It hasn't been that long of a training camp, but things sure have moved fast for the Anaheim Ducks.  On Monday they sent Josh Green and Maxime Macenauer to their AHL team in Syracuse, leaving the team with 23 healthy players on the roster.

Those players spent Monday and Tuesday tuning up for their opening game in Detroit on Friday night.  The Ducks will take on the Red Wings on Friday, Nashville on Saturday and play a Columbus Day matinee in St. Louis on Monday before returning home for their home opener against the Vancouver Canucks next Wednesday.

Among those on the opening night roster is defenseman Cam Fowler, who was drafted this past June at #12.  The Ducks were surprised that Fowler was still available when it was their turn to pick.  So much so that they did not even have a jersey prepared with Fowler's name on it.  While other teams passed over the talented 18-year-old, the Ducks were happy to take him.

Fowler had a terrific training camp, proving consistently that he belonged in the line-up.  Coach Randy Carlyle has seemed to have nothing but praise for the Windsor, Ontario native, who grew up in Michigan.

Now Fowler gets to continue the surreal dream that began in June by opening the 2010-2011 season on the Ducks roster and in the Ducks line-up against the Detroit Red Wings.  Needless to say, plenty of family and friends will be on hand to support him in the otherwise sea of red.

Three players did not travel with the team.  Joffrey Lupul and Jason Jaffray have both been put in injured reserve to start the season.  Lupul is still recovering from back surgery last December and Jaffray is waiting to have surgery on a torn ACL.  Toni Lydman, who has been out of commission since experiencing a bad bout of double vision last month, will begin the season listed as an injured non-roster player.   Lydman is still undergoing testing to determine the cause of his issues.

The NHL is currently running "Questions Will Be Answered" spots.  The Ducks have plenty of their own questions to be answered.    How will the defense fare?  Can the Ducks get enough offense to make up for defensive lapses?  Will the team stay out of the penalty box?  Is Jonas Hiller able to play like a maniac in net all year long?  Are the Ducks capable of being a .500 team in the first month of the season, giving them the good start they desperately need?  When will Teemu Selanne finally retire?  Is Ryan Getzlaf up to the demands of being team captain?  Will Carlyle have a job past December?

There is no magic eight ball, no psychic visions into the future.  Only time will be able to provide the answers to the questions still looming overhead.

Answers begin on Friday, October 8.

In the final pre-season game for the Ducks, they needed some redemption against their hated rivals, the Los Angeles Kings.  The last outing against them was an 8-3 drubbing by the Kings at Staples Center, an affair that led coach Randy Carlyle to comment that it appeared the team had never practiced defensive zone coverage.   Subpar specialty teams and close but no cigar efforts by the Ducks needed to be turned around asap.

After all, the regular season starts in just five short days.  For the Ducks, it was now or never.

The first period started off well after a brief hiccup that sent Corey Perry to the penalty box for his usual goaltender interference at just :31 seconds into the game.  Perry got his ultimate revenge on Jonathan Bernier by poking the puck past the goalie while on his knees at 3:16.  The Ducks were on a 5 on 3 and did what they were supposed to - score.

The Kings appeared to tie up the game when Wayne Simmonds got a puck past Jonas Hiller, but the referee had clearly blown the whistle for a slashing penalty on the Ducks just seconds prior.   That allowed the Ducks to keep a 1-0 lead going into the second period.

Despite continuing to outshoot the Ducks, the Kings could not manage to put a puck behind Hiller, although they came mighty close on several occasions.  The Ducks were fortunate to exit the second period still holding on to their lead.   The final 20 minutes would be critical for the Ducks.

Anaheim, enjoying playing with fire, continued to send players to the penalty box.  Not exactly a good idea, especially with the penalty kill struggling.  This time the group was up to the ask, including a 5 on 3 for the Kings less than a minute into the third period.  The Kings helped by evening things up.

The Ducks then took advantage of the 4 on 4 situation with a pretty goal from newly minted captain, Ryan Getzlaf, at 2:24.  Getzlaf did not have a prior shot on goal in the game, but he made this one count by finishing off a nice pass from Brendan Mikkelson. 

"I'm honored to be wearing that C," said Getzlaf, who will get plenty of great support from his assistant captains, Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu.  "I'm following in some pretty good footsteps.  It's something I've been working for for a long time.  The letter is still just a letter.  It doesn't change who I am as a player."

