While difficult to watch the Stanley Cup playoffs (because the Ducks are not in it), it has been an entertaining and closely fought first round.  I cannot remember a time when every single series was tied after the first two games.   Not one single team will be swept in the first round.

As play has continued to develop, some interesting trends continue to emerge.  In the regular season, the Western Conference was the most competitive and tightly fought.   The post-season is looking to be the same way.  Three of the four series in the West are knotted at 2-2.

Chicago and Nashville have only played three games, but it is likely they'll end up at 2-2 as well after the fourth one is played.  How Nashville continues to perform year after year regardless of personnel, or changes in net, is beyond comprehension.  Then you look behind the bench and Barry Trotz has done an amazing job with what he has been given.  Nashville, currently ahead, for the first time ever in a post-season, has a chance to win their first playoff series ever.  If so, that would be a huge upset of the #2 seeded Chicago.

Who would have expected that San Jose and Colorado would be tied at this point?  Colorado limped towards the post-season, taking longer than it should have to seal their playoff hopes.  The Avs clearly were the last team anyone expected in the post-season when the year began, and yet despite their March slump, they have pulled it back together in the playoffs.  This evening one of these teams will have a 3-2 advantage in the series.  Three out of four games have gone to overtime, so no reason to expect game five to be done in regulation.

If San Jose goes down 3-2 before heading to Colorado for a game six, the Sharks players may not want to return home any time soon.  If the Avs win the series, it would be quite an upset, despite the Sharks notoriety for needing the Heimlich maneuver in the post-season.

Vancouver and Los Angeles might be won by specialty teams.  The Kings power play is smoking hot and the Canucks penalty kill is not.  You know Vancouver is getting desperate when they start putting the Sedin twins on the penalty kill.  Unless the Canucks can find a way to stop taking penalties or improve their penalty kill, this series will be a catfight to a game seven.   Either team could win this one.

Detroit and Phoenix has been another back and forth affair.  Detroit is not the powerhouse it once was, but is still a formidable adversary.  Phoenix is enjoying the post-season for the first time in eight years.  At the number 4 and 5 seeds, these two are pretty well matched and it has been an entertaining series.  If Phoenix can maintain home ice advantage, they'll see the next round.  If not, they'll just have to build on this for next year.

The Eastern Conference has developed some interesting patterns of their own.   Three of the four lower seeds won the first game, but upsets do not come easily in the playoffs.

Washington has not yielded again to Montreal after dropping the first game of their series.  The Capitals can finish off the pesky Canadiens on Friday at home, assuming they stick to what works.  That includes have Simeon Varlamov in goal instead of Jose Theodore.  Washington quickly learned that while defense and great goaltending might not have been necessary in the regular season, it sure is needed in the post-season.  The Capitals had so much offense to make up for it in the regular season, it didn't matter.  Montreal, who has gotten strong goaltending from Jaroslav Halak, made the Capitals rethink that game plan.  If the Caps go on to the Cup Final, they should go back and thank Montreal for waking them up in time.

Pittsburgh also yielded game one to Ottawa, but has come back to lead 3-1 in that series.  Ottawa is not going down without a fight, but they might not be strong enough in net to deal with the Penguins firepower.   If Pittsburgh closes the series tonight at home, the Senators will continue to be also-rans.

#7 Philadelphia is the only lower seed with the opportunity to close out a series tonight.  The #2 Devils have not been exceptional and the Flyers have been gritty and determined.  However, Philadelphia has lost both Simon Gagne and Jeff Carter to surgeries and that might hurt them as they continue in the playoffs.  It seems highly unlikely that the Flyers will lose the next three consecutive games to New Jersey.  You never know, but the odds are against them doing so.

Buffalo and Boston is also looking to be a potential upset, with the Bruins leading 3-1.   Last night's double overtime game continued to show why Ryan Miller is probably the best goaltender in the game right now.   It still wasn't enough to stop Boston, who had Tuuka Rask matching Miller's performance.  Will Boston finish off the Sabres in Buffalo on Friday?  Doubtful.  But it will be a good battle the rest of the way.

One can only hope that round two will be as fun and exciting as round one!

Over the past several years, the Ducks have been too busy with the playoffs to bother about being in the World Hockey Championships.  Held in May, only players from eliminated teams are able to participate.

This year is a different story.

Corey Perry has agreed to play for Canada and Ryan Carter has been named to the US team.  Both players are somewhat of a surprise.

