No, Gordon, Rodney and Jacques is not the name of a law firm.  Those are three of the most recent free agent acquisitions by the Ducks. 

The Ducks first picked up right wing Andrew Gordon.  Gordon, 25, played in nine games with the Washington Capitals last season.  He spent the rest of his time in the AHL with the Hershey Bears.   Gordon was selected to the 2011 AHL Eastern Conference All-Star team (scored two goals in the All-Star Game).   Anaheim has signed Gordon to a two year contract.

Next, the Ducks picked up Bryan Rodney to a one year contract.  Rodney, 27, appeared in three games with the Carolina Hurricanes last season.  Like Gordon, he, too, spent the majority of time in the AHL.  Rodney, a defenseman, set career highs in goals, assists and points with Charlotte.

Jean-Francois Jacques rounds out the free agent acquisitions by the Ducks.  Jacques, 26, spent most of the season with the Edmonton Oilers (51 games) and a handful of games with their AHL affiliate in Oklahoma City.  Jacques, a left-wing, signed a two-way contract, as did Gordon and Rodney.

All three players are likely to spend time in Syracuse next season and have certainly helped bolster Anaheim's AHL affiliate.  The club in Anaheim is still holding steady while other teams around them have made moves to improve their roster. 

In other news, Dan Sexton, who had been made a qualifying offer, has elected for arbitration rather than accept the qualifying offer.  Arbitration occurs in August and hopefully both sides can come to an agreement before then.

Usually when July 1 and free agency arrives, it is as if you let the hounds run wild.  GM's making deals here, deals there, shocking contracts most everywhere.  This year?  Not much of a big fuss.

The Anaheim Ducks have not even made a single free agent move, other than to let three of their former players know they were not planning on picking them up.  Andreas Lilja, Jarkko Ruutu and Brad Winchester knew they would not receive new contracts from GM Bob Murray.  Lilja wasted no free agent time and signed with the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Flyers also signed Jaromir Jagr, who had been playing in Russia in the KHL for the past three seasons.  Jagr had reportedly been offered a deal from the Pittsburgh Penguins, his former team, but then a bidding war began and the Penguins bowed out.

Perhaps Jagr noticed that Teemu Selanne was creeping up on most goals scored as a European and decided to bolster his numbers, in case Selanne does come back for "one more year."  Selanne is only nine goals behind Jagr and if he comes back and plays like he did last season, Selanne could end up edging to the top 10 all time in goal scoring. 

Selanne is certainly the biggest free agent that the Ducks want to sign.  However, having had arthroscopic knee surgery last week in Finland, Selanne is still not decided about his future.

So in the meantime, Murray has made one single move - acquire defenseman Kurtis Foster from Edmonton in exchange for Andy Sutton.   Sutton only played 39 games for the Ducks and did not have a single goal.  He was often used as a fourth line forward/7th defenseman, and things just never clicked for him in Anaheim.

Foster was originally acquired by the Ducks in 2004 from Atlanta, but he never played a game in a Ducks uniform.  He spent the entire lockout year with the Ducks then AHL affiliate in Cincinnati, but then proceeded on to Minnesota, where he played until 2009. 

Foster has fully recovered from a nasty broken leg suffered in March 2008.  Foster crashed into the boards after a collision with then San Jose rookie, Torrey Mitchell.  He broke his femur in three places and had to have surgery to insert rods and stabilize the leg.   Foster did not play again until February of 2009, testing out the leg in a minor league game.

The 29 year old has a bit more offensive upside than Sutton, and should be a nice addition to Anaheim's blue line.  

It has been two months since the Anaheim Ducks played a game.  It will be more than two months until pre-season begins.  Needless to say, diehard Ducks fans get a little restless about now and any hockey is good hockey.

The Ducks prospects took to the ice for a scrimmage to open up their conditioning camp on Thursday at Anaheim Ice.  There were several hundred hockey lovers in attendance, happy to see guys in Ducks uniforms, even if one of them was only 17 years old and newly drafted last weekend.

Goaltender John Gibson, who won't be 18 for a couple more weeks, shared net responsibilities with Iiro Tarkki, who happens to be the "eldest" camp attendee at age 25 (26 on July 1). 

All seven prospects from this year's entry draft were in Anaheim, although Rickard Rakell was not on the ice for the scrimmage.  Hard to be on the ice when your equipment is still en route.  Igor Bobkov, the third goaltending prospect, was not even in Anaheim yet due to flight delays. 

