Best Wishes

My prayers and thoughts go out to Jason Blake, his family, and the Maple leafs. It has been announced the 34 year old winger has chronic myelogenous leukemia, a slow-growing cancer of the white blood cells. The team doctors and a specialist will closely watch the player with a weekly blood test as he takes a pill daily to help control the cancer. It is not expected that this will effect his playing status for the season.

"When you find out that you have something it's definitely shattering to
your whole family and so on," Blake said. "My goal has not changed since I heard
this news, And that's come to Toronto, bring another piece of the puzzle
and hopefully win a Stanley Cup here."

Up Close and Personal

All I can think is how beautiful it has to be seeing it up close! Absolutely amazing...

I'm such a chick, I saw this, and started to cry!

Seeing history for the first time....

The team sightseeing in London.

LOOK! OUR NAMES ARE RIGHT HERE!

I'm not gonna lie...I got a little teary eyed knowing that they are seeing the names forever in hockey history!

They look like excited little kids!

Hockey Players and their phones!

Welcome to London!

The boys have offically made it to London England.

They landed 11:30AM this morning California time.

The boys meet at the bus to head to the airport.

Pears gets screened at the Airport.

Getzlaf, Perry, and Parros on the long flight over the Pond

The 'Stache gets in a crossword

Team stretch at the hotel

London Premiere

After Sunday night's 5-0 win over Vancouver Anaheim made another cut of there roster sending Jason King, Drew Miller, and Aaron Rome to the Duck’s primary development affiliate, the Portland Pirates.

The next morning brought a trade sending Defensemen Brett Skinner and Nathan Saunders to Boston for Center Mark Mowers. The club also sent Petteri Wirtanen down to Portland to start the season with the Pirates.

The big club in now en route to London England to open the 2007-2008 Regular Season against the LA Kings this weekend. With the roster still at 27 players, another cut will be made before the first game is played on Saturday. The team is allowed 24 players (since the NHL is allowing them to carry an extra goalie over the normal 23 allowed per game).

When they return to the states they play a few more games on the East coast before the home opener on Oct 10th against former Duck Shawn Thornton and the Boston Bruins. The night will include the raising of 3 banners and Lord Stanley will be present.

Playing Favorites

Alright, So while everyone knows I have a love for the young ducklings but I try to keep away from playing favorites. This time, I don't care! Congrats to Bobby Ryan on making the trip with the big club to England! After a 4 assist night Sunday, the kid deserved a shot with the big boys.

Bobby, You've worked your ass off all summer for this!! I really hope to be seeing alot of you this season!

New Season, New Beginning...

Last to leave the ice and the first to be back. Anaheim enjoyed their summer playing showing Lord Stanley the California Sunshine, but its been back to work, burning off a Stanley hangover while the rest of the league still prepares. The Ducks opened their training camp and preseason games days before other teams in the league reported for duty with two notable faces missing for the lineup. The team’s captain Scott Neidermayer and fan favorite top scorer Teemu Selanne both are still undecided on their playing future. Off Season signings of Veteran Mathieu Schneider and controversial winger Todd Bertuzzi could help to ease what could be two catastrophic loses for the defending champs lineup.

Early injuries left over from last season’s long playoff run and preseason will be keeping Schneider, Pahllson, Beauchamin, and starting goaltender JS Giguere from opening the season in London against the LA Kings in late September, and the lose of young power forward Dustin Penner to the Edmonton is giving room for some young players like 2nd overall pick in 2005 draft, Bobby Ryan and Finnish youngster Petteri Wirtanen a chance to find a place on a still solid roster.

If Neidermayer and/or Selanne were to return to the lineup before season’s end, the Ducks would be a clear favorite to repeat (and are considered a favorite even without them in playing.). The Hockey News has predicted a rematch against Ottawa again this coming spring. If they can find the chemistry and stay away from injuries, they will be a tough team to beat again.

The Anaheim Mighty Ducks have long been thought of as a joke in the NHL. Fashioned after a Disney movie back in 1993 their cartoonish logo, kid movie modeling, and a clueless Southern California market made them the laughing stock of the league. But last summer, under new ownership, the team got a makeover with a bit edger look, dropping all ties to Disney, and simply became the Anaheim Ducks. With a record breaking season and powerhouse defense, the team has finally proven they are the real deal, bringing a first ever Stanley Cup to California. And this season, for the first time in the franchise history, the organization was forced to cap season seats at 15,000. Hockey really is alive and well in Southern California!

But the question as the team opens the ’07-’08 season will be, can they hold up their title? Or will they fall victim to the curse that seems to loom over teams the year after winning? The last team to repeat Cup wins came from the Detroit Red Wings in ’96-’97 and ’97-’98. 10 years ago. Anaheim has plans to show everyone that this is a new dynasty, forming in one of the most unlikely places, Southern California.