Past Two Cup Champs Set to Battle It Out

RED WINGS VS. DUCKS

By Rocky Bonanno - NHL.com Staff Writer

"I don't know if it's ever good facing Detroit. But we're not focusing on Detroit right now. We'll focus on that (Tuesday)."
-- Ducks coach Randy Carlyle

As you would expect, the NHL's last two Stanley Cup champions played a hard-fought, spirited four-game regular season series in 2008-09 that produced three one-goal games. What could these teams do for an encore in the postseason? We'll find out soon enough.

"I don't know if it's ever good facing Detroit," coach Randy Carlyle said after his eighth-seeded Ducks finished an upset of top-seeded San Jose on Monday night. "But we're not focusing on Detroit right now. We'll focus on that (Tuesday)."

No doubt, Carlyle's preparation will include watching tape of all four regular-season meetings between Anaheim and Detroit, and here's what he'll find: the Red Wings took three of four, outscored and outshot the Ducks 15-11 and 152-104, respectively, and earned seven of eight possible points in the standings. Each squad excelled on the power play, with Detroit converting on five of 20 chances (25 percent) and Anaheim going 5-for-18 (27.8).

Detroit and Anaheim have met in the postseason on four previous occasions, each winning two series. In the 18 total games, the Red Wings have a 10-8 advantage in wins and have outscored the Ducks 53-40. They last met in the 2007 Western Conference Finals, won by Anaheim in six games.

Here is how these teams fared during their regular-season matchups.

Read the rest of the story here.

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Ducks Earn 4 More Games!

The San Jose Sharks came to Anaheim for game 6 of the Western Conference Quarters, hoping to even up the series. They brought a patch of attitude, and they were DIS-patched by the Ducks.

Jonas Hiller is the current king of the pipes, and the Red Wings might already have him in their heads. Ducks fans can hope.

Best wished to Roenick and Blake, who each may have played their final games.

Here's the understatement of the night; It's tough to be a Sharks fan.

Bring on the Wings for a killer matchup.

Wow! I love this game.

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Yummm, Kogi BBQ

Here's one of the cool people I met at the Kogi truck in Santa Fe Springs Saturday night. His name is Philip Sun and he wanted this glamour shot real bad!
So here ya go, a couple of good lookin' Phil's.


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So Close!!!! Sharks Stay Alive

I guess if everything were fair on this planet, a game like tonight would go to the team that played better, and I have to say, that's what happened. As a Ducks fan, I don't feel like I was treated fairly, though.

I was all prepared for a ducks win, after the boy came out of the locker room from the 2nd intermission, on a mission. The poured in 2 goals in 5 minutes to tie the game. So I was set to talk about the game being a metaphor for the Ducks season, "Finish Strong, Baby!" My twt.fm selection, "Bro Hymn" by Pennywise, we ready to be tweeted. But both will have to wait.

One tweeb put it correctly. "Now we get to win at home."

That's fine, but my "Ducks in 5" prediction is toast.

Time to sleep off my Kogi Truck tacos. Good night.

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What a Goal! (Ovechkin)

Worth looking...several times:

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The "Surprising Ducks" NOT!

May I humbly request, that sportscasters please stop saying, "The Surprising Ducks...." every time Anaheim wins in the post season? Sportscasters did this during the Ducks successful Cup run against The Sens as well as during the losing contest versus New Jersey (though I am convinced if there was no limit to the number of games played in that series, The Ducks and Devils would still be playing today, locked up after consecutive home ice wins), and they should stop...now!

I grant you it was surprising when the Ducks took out the Red Wings in 4 post-season games. I'll also grant you the play of Jonas Hiller between the pipes is surprising; a pleasant surprise, considering the tough season J.S. Giguere has had. Yes, it is surprising that Bobby Ryan can do the things he can do, because mere mortals are incapable of his kind of performance on the ice. But, surprising that The Ducks are winning? (Refer to my previous post about the teams' strong second half of the season). I'm not surprised.

Let's turn our surprise elsewhere. How about, the Surprising Rangers? Or, how about, it's surprising the Capitals are losing to the Rangers, considering how offense-top-heavy The Caps are?

Tell you what, if The Ducks finish off the Sharks, and it's not a stretch to conclude that will happen, and likely Saturday night...and Anaheim goes on to dispatch the Red Wings in the second round, be my guest to assign your surprise to the series, and how recent post-season history is repeating itself, but not to The Ducks.

Fair enough?

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In Case You Missed This Thought-Provoking Editorial: "Presidential Poison"

Excerpted from the Wall Street Journal:

His invitation to indict Bush officials will haunt Obama's Presidency.

