Home Opener, Like Christmas (but not really)

 

It was great to start the season over in Europe.  By all accounts a great experience for the players, especially the Finns who got to play in their homeland and show their teammates all the glory of Finland (Read: Saunas, lots and lots of Saunas).  However it has created a void.  Five days off while the players get re-acclimated to life back in North America.

This week has been like waking up at 2:00 AM on Christmas Morning as a little kid.  You know it’s here but you have to wait until at least five or six to wake Mom and Dad up.  To make matters worse, with other teams playing it’s also like you can see the kids next door already opening their presents through your window. 

Of course that’s about where the analogy ends, because tonight the Ducks face the Sharks, who beat the living Hell out of Phoenix in their only game of the season thus far, 6-3 (it wasn’t as close as it sounds from the score).  So it’s like Christmas morning if instead of opening presents there was about a 70% chance of being beaten senseless with a goalie stick … twice in four days.

There is still a possibility that Toni Lydman could come back into the lineup for the Ducks, which would be a great help in settling down the back end.  As I mentioned earlier in the week, the Ducks were a little scrambly in trying to clear the front of the net over the weekend, especially against Buffalo. 

Kurtis Foster is in Syracuse on a reconditioning stint to get back into shape after having a wire removed from his thigh a few weeks ago and may be available for the Ducks’ game in San Jose on Monday. 

Really the only other thing that happened this week in Ducks land was that the team signed former Duck and last season’s winner of the Ducks Sushi Contest, Troy Bodie to a one year contract.  He’s also been assigned to Syracuse, although on a more long term basis. 

That’s about it for now, I think I hear reindeer hooves on the roof so I had better close my eyes, or else…