Getzlaf and the rest of his team were not done playing, although the 2-0 lead did give the Ducks a bit more breathing room.

Los Angeles could not be faulted for their frustrations at getting nothing past Hiller for most of the game.  Being unable to stay out of the penalty box themselves.  Drew Doughty, a Norris Trophy candidate last year, made three visits alone.

It took a short-handed goal by Justin Williams at 15:50 to get the Kings on the board.  It was their 38th shot on goal and it just barely slipped past Hiller's skate as he tried to protect the right post.  Allowing the second shortie in as many games was a reminder that, although improved, specialty teams still have a long way to go for the Ducks.

Williams helped the Kings tie up the game at 17:17 by making a nice pass to Jack Johnson at the blue line.  Johnson's shot went through plenty of traffic and right between Hiller's butterflied legs.  For a guy who had made so many great saves in the first 57 minutes, he looked a little sheepish, even though he could not see the shot.

With that boo-boo, the game went to overtime, the first (and only) time for the Ducks in pre-season.  The Kings neglected to remember that there are only four players on the ice in overtime and got caught with five.  Selanne finished things off at 1:03 with the power play goal. 

Certainly some redemption, but the team has a way to go.

"Tonight we did a lot of things well," said Carlyle.  "But then we fell back.  In the end, we found a way to get it done."

The Ducks will have to find some creative ways to get it done in the days ahead, but at least they are headed in the right direction.

Yes, it is only the pre-season and the points don't matter.  And yet they do.  With only one more game left to work out the kinks before the real deal begins next Friday in Detroit, the Ducks have a ways to go.

The Ducks are now 2-4-0 in the pre-season with their latest loss.  Although the game was closer than last Saturday's match up in Vancouver, the Canucks prevailed once again, this time 4-2.

Things were going pretty well for the Ducks, who were outshooting the Canucks 8-0 early in the game.  A power play opportunity for Anaheim and things looked good until Mason Raymond put Vancouver on the board with a short handed goal and their first shot on goal of the game at 14:01.  Bobby Ryan, who has been moved back to wing after a brief stint as a center (a failed experiment that coach Randy Carlyle states has been put on the shelf for now, but is not completely dead and buried), tried to do too much and the Canucks took advantage. 

It certainly sucked some of the wind out of the Ducks' sails, but they recovered well enough to tie the game up in the second period.  Ryan Kesler was in the box for a 5 minute major boarding penalty, well deserved for creaming Corey Perry into the wall.  The Ducks were 4 on 4 because Matt Beleskey (and the rest of the team) took exception to Kesler's actions.  Perry settled things personally by fighting with Kesler later on in the second period.

A slashing penalty by Daniel Sedin gave the Ducks a 4 on 3 opportunity that would soon become a 5 on 3 when Beleskey would get out of the box.  No need to wait, though.  Saku Koivu got the puck up and over Corey Schneider at 1:06 to tie things up.

After Alex Edler quickly scored on the ower play at 7:14, the Ducks lost a little momentum.  They started to pick back up later, primarily thanks to a determined effort by Beleskey, who had several good chances, some he created on his own.  Beleskey, who had five shots on goal, finally was rewarded at 3:55 of the third period to tie the game once again.

It appeared that the game might be headed to overtime, but the Canucks took advantage of another power play opportunity, giving Henrik Sedin the game winner at 14:55.  Pulling Jonas Hiller for the extra attacker was not enough and Kesler put the puck into the empty net with just :14.1 seconds left to play, thus ending any hopes the Ducks had of going to overtime.

In the end, it was not a bad effort, but it was not their best.  Specialty teams clearly need improvement.

"There's just got to be some improvement," Hiller commented after the game.  "We're not where we want to be.  There are some good aspects but overall it's just not good enough yet."

I can't say it any better than that. 

Next up is a final pre-season game (tune-up?) on Sunday against the Los Angeles Kings.  The Ducks certainly want to improve over their performance on Tuesday night, an 8-3 stinker that led Carlyle to comment that it appeared the Ducks had never once practiced defensive zone coverage.   A win would be good.

In other notes: Defenseman Toni Lydman skated with the team for the first time at the morning skate.  Lydman still has no medical explanation for the cause of his double vision. Beginning to skate is a sign of positive progress, but there is no timetable for him to be cleared and ready to play in any games.

