Since the Ducks ended their season in early April not much has been seen or heard from the team about activity (unless you count things going on at the World Tournament in Finland). 

On Wednesday, the Ducks announced that they have re-signed Saku Koivu to a one year contract.  The contract pays him $3 million and has bonuses written in as well. 

Koivu, 37, has played for three seasons with Anaheim since signing as a free agent in 2009.  Koivu formerly played with the Montreal Canadiens, serving as their team captain for a decade.  

On Mar. 12, 2012 Koivu played in his 1,000^th NHL game. He became the fifth Finnish-born player to reach the milestone, joining Teppo Numminen (1,372), Teemu Selanne (1,341), Jari Kurri (1,251) and Olli Jokinen (1,042). In addition, Koivu was the 33rd European-born player to appear in 1,000 NHL games.

A cancer survivor who did not play for the majority of the 2001-2002 season, it is a tribute to Koivu that he has now managed to make it to 1000+ games.

“Character and leadership on and off the ice,” was GM Bob Murray's assessment of Koivu. “You can never have enough of that. Things didn’t go well this year. He’s a veteran who really believes it can work here and wants it to work here. He had an opportunity this year to jump ship and he didn’t want to. He wanted to stay and make it work. That’s a quality character guy. We need more of that.”

Koivu was certainly disappointed that the Ducks did not make the post season, but is positive about Anaheim's chances next year.

“Talking with Bob and hearing his thoughts and his plan and then also getting very positive messages from the ownership, I’m confident that they’re going to make a push,” Koivu said. “We basically have the core group of young players. The future looks bright.  I’m really, really happy about it.  It’s a good thing that and a positive thing that we got it done at this point. I don’t have to worry about it.

Now if only Koivu's fellow Finn decides to re-sign for one more year, things will be looking up for the Ducks.

If you had asked me if I thought it was possible for the Los Angeles Kings to pull off a sweep of the St. Louis Blues, I would have said absolutely not.  Possible, but virtually impossible.  Sweeps are not easy to come by.  Most teams at least put up somewhat of a fight and get a game in. 

The Blues did not even whimper.  At times, they virtually handed it to the Kings by taking dumb penalties and making it more difficult on themselves. 

So the Kings have now defeated last year's Western Conference winners (the Vancouver Canucks) in five games and the team that placed second in the Conference this year in four games. 

Kings fans are ecstatic.  The Staples Center owners are ambivalent.  Sure, you get at least one more round of games with fans pouring into your building paying lots of money on concessions and parking.  On the other hand, you have to continue to juggle not one, not two, but three teams sharing the building for playoffs.  Given the financial playoff of Lakers, Clippers and Kings all in the their postseasons, the logistics nightmare is worth it.

The Kings get to rest a bit while everyone else finishes up their series.  They also get to remind themselves that there is still a ways to go.  Having only reached this point once in their 45 year history, they can certainly appreciate how hard it takes to get there.   The last time the Kings saw the Western Conference Finals?  1993. 

A good portion of the current team were mere toddlers back then. 

Certainly the Kings are peaking at the right time and having Jonathan Quick in net has not hurt them one bit.  In fact, Quick continues his Vezina trophy nominated ways in the post season.  He remains stingy in giving up goals and makes the saves that are needed to not only keep his team in it, but that stymie the opposition.   1.55 goals against average and .949 save percentage in the post season are making him a strong contender for the Conn Smythe, should the team get that far. 

In the next round, the Kings will meet either the Nashville Predators or the Phoenix Coyotes.  The Coyotes are leading that series 3-1 and can finish off the Predators on Monday.   

A series between two Pacific Division rivals would be a lot of fun to watch.  

A fellow Ducks fan said it best.  "Enjoy it Kings fans....success and dominance like this can be fleeting."

Having experienced this just a few short years ago - it sure is fun while it lasts.

The West was won long before the East was decided.  This is why Nashville (who had been sitting a week) and Phoenix were out of the gate first in round two. 

Is it any surprise that the game went to overtime?  If you are playing against Phoenix, better get your cardio and endurance up because 60 minutes are not enough to decide things. 

Seeing as the East had to go the distance in not one, not two, but three series, they only get a day between games. 

The Washington Capitals managed to prevail over the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Boston Bruins.  The Bruins can lick their wounds in the off season with the Vancouver Canucks.  The runners up were offed a lot quicker than the Bruins.  