The rest of the young hopefuls were on the ice and battled four on four to a 9-6 victory by the team wearing black jerseys.  Included on Team Black were last year's draft picks, Emerson Etem, Devante Smith-Pelly and Chris Wagner.  All three players got on the scoreboard.  Wagner had four goals, Etem two and Smith-Pelly one.  Smith-Pelly continues to impress with his skills.  He is strong with the puck and has a nose for the net.  There was no checking in the scrimmage, but if there had been, Smith-Pelly would have led that charge as well.

Etem remains a low to the ground, speed demon and has developed nicely over the past year.  If he and Smith-Pelly continue to work hard and take to heart the conditioning and nutrition information given to them, they will both have a very strong training camp in September. 

After the scrimmage, there was more on and off ice conditioning and camp is expected to run through July 5.  Each one of the 22 participants hopes to make it to the NHL someday, and this is just one step in that process. 

For the eight kids, about ages 10 - 12, who stood wide eyed at the railing for the entire scrimmage, you can see the same hope in their eyes that maybe, they, too, can be scrimmaging in Southern California in a Ducks uniform in about eight years from now.  It was not that long ago that the prospects were those wide eyed kids, and for someone like Etem, who hails from Long Beach, the dream is clearly within reach.

They were drafted on Friday and Saturday, and there won't be much time for it to sink in to the young prospects coming to Anaheim for a conditioning camp this week.  The seven players drafted over the weekend, including Rickard Rakell in the first round, will be joining 15 others in Southern California this weekend.  

Emerson Etem, drafted in the first round last year, and Devante Smith-Pelly, also drafted in 2010, will be part of group as well.  Both Etem and Smith-Pelly had impressive training camps last September and both of them attributed their success to the conditioning camp two months prior.  It will be nice to assess how both of those players continue to develop.

Camp will include a scrimmage, open to the public, at Anaheim Ice on Thursday, June 30 at 9:00am.  The remainder of the camp, which runs through July 5, will be devoted to teaching nutrition, strength and conditioning, daily weight and aerobic training, as well as other concepts needed on and off the ice to reach the next level. 

While the future looks bright, there are two players who are officially hanging up the skates.  Todd Marchant announced his retirement earlier today, and that was followed by Paul Kariya, who began his career as a Duck. 

Marchant played 17 seasons in the NHL and 1195 games.  He amassed 186 goals and 312 assists, just two points shy of 500.  He spent time with the New York Rangers, Edmonton Oilers and the Columbus Blue Jackets, but spent the past six years in Anaheim, winning a Stanley Cup with the team in 2007.  His inspirational t-shirts, created while injured, helped remind his teammates what it would take to win the Stanley Cup - Heart, Sacrifice, Passion, and Destiny.

Marchant will remain with the club as a player development coach.

“I’d like to personally thank Todd for his invaluable contributions to this organization over the last six years,” said Ducks GM Bob Murray. “His character and presence in our locker room will be missed, but we’re extremely grateful that he has agreed to join the front office as director of player development. Congratulations to Todd and his family on a wonderful career.”

Not long after Marchant announced his retirement, Paul Kariya announced his.  At age 36, Kariya took all of last year off to recover from post-concussion syndrome.  Despite making progress, doctors all agreed that the risk of further damage from another concussion was too big a risk to even consider playing. 

Kariya was drafted fourth overall as the Mighty Ducks first ever draft pick in 1993.  He spent eight seasons with the team and blossomed when Teemu Selanne joined Anaheim in 1996.  The two were good friends and played for six seasons with amazing chemistry.  

Kariya’s most memorable moment on ice came as a result of an injury during the sixth game of the Stanley Cup Finals in 2003.  New Jersey Devils defenseman, Scott Stevens, leveled Kariya mid-ice, clearly handing him one of his many concussions.  Kariya was clearly knocked out on the ice and helped off by trainers to the dressing room.   Kariya returned to the ice, to the amazement of everyone, including Stevens, who looked like he saw a ghost.  Kariya proceeded to get the puck and scored a dramatic goal that helped lead to a game seven in the series, a moment that, having witnessed it in person, still sends chills down my spine just thinking about it.