After a horrible 8-3 loss against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night, the Ducks continue to move forward.  A team building day out on a boat, fishing, replaced practice on Wednesday.  It also gave the Ducks plenty of time to contemplate their next roster moves.

In a sign that the defense continues to solidify, both Brett Festerling and Danny Syvret were put on waivers this morning.  Both players have two-way contracts and if they clear (by 9:00am Friday morning) they will likely be sent to Syracuse.

That leaves Lubomir Visnovsky, Andy Sutton, Paul Mara, Sheldon Brookbank, Luca Sbisa, Brendan Mikkelson and Cam Fowler on the roster for defense.  Toni Lydman, acquired as a free agent this summer, still remains uncleared for skating after experiencing a severe bout of double vision earlier in the month.

The Ducks got to sleep in for a second day in a row by not holding practice until 3:30pm at the Honda Center.  The reason for the late start was to accomodate the annual Face Off Fest for season ticket holders.  The event begins at 5:00pm and fans can get autographs from all the players, skate on the ice at Honda Center, talk with the coaches and broadcasting team and more.

Tomorrow night it is back to work again, this time meeting the Vancouver Canucks for the second time in pre-season.  The Ducks need to recover from a poor, lackluster effort on Tuesday night, as well as avenge a so-so effort against the Canucks last Saturday night in Vancouver. With only two more pre-season games to go, now is the time to figure everything out.

The Ducks have wasted no time getting their roster down to size.  The latest cuts were made after two more pre-season games over the weekend.

Centers Trevor Smith and MacGregor Sharp, defenseman Jake Newton and goaltender Timo Pielmeier were sent to the Syracuse Crunch.  The Ducks AHL affiliate will begin their pre-season games shortly, giving them necessary experience heading into their regular season.

Goaltender Igor Bobkov was reassigned to his junior team.  Also let go was Stephane Veilleux, released from his pro try-out.

Although Veilleux had a very good start to training camp, almost exuding too much energy in the early scrimmages, he was unable to continue at that pace.

"We thought he would have to come in here and out-compete and out-battle someone for a contract," said coach Randy Carlyle matter-of-factly.  "We felt that wasn’t happening any more. He worked hard, he was a good teammate, he tried…those are tough decisions."

The Ducks now have 27 healthy players on their roster - 16 forwards, 9 defensemen and 2 goaltenders.  The Ducks will need to pare down two more forwards and defensemen by the opening of regular season in order to meet the 23 player maximum.

The Ducks will continue to evaluate players in the final three pre-season games of the year, including tomorrow night against the Los Angeles Kings.

After two well-played pre-season games, the Ducks fell flat against the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.  Having played an emotion filled game the night before in San Jose and their fourth game in five nights, things just weren't clicking for Anaheim.

Jonas Hiller stayed in net for the entire game and made 21 saves on 25 shots on goal.  The Canucks seemed to have no problem putting pucks past him.  Both the Sedin brothers scored, as well as Vancouver rookies Guillaume Desbiens and Jordan Schroeder.

The Ducks were flummoxed by Robert Luongo, who was able to stop all shots except for a late third period goal by Josh Green.  Bobby Ryan appeared to put the Ducks on the board on the power play, but Luongo denied him as well.

At least the Ducks outshot the Canucks, 29 - 25, but the end result was not what they wanted.

Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu and Todd Marchant played in their first pre-season match but even their well-rested, veteran legs could not get the Ducks the win.

The Ducks flew home and got a rare day off on Sunday, despite it being training camp.  They will get back to work on Monday to prepare for their next game against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday evening.

Fans who went to the HP Pavilion on Friday night for a hockey game between the Sharks and the Ducks got a lot of Fight Night instead.  Somewhere amongst the half dozen fights, five of them occurring in the first period alone, was plenty of scoring as the Anaheim defeated the San Jose, 5-4, for the second time in a row in preseason.

This coming from a team who could not get pay to get a win in the regular season against the Sharks last year.

While pre-season is usually a time to feel things out and take a look at your prospects, this game had all the feel of a final regular season division match up, where all the bad blood from the previous five games boils over onto the ice.  144 penalty minutes, including three game misconducts, was the final tally when the horn sounded.