If Ottawa had upset the Rangers, it would have meant that both #1 seeds were sent packing in the first round.  Instead, the New York Rangers held on to defeat the Ottawa Senators.  The Rangers win ensured that all three Vezina trophy finalists are in the next round.  For the Senators, they continue to be the bridesmaid and never the bride.  This might have been Daniel Alfredsson's final game as well, one of the few players to spend his entire career with the same team.

The Rangers will meet the upstart Capitals in round two.  The Rangers might have Henrik Lundqvist, but the Capitals have a young kid in net, Braden Holtby.  The 22 year old rookie has held his own and been the reason his Capitals are moving on to the next round.  Holtby and the Capitals will be no less challenged in this round. 

If Ottawa sent the Rangers to a game 7, Washington has an equal chance of doing so.  If Holtby remains strong, they could send the Rangers home.  This one could go either way.

The New Jersey Devils and Florida Panthers series was the last to finish.  They did not want things to end, it took until a second overtime for the Devils to move on and the Panthers to be sent packing.  You have to feel for the Panthers, who have not won a playoff series in over a decade.  They have not even made it into the playoffs in nearly as long, but were able to win their division this year. 

Instead, the Devils experience and patience means they are going to face the Philadelphia Flyers.  The Flyers had the longest rest of all the Eastern teams.    The Flyers have questionable goaltending, but they have offense to make up for a swiss cheese goaltender.   Martin Brodeur is not swiss cheese, but he is also not a youngster any more.    This one could be a higher scoring series than New Jersey is comfortable with and I give a slight edge to the Flyers in six games.

The nicest part of the playoffs is you get to see every game.  The down side is there are half as many series in the second round. 

If the second round is as good as the first, they will all be worth watching!
 

The Western Conference did not need much time to decide which four teams would be moving on to the second round.   Not one single match up ended in a sweep, but three of the four match ups only needed five games to decide who was moving on.    Only Phoenix and Chicago needed six games.

The Nashville Predators eliminated their division rival, the Detroit Red Wings.  Having met them a couple times prior in the playoffs, it was immensely satisfying for the Predators to come out the victors this time around.  Historically, Nashville has seemed to be the only team that could give Detroit a run for their money and this time, they conquered them handily. 

The Predators continue to build on their previous playoff experience and look poised to go deep this year.  They were undaunted playing the in Joe Louis Arena, a building that is not kind to visitors.  (The Ducks know that all too well!)  With Pekke Rinne, one of the three Vezina trophy finalists, standing tall (literally) in net, Nashville moves to the second round where they will meet up with the Phoenix Coyotes. 

The Coyotes, who won the Pacific Division, will have home ice advantage again.  Mike Smith was stingy with allowing goals when faced by the Chicago Blackhawks.  He won't be any more generous in the second round.  With two solid goaltenders, this match up is not going to be a goal scoring extravaganza (reference Philadelphia and Pittsburgh).  The challenge becomes figuring out how to beat the goaltender. 

The Blackhawks and Coyotes took their first five games to overtime, but Phoenix was ready to move on in game six.  A 4-0 blanking of Chicago sealed the deal for the desert dogs, who had not won a single playoff series since moving from Winnipeg 15 years ago.  

Both Nashville and Phoenix will likely battle it out for a while in round two and both teams are deserving of going to Western Conference finals.  Personally, I am giving the edge (and only a slight edge) to Nashville to come out the victors.  It should take six games, but could easily go the full seven.

The St. Louis Blues eliminated the San Jose Sharks, which is not too surprising.  The Sharks are notorious "also rans" in the playoffs.  The Blues also were close to being the President's Trophy winners this year, and were not to be taken lightly.   The Sharks, who won their final game of the season against the Los Angeles Kings, were handed the Blues as their present.   Then again, their other option was to face the Vancouver Canucks, who DID win the President's Trophy.

Instead the Canucks faced the Kings and were ousted unceremoniously in five games.  The 8th place (barely) seed killed off last year's Stanley Cup runners up without any apology and had an opportunity to sweep them.  Were it not for the return of Daniel Sedin, the Kings would have done so.  But would the Kings have fared so well had they met up with the Blues in the first round?  The Kings will get to find out in round two as they get to face St. Louis.  

St. Louis has missed the post season dance for a while.  They are not inclined to leave it in the second round either.  Los Angeles has another Vezina finalist in Jonathan Quick and they won their first playoff series in over ten years.  If Quick continues to play well, St. Louis will have their work cut out for them.  

