Archive for Scott Niedermayer

Teemu to Retire??

{ August 15, 2007 @ 1:17 pm } · { Anaheim Ducks, Retirement, Scott Niedermayer, Teemu Selanne }
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Well according to this article it is looking that way. The 37 year old who had 48 goals last season and 1041 games played in his entire career with 540 goals and 1135 points had this to say:

“Hockey has been a career of life for me, but there are so many other things in life,” said Selanne. “Winning the Cup crowned that career. What scares me most is if I decide to keep on playing for something else than my motivation and hockey.”

Ya know at least the guy is honest. Could we really blame him for retiring after such a long career capped off with winning the Stanley Cup? He’s 37 and has young children…maybe it is time for him to hang them up…and move onto something else.

”Many have asked me, ‘why not take those millions?’…but it is not
about that,” said Selanne. “I have never played for money, so I will not play for it now. If hockey is not fun, I will do something else.”

I absolutely adore Teemu Selanne and seeing him hoist the Cup was one of the greatest things I have ever witnessed. That quote above about money makes me respect him so much more. But, however he and Scott Niedermayer are still stringing us along with a decision…Teemu had this to say:

”I do not think the decision comes out just like with a snap of a finger,” he said. “It is taking shape, though. I somewhat know what I will do. I just want to make sure it is the right decision. August is usually the month when I get back on the ice. That has not tempted me, yet. It is a sign of some sort. On the other hand, there still is a month until the start of the training camp and I may get the spark.”

Let’s hope that Niedermayer and Selanne stay one more year…there aren’t many guys like them left.

Young guys taking over.

{ July 18, 2007 @ 2:16 am } · { Brad May, Chris Pronger, Hockey, NHL, Scott Niedermayer, Teemu Selanne, Young Guys }
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So, while I was working today, I was e-mailing one of my friends and I asked him to help me come up with something to write about. His assignment to me seemed simple enough.

Why do you think the young guys are taking over hockey while the veterans are starting to call it quits?

And, no offense to my friend who asked me this…but he has very limited knowledge of hockey, and what it is all about…but I will get to that later. I wanted to keep this just to me…but, I had to enlist the help of some of my lovely HLOG. The lovely CapsChick came up with the easiest answer. She said that well the game has gotten faster. This isn’t the same game that it was before. It’s not the game they grew up playing. This is a game about speed and skill. It’s not a game about who can hit the hardest or who can fight the best (even though our defending Stanley Cup Champs could prove me wrong). Sherry said basically the same thing. She said that they are getting older and it’s harder for them to keep up.

Steph seemed to think along the same lines as me.

I don’t know….it’s kind of sad though, I mean, I love seeing the kids able to step up, but seeing all the guys you grew up watching retiring is sad… And it’s funny the way they’re adding more pads and cutting down on fighting, you’d think it would make people end up playing longer, but people do seem to be retiring at earlier ages.

Thinking of guys like Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne retiring makes me frustrated. Scott seems to think that the NHL has nothing left to offer him. And, Teemu probably wants to go out on top. But, I think the game needs them. Anyway, that’s really off topic…another day perhaps.

I don’t know that the game is actually being “taken over” by the young guys…although I suppose you could look at it that way. Veterans play a part in the game just like the young guys do. You need the veteran guys on your team. Look at the Ducks. Scott Niedermayer, Chris Pronger, Teemu Selanne, and Brad May, older guys who played an important role in winning the Stanley Cup. Would the Ducks have won the Cup without them? No, they would not. You need veterans to lead, on and off the ice. And, the veterans will always a spot in the game.

So there ya go buddy. I made my midnight deadline…enjoy and I expect a critique…be gentle ;)

Anaheim Ducks are Stanley Cup Champs!!

{ June 7, 2007 @ 3:11 am } · { Anaheim Ducks, Conn Smythe, Ottawa Senators, Scott Niedermayer, Stanley Cup, Stanley Cup Finals }
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Congrats Scottie…you battled all season long. You lead the team all season long. You got done what you came to California to do. I am proud of you. You earned the Conn Smythe. You ripped the Cup out of Bettman’s hand *and I love you even more for that* Thank you for all that you do, not only for the Ducks, but for the sport. You are one of the classiest guys in hockey.

Highlight of the night aside from seeing Scott rip the Cup out of Bettmans hand was seeing you…hand off the Cup to your brother. I love you for that.