In between, the Ducks had plenty of work on specialty teams.  The Ducks had 10 power play opportunities, while spending 9 times on the penalty kill.  Anaheim came out winning both battles by killing every penalty and scoring on four of the power plays, two of them 5 on 3 chances.

Corey Perry had three of the power play goals for a hat trick and Jake Newton chipped in the other one. Ryan Getzlaf assisted on each one.

The Ducks broke out with a two goal lead, but the Sharks kept things close, either tied or within one goal for the remainder of the game.  Dan Sexton got the only even strength tally for Anaheim, breaking the 4-4 tie with exactly five minutes left on the clock.

Timo Pielmeier, who split goaltending duties with Curtis McIlhenny, held firm in the net to prevent the Sharks from tying up the game once more.  As they were on Wednesday evening, the Ducks were grossly outshot, 44-22, but the number that mattered was the one reflecting the goals.

The Ducks are now 2-1 in the pre-season.  A healthy Getzlaf still has amazing chemistry with Perry.  The goaltenders are all holding their own.  Certainly it's a good start and a positive way to be moving forward to the regular season.

Anaheim now gets to see if they can make it 3-1 by playing against Vancouver on Saturday evening.  Hopefully the momentum will continue forward.

There were only three days of training camp before two back-to-back pre-season games for the Anaheim Ducks.  It was all they needed to know before sending several players back to juniors or to the Ducks AHL affiliate in Syracuse.

Forwards Nick Bonino, Rob Bordson, Nicolas Deschamps, Brandon McMillan and Kyle Palmieri were sent to Syracuse on Thursday.  Joining them were defensemen Mat Clark, Mark Mitera and Joe DiPenta.  Goaltender J.P. Levasseur was not too far behind them, taking a plane on Friday.

Players returned to their junior teams included Emerson Etem, Devante Smith-Pelly, Peter Holland, and Scott Valentine.

That leaves 36 players on the roster, including injured Jason Jaffray, long-recovering Joffrey Lupul and Toni Lydman, who should be back to skating shortly after having experienced double vision prior to camp. Getting the roster to 23 players by opening night will be a challenge, but there are clearly spots open.

As the roster continues to pare down, the Ducks will have an opportunity to get their team in game shape.  With two more back-to-back games against San Jose and Vancouver on the road, there will be plenty of chances for younger players and guys on the cusp to make a positive impression and stay a little longer with the team.

One thing is undeniable - the sense of urgency that has been accompanying the training camp practices.  The intensity has been there in previous years but there is a feeling of "things must happen NOW," that was not present before.

The Ducks have stated clearly what their expectations are.

"We're going to try to put everything we possibly can into this training camp to get this hockey club as ready as it's ever been," said coach Randy Carlyle after the very first practice.  "We're not happy with our poor starts.  Historically, other than our Cup year, we've had starts that were questionable for our group.  We cannot afford that."

Perhaps that sense of urgency comes from the knowledge that there will not be tolerance for a slow start and jobs will be in danger.  And not just players, but coaching staff as well.  Regardless of the motivation, things are moving quickly.

In another sign that things are moving faster than usual to solidify the team and get things in place, Carlyle spent a good portion of time working on specialty teams on Thursday.

The first unit for the power play consists of four forwards and one defenseman - Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Bobby Ryan and Teemu Selanne working with Lubomir Visnovsky.   Jason Blake, Dan Sexton and Saku Koivu were sent out with Paul Mara and Danny Syvret for the second unit.  Cam Fowler and Matt Beleskey were interchanged into the second groupings.

The Ducks have gone with four forwards in the past, but didn't stick with it very long.  In this case, it looks like Ryan gets more opportunity for growth by being used on the point.  Unlike playing at center, Ryan seems much more comfortable in this role.

“I’ve played D for a good portion of my life,” Ryan said. “I don’t mind if they come back the other way. I can certainly handle myself. I think he’s looking for guys who are willing to shoot from back there. I don’t think there is any question that I look to do that. I’ll try to step in.  It’s nice to get out there with those players in that situation. It gives you a chance for success. I’ll run with it for as long as I can.”

For now, the Ducks are running towards the start of the regular season.  Walking is not an option.

After losing their first pre-season game against Phoenix by a score of 4-1 on Tuesday night, the Ducks were right back at it again the next evening.  This time the Ducks took on San Jose, who were a thorn in the Ducks side all last season, and came away with a 5-2 victory.