Mark down the date. Tuesday, April 21, 2009, is the moment that any chance of a new era of bipartisan respect in Washington ended. By inviting the prosecution of Bush officials for their antiterror legal advice, President Obama has injected a poison into our politics that he and the country will live to regret.

Policy disputes, often bitter, are the stuff of democratic politics. Elections settle those battles, at least for a time, and Mr. Obama's victory in November has given him the right to change policies on interrogations, Guantanamo, or anything on which he can muster enough support. But at least until now, the U.S. political system has avoided the spectacle of a new Administration prosecuting its predecessor for policy disagreements. This is what happens in Argentina, Malaysia or Peru, countries where the law is treated merely as an extension of political power.
If this analogy seems excessive, consider how Mr. Obama has framed the issue.

Read the entire commentary here.


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Maureen Dowd Hates Twitter

New York Times columnist, in an interview published in The Times, expressed her utter disgust with Twitter.

With comments like, "Why did you call the company Twitter instead of Clutter?" and the quote destined to have some staying power, "I would rather be tied up to stakes in the Kalahari Desert, have honey poured over me and red ants eat out my eyes than open a Twitter account. Is there anything you can say to change my mind?" (Incidentally, Dowd's quip is 192 characters long, so any chance this was a well-crafted hoax can be put to rest.)

Certainly Dowd has raised her "Q" with this attack on the Twitterverse.

Read the entire interview here.

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Ducks Rookie Bobby Ryan Finalist for NHL Calder Trophy

The National Hockey League (NHL) club announced today that Ducks right wing Bobby Ryan has been named a finalist for the 2009 Calder Memorial Trophy, which will be awarded to the League’s best rookie at The 2009 NHL Awards in Las Vegas on June 18. Ryan joins Columbus goaltender Steve Mason and Chicago left wing Kris Versteeg as the top three contenders for the Calder Trophy this year. Read the entire story here.

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Suffocation on the Ice

Wow! What a pace to last night's game between the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks. I was out of breath most of the night just watching. This was an entire game of wind sprints and bruising hits.

Clearly, the Sharks learned some lessons from dropping two at home to the Ducks. The Sharks finally solved Jonas Hiller, shut down passing lanes, closed, trapped, hit, and to put it frankly, outworked the Ducks. Still the Ducks never seemed to resort the a "dump-and-run" strategy. Time and time again the Ducks would race through the neutral zone, only to be stood up at the blue line.

Ultimately the 3 Duck goals came only after Shark mistakes. Gimme's are nice, but not to be relied on.

It will be interesting to see how the Ducks respond tomorrow night. Put it this way: since I said "Ducks in 5", the boys have no choice but to figure out the suffocating Sharks defense, and put up win number 3.

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It's Too Hot to Wear a Sweater!

This is the challenge of contradiction we hockey fans in Southern California have. The Ducks are putting up a good post-season charge and I want to support them by wearing an Anaheim jersey. But, it's 100 degrees this week in SoCal!

Let me be the first to suggest the Ducks produce official tank tops and board shorts.

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Mental Aspect of NHL Playoffs

I just had this conversation with KFWB Sports Guy, Bret Lewis, about the Anaheim Ducks chances against the San Jose Sharks. The Ducks, the 8th seed in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, The Sharks the top seed, and the team with the best regular season record, have played two games in their best of seven, with the Ducks stealing two in San Jose.

Bret asks, "What are the Ducks chances?

Consider two things. Since the all-star break, and certainly during the final weeks of the season, the Ducks had one of the best records in the league. The Sharks, after a blazing start of the season, not as good at the end...perhaps due to injuries, but The Ducks, by record alone, are the hotter of the two teams at this point in the season.

The other thing to consider is the weight San Jose has on it's shoulders. OK, it's a monkey on their backs. San Jose has amassed 100 or more points in 4 of their last 5 seasons and hasn't made it out of the Western Conference playoffs yet. Now they've lost two at home to start the post-season. Do you think the teams' history, coupled with the first two games, is playing on the minds of the players? It's got to be. They're human...and they are hockey players. They are like baseball players who go into long hitting slumps, and don't come back until they see a sports psychologist. Remember the Ducks first half of this season? How many nights was it patently obvious that the team didn't believe they could win? The players would never admit something like that, but contrast their body language and workmanship from the first half against the second half. The team has swagger now.

To review: San Jose is coming off an average second half, just the opposite for the Ducks. San Jose's post-season history precedes them...and, may I add, though Sharks fans may have forgotten, the Sharks players and coaches have not, The Ducks in recent years have been post-season giant killers (ask Detroit and Dallas).