After firing their coach and putting Ken Hitchcock behind the bench, the Blues have been solid and consistent.  Not so the Kings.  It is Quick who has kept his team in the hunt and he will continue to be the difference maker.  There will be no sweeps in this series either or even close sweeps.  This one could go either way and Los Angeles could continue to surprise.  In the end, it will probably take all seven and St. Louis will go on to the conference finals. 

If you look at the record books, the teams who win the Stanley Cup are usually the top seeded teams.  Every.  Single. Year.  The bottom seeds do not go on to lift the Cup.  So even if the Kings manage to pull off another upset, the odds are against them.  But nothing is impossible.

In the Eastern Conference, it has been a totally different story.  Three series are going to game seven - Boston/Washington, Florida/New Jersey and Ottawa/New York Rangers.   Philadelphia, who finally bumped off Pittsburgh in six games, will have to hope that their goaltending improves before round two or that they meet someone in net as challenged at stopping goals as Marc-Andre Fleury proved to be. 

If you had said that these three series would be going to a game seven, it would have seemed unlikely, but these have all been hard fought series.  Hopefully the final match ups between the teams will be equally as exciting.

It is only the first round of the playoffs.  Competition heats up as play goes on.  But considering the level of intensity that has already been achieved,  what on earth do the next rounds have in store?

Chief disciplinarian, Brendan Shanahan, has been busy in the first week of the playoffs.  He has handed out four suspensions and four fines to players and teams.  Boarding, elbowing, instigating, illegal hits to the head.   These guys are playing for all the marbles (and the big shiny silver thingy).  Two more players have hearings on Tuesday morning that might add to the total. 

Last season?  There were four suspensions total in the playoffs and only two fines. 

Can you tell these teams want to win?  At all costs? 

It is this kind of heated intensity that makes watching the playoffs fun.  Even when your team is not in it.  Instead you find teams that you hate and root against them.  Or find other teams to enjoy (for the playoffs only) and root for.

Which leads me to surprises.  Certainly the number of suspensions has been a surprise, but it is no surprise that there are some upsets in the making.  That comes every year without fail and this year is no different.

The first surprise that comes to mind is, who would have thought that the Los Angeles Kings would have a 3-0 lead in the series against the Vancouver Canucks?  The Canucks have won the Presidents Trophy two years in a row.  They were the runner up in the Stanley Cup Final last year.  The Kings have never, ever had a 3-0 lead in any playoff series in their 44 year history. 

You have to realize that as a Ducks fan, seeing the Kings do well sticks in my craw.  OK, it really annoys me and just reinforces how much I hate that team.  But you have to give credit to them for getting the job done and goaltender Jonathan Quick has been terrific. 

Quick was the only standout earlier in the season when the Kings could not score a goal to save their life.  He still kept his team in the game and gave them a chance.  His .965 save percentage leads the league in this young post season, but there is no reason to think he will not continue his stellar play if the team ahead of him can continue to score goals.  He'll do his part if they'll do theirs.  It makes the Kings a dangerous team, even if they'll never have any home ice advantage for the entire playoffs.

Another surprise is the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh series.  You know those two teams hate each other and are bitter rivals.  But who would have thought that the scores would look like pond hockey?  On occasion you get those wild games where everything goes in the net for both teams, but then things settle down.  Not so for these two teams.  You won't find Marc-Andre Fleury or Ilya Bryzgalov at the top of the goaltender stats leaderboard. 

Pittsburgh, currently down 3-0 in the series, is going to have to find a) goaltending and b) the ability to outscore Philadelphia.  If not, they are quickly heading to the golf course where no one figured they would be at this point.

There will certainly be more surprises revealed as play goes on.  The nicest thing is that every single game is being televised.  The problem is, which game do you watch while there are concurrent games going on?

One thing is for sure, they are worth watching.

The Ducks were cooked a long time ago, but finally their season is officially done.  Finishing their year with a Canadian road swing, the Ducks lost 5-4 in a shootout to Vancouver, followed by a 3-2 defeat of Edmonton.  They could not finish their season on a high note, though, with a win in Calgary.

A 5-2 loss to the Calgary Flames bookended the season, which began with a loss to Buffalo in Helsinki, Finland.

There was a fabulous run in January and February, but in the end, Anaheim could not overcome the deep, deep hole they had dug for themselves in the first 40 games.  