Teemu seeing you cry with that Cup…was the most beautiful thing I have seen. Thank you for being you.

Like I said before…I love both of these teams. While I am so happy that the Ducks won a part of my heart hurts for the Sens. They have come so far and battled so hard but I do feel that the better team won.

CONGRATS DUCK FANS!!!

Go Ducks Go!

{ February 27, 2007 @ 5:35 am } · { Anaheim Ducks, Christian Ehrhoff, Dustin Penner, Evgeni Nabokov, Hockey, Ilya Bryzgalov, Kyle McLaren, Milan Michalek, NHL, San Jose Sharks, Scott Niedermayer, Sean O'Donnel }
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Me, live blogging the Ducks vs Sharks game?! Yup, my Jackets aren’t playing tonight so I throw myself into the Versus world and blog the game that is on. Ilya Bryzgalov is in net for the Ducks and for the Sharks Evgeni Nabokov. Everytime I watch these two teams I’m amazed. Two very very different teams. The Ducks are a very defensive team, but they have some great young offensive players and they have Teemu Selanne who is a great shot and just an amazing player. The Sharks however are a VERY offensive team with guys like Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, and Jonathan Cheechoo. But, they have two amazing goalies which kind of makes up for their very young defense. (Just a note, Josh Gorges, was traded yesterday to the Montreal Canadiens. I was a big fan of Josh Gorges. I liked the way he played and how motivated he was…oh well he, went to my favorite Canadian team!) I don’t understand why I love the guys protecting the goalie. Anaheim scores first with a goal from Dustin Penner…his 20th of the season. Not too bad for his rookie season. Watching this game makes me really want to go to a game in San Jose. Those fans are crazy…maybe a bit louder than the Nashville fans…I dunno…guess I’ll have to figure it out for myself. Dustin Penner scored again to make it 2-0. Could the boy get a hat trick?! I guess we’ll see. The first period went by pretty fast…because there were no penalties and 2 goals.

Why is it that when you aren’t at the games the intermissions seem to go so slow and when you’re there…they go really fast?! I don’t get it…this is the longest 18 minutes of my life. Why do the San Jose fans boo Chris Pronger every time he touches the puck? Am I missing something? I dunno…if anyone knows let me know. Ryan Getzlaf took a penalty and the Sharks being the best team in the NHL for power play. Milan Michalek scored on the power play getting his 16th goal of the season. Andy McDonald took a slashing penalty…not smart taking 2 penalties in a row with these Sharks. Anaheim, were able to kill off the second penalty. Teemu Selanne took an interference penalty. Anaheim seems to be getting a little out of control. They need to be really careful especially with this San Jose team. Anaheim was able to kill off another penalty. Bryzgalov just made an amazing save on Cheechoo. And Bryzgalov was unable to stop Michalek yet again. So there have been 4 goals in this game by 2 guys…Michlek and Penner. Anaheim got their first power play of the night…Curtis Brown got called for holding. Dustin Penner keeps staying right in front of the net. He knows how to get the goals…just have to crash the net. He is such a big guy…and a great screen. Anaheim was unable to capitalize on the power play. So they end the period with a 2 all tie. I really don’t like Chris Simpson…she is quite obnoxious…maybe it’s just because I’m tired…who knows.

Christian Ehrhoff, was mic’d up. He spoke in German and in English…kind of cool. Kyle McLaren is one rough and tough guy. He threw quite the hit on Selanne. Corey Perry took a holding penalty and then Sean O’Donnel took a slashing penalty. San Jose got a 5 on 3 for 17 seconds. You really don’t want these guys on the power play they are so dangerous. But, once again Anaheim was able to kill off both of these penalties. Right after the power play Selanne got the go ahead goal…oddly enough that was the first shot on goal for Anaheim in the 3rd period. Penner is all over the ice in this third period. I think they are trying to get him the hat trick…well at least I hope they are. Scott Niedermayer took a huge hit and got right up…that guy is tough as nails. San Jose has hit 2 goal posts in the 3rd period. Why do the goalies who are off always wear hats? They look cute…but still why? The Sharks only took one penalty the entire game.

Alright my three stars of the game:
1. Dustin Penner 2 goals pretty impressive..if only he could have gotten the hat trick
2. Milan Michalek 2 goals…honestly I had never heard of this guy…probably not a good thing.
3. Ilya Bryzgalov 40 saves!! Way to be!!

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