After much speculation, it’s being reported that veteran defenceman, Scott Niedermayer, will be staying with the Anaheim Ducks after he was offered a one-year contract worth $6 million. 

Many people were wondering if he would retire after this past season but, clearly, he has decided to return to the NHL.  He had a decent season in 2008-2009 scoring 14 goals and amassing 59 points. 

I personally think he’s great in the Ducks lineup but I also think that he’s accomplished enough to warrant retirement.  He’s one the Stanley Cup four times and he’s won both the Norris and the Conn Smythe trophies.  I’m not sure of Anaheim’s odds of making it to the finals next year but I doubt winning the Cup would make a difference.  After Anaheim became the Stanley Cup champions in 2007, Niedermayer thought about retiring but I guess he just couldn’t stay away.

image: TSN

The Anaheim Ducks are not giving up and they proved that last night as they faced elimination in Game 6 against the Detroit Red Wings.  Both teams were physical (which you really don’t see too often from the Red Wings) and you could tell that this was an intensely played game.

image: TSN

The game remained scoreless through the first period and then the Ducks scored on a power-play in the second and the entire feel of the match changed.  By the end of the second, they had a 2-0 lead (that second goal by Perry was downright insane).  Johan Franzen scored the lone for Detroit on a power-play in the third period.

Again, Ducks goalie, Jonas Hiller, was spectacular because the Red Wings definitely tried to win this game but he came up big for his team.  If it wasn’t for him, Pavel Datsyuk would have tied this game with less than 10 seconds left in the game.  He finished with 38 saves while Detroit netminder, Chris Osgood, turned away 26 shots.

A brawl erupted with Ryan Getzlaf going after Marion Hossa and Corey Perry sending a message to Brian Rafalski and it really set the tone for Game 7 which takes place tomorrow night in Motown.  Check out the highlights:

The Detroit Red Wings can thank Johan Franzen and Marion Hossa for being a huge part of their huge 6-3 victory against the Anaheim Ducks last night.  The Western Conference semifinal series is now tied at two games each.

Franzen led the Wings to an early lead by scoring two goals in the first period while Hossa scored twice in just over three minutes to break the 2-2 tie and put Detroit up by one.  Franzen added an assist on Hossa’s first goal.

The game marked the first time that we saw a crack in Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller’s pristine veneer.  The kid has come up huge for his team throughout the postseason, making 59 saves in the Ducks’ 4-3 triple-overtime win in Game 2 and 45 saves in a 2-1 victory in Game 3.  That’s absolutely remarkable!  Unfortunately, he was pulled and replaced by Jean-Sebastien Giguere (who, I’m sure, is bitter as hell at being benched this whole time) after allowing five goals in 33 shots on net.  His Red Wings counterpart, Chris Osgood, made 25 saves.

Game 5 is Sunday in Detroit, and Game 6 is Tuesday night in Anaheim.  I’ll be on the couch, holding my breath.  I still think Anaheim can pull off another upset.  I just hope Hiller isn’t too rattled by being pulled and can bring back the focus after getting some much-needed rest.

image: TSN

It was another intense game between the Anaheim Ducks and the Detroit Red Wings but it was the Ducks that emerged victorious at home, in the Honda Center, last night.  As has been the case in the postseason, goaltender Jonas Hiller, came up huge for his team and made 45 saves (18 in the third period alone!)

The whole game was hard-fought but I honestly thought that the Ducks would either fall to the Red Wings or things would be decided in overtime again when I saw the intensity Detroit brought to the third period.

It was close, actually, since a goal that I believe should have counted was taken from Detroit.  Scott Niedermayer (ANA) misplayed and Hiller actually lost control of the puck in the crease.  Marion Hossa (DET) quickly saw the opportunity and slammed the puck into the back of the net.  Unfortunately, referee Brad Watson claimed he had lost track of the puck and whistled the play dead, which negated the goal.  It was shocking because I thought the puck was in plain sight but I guess he didn’t see it.  If that goal had counted, Detroit would have tied the game with 1:04 remaining and it almost certainly would have gone to overtime.

Game 4 will, again, be in Anaheim on Thursday.  I can barely wait.  People are talking so much about the Pittsburgh/Washington series but I think this matchup is just as exciting.

image: TSN

The Anaheim Ducks had to remain focused on the game after watching defenceman, James Wisniewski, taken off the ice on a stretcher.  He was injured when he was his in the head by the elbow of Detroit Red Wings forward, Tomas Holmstrom. 

I’m not exactly sure what the nature of the injury truly is, to be honest, since when I was watching the game, the commentators blamed it on him getting hit in the chest with the puck (it looked that way to me too, initially).  Apparently, he was actually hurt when Holmstrom skated by and delivered the elbow shot with 6:11 to play in the second period as Wisniewski stood defending Anaheim’s net.  This happened just seconds after he was hit with the slap shot.  Poor guy.  He was then taken to UC Irvine Medical Center for precautionary reasons.