Kariya retires just 11 games shy of 1000 and 11 points shy of 1000 with 402 goals and 587 assists, literally a point per game player.  The former Ducks captain released this statement through his agent:

"Today, I announce my retirement from professional hockey. I would like to thank all of those who have been part of so many great memories — my teammates, coaches, team management and staff. I am also very grateful for the support I have received over the years from the fans, especially those in Anaheim, Colorado, Nashville, and St. Louis.

It was my dream to be a professional hockey player in the NHL from my minor hockey days in North Vancouver and Burnaby, through junior hockey in Penticton, college hockey at the University of Maine, and the Canadian National Team. I would not have achieved it without support from all of these people and organizations."

Two very different but important players to the Ducks retired today.  Tomorrow, new hopefuls will be on the ice, dreaming of long careers that will end nobly.  Who knows what the future will hold?

The first round of the NHL Entry Draft seemed to take forever.  Announcing each name, having the player come up and get his jersey and pose for pictures and then do the media gauntlet made for a long Friday evening.  Even longer when you are a Ducks fan waiting for the first Ducks pick.

Instead of going at #22, Anaheim traded their pick to Toronto (as if a deal between Bob Murray and Brian Burke is ever any surprise.)  In return, the Ducks got to pick last at #30 and then added another pick at #39 in the second round.

After four hours of mostly predictable picks and not very many trades to perk things up, Anaheim took a Swedish forward, Rickard Rakell, with the final pick of the first round.  Not exactly the same buzz as last year when the Ducks were able to grab a still available Cam Fowler.

“Rakell is very intelligent and plays more of a North American game than a European one,” said Murray. “He was a 17-year-old player at the 2011 World Juniors and he contributed to Team Sweden. I’m very happy with this selection.”

Rakell, 18, played with the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League last season and should end up as a nice two way forward.

After the plodding first round, the GMs waste no time speeding through rounds 2 through 7.  The Ducks had two picks each in the second and third rounds and one each in the fifth and sixth round.  With those picks the Ducks chose goaltender John Gibson (second round, 39th overall), centers William Karlsson (second round, 53rd overall) and Joseph Cramarossa (third round, 65th overall), defenseman Andy Welinski (third round, 83rd overall), right wing Max Friberg (fifth round, 143rd overall) and defenseman Josh Manson (sixth round, 160th overall).   Manson was taken with a pick obtained from Toronto (again) in exchange for the Ducks’ sixth-round selection in 2012.

“I’m very excited by our selections over the past two days,” said Ducks Director of Amateur Scouting Martin Madden. “We were lucky to select players that our staff is passionate about and are happy about being able to acquire two additional draft picks.”

Gibson, 17, has been part of the United States National Team and helped Team USA to a gold medal at the 2011 Under-18 World Championships in Germany this spring.  Gibson helped the club go undefeated in the tournament (6-0).  He has good size at 6-3, 205 pounds, and he will play for the University of Michigan this fall.

Karlsson and Friberg are two more Swedes added to the Ducks prospect list.   Cramarossa and Manson are Canadian.  Welinski is also part of the USHL. 

When the Ducks hold their prospects camp at the beginning of July, most of these new guys will be there for their first evaluation by the Ducks training staff.  They will also get their first look at what it will take to make the team - conditioning, diet, exercise, areas to work on. 

As with most drafts, players are hit or miss at making it to the NHL level, especially those in the later rounds, but as with any player, you never know when you have a diamond in the rough that proves everyone else wrong.  Hopefully Anaheim has found a few hidden jewels for their future.

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If the Stanley Cup playoffs are over and the Draft hasn't happened yet, it must be time for the annual NHL awards.  This year, the Ducks were represented with some serious hardware.

Corey Perry, who won the Maurice Richard trophy for most goals, also took home the Hart trophy for MVP.  Perry looked truly shocked when accepting the award, clearly thinking that Daniel Sedin was going to take it home to be a twin for his Ted Lindsay player MVP award won earlier in the evening.

Perry is the first player from  a Southern California team to win the trophy since Wayne Gretzky did it in 1989 while playing for the Los Angeles Kings.  Joe Thornton is the only other California representative, having won the Hart in 2006 with San Jose.

“Congratulations to Corey Perry on this tremendous accomplishment,” said Ducks GM Bob Murray.   “This is an historic day for the Perry family and the entire Anaheim Ducks organization. Corey deserves this terrific honor following a season that defines what the Hart Trophy is all about.”

