Archive for April, 2007

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13
Apr

Fun Post - Carlye, Coach and Teammate

By Daniel Closed
Categories: Articles, Hockey and Misc

I am sure that most of you have heard that Randy Carlye and Teemu Selanne were once teammates for a season when Selanne was a rookie. Selanne tried to pay Carlyle for the #8 jersey he wore and Carlyle declined. Carlyle retired the next season and the #8 became available. So now to how this is relevant to anything…in a couple degrees of separation.

About two weeks ago I bought a Playstation3, I bought a couple games in preperation for Metal Gear 4 coming out later this year. Now EA’s sports division said they hated the PS3 and would not develop for it about 4 months ago, probably because it is a hard platform to develop on before Sony released a good SDK and more of the PS3 API. NHL2k7 is a wreck from what I hear so that is a no go. I went looking for NHL 08 news and what do you know, in September EA will release it for the PS3. So how does this have to do with Carlyle and Selanne? I am almost there, wade through my bullshit for a minute longer.

In my search for NHL 08 news, I found this classic website dedicated to NHL ‘94. In an ode to the Battle of California post in August 2006 about the best hockey video game, I dedicate this post to jamestobrien. This website has set up a tournament played year around based on NHL ‘94 that you play over the internet. Now if you are trying to dig out your old SNES or Sega Genesis to look for the ethernet port, stop now because it doesn’t exists. This magic happens on your computer through the wonderful world of ROMs. Which are basically just image rips of the cartridges played through an emulator. Now, legally you have to own the game to play it, but whatever. The site has links to the emulators for each system, all you would have to do is find the ROM, which is a quick Google search away. But that is bitchin’ if you ask me. They even have updated rosters to this season, good times!

Now, that the whole post has been shot to hell and drug on, lets get to the point. This page lists the roster for the 1992-93 Winnipeg Jets. Selanne is a starter for the Jets with a rating of 90. Carlyle is not a starter, with a rating of 44. 44? I guess he lost a step or two since winning the Norris 13 years before, maybe that is why he didn’t make NHL 95. I hope the climax was as good for the you as it was for me, now I need a towel to wash up.

PS: Brian Hayward had the worst rating of any goalie in the game with a 38…

12
Apr

That’s a Goal That Shouldn’t Be On the Board

By Daniel Closed
Categories: 07 Playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Ducks, Game Reviews and Hockey

 Cry me a river, jesus. The puck didn’t look to be covered by anything that the goalie was controlling. Maybe if your own player didn’t slam in to you, it would be OK. I thought it was an excellent game, it was full of good hits, chances on both sides and some down to the wire action. Backstrom sure saved the Wild from getting blown out though, the Ducks beat the Wild up and down the rink. The forecheckers were finishing every check and you could just tell that the Ducks were ready for the game. They were flying out there. If Minnesota doesn’t adjust, it should be another beating in game 2. If anyone can say that Minnesota was the better team in game 1, I would love to see some facts on that.

I will admit that I am a homer, I want the team I follow and pay money to go see, win. I really liked what I saw on Wednesday night and can not wait for game 2 on Friday. I simply do not see Minnesota being able to handle this team at all, their best player was smacked around a bit, I know he didn’t like that. The team defense didn’t work all that well, Anaheim just kept crashing the net, winning along the boards, winning down low and the scoring chances were quality. The Ducks powerplay looked good as did the penalty kill, Minnesota didn’t look that hot on the contrast.

I watched the game a non-biased opinion, the Ducks were the better team. Let us see if that continues for the rest of the series.

PS: What nice passes by Beauchemin and Getzlaf to set up the goals. Beauchemin’s pass looked similar to Rollison flip pass to Mike Peca in the Conference Finals last year.

11
Apr

Ducks Media Blitz

By Daniel Closed
Categories: Articles, Ducks and Misc

Seems as if the L.A. Times and O.C. Register have pumped out more articles on the Ducks these last few days then they have the entire season. Isn’t there a Lakers game you dicks should be covering? Hockey got the shit end of the stick again this year, despite the Ducks having the best season in their history. Reporters covering games were cut, TV coverage was dismal, ratings sucked compared to other teams. Is this even a hockey market? There comes a time where it takes more then the marketing department for the Ducks to sell the game and team to the people. The media in Southern California has really dropped the ball on this one.

Much like the baseball team across the 57 freeway, the fans and media do not give a damn until the team is in the thick of something good. I was an Angels fan in 2003 and for a decade before that, a very big Angels fan at that. I watched every game I could squeeze around a Mighty Ducks game. When they beat the Yankees, I knew it was pretty special and I became even more involved. It was amazing to see the coverage that the team received in the media and how the fans miraculously started showing up to the stadium. in 2002 they averaged 28,463 a game and 2,305,565 for the season. 2003 saw an increase of 37,791 a game and 3,061,094 for the season, with an increase after that. Now I give no care to how the Angels do, they peaked and now I do not give them any time.

