HAPPY HOCKEY SEASON!!!

So, hockey season has officially begun and I couldn't be more excited. The Ducks had their season opener last night and it was just slightly less than atrocious. However, I'm going to go ahead and blame part of it on all of the pre-game whoopla from last night. The guys really enjoy relaxing with eating and/or sleep before their games and red carpet craziness is not eating or sleeping. Here's hoping the road trip ahead looks a bit brighter...

Baseball For A Moment

So, in taking a quick break from hockey, I'd like to take this opportunity to discuss baseball. As most MLB fans know, today was the trade deadline. A former Angel, Casey Kotchman, got traded to the Red Sox today. He will primarily be keeping the bench warm there due to the fact that the Red Sox also acquired Victor Martinez today. A little over a year ago, Kotchman was the starting first baseman for the Angels and around this time last summer was traded for Mark Teixeira and we all know how that turned out. Tex, as he is commonly called, went to the Yanks for $20 mil. more than the Angels were willing to offer. The only one who came out on top of all this is Tex, but what can the public due? I guess we'll see Kotchman in October. Au Revoir.

Goaltending

So officially Allaire is no longer the Ducks goaltending consultant, Pete Peeters is. Now he claims, "I don’t see trying to change anything with J.S. or Jonas" (http://ducks.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=457770). I really hope this is true. The butterfly has been working really well in recent years for the Ducks. Now, being as lucky as I was having season tickets for the '07-'08 season, I was actually aware who Jonas Hiller was prior to this past season. Having been a Ducks fan for many years now, I feel a certain pain deep down coming to the realization the Giguere, or Jiggy as most fans call him, will not be playing nearly as much as he used to. I feel that he had a rough year with the death of his father and all, but seeing Jiggy be second string nearly breaks my heart. Anyway, I hope that Peeters really doesn't change anything because both of the Ducks net-minders seem to be pretty stable with their techniques.

xoxo

Kinda Quiet

So it seems that the frenzy that was NHL free agency has died down a bit which is why I haven't been writing much. However, I will say I'm very happy that the Ducks have signed an entry deal with Nick Deschamps. I remember watching the draft a little over a year ago and having a good feeling about this kid. He should be fun to watch. Ciao for now.

Schedule

Ducks 09-10 season schedule posted

http://www.nhl.com/ice/schedulebyseason.htm?team=ana

Past Games and Coming Seasons

http://ducks.nhl.com/team/app/?service=page&page=NewsPage&articleid=434579

Everyone should check out the link above for a listing of past Ducks games that are going to be re-broadcast on FSN PT this summer. Enjoy some of your favorite Ducks moments.

Ok, onto my mini rant of the day. I know I've been complaining about the defense or lack thereof, but the biggest thing that has me concerned is that all acquisitions made so far, aside from Lupul and Sbisa that I know of, have only been for one year contracts. There is no way that Murray will be able to establish consistency by signing year-to-year contracts. Hopefully, some of these may be renegotiated during the season, esp. Koivu. I'm a bit worried that he won't stay if Selanne doesn't return, but I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Today's Good News: The re-signing of James Wisniewski, however, only for one year.

In Other News

Ok, so taking a break from hockey, I would like to take this time to announce and rejoice in the fact that the Angels swept the Yankees this weekend. This is particularly gratifying to me because I have many friends who are fans of the Yanks and they talk a lot of trash. This is an especially sweet feat considering the heart of the Angels line-up (Torii Hunter and Vlad Guererro) got placed on the DL the day before the Yankees came to town. On top of this, slugger Juan Rivera also suffered an injury this weekend. However, the Angels pulled off the three-day sweep with two come-from-behind wins. When I was in attendance at Saturday's game, I seriously felt like I was at the home run derby, which in fact is taking place tomorrow. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

xoxo