Certainly the Ducks were too talented to finish at the bottom of the NHL. 

Teemu Selanne led the Ducks in points for the season with 26 goals and 40 assists.  At 41 years and 9 months old, he is the second oldest player to lead his team in points since Gordie Howe did it in 1969.  Howe was only four months older than Selanne.  When you can score more than 25 goals for the past four seasons in a row, you are not ready to retire.

Corey Perry was the reigning Hart trophy winner and he did not slow down by much.  He led the Ducks in goals with 37 and finished in the top five goal scorers in the NHL. 

Bobby Ryan scored both goals in the Calgary game to give him 31 on the season.  He now has four consecutive seasons with 30 plus goals.   He also finished a +1 for the season, which his linemates in Perry and Ryan Getzlaf did not. 

On the defense corps, Sheldon Brookbank had a notable season.  He scored three goals and 14 points, his best season ever, and finished +11.  He was consistent all year long. 

Nick Bonino performed well, as did rookie Devante Smith-Pelly, who at 19 made the team out of training camp and stuck for the entire season instead of being sent back to his junior team. 

Andrew Cogliano provided much needed third line offense and plenty of flexibility, doing well regardless of which line he was on. 

There were injuries as well, which certainly hampered the Ducks.  Jason Blake had severed tendons in his hand and a "hit me" sign on the rest of his body.  He had more than a couple pucks dinging at him. 

Lubomir Visnovsky was limited to 68 games with a broken finger and other ailments.  He was injured in the game against Edmonton and did not play in the final game of the season. 

Toni Lydman struggled much of the year, and finished the season playing with an upper body injury (actual injuries to be revealed now that the season is over).  He certainly did not perform as well as he had the previous season, which did not help the Ducks.

Ryan Getzlaf had a mediocre season at best. 

On the plus side, the Ducks will start next season with coach Bruce Boudreau, who took over for Randy Carlyle at the end of November.  Boudreau's positive attitude and encouragement rebuilt up self confidence in the Ducks players.  They played much better in the second half of the year, something they should be able to do all year starting next October.

Next October?  God willing there is a next October.  With the collective bargaining agreement set to expire, it might be an even longer off season for the Ducks, as well as all the other NHL teams. 

For hockey fans everywhere, may there be a new CBA and no lockout.  For Ducks fans, here's looking to next season, whenever it may start!  It can't be much worse than this one.

Fan Appreciation Night at the Honda Center and the final home game of the year in Anaheim.  Possibly the final home game of Teemu Selanne's illustrious career.    Clearly the Edmonton Oilers did not get the memo and spoiled any chance of Anaheim finishing off the season at home on a high note by earning a 2-1 victory over the Ducks.

There did seem to be a memo stating that only people named Teemu could score. 

Oilers rookie, Teemu Hartikainen, got Edmonton on the board just :15 seconds into the game.   Hartikainen beat Jonas Hiller again at 6:04 and the Ducks were playing catch up the remainder of the evening. 

Hartikainen, who is nearly half the age of Selanne, played his first game against his boyhood idol.

"He was the biggest hockey player when I was growing up," Hartikainen said. "I look at Teemu like kind of my idol. We didn't have NHL on TV, but every Saturday morning we had this show that showed a lineup of games and usually Selanne was on there, too. He was kind of the biggest hockey player -- and he still is the biggest hockey player in Finland."

Selanne is pretty big here, too. 

Towards the end of the first period, Selanne tipped in Niklas Hagman's shot at 14:12.   That cut the Oilers lead in half. 

It appeared that the Ducks might tie up the game at the end of the second period, but Ryan Getzlaf's shot clearly went in past Devan Dubnyk when time had already expired.  That was as close as the Ducks could get. 

They had several power play opportunities, including a 4 on 3 and a 5 on 3, but could not convert on anything.  At one point, it appeared that the game was only allowed to be played in the Oilers end.  Despite 33 shots on goal (compared to only 15 for Edmonton), the Ducks could only get sniffs at the net. 

Selanne nearly became the hero to write a fitting end to Teemu appreciation night.  Late in the third period, with time running out, the Flash turned on the jets and came in on Dubnyk.

"Last shift -- he almost scored against me," Hartikainen said. "I was the last guy. Oh my God, he's a fast guy. He's really fast. [I'm thinking] ‘Don't do it. Don't do it.'"