Perry played in the Olympics this year, and was part of the gold medal winning team there.  Bobby Ryan, who also played the entire regular season, as well as in the Olympics, opted out of the tournament.   It would appear that Perry is interested in adding to his trophy collection and edging up on Scott Niedermayer.  Perry has already won a Memorial Cup, a World Junior Championship, a Stanley Cup and an Olympic Gold.  A World Cup and World Championship are the only two left off of Perry's resume.

Carter received limited playing time this past season, spending much of it as a healthy scratch.  However, Carter is a very versatile player.  He is strong at center, and had the best face-off percentage of all the Ducks players at 52.5%.  In just 38 games he scored 4 goals and 9 points and he can play a variety of roles, whether on the scoring line, checking line, fourth line, or penalty kill.

The World Championships will be held in Germany from May 7 through May 23.

Good luck to both players!

The NHL playoffs have begun in earnest.  Fans are excited.  Teams are focused.  The Sharks have already lost a game.  Everything seems normal.

Except Ducks fans are sitting home, missing the party.  To rub further salt into the wound of not making the playoffs for the first time since 2004, that team up the road, the Los Angeles Kings, get to make their playoff debut tonight.  It only took them eight years of mediocrity before they could get to this spot.  How many Ducks fans are now Vancouver Canucks fans?

In 2003, when the Ducks made their Cinderella run to a game 7 Stanley Cup final, things were magical and who knew when they would do it again?

After the lockout, new ownership and a solid group of players, the Ducks made the playoffs, won the Cup, and have given Ducks fans plenty to cheer about.

Now those fans have been spoiled and maybe even took being in the post-season for granted.

Not this year.  The players stated they had a sick feeling in their stomachs when they were mathematically eliminated.  The players had plenty of company in disappointed and upset fans.

Who could blame them?  On paper, the Ducks looked like a reasonable contender at the start of the season.  Oh how the formerly Mighty have fallen.

It would be easier if the Ducks could point to one specific problem and work on it, but there were many causes for the Ducks demise.   A defense that lacked the depth it had in previous years, an inability to keep leads in critical games, a poor road record, mediocre goaltending to start the season, specialty team struggles, a lack of clearly defined lines.   All those little things added up to big things.

So instead of only being able to plan things for two weeks at a time this spring, Ducks fans get plenty of free time, just like the players.   However, the fans have been paying for tickets all season (those who still showed up).  The Ducks?  Have been collecting paychecks, no matter what the results showed.

It says a lot when instead of being overjoyed at doing unexpectedly well (2003), fans are now expecting nothing less a good playoff run every year.

Unfortunately, it will be a long time before the Ducks get the chance to redeem themselves.

Come October, they better be prepared to do what is necessary to have success on the ice.  Starting from day one.

By the time this one began, everything was all over.  Every playoff match-up had been determined.   There was nothing left to decide between the Ducks and the Oilers, except final positioning in the standings for the Ducks.  The Oilers had been at the bottom of the Western Conference and the prime candidate for the first overall draft pick in June for quite a while. 

At least the Ducks looked like they cared in the 7-2 victory, their final outing of a dismal season and their worst finish since before the lockout.

The Ducks got off to a quick start with a goal from Ryan Carter at 2:04 and Steve Eminger just :32 seconds later.  They sat back briefly allowing Edmonton to get on the board at 8:59 with a goal from Mike Comrie, but that was as close as Edmonton ever got.

Matt Beleskey, having a fabulous rookie season, scored #11 at 13:24 to make it 3-1.  It turned out to be the game winner.

It was fan appreciation night at the Honda Center, and possibly Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer's final game, but even that could not draw a sell-out crowd, something they only did once this season - opening night.

The fans certainly appreciated when Selanne scored his 27th goal of the season, this one on the power play, as usual, just :16 seconds into the second period.  The "One More Year!" chants really got going then.   Selanne, who only played 54 games this season, still finished 3rd in the NHL in power play goals and still averages a goal every other game.   Not bad for a guy who is turning 40 in July.

"This isn't exactly the way I wanted to finish the season," Selanne lamented while talking to various media for at least 20 minutes after the game.  "We are way too good of a team to miss the playoffs.  It's still hard to swallow when you believe you have a better team."

Selanne's status for next year is unknown, although it was clear he is ambivalent.  He told the crowd, who refused to stop chanting for more playing time, "let's see what happens."  He also admitted that if he was playing bad, it would be an easy decision.  Perhaps for the Finn, it will be a good thing to have a long off-season with time for the family and time for rest and reflection.  By the time September rolls around, fans can only hope that he will be hankering for a little more ice time.