The soft spoken 26 year old had a career year with 50 goals and 98 points.  He helped the Ducks get into a playoff spot after the team appeared out of the race.  His contributions included 16 goals in his final 19 games and he led Anaheim in time on ice while playing on both the power play and penalty killing units. 

Perry's contributions had him named the NHL’s First Star of the Month for March after becoming just the fifth NHL player since January 1997 to score 15 goals in a single month.

Two former Ducks also took home hardware and recognition.  Dan Bylsma was honored as coach of the year as head of the Pittsburgh Penguins.  Doug Weight was honored with the King Clancy leadership award.  Both players were leaders on and off the ice during their time with Anaheim, and have continued since leaving the organization.  Two nicer guys could not have been recognized for the achievements and efforts.

Vancouver took home a lot of awards - Ryan Kesler for Selke, Mike GIllis for GM, Daniel Sedin for Art Ross and Ted Lindsay, and Roberto Luongo and Corey Schneider for best goals against average.  They missed out on the big one, the Stanley Cup. 

Tim Thomas, who did get the Cup as well as the Conn Smythe for playoff MVP, also earned honors with the Vezina trophy for best goaltender.  

In an otherwise stilted and awkward show (really, if you are going to have people from reality TV announce an award, can they at least know how to pronounce the name of the winner?!) there were two skits that were hilarious.  One involved the Hanson Brothers of Slap Shot fame mugging Cup keeper, Phil Pritchard, in a Vegas hotel elevator.  They then proceed to attempt to sell the Cup at a pawn store. 

The other skit was part deux of the Bobby Ryan/Ryan Getzlaf "feud."  Last year was the Canadian Olympic Gold Medal snubbing, and this year was a continuation of the theme.  It was another Getzlaf vs. Ryan group of contests, including hula hooping on ice.  Who knew both guys could hula hoop that well?  The finale was razor scooter race around the Honda Center concourse, with Bobby sufficiently concerned that Scott Niedermayer would sabotage his efforts as he did last year.  In a classic line, Niedermayer states no, because "this year I'm not doing anything."  When the sabotage comes, Ryan accuses Niedermayer, but then Perry pops out his head and says that HE is the guilty party.  Canada continues their victorious rule and a part three seems destined for the 2012 awards.

For now, the next thing to look forward to is the annual draft on Friday, leading up to free agency on July 1.  After that, the August doldrums will set in and there will be nothing to do but count down the days to training camp and pre-season games.  Three months to go....

Clearly it must be June.  The Stanley Cup gets to go back to an original six city with the Boston Bruins.  The Vancouver Canucks get to be known as the unfortunate bridesmaid in this one, marred by some ugly rioting after the loss last Wednesday. 

After the Stanley Cup is over, the sports section of the newspaper gets back to boring until hockey season begins again (unless you find the divorce court battle between Frank and Jamie McCourt and the Dodgers riveting news).   

The only hockey activity is the fluttering of pre July 1 signings.  Certainly nothing compared with free agency on July 1, but a sign of things to come.

The Anaheim Ducks have made two small signings in the lull.

Defenseman Nate Guenin was signed to a two year contract extension through the 2012-13 season.  Guenin, 28, was acquired in January from the Columbus Blue Jackets and played the rest of the season with the Ducks minor league affiliate in Syracuse.  

The Ducks have also signed another minor league defenseman, Sean Zimmerman, to a one year contract extension.  Zimmerman, 24, was acquired in February from Boston and also played the rest of his season in Syracuse.

Expect more signings like these over the next couple of weeks, with a smattering of hockey awards mixed in.  Other than that, catch up on all those other things you put off until hockey season was over.


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The playoffs go a long time.  It has been two months since the post season began and six weeks since the Ducks were eliminated in the first round. 

A lot has happened between then and now.

On a personal note,  there was no conflict for me between family stuff and watching the Ducks continue in the playoffs.   While having Anaheim in the thick of things would have been a nice diversion, my attention was instead focused on my father in law, who passed away on May 6.   He had been very ill with cancer and lymphoma and fought until the very end.  A retired Air Force colonel, he simply ran out of troops to battle his disease.   Two weeks later my mother's heart finally said it was done, and she passed away on May 21.   Since her stroke in March, I had spent much time with her in the nursing facility while she recovered, and I am grateful for every minute with her.

Personal things like that meant not a lot of time to ponder hockey. 