Selanne did not, much to the crowd's dismay.  They spent the majority of the game chanting "one more year" and with nearly five minutes to go in the game, broke into a spontaneous standing ovation for their favorite player.   Selanne was saluted even by his teammates, who joined in the accolades, and finally Selanne nudged the referee to drop the puck and get on with it already. 

"It's almost funny that they're chanting that for an old guy like me," said the ever humble Selanne.  "But it's great. Obviously there's a lot of respect for our fans. I've always had a very special relationship with the fans … It's an honor to hear that. Obviously I'm going to have another tough decision to make. But like said, I don't really know what's going to happen. I'm going to stick with my plan and just take some time off and see how I feel."

No one wants to see Selanne retire.  Clearly there is still more in the tank.

"He can definitely play another three years," said former Duck and now Oiler defenseman Ryan Whitney.  "He's so fast and quick and in such good shape. He's one of those guys that's blessed with everything."

At age 41 (three months shy of 42) leads Anaheim in scoring with 64 points, including 26 goals. Reigning Hart Trophy winner, Corey Perry, is second with 58 points.

On the plus side, Selanne is now saying he'll make a decision to play or retire later on this summer.  Earlier in the season, he was sure this was going to be his last go round. 

Never say never, Teemu.  I agree with Whitney, at this rate, he still has another year or two or three in him. 

The Pacific Division is a strong one this season with four teams within two points of each other.  And then there are the Ducks.  Not even close as a result of a really bad first half of the season.

The Ducks could have put a crimp in Phoenix's season by defeating them, but instead, the Coyotes demonstrated why they have a good chance at winning the division and doing well in the post season.   The Ducks came back home with their tail between their legs after a 4-0 defeat.

It started off well for Anaheim, who got a power play early in the first period.  Then Oliver Ekman-Larsson got out of the penalty box, managed to get past the Ducks defense, who seemed to forget the power play was ending.  Ekman-Larsson took advantage of his breakaway to put the puck past Jeff Deslauriers at 6:10. 

The Ducks and Deslauriers, filling in for Jonas Hiller who would be playing the second of back to back games at home for fan appreciation night,  could never recover from that grievous error.

Anaheim was stymied by the Coyotes defense and could get nothing past Mike Smith, who stopped all 44 shots for his second straight shutout.

"It was one of those nights when we weren't going to beat that guy," said coach Bruce Boudreau. "When Bobby Ryan beats him and hits [Phoenix center] Boyd Gordon in the back of the head and it bounces over the net, nothing is going to go in."

In addition to those 44 shots on goal, another 20 were blocked and 13 missed the net altogether.  Nope, nothing was going to go in.

The same could not be said for the Coyotes, who had no problem solving Deslauriers.

The Coyotes turned on their power play charm to power past Anaheim.  With the extra man, Antoine Vermette made it 2-0 at 11:03 of the second period. 

After that, the focus was on Ray Whitney.  Whitney, a 19 year veteran in the NHL, scored his 1,000 point by garnering an assist on the third Phoenix goal.  The way they were celebrating, it was not Radim Vrbata's goal at 16:14, it was Whitney's. 

Whitney became only the 79th player to score 1,000 points.  He earned point #1001 just :40 seconds later with a goal of his own. 

"It hasn't been overly easy, I've had to earn what I've done," said Whitney, who is a month shy of his 40th birthday. "I've been on seven teams, I've been bought out twice, and I've been on waivers a couple of times. There's been a couple of times where it didn't look like it was going to go on any further so this is something I'm very proud of."

Noting another long time veteran on the ice in a Ducks uniform, Whitney continued.

"I looked at the stats and I see I'm 400 points behind (Teemu) Selanne.  That kind of puts it in perspective."

The perspective for the Ducks?

At 4-0, the Ducks were toast.

Yet another reason why the Ducks are not in the post season this year. 

The Ducks now turn right around and head home to face the Edmonton Oilers at home for Fan Appreciation night in a game where the points don't matter for any team.
 

Some years you dominate a team.  Other years they dominate you.  This year, it was the Ducks turn to dominate the Sharks.  (Just don't mention Nashville to Anaheim.)

In the season series of six games between Anaheim and San Jose, the Ducks took five of them, losing only one to their Pacific Division rival.  If only they could have played like that against more teams.

If only.  The Ducks were officially mathematically eliminated from the playoffs during the game.  Their role now is one of spoiler.

A 3-1 defeat of the Sharks certainly spoiled San Jose's hopes for maintaining a narrow division lead over Dallas, Los Angeles and Phoenix. 