The third period saw the Ducks keep rolling, despite a goal from former Duck, Ryan Whitney at 2:50.  For some reason the crowd booed him mercilessly every time he touched the puck, as if he were Chris Pronger.  Perhaps if Whitney had played better and seemed less sour about the trade to Edmonton the crowd would have been more forgiving, but this is a tough bunch of folks who expect a lot, reasonable or unreasonable.

Carter got his second goal of the game at 9:34 for his first two goal game since he scored his first two NHL goals in New Jersey on February 8, 2008. 

George Parros, the ultimate fan favorite, took advantage of a turnover and showed the wicked shot that he has, getting another one past Jeff Deslauriers at 11:42.  

Kyle Chipchura's first short-handed goal at 16:46 just sealed everything up for the Ducks and gave the fans a nice way to end the season, albeit extremely disappointing.   Fans weren't the only ones disappointed.

"As high as we can be after scoring seven goals and a very entertaining hockey game for our last game, it's very disappointing for our group," said coach Randy Carlyle.  "We play this game to win and we didn't win enough."

Now the Ducks can only go on and watch the playoffs from afar and sit and reflect on what to do better next year.  Done in April is a strange feeling, and one they do not want to get used to having.

In other notes:  Jonas Hiller made 18 saves before exiting the game with back spasms late in the second period.  He made a stop on Andrew Cogliano that looked awkward and then proceeded directly to the locker room without returning.  Curtis McElhinney came in and made 11 more saves. Todd Marchant was out with a strained oblique muscle suffered on April 3.  Ryan Getzlaf will have the entire summer to rehab his ankle sprain.  Brett Festerling had his bell rung in St. Louis on Friday and sat out the final game as well.

Neither the Ducks nor the Stars are in the playoffs this year, both having been mathematically eliminated.  That does not mean there is nothing left to play for.

For Anaheim, it was another chance to look at youth with a glimpse towards next season.  For Dallas, it might have been the last game that Mike Modano would play at home.

After the Dallas win, 3-2 in shootout, Modano expressed indecision about retirement, although his actions seemed to prove otherwise.

"It was tough to leave the ice, not knowing what the future holds, whether that was it or it wasn't," Modano said. "I didn't really have an idea what to expect, but it was a nice way to possibly end it, how it unfolded. The fans were fantastic."

Modano made numerous jersey changes throughout the game and the tribute to him with five minutes to go in the game left him on the bench emotionally overwhelmed and tears visibly streaming down his cheeks.   Modano will be 40 in June and has been with the Stars franchise for his entire career, a rare feat these days.  He is clearly one of the best American born players to play the game.

If it was his final game in Dallas, it could not have played out any better.  Modano assisted on the first Stars goal of the game and deflected Trevor Daley's shot out of the air at 18:13 of the third period to tie up the game and send it to overtime.  Modano also scored in the shootout, with Jere Lehtinen clinching it for the Stars.

That gives Modano 557 goals and 1,359 points in his career.

Bobby Ryan, who got both of the Ducks goals and is also American, wears #9 in part as a tribute to Modano.

"He is the reason I chose #9 when I was coming up," Ryan said.. "He stymied us tonight, but if anybody deserved it, it was him."

The Ducks left home Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu, Scott Niedermayer and Todd Marchant so they could get a better look at the young ‘uns.  Ryan Carter and Dan Sexton made it back into the line-up after sitting for the past five games. Carter assisted on Bobby Ryan's first goal.

Ryan Getzlaf also remained at home, nursing his ankle sprain.  Lubomir Visnovsky was scheduled to have surgery to repair his broken hand on Friday morning.  He broke his hand on Tuesday against the Kings and will be out for the rest of the season.

Jonas Hiller, who had missed the past five games with back spasms, was healthy enough to go on the road trip and started in net for the Ducks.  Good thing he had plenty of time to rest and rehabilitate his back because he was called upon to make 49 saves in the game.

During last night's game against the Los Angeles Kings, defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky broke his hand during the third period and did not return to the game.  He is expected to miss all the remaining games this season.

In light of Visnovsky's injury, Brendan Mikkelson was recalled once again from the Toronto Marlies of the AHL.

Goaltender Joey MacDonald was reassigned to the Toronto Marlies, indicating that Jonas Hiller is well enough from his back spasms to play in the remaining three games.