With a totally different line-up, except for four players getting the back-to-back nod, the results were vastly different from the previous evening.  Then again, with a line-up loaded with veterans and players who are likely to be on the Ducks roster on opening night, anything less than a win would have been a bad omen for the regular season.

Corey Perry chipped in Ryan Getzlaf's shot at 7:20 in the first period to get the scoring going for the Ducks.  Anaheim will be relying on that tandem all year to help produce offense.  They will need all the offense they can get, considering the question mark that surrounds the Ducks defensive corps.

Considering that Getzlaf had not played a game since March 24, having finished off the season nursing a sprained left ankle, he looked like he was back to his old self.  Hindered by recovery from a sports hernia and then adding the sprained ankle, Getzlaf never was quite up to speed last season.  A healthy Getzlaf will do wonders for the Ducks success.

"He has a lot of talent and a lot of ability," assessed coach Randy Carlyle after the game.  "When he's moving his feet, drawing people to him and shooting the puck, he can be a very, very effective player and tonight was one of those nights."

While the Ducks started off strong, the Sharks made up for lost time by outshooting the Ducks.  Luckily Jonas Hiller was up the task for his half of the game, stopping 19 of 19 shots before former Sharks prospect, Timo Pielmeier took over in the middle of the second period.  Pielmeier stopped 19 of 21 shots.

The Ducks cemented their lead with goals from Aaron Voros at 1:38 of the second and then two swift goals from Danny Syvret at 15:01 and Getzlaf just :18 seconds later.

The Sharks threw everything at the Ducks net, outshooting their opponents 40 - 18.  It took 31 shots before they could even get on the board.  Torrey Mitchell picked up his own rebound coming around the back of the net and put the puck past Pielmeier at 7:31 of the third period.

Jason Blake added another power play goal to the Ducks tally at 10:23, taking advantage of a sprawled Alex Stalock, who split time in net with Antero Niittymaki.

The Sharks quickly responded with a goal from rookie Taylor Doherty at 10:51, but that was all they could put past the Anaheim netminders.

The Ducks now get back to training camp on Thursday and then have two more pre-season games, this time on the road in San Jose and Vancouver.  If they can build on what they started this season, they should do well in their pre-season trials.

Only three days of on-ice practice and scrimmages in training camp and the Ducks are ready for their first pre-season game.  It didn't take long for the players to be tired of battling against each other and instead take out their frustrations on each other.

"Guys get tired playing and practicing against one another,” said coach Randy Carlyle after Monday's scrimmage. “We always call the third day of training camp the ‘hump day.’ We have lots of people that are sore, muscles that are at fatigue points. They get a little grouchy playing against one other.”

That might be true, but in this case, the players were a little grouchier than usual.  Things have always been physical, but never in your face and testy.  They are supposed to be teammates after all.  On Monday, the refs stepped in to break up what could have been a fight, were it not for the no fighting rule Carlyle has installed.  Corey Perry took liberties with Dan Sexton.  Jason Blake was checking every young prospect as hard as he could.  In prior scrimmages, Stephane Veilleux, in camp on a professional tryout, was getting under the skin of every opposition player.

So it's a good thing that the Ducks have a pre-season game today, instead of having everything reach a boiling point. Take it out on the Phoenix Coyotes instead of each other.

Every team is required to have 8 veterans in the line-up for a pre-season game, which the Ducks do, but they are heavily weighted with youngsters.  This will be a first look at this year's first round draft picks, Cam Fowler and Emerson Etem, as well as second round pick, Devante Smith-Pelly.  Kyle Palmieri, who decided to turn pro rather than return to college, will also get a first look.  (More on Fowler, Etem and Smith-Pelly can be found at www.hockeytalk.biz/anaducks.htm )

Bobby Ryan will be playing a new role as center, in this case for a top line with Matt Beleskey and Smith-Pelly.   Curtis McIlhenney and Timo Pielmeier will share responsibilities in net for Anaheim.

With another pre-season game on Wednesday, most of the remaining players not playing this evening will be on the ice tomorrow, although a handful will play back-to-back.

The first cuts to the roster will likely come soon, although Carlyle refuses to reveal their timetable.  Historically, the first guys have gone home after the first couple of pre-season games, so there is no reason to suppose that this will be any different.  It makes how they play this evening that much more important.