"To do it against a division rival and maybe snuff out one of their last chances to get in is a very good feeling," said Bobby Ryan, who put the Ducks on the board at 9:22 of the middle period.

The Ducks did not hold on to the lead for very long.  Francois Beauchemin, getting into the bakery business with frequent turnovers, gave away a second goal in as many games.  His turnover led to Ryan Clowe's goal that tied up the game :52 seconds later.  It was the only goal that San Jose would get behind Jonas Hiller, though.

Joe Pavelski certainly tried to change that.  Pavelski, who earned the third star of the game for his efforts, had five good quality shots on goal.  Hiller denied them all, to Pavelski's chagrin.

"We have a lot to lose and it doesn't matter if they have everything to lose or nothing to lose," Pavelski commented. "We should win that game.  It's disappointing. It's a setback, but we want to take a step forward and get where we were. We got to keep moving forward and we missed a chance."

Teemu Selanne does not miss many of his chances.   He put Anaheim ahead at 5:22 of the third period and the game winning goal was his 106th of his career.   Only five players have more game winners than Selanne.

Selanne's goal came shortly after finding out that Dallas had won their game, thereby officially eliminating the Ducks from the playoffs. 

The Sharks kept coming, but Anaheim would not quit.  In a weird turn of events, a third goal was awarded to Corey Perry, who was aiming at the empty net.   Dan Boyle was sliding to the net to defend and knocked the net off its moorings in the process as Perry was shooting.  The goal was given to Perry, but then there was a long, strange review by Toronto. 

In the end, the goal was deemed good, even though it seemed like it should not have counted.  Perhaps karmic justice for the no goal call on Sunday against Boston?  The Ducks would have preferred to have that one, but they would equally take this one.

3-1 Ducks.  Adios Anaheim.  Adios Sharks.

The Ducks have another two days off before heading to Phoenix on Saturday.  They return home for a final home game on Sunday against Edmonton.  Will it be Selanne's last game in front of an Anaheim crowd?  Let's hope not.

The Anaheim Ducks are not lacking in past winners of the Masterton Memorial Trophy.  Teemu Selanne, Jason Blake and Saku Koivu have all won the award in the past.  The award is presented annually to the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.

There is one nominee per team each year.  This year, the Ducks nominee is goaltender Jonas Hiller.

“Jonas faced a lot of adversity over the past year and responded tremendously,” said GM Bob Murray. “His performance this season makes him an ideal candidate for the 2011-12 Masterton Trophy.”

Hiller was on pace to be a Vezina trophy nominee last season when he was hit with vertigo.  He only appeared in three games following the All-Star break.  After needing the entire summer to recover, Hiller has rebounded beautifully this season.  Prior to Wednesday's game, Hiller led all NHL goaltenders in appearances (69) and starts (69). He has the franchise record for most starts in a single season by an Anaheim goaltender and has passed Guy Hebert’s club mark for most appearances in a single season.

Hiller has posted a 28-27-11 record with a 2.54 goals-against average (GAA) and .912 save percentage (SV%).

Considering that recovery from his vertigo appeared slim, Hiller has beaten the odds and clearly is a deserving nominee.

Other nominees include former Ducks goaltender Ray Emery, who actually was signed by Anaheim last season after it was clear Hiller was not going to be coming back any time soon.  Emery, who had recovered from avascular necrosis in his hip, had not played for nearly an entire year when he joined the Ducks.  Emery helped the Ducks sneak into the playoffs and performed admirably.  He is now in the Chicago Blackhawks line up.

Dan Ellis Ready

Dan Ellis who?  With Hiller in net so often, you almost forgot about the back up netminder.  Ellis was out with a torn groin since early January.  With his injury not progressing, Ellis headed to a specialist and ended up with surgery to repair a sports hernia, causing him to be out of the line up even longer. 

Earlier this week, Ellis participated in his first practice in nearly three months.

"It was enjoyable," said Ellis after the practice.  "I've been working with [goaltending consultant] Pete Peeters a little bit just to work on some small controlled movements and stuff for about three or four days. Just got to the point where I was ready to get back out there and practice. Get in some situations that aren't as predictable."

Ellis has appeared in only 10 games this season and has just one win to his name.  Considering the fact that the Ducks will not be in the post season, Hiller will likely still see the bulk of the remaining duties in net for the Ducks.

At least the Ducks have options.