My father in law and mother were not the only passings in May.  A die hard Ducks fan lost a battle with a rare blood disorder at age 27 and a fellow hockey and sports writer, Jon Moncrief, passed away at 43 of an aneurysm.  And player Derek Boogaard left us at the age of 28, due to a dumb combination of alcohol and oxycodone. 

It has been a bit overwhelming and a reminder of how fragile life is and how precious.  The sort of thing that makes the rest of the playoffs take a more realistic dimension.

Both the Vancouver Canucks and the Boston Bruins have made it through the first three rounds to get to the finals.  Five games later, and the Canucks hold a 3-2 edge over Boston, with home ice being a deciding factor in each game.    So far there has been the good (great goaltending), the bad (some not so good goaltending) and the ugly (finger biting scenarios and a brutal hit by Aaron Rome on Nathan Horton.) 

Both teams want the Cup something fierce.  Boston hasn't won it since Bobby Orr graced the line up in 1972.   They haven't even been to the Finals since 1990.   That means Cam Fowler has never seen Boston in the Final for his entire life.  Teemu Selanne was two years old when Boston last won.

The Canucks came closest in 1994, but the New York Rangers snatched it from them.  Vancouver wants to touch it this time and Canada would love to be back on the silver chalice, not having been a winner since 1993, when Montreal took it home.   

For non playoff teams (28 of them now), life moves forward.  Rehabbing from injuries begins.  Surgeries are scheduled.  Teams start looking forward to next season.

The Ducks will be starting the season in Helsinki, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden.  How sweet would it be for Selanne to play one more year and join them there on the ice? 

Corey Perry had a miraculous year, winning the Rocket Richard trophy and being nominated for the Hart Trophy and the Ted Lindsay award.  The Lindsay award is nominated by ones peers, making it even more of an honor.  His competition for that award?  Steven Stamkos of Tampa Bay and Daniel Sedin of the Canucks. 

Tonight, Sedin could be lifting the Stanley Cup with his brother in Boston.  Or, they could be flying back to Vancouver with a game 7 ahead. 

Whatever happens, it is merely a moment in time, a distraction from the realities of life.  But it is one of the best distractions around and you should not miss it for anything!

 

Sometimes you win.  Sometimes you don't.

The Nashville Predators have had enough "don't" moments in the playoffs, never making it out of the first round.   After a 4-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks, Nashville will go on to see the second round of the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

The Ducks?  They get to go home, clean out their lockers, make golf times, and wonder if this is how Teemu Selanne finishes his NHL career.

Selanne was the Ducks best player during six games against Nashville.   Six goals in six games, four of them on the power play, and that leads everyone thus far.  Not bad for a 40 year old who will be 41 in a couple months. 

Selanne got the Ducks on the board first at 10:22 of the first period, one of only four shots on goal for the entire period.  Unlike the previous five games where the team who scored first went on to win, this one ended up a different result.

The Predators tied things up at 19:32 with a goal from Nick Spaling.  It was reminiscent of game 5, when the Predators tied up the game late and went on to win in overtime.  A turning point in the series, to be certain.

Steve Sullivan gave Nashville their first lead at 3:29 of the second period, but Jason Blake tied up the game once more at 18:23 with a power play goal.   The Ducks power play was blistering hot, and what few advantages they were given, they capitalized as best they could.  

At the beginning of the third period, the game did not appear tied for long.  Patric Hornqvist put the puck into the net behind Ray Emery, but it was clearly high sticked in and did not count.  

That one might have been waived off, but Spaling's second goal of the game at 4:53 was good.  The line of Spaling, Jerred Smithson and Jordin Tootoo were Duck killers for the entire series, and this was no exception.

"Nick Spaling is not known for scoring a lot goals, but there he is scoring big goals," said Nashville coach Barry Trotz of a player who has a whopping eight career regular season goals in 102 games. "This series sort of symbolized how the Predators play in a lot of ways. To win this series, we needed everybody and everybody contributed."

The Ducks were unable to get another puck past Pekke Rinne and when Saku Koivu was called for interference with :37.5 seconds left, you know there was nothing the Ducks could do to reverse their fate. 

An empty net goal from David Legwand with :10 seconds left sealed the deal for Nashville and sealed the fate of Anaheim.  A disheartening way to end the series, but the Ducks had no one to blame but themselves.