I really hope he’s okay.  The Ducks have a real shot at continuing to defy the odds and he’s an important part of the team.  Obviously, his health is more important than any game but I just hope everything turns out well.  Watch the video:

What a crazy game!!!  I was hoping that the Anaheim Ducks would rebound after being beat by the Detroit Red Wings in Game 1 of this second round and they did not disappoint.  The two most recent Stanley Cup champions battled hard, matching goal for goal until it was all decided in third overtime, making this the longest playoff game so far this year!

image: TSN

I think both the Red Wings and the Ducks put a huge amount of effort into the game tonight but I do want to say that Detroit goaltender, Chris Osgood, didn’t seem to be on his game whereas Anaheim’s Jonas Hiller was spectacular.  Both of them were tested quite a bit but Hiller faced an whopping 62 shots (Detroit was definitely trying!) while Osgood dealt with 46.

I was riveted throughout the regulation portion of the game, anxious during first OT, on the edge of my season for second OT and pulling my hair out by the time third OT began.  Fortunately, it didn’t last very long since, after just about a minute, Anaheim’s Todd Merchant fired a wrist shot through traffic and beat Osgood, who never saw it coming.  I can’t really think of too many games that were won by Merchant so I’m sure the Ducks are pretty happy with him right now.

The teams meet again on Tuesday night at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

This was a much closer game than I was expecting.  The Detroit Red Wings hosted the Anaheim Ducks in Game 1 of the second round and a lot of people were thinking it was going to be a bloodbath but the Ducks showed some grit.

image: TSN

The score was only 3-2 which signals, to me, that both teams had to really work hard.  Truly, I think that if Niklas Lidstrom had not played so well last night, Anaheim might have won the game.  Lidstrom came through for his team by scoring his second goal of the night with just 49.1 seconds left.  He also registered an assist.

I know it might not be the most popular thing for me to say (even I can’t believe I’m going to say it) but I want Anaheim to win.  I can’t deny the sheer talent of the Red Wings but I would love to see the Ducks upset yet another “big team” in these playoffs.  It makes it so much more exciting when it’s unpredictable.

Tonight, the Detroit Red Wings will host the Anaheim Ducks for what could be a very interesting series.  The Ducks have already surprised a lot of people by eliminating the top seeded team in the league in the first round and now the 2007 Stanley Cup Champions will take on the 2008 Stanley Cup Champions.  Who will advance to the next round?

I can’t even make a prediction about how this is going to go down but I do have a feeling that, like so many other series, this one could be determined by goaltending.  Both teams have their strengths (Detroit is a playoff machine and Anaheim seems to have drive and the element of surprise) but I want to see how Chris Osgood fares against Jonas Hiller, the goalie-who-has-emerged-from-obscurity-to-become-one-of-the-most-talked-about-players-in-the-postseason.

The action starts tonight.  Here’s the schedule:

• Friday, May 1 at Detroit, 7:00 p.m. VERSUS, TSN2
• Sunday, May 3 at Detroit, 2:00 p.m. NBC, TSN
• Tuesday, May 5 at Anaheim, 10:30 p.m. VERSUS, TSN
• Thursday, May 7 at Anaheim, 10:30 p.m. VERSUS, TSN
• *Sunday, May 10 at Detroit, 5:00 p.m. TSN
• *Tuesday, May 12 at Anaheim, TBD VERSUS, TSN
• *Thursday, May 14 at Detroit, TBD VERSUS, TSN

image: TSN

The Anaheim Ducks barely made it into the playoffs (they were the last team to qualify) yet, somehow, they managed to unseat the top seeded San Jose Sharks.  Halfway through their series I couldn’t help myself – I had to start supporting the Ducks and they did not let me down.

I am so sorry Sharks fans but I can’t help but enjoy a good underdog story.  This is only the third time since 2000 that a team beat a Presidents’ Trophy winner (awarded for the best record in the league) in the first round of the playoffs.  The Ducks are also “the eighth No. 8 seed to win a playoff series since 1994, largely dominating the league’s first all-California post-season series in 40 years.”

The Ducks really kept it together as San Jose got more and more physical.  Teemu Selanne and Francois Beauchemin logged their first playoff goals just 43 seconds apart in the second period.  Meanwhile, the incredible Jonas Hiller made 36 saves in the victory and has really been the hero throughout the playoffs considering the fact that the Ducks have been outshot in every game.

I don’t know what is going to happen with San Jose during the off-season but I do know that this had to be an embarrassing loss for the team and I’m sure they are questioning the abilities of rookie coach Todd McLellan.  I’ll definitely be keeping my eye out for updates on this story.

image: TSN

The San Jose Sharks escaped elimination tonight by beating the Anaheim Ducks in overtime.  I was really hoping this series would get wrapped up tonight but both teams fought hard and, ultimately, a fluky goal kept the Sharks alive.

I really started to doubt that the game was going to go in their favor since the Sharks blew a two-goal lead early in the third period.  It definitely looked like the momentum had swung in favor of the Ducks.

For the second time in the playoffs, Patrick Marleau scored the game-winning goal after he launched a puck at Ducks goaltender, Jonas Hiller, who accidentally nudged it over the goal line.  It went to review and it counted (it looked to me like Hiller was pushed a little but what do I know?).

It’s too bad because Hiller had been spectacular again, stopping 45 of the 48 shots he faced.  The team let him down by only taking 25 shots on Sharks goalie, Evgeni Nabokov.

The Sharks and Ducks will battle it out next on Monday, April 27 at 10:30pm ET.