The Ducks flew out this morning to Dallas, where they will play on Thursday evening, followed with a back-to-back game against St. Louis on Friday night.  The team will then fly home for the final game of the season against the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday evening.

The game against the Oilers is also Fan Appreciation Night and all fans in attendance will receive a copy of the 2009-2010 team photo.  There are plenty of other opportunities to win prizes throughout the evening as well, including the jerseys off the backs of the players themselves after the game.

Tickets to the final home game are still available.   This could very well be the final game for Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne, both of whom are likely to retire after this season.

Selanne, who despite breaking his hand and his jaw this season, still has 26 goals in just 53 games played.  He reached the 600 goal mark earlier this season and now has 605 goals, 17^th on the all time list.  He is also the Ducks nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.  Selanne won the Masterton Trophy in 2006.

The final meeting of the Freeway Faceoff and one team is in the playoffs, the other is on the outside.  In years past, the team on the outside would have been the Kings, but not this year.  The Ducks are the ones looking in and the Kings have already clinched a spot.  They will make their first playoff appearance since 2002.  The Ducks will not make the playoffs for the first time since 2004. 

The Kings handily took the six game series winning four of the games, including the final game 5-4 in a shootout.

It was a game for the Ducks that symbolized their problems all season.  They could not play a full 60 minutes.  They blew a three goal lead.  They stopped moving their feet and sat back.  They did not have the needed sense of urgency until it was too late.  Another point slipped away.  Stop me if you've heard this one before.

"Today was a game that was very similar to many that we played this year," captain Scott Niedermayer agreed.  "It was disappointing to let it get away.  It's been a tough year.  We're disappoint that we're in this situation.  We're not happy at all."

By the time they got to the shootout, it didn't matter anyway.  Colorado defeated Vancouver in a shootout just seconds prior to the start of the Ducks shootout.  That win, coupled with Calgary's earlier defeat in the evening, meant that the Avs clinched the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.  All that gets decided from here is the final ranking from first through eighth. 

For the Ducks, it is a bitter pill to swallow.   There are players on the Ducks who have never sat out the post-season.  Now they will know the feeling for the first time.

"It's not a lot of fun," said veteran Todd Marchant.  "It's a year that's gone by in your life and your career that you've got to start all over again.   It's tough.  It's an awful feeling.  It's a bitter taste that sits in your mouth the whole summer."

The Ducks had a 4-2 lead going into the third period.  A power play goal from Jason Blake, two goals from Teemu Selanne, including one on the power play and another from Bobby Ryan, his first since March 17, gave the Ducks a cushion, despite being outshot 22-11 by the Kings. 

After Ryan's goal, Jonathan Quick was relieved of duty an Erik Ersberg inserted in his place.  Ersberg only let in one goal and was virtually ignored in the third period by the Ducks. 

Dustin Brown got the Kings on the board at 9:46 in the middle period, and Alexander Frolov scored got a power play goal late. 

In the final frame, the Kings threw everything at Curtis McElhinney, getting his sixth consecutive start in net.  Outshot 16-3 in the final 20 minutes, the Ducks were fortunate that the game was merely tied at the end of regulation.  Goals from Justin Williams at 7:56 and Michal Handzus at 18:51 (with Ersberg pulled for the extra attacker) made it 4-4 and required overtime.

"We played hard," said coach Randy Carlyle, who has not missed a postseason since coming to the Ducks.  "It just seemed like we ran out of gas tonight.  We just didn't have enough to finish it off."

They had enough in the overtime period, though, outshooting the Kings 7-2.  Another case of too little, too late.  And in the shootout, the Kings prevailed.  Corey Perry had the only goal for the Ducks, while both Jack Johnson and Anze Kopitar scored for the Kings. 

Game over with two knives in the back.  First from Colorado and then from the Kings.  Ouch. 

"To go from needing to start the year better, to coming out of the Olympic break losing five in a row, those things hurt us," said Perry, who looked as shocked and subdued as the rest of the players in the locker room.  "We missed the playoffs.  It's not good and not fun.  You play this game wo win championships and this year we don't get to be a part of that process."

Three more games to go and not one of them matter for the teams involved.  Not one.   

"The best thing the players can do is remember it all summer and not let it happen again," cautioned Marchant.

Ducks fans certainly will remember. 

This is it.  The regular season ends Sunday, but for the Ducks, it could end tonight if they lose to the Kings.  Only a win can keep their playoff hopes alive. All they can control is what they do, but there will be a lot of focus on Colorado, as well.