I will have to give the media some credit for that rise, they covered the Angels a lot. But also just the fact that it was baseball, it is an easier game to grasp for a casual fan. Hockey is very niche, but has a similar concept to sports that are very Orange County…soccer and water polo. If you make an effort to cover the Ducks on news casts, newspapers and online outlets it would only help. The Ducks could also help themselves soon by getting a new network to cover games or at least make sure the games are in high definition, this is Orange County, everyone has a HD TV.

The Samueli’s should not have to lose a couple million each year for a franchise that is doing quite well. It is nice to have net worth of $2 billion, but losing a million here and there is like having a nagging bill that you can’t get rid of until you sever ties with the service you are paying for. Maybe a Stanley Cup should bring the noise.

09
Apr

The Quest Begins

By Daniel Closed
Categories: 07 Playoffs, Conference Semifinals, Ducks, Former Ducks and Hockey

Finally, the time of year we have been waiting for since Pronger knocked the Ducks out of playoffs last year, since he was traded and since the hype began, playoffs. An interesting series against Minnesota this time, I find it hard to believe it will be a snooze like 2003 when the Wild scored one goal in four games. While I think they will score more, I think the goal mark will stand for the amount of wins they conjure up during the series.

The Ducks will do what they always do against a good team, pound the hell out of them. If they dress the Boogey Man, he takes up a skilled player roster spot, so do you match the physical play or try and run with the Ducks? The goalie is a rookie backup who has played well after filling in for Fernandez. The defense has a couple of ex-Ducks in Keith Carney and Kurtis Foster and Brent Burns has the most points, 7-18=25, on the blueline.

The Wild have a good team, they took the 4th least penalties in the league, 6th best power play and allowed the fewest goals of any team but were .500 on the road. So what do I think all of this means? It will be low scoring more then likely, but that will only help the Ducks. Minnesota has such a good defense because it is the definition of team defense, when you bang a couple dirty goals home, you force a team like the Wild to open up. They do not want to open up, they only want to counter on your mistakes. If the Ducks get a two goal lead early, it might be all she wrote. Anaheim is no slouch when it comes to defense.

In this series the Ducks have size, speed, defense and two goalies who can shut you out every night. I wont say that the Ducks are faster then Minnesota, because Gaborik is worth two Ducks, expect a lot of Sammy in his face, being physical. But I was surprised to see Minnesota has 5 skaters with 20+ goals and another with 19. So they can run a little more with the Ducks this year, but I don’t think they want to get in to a shootout with Anaheim (not the kind of one on one).

Rattle the rookie goalie early and often, pound the defensemen on the forecheck and make sure Gaborik knows he can’t run around with little care. Brett Hull and Ray Ferraro both predicted a longer then expected series. Was that of the sweeping kind?

Anaheim in 5

05
Apr

Cough - Cough

By Daniel Closed
Categories: Ducks, Game Reviews and Hockey

 That will sum up what was otherwise a damn good hockey game. The only thing I was really upset about the whole time was the Sharks first goal. I kept yelling at DiPenta to clear the zone (he heard me), he tried fours time and was unsuccessful. What do you know, the puck pops out and the Sharks bang it home. But everything before the shootout was great to watch, it was a good game to go to.

I will say that I missed about 10 minutes of the game because the people next to us would not stop ordering shit from the waitresses, so they were either in my way trying to get an order, asking me to stand up or talking to me. Plus these two girls next to me were drunk, loud and Sharks fans. So it was hard to watch the game with one of them climbing around the seats like a kid and being obnoxious.

And can someone tell me how Ron Wilson knew that stick was illegal? And how much of a curve did Selanne have on that stick for it to be illegal, didn’t they damn near negate that rule this year? Way to go Flash, then you and Colonel Clutch both missed shootout attempts. Kunitz, Getzlaf, Perry and sometimes McDonald should be the ones in the shootout. They are the ones that always do the right moves, they shoot the puck. None of this fancy deke crap, just shooting at holes in the goalie. My little brother says it best, blocker low.

I hope that Friday the team can wrap this up and take the pressure off for Saturday’s game, no one needs to lose to the Blue Jackets and not win the division. Can’t wait to put that sticker on my car…

04
Apr

Final Home Game - Live

By Daniel Closed
Categories: Ducks, Hockey and Pre-Game

I am going to the final home game tonight, I can’t wait to be there live. I muscled some club seats from a little girl, she cried, but who cares, I am going to the game. I want my team photo and a fucking win. Then a tie or win in the next game and I believe that wraps up the division. Tonight is going to be a brutal war I am sure, so I am very happy to be sitting where I am sitting. I will have to bring the camera and take some shots. Until the next post…

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