Bottom line, I like the Ducks chances against San Jose...in fact, here: Ducks in 5.

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The Elments of Style Turns 50

The Elements of Style turns Fifty

The Elements of Style, the definitive writing guide by E.B. White and William Strunk Jr., turned 50 on Thursday, April 16, 2009.

From the introduction - "The Elements of Style" was Will Strunk's parvum opus, his attempt to cut the vast tangle of English rhetoric down to size and write its rules and principles on the head of a pin. Will himself hung the title "little" on the book: he referred to it sardonically and with secret pride as "the little book," always giving the word "little" a special twist, as though he were putting a spin on a ball."

These are the rules of English summed up, distilled and...continue.

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Die Right

Check out this cool animation featuring Antoine Betrand, a young man who leaves his girlfriend Anna to register in the army. On one day of conflict, Antoine is killed in combat, but is turned away at the doors of the Paradise. You won't believe what happens next.

Dans la Tête
by Esma-Movie

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My TV Ad for Home Protection Agency

Check it out! (Why is this guy shouting?)



I am told the client is happy with my performance and will order up more ads of this type, for this, and other products/services. Hey, happy to be of service!

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Ducks Vs Sharks Matchup

David Pollack with the Mercury News offers this analysis:

Sharks won series 4-2. Oct. 9: Sharks 4, Ducks 1 at HP Pavilion. New coach, new system and a convincing win over an old nemesis in the season opener.

Oct. 17: Ducks 4, Sharks 0 at Honda Center. The Sharks suffer their first loss of the season, the home team gets its first win despite being outshot 38-20.

Dec. 11: Sharks 2, Ducks 0 at HP Pavilion. The game was capped by Rob Blake's spearing penalty against the Ducks' Corey Perry.

March 15: Sharks 1, Ducks 0 at Honda Center. The Ducks traded Travis Moen to San Jose 11 days earlier and he scores the only goal of the night against them.

April 4: Ducks 5, Sharks 2 at HP Pavilion. Anaheim's top line dominates and Coach Todd McLellan acknowledges afterward he had no way to slow them down.

April 5: Sharks 3, Ducks 2 at Honda Center. The Sharks get the victory in a penalty-filled game that ends with multiple misconducts at the final buzzer.

...read the complete story Click here

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Angels Game Tonight

Wow, just a sad, sad story; the death of Angels rookie pitcher, Nick Adenhart. The game plays on tonight at the Big A, but I am sure it won't be the usual Friday at the ballpark.

I'm filling-in again tonight (and tomorrow) for David Courtney as public address announcer. I haven't heard from the game-day director yet, but I am guessing things will be subdued tonight. I can't imagine they'll do fireworks after the game, which is the tradition on Fridays. We'll see. I think Nick would probably want us to show up and cheer our lungs out for the team, but it's just tough to resolve emotions about this so quickly. Maybe you agree?

See you tonight.

Phil
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Proud Papa II

I'm waiting on photos and/or video from my daughter, who has, by now, already participated in today's special Good Friday wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington Cemetery.

The moment she sends me something, I'll post. Stay tuned.

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Passion Play of Christ on Twitter

This morning I, along with co-anchor Jan Stevens, did a live interview with The Reverend Mark Bozutti Jones of the famous Trinity Church on Walls Street in New York City.

Members of the church today, used the micro-blogging website, Twitter to tell the Passion Play of Christ in 140 character bits. they did so from noon to 3 EDT, but you can check out the Trans-Twitter-Script at http://twitter.com/twspassionplay.

Listen to the interview, originally heard on KFWB AM this morning, in which I reveal my direct connection to Trinity Church.

Click here to listen to the interview.

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That-a-Ducks!

Go Ducks! 9-1-0 over the last ten, and a big win tonight in the Shark Tank! SJ again tomorrow, but on home ice. A win tomorrow would send an huge message to SJ (perhaps mess with their heads a little, going into the post-season), and to the league.

It ain't over yet, but, way to finish strong, Duck-boys.

Phil

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Proud Papa!

I am so proud of my youngest daughter, Victoria. She's headed to DC next week with 80+ other 8th graders. Of the group, she was picked to be 1 of 4 students to take part in the wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown at Arlington Cemetery on Good Friday. Wow. My eyes welled up when I found out. What's really great is she understands the gravity of this. (I don't know where she gets it)

Phil

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Angels Win!

Great Angel game tonight! 5-4 over the Padres with some 9th inning heroics. that rally monkey does wonders.

I got to do the Public Address tonight and will be back Tuesday (hope it doesn't rain...I get up for work REALLY early).

See you at the Big A.

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