Colorado is the only team that the Ducks can catch, but this is dependent upon a lot of factors all working out right.  The Ducks would have to win every single game in order to get 93 points.  Colorado has 91 points currently, but even one loss by the Ducks and Colorado would win the tie-breaker in wins.

If Colorado wins just one more out of their final four games, it does not matter what the Ducks do, because Colorado would have more wins.  Tonight, Colorado plays Vancouver and the game starts at the same time as the Ducks/Kings game.  You can bet there will be some score watching this evening.

The Kings have already clinched a playoff spot and both the Kings and Ducks have never been in the playoffs during the same year.  The Kings would be more than happy to knock the Ducks out for certain.

Adding to more uncertainty is who will be starting in goal for the Ducks.  Curtis McElhinney has been terrific for the Ducks, going 5-0-1 in the past six games.  He has a 1.91 GAA and .939 save percentage during that time, solid, strong numbers that have kept the Ducks in the hunt.  McElhinney has been in net since Jonas Hiller had back spasms.

Hiller began skating and practicing with the team on Monday and he will have to see how his back holds up after the morning skate and warm ups.  If he feels good enough to go, coach Randy Carlyle will have a difficult decision.  Do you put in your number one guy, who hasn't played in two weeks, or do you go with the hot hand?  Logic says Carlyle would use Hiller, because you go with the number one guy in a must-win situation.  Either way, Carlyle does not mind having the difficult decision to make, knowing he can be confident with either goaltender in net.

Anaheim Ducks center, Saku Koivu, has been chosen by the NHL as the Second Star for the week ending April 4. Canadiens goaltender Jaroslav Halak earned the First Star and Bruins netminder Tuukka Rask was named the Third Star.

Koivu led the NHL in scoring with four goals and eight points in four games last week, helping the Ducks (38-31-9) collect seven of eight available points and remain in the race to grab the eighth and final playoff berth in the Western Conference. Koivu posted his first four-point game (one goal, three assists) since March 2007 and tied a franchise record with a career-best plus-five rating in a 5-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on March. 31. He recorded two goals, including the game-tying strike with 1:24 left in regulation, and one assist in a 5-4 shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks on April 2 and tallied the game-tying goal with 1:32 remaining in regulation plus the shootout winner in a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings on April 3. Koivu ranks fourth on the Ducks in scoring with 49 points (19 goals, 30 assists) and leads the club in game-winning goals (six) and plus-minus (plus-13).

"That's what you need when you're down some bodies," praised coach Randy Carlyle.  "Saku Koivu definitely has been a strong competitor for our team for the better part of the year and offensively now he's starting to deliver here in crunch time.  It's huge.  It's just a statement of the character of the individual."

They're not dead yet.  A determined effort by the Ducks earned them an unlikely win on the road against the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim remains alive in the playoff chase.

The Ducks have struggled on the road all year, but have won three in a row away from home.  This time the Ducks won 2-1 in a shootout that had a lot of deja vu to the previous night's game against Vancouver.

Curtis McElhinney got a back-to-back start and his fifth start in a row for the Ducks.  He made 28 saves and more importantly, saved every attempt in the shootout by the Kings to get the Ducks two points in the standings.

Jack Johnson had the Kings only goal of the game on the power play later in the first period.  It went in off of Troy Bodie's skate at 19:40.

The ice seemed less than ideal with the puck bouncing around a lot and it was difficult to get any chances.  In a virtual repeat of the previous game, the Ducks got a late power play opportunity.  Pulling McElhinney for a two man advantage, the Ducks converted once again.

Saku Koivu, who tied up the game at 18:36 of the third period against Vancouver, tied up the game at 18:28 against the Kings.  It took three chances, with Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan missing, but Koivu chipped the puck up over Jonathan Quick and the game went to overtime.

McElhinney, who looked nervous in the shootout against Vancouver, redeemed himself mightily against Los Angeles.  No reason to hang his head after either game, but you can guarantee this one gave him a boost of confidence.

Still hanging on for dear life, the Ducks continue to get it done.

"We desperately needed these points," said Koivu, who put in the only goal of the shootout. "(Friday) we got a shootout loss and lost a point, but tonight we came back at the end of the game.  We've got to win them all and get help from other teams, but we are going to push until the end."

Next push comes on Tuesday in a rematch with the Kings at the Honda Center, their final meeting of the year.