"There were a couple of mistakes again – cost a couple of goals," said Selanne. "We couldn't avoid those for some reason. I think the whole series – defensively – we were not as good as we wanted. It was not a problem to score goals, but when you let too many goals and too many mistakes, that really hurt us. I think that was the difference."

That difference now means that Nashville keeps playing and Anaheim does not.  For a team that worked as hard as it did to make it into the playoffs, this was not the way they wanted to go out.

Kudos to Nashville, who this season proved to be the better team.    The team that meets them in the next round need to be careful.  The Predators are a team with confidence and depth.  They will be a handy foe to their next competitor. 

So close and yet so far away. 

The Ducks came close to taking a 3-2 series lead from the Predators, who had never won a game five, ever.  Instead, the Predators found a way to tie up the game in the final minute and then finished off Anaheim in overtime.  Both teams now head back to Nashville for game six on Easter Sunday. 

Nashville wants to finish things off.  Anaheim wants to resurrect their playoff chances by taking the series to a game seven.  Which one will happen?

The Ducks truly have no one to blame but themselves.  A very flat first period saw Anaheim fortunate to head to the second period down by only one goal.  Kevin Klein's score at 8:32 put the Predators on the board, and continued the predicter of he who scores first, wins.

"I don't think our hockey club played to the level that we're capable of tonight," said coach Randy Carlyle.  "That's the most disturbing part for me because we didn't play and we didn't skate with the necessary determination until parts of the game and then we got away from it."

Anaheim got back to their game midway through the second period.  Jason Blake persevered at the net to push the puck past Pekke Rinne at 13:39.  That continued the Ducks success on the power play and gave the crowd reason to come back alive.

Tied going into the third period, Bobby Ryan, who was back in the line up after a two game suspension, reminded everyone why they missed him. 

Stripping the puck at the blue line, Ryan proceeded to undress David Legwand, not once, but twice, as he stick handled in a manner that will be seen over and over and over again on youtube and sports center highlights.  Such maneuvering could only be followed up with the puck in the net, and go in past Rinne it did. 

A mere :40 seconds into the third and the Ducks had their first lead and a lot more life. 

Nashville persevered, and Ray Emery continued to come up big.  Emery stopped another 33 shots and truly gave the Ducks a chance until they woke up midway through. 

The Predators were rewarded for their hard work with a lucky bounce off the end boards that went to Joel Ward.  He tied up the game with his third goal of the series at 11:20.

Blake added a second goal to give the Ducks back the lead at 14:16.  With Teemu Selanne digging the puck out behind the net, the puck bounced off Rinne's stick and right to Blake, who hammered it home. 

All looked promising until Rinne vacated the net for the extra attacker. 

With a mere :35.3 seconds left, Shea Weber sent the puck flying from the blue line, past traffic, through bodies, and into the net behind Emery to tie up the game once more.  Ouch.  Emery never had a chance to stop the shot. 

"It just found a way in," Weber said. "Sometimes it doesn't have to be hard. Just get traffic and it goes in."

That boost was all Nashville needed to head into overtime.  It was anyone's game, but Jerred Smithson, more inclined to be a checker, not a scorer, got the puck from Jordin Tootoo and put it in the net at 1:57. 

Cue the ecstatic Predators.  Silence the home crowd left to wonder if the Ducks would be back again on Tuesday.

"We've got a lot of heart in this locker room and a lot of belief," said a very happy Smithson. "Finding a way to tie it up was a huge momentum boost. In overtime."

How unlikely was Smithson to be the game winning scorer?  The last overtime goal he had scored had been so long ago it was likely when he was in the minors.

 "It's been a long time,": Smithson said.  "I don't get too many opportunities but it is definitely something that feels pretty good. It hasn't really sunk in yet. Any way I can contribute. I don't score a lot of goals but I take pride in the faceoff circle and try help out the team in other ways. But to contribute offensively definitely feels good."

It does not feel good on the Anaheim side of things.

"We have to go into a hostile building and win one there," said captain Ryan Getzlaf.

For Selanne, who wants to make the most of whatever playing time he has left, it was more pragmatic.

"There is a reason it's a best of seven series.  This is all about bouncing back," observed the Finn.  "It's not loke we haven't been in this position before.  We have another opportunity Sunday."

The Predators have an opportunity on Sunday as well - win their first ever playoff series.  The Ducks will have their work cut out for them indeed.