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Saku Koivu & Teemu Selanne in action at the Torino Olympics (Source: Thomas Grollier Wikipedia Commons)
The war of attrition known as the NHL regular season has begun and while there’s little merit in sounding a victory cry with so much of the battle yet to be fought, there are encouraging signs from the Anaheim Ducks that their roster is now fully reloaded and ready to conquer the Pacific.
Selanne & Koivu Show Plenty of Finnish Around the Net
Picking up where they left off in the Torino Olympics, Teemu Selanne & Saku Koivu continue to impress with their on-ice chemistry. Following strong back-to-back showings against Minnesota and Boston, the Ducks’ second line of Koivu, Selanne & Lupul is leading the team in scoring with 4 goals, 3 assist and a collective plus/minus of +3. While no one is expecting the trio to outscore the Getzlaf, Perry & Ryan dynamo over an 82 game schedule, the new line is showing signs that the Ducks will have sufficient secondary firepower for the long season ahead.
Giguere `Looking California but Feeling Minnesota’ After Loss to Wild
After a scant 2 games between the pipes, Jonas Hiller has become the early front-runner to take the wheel as the Ducks’ starting netminder. While Giguere`s play was shaky in the OT loss to Minnesota, in particular on a questionable goal through the five-hole that tied the score late in the third, Hiller was a bulwark in the team’s 6-1 blitzkrieg of the Bruins. Could the team have played better in front of Giguere? Almost certainly, but with a shoddy save percentage of .875 compared to Hiller`s .930 mark thus far, it`s clear that Giggy was not in vintage form for his first start of the season.
Evgeny Artyukhin sizes up the competition (Source: Ivan Makarov Wikipedia Commons)
Russian Bear Dances Against Bruins
With goals in back to back games, Evgeny Artyukhin is looking more power forward than project. With Coach Carlyle juggling his lines often in the early season, the hulking Russian has yet to find a permanent home but a slick one-timer against the Wild and a bullrush breakaway against the B`s raise hope that this Mighty Duck could be a sturdy slot machine more reminscent of Johan Franzen than Dustin Penner.
Ducks Count on Whitney & Wisniewski for W`s
Back on the blueline, it appears that Scott Niedermayer is taking one for the team with his on-ice mentoring of phenom prospect Luca Sbisa. Early on, the two have combined for a -3 rating with Anaheim`s veteran captain often paying the price for the mental errors of his young pupil. Fortunately, the strong play of Ryan Whitney and James Wisniewski is making up for it with Whitney in particular looking in mid-season form already with his precision passes a key factor in the Duck`s early success on the breakout. Combining for 7 points and a collective +7 after 3 games, this Ducks duo looks committed to filling the sizeable skates of the sorely missed Chris Pronger.
Stevie Wonder No More. Perry IS Olympic Material.
Finally, for Steve Yzerman and the rest of the brain trust selecting the Canadian Olympic Men`s Hockey Team, we submit the sublime work of Corey Perry for your consideration. With all the hype surrounding Bobby Ryan`s breakout season last year, it was easy to forget that Perry led the Ducks in scoring in 08/09 with 32 goals. Perry`s skill level is so high that he makes even the sickest plays look simple and therein lies his challenge. Playing on the west coast, Perry`s biggest problem is not the level of his play which is gold standard. It`s his lack of PR. Hopefully Perry`s quiet excellence won`t go unnoticed when final selections for Canada`s Dream Team take place. If so, Duck fans will want to ask Stevie, “Why?”
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