available for tonight’s game, while Vesa Toskala’s duties as back up will have to wait because of immigration issues.

It wasn't supposed to be this close, but Canada still ended up on top. Credit needs to be given to the Swiss, who shut the Canadians out 2-0 in Turin, they played an aggressive style and were able to keep up with the Canadians.

The San Jose Sharks Dany Heatley and Patrick Marleau were the only two who were able to beat Jonas Hiller, who played an outstanding game. The Swiss cut the lead in half when Rutheman beat Brodeur on the far side, a goal that Brodeur would want back. They eventually tied the game on a lucky bounce that found the back of the net. The goaltenders took over in overtime and in the shootout. Sidney Crosby, on his second attempt, was the only goal scorer, which gave the Canadians the extra point.

On the injury front, Raffaele Sannitz drilled Jerome Iginla high; he was assessed a 2 minute penalty for the questionable hit. Iggy went to the bench looking a little dazed, and did not take a full shift after that.

Although the Canadians got 2 out of a possible 3 points tonight, they need to play better as this tournament continues. They weren't aggressive enough, and at times, held back from taking an open shot when the opportunity was there. Their discipline is also not there. On the second Swiss goal, Pronger was called on a retaliatory penalty, which gave them the extra skater. If they plan on bringing the same effort on Sunday night against the Americans, they will be in for a rude awakening.

It looks like Ryan Getzlaf will not be out of action for too long. The results from his MRI today revealed that his left ankle had no significant ligament or muscle tears.

Getzlaf released a statement saying that he hopes to return to the ice this week with the Ducks and he is looking forward to joining Team Canada on Monday.

Obviously this great news for both the Ducks and Team Canada.

The Ducks snapped the Kings winning streak last night by beating them 4-2, giving Anaheim their 10th straight home win. Jonas Hiller was solid yet again, saving 35 of the 37 shots the Kings threw at him. Offensively, Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu each had a goal and an assist.

The Ducks currently sit in 11th place, three points behind the 8th and final playoff spot, and have played more games than anyone else in the race. Hiller understands the magnitude of the win, as well as how important each game is from now until the end of the season. “We have to win as many games as possible to have a chance to make the playoffs at all, so tonight was really important for us.”

As if their situation was not difficult enough, Ryan Getzlaf went down awkwardly and was forced to leave the game with an ankle injury. X-ray's on his ankle revealed no broken bones, and he's scheduled for an MRI today.

The Ducks will not be the only team hoping that the injury is not a serious one. Getzlaf was named on the Team Canada Olympic team and is expected to suit up next week. Ducks and Team Canada captain, Scott Niedermayer weighed in on the injury. “Hopefully he won't be out too long. I don't have to say what he means to this team and what he does for us, so hopefully it's not bad.”

Both the Ducks fans and Team Canada fans feel the same.

I will post an update as soon as one is available.