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DUCKS START NEW YEAR RIGHT

JANUARY 6, 2007 -- ANAHEIM, CA -- The Ducks made it to the halfway mark of the season before any other team and the second half must be stronger than the first if the Ducks want to even make the playoffs. The first games of the new year were steps in the right direction, even though there is much room for improvement.

GAMES

On Wednesday the Ducks played the Columbus Blue Jackets at home and came up with a 2-1 win thanks to a few good bounces. Ryan Getzlaf scored in the first period thanks to a clearing attempt by Francois Beauchemin that got the puck right to Getzlaf’s stick. Andrew Murray got his first career goal late in the first to tie up the game. Chris Pronger got the game winner in the second period when his shot from the blue line bounced off Ron Hainsey’s hand and in behind Pascal Leclaire, who was standing up in the crease. Hainsey said, “I was trying to catch it and just missed.”

Pronger saw it more pragmatically.

“Those are the bounces that you get sometimes,” said Pronger. “For a while there those were going against us.” A close victory is a victory nonetheless.

On Friday the Ducks played the injury depleted Chicago Blackhawks and replicated another 2-1 victory. This time Corey Perry provided the quick offense just :16 seconds into the first period. Were it not for Chris Kunitz deflecting another shot late in the same period, Perry would have had two goals instead of a goal and an assist. The only tally for Chicago was from Patrick Sharp in the second period when he banged home a rebound past Jonas Hiller. Hiller was very good in the game and started in place of Jean-Sebastien Giguere, who was suffering from flu symptoms. Nikolai Khabibulin kept the Hawks in the game stopping 30 of 32 shots on goal.

On Saturday the Duck had the second of back to back games with a short jaunt to Phoenix. Giguere got the start in goal, having recovered from his flu. Former Ducks goalie, Ilya Bryzgalov, who was picked off waivers on November 17, was at the other end.

“They both played really well,” said Ryan Getzlaf after the game. “They’re some of the best goalies in the league. When you’ve got goaltenders like that, you’ve got to get in front of them and tip pucks.”

Getzlaf did just that on the first goal of the game, deflecting Kent Huskins shot into the net. Doug Weight followed suit later on by deflecting Chris Kunitz’ shot. The Coyotes had goals by Shane Doan and the game tying goal by Stephen Reinprecht that came on the power play, the only power play goal given up by the Ducks this week. It was fitting that the Ducks went to a shootout, but the Coyotes prevailed with Peter Mueller getting the only shot past Giguere. The Ducks earned a point in the 3-2 loss.

INJURY UPDATE

Sami Pahlsson remains on IR. Although progressing, he still has much work to go in restrengthening his abdominal strain. There is no rush to put him back into the line up, especially as he admittedly will not be 100% this season. Ryan Carter has stepped up on the checking line and performed well in Sami’s absence, winning 24 of 31 faceoffs in 3 games, a 77% win percentage.

Brad May continues day to day with his broken foot. He should begin skating next week and has been doing off ice workouts in the meantime (and a stint on the City of Anaheim’s Rose Parade float alongside the Stanley Cup.)

ROSTER MOVES

Shane Hnidy was traded to the Boston Bruins along with a draft pick on Wednesday afternoon in exchange for Brandon Bochenski. Bochenski arrived in Anaheim on Thursday and debuted against Phoenix alongside Chris Kunitz and Doug Weight. Coach Randy Carlyle expects Bochenski to be able to provide offense for the Ducks. It had long been expected that a defenseman would be traded as the Ducks had eight on their roster.

As a result of a glut of forwards, Drew Miller was sent to Portland. Carlyle said that it was “unfair. He was probably playing his best hockey before being taken out the line up.” However, it was a numbers game and both Carter and Bobby Ryan have been playing well while Miller had been a healthy scratch. Miller will certainly be back at some point.

SPECIALTY TEAMS

The penalty kill continues to improve. Part of that has to do with a reduction in the number of penalties taken per game. It is far easier to kill of five or less penalties than ten to fifteen. The penalty kill is now at 81.0%, improving to 20th in the league. This week the Ducks killed 9 of 13 penalties in three games.

The power play is slightly lower at 15.4% this week, back down to 22nd in the league. The Ducks were 2 for 15 on the week. A power play goal would have made the difference in the game against Phoenix and good enough to win in regulation instead of lose in a shootout. The Ducks need more offense – two goals a game are not enough – and the power play is one area that still can get much, much better.

THE STANDINGS

The Ducks are currently 21-17-6 with 48 points. The Ducks are 4 points behind Pacific Division leading San Jose and 2 points behind struggling Dallas. Both Dallas and San Jose have fewer games played than the Ducks. The Ducks are in 7th place in the Western Conference, tied with Minnesota in points. They are only 1 point ahead of 8th place Colorado. The Ducks earned 5 out of 6 points this week, which has kept them in the playoff race. They cannot afford to give up more points if they want to stay in contention.

THE WEEK AHEAD

The Ducks will benefit from a small break in their schedule this week as they play Nashville on Monday and Toronto on Wednesday at home. They will then take three days off before playing the Sharks (again) on Sunday.

ANAHEIM DUCKS ACQUIRE RIGHT WING DARRYL BOOTLAND FROM NEW YORK ISLANDERS

January 9, 2008 -- ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Anaheim Ducks announced today that the National Hockey League (NHL) club has acquired right wing Darryl Bootland from the New York Islanders in exchange for right wing Matt Keith. Bootland was subsequently assigned to the Portland Pirates, Anaheim’s primary development affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL).

Bootland, 26 (11/2/81), appeared in four games with the Islanders this season, scoring 0-1=1 point with two penalty minutes (PIM). He also played in 28 games for Bridgeport (New York’s AHL affiliate), collecting 2-8=10 points with 93 PIM.

A native of Toronto, ON, Bootland was scoreless with nine PIM in six games with the Detroit Red Wings last season. He spent the rest of the 2006-07 campaign with Grand Rapids (Detroit’s AHL affiliate), scoring 18-13=31 points with 222 PIM.

Originally selected by Colorado in the eighth round (252nd overall) of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft, Bootland has played three NHL seasons with Detroit (2003-04, 2006-07) and the New York Islanders (2007-08). In 28 career NHL games, he has recorded 1-1=2 points with 83 PIM.

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2008 Western Hockey Network

ANAHEIM DUCKS