Moving the Ducks AHL affiliate from Norfolk to San Diego was a stroke of genius. Having the minor league affiliate so close to the big club makes it easy to move players between the two teams. Case in point, today Anaheim sent Michael Sgarbosa and Shane O'Brien down; and they recalled John Gibson and Chris Mueller. Depending on traffic and time of day, a player can make the trip in twoish hours. Very convenient indeed.
Injury Notes
Goalie Frederick Andersen is under the weather and will get some rest tonight.
Hampus Lindholm returns from a one game UBI absence to take his regular spot on defense.
Nate Thompson, missing all season due to shoulder surgery in June, is practicing with the team. He should be back in the lineup in a few weeks.
Minor Rant
“You are what your record says you are.… - Bill Parcells
I think Parcells is on the money with this one. What it means for the Ducks is, after a quarter of the season, they are a sub .500 team and far from the contender they were thought to be when the season started. Its hard to fathom that swapping Kyle Palmieri, Matt Beleskey, Emerson Etem and Francois Beauchemin for Chris Stewart, Carl Hagelin, Kevin Bieksa and Shawn Horcoff would have such negative results. The core is very much in tact from the team that was a game away from the Stanley Cup Finals last year. The winds of change are about to pick up.
Calgary @ Ducks
Calgary is winless in their last 20 trips to the Honda Center. Their coaching staff has got to be preaching that Anaheim is ripe for the picking.
For the Ducks, as mentioned earlier, they are without Andersen in goal. He will be replaced by Anton Khudobin. Gibson serves as the backup. Khudobin deserves the start, but it takes away a big opportunity. Tonight would have been an excellent chance to see how Gibson has progressed in the minors this season. No matter what his performance, he would be heading back to San Diego anyway. The “it could shake his confidence, if he has a bad game… argument is out the window in this scenario.
Hampus Lindholm was missed during the beat down at the hands of Tampa over the weekend. He returns to action replacing Korbinian Holzer. Here is the Ducks line up for tonight:
Forwards Rakell-Getzlaf-Perry Ritchie-Kesler-Silfverberg Hagelin-Horcoff-Cogliano Maroon-Santorelli-Stewart
Defensemen Fowler-Bieksa Lindholm-Manson Stoner-Vatanen
Goalies Khudobin Gibson
-Ed