Ducks reacquire Francois Beauchemin for Joffrey Lupul, prospect and draft pick

The Ducks upgraded their defense and created long-term salary cap space Wednesday when they reacquired defenseman Francois Beauchemin — a key figure in their 2007 Stanley Cup championship — from Toronto for winger Joffrey Lupul, touted college defense prospect Jake Gardiner and a conditional draft pick in 2013.

Beauchemin comes with a high salary cap hit of $3.8 million this season and next. But Lupul’s contract carries a cap hit of $4.25 million per year through the 2012-13 season. Without that contract on their books the Ducks should have more flexibility to re-sign core forwards Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, whose contracts expire after the 2012-13 season, and keep them with winger Bobby Ryan, who is under contract through the 2014-15 season.

Beauchemin left the then-salary-cap-strapped Ducks as a free agent in 2009 to sign with the Maple Leafs. His time there has been rocky — he was -4 in 54 games this season and had only two goals and 12 points — but Ducks fans remember his hard hits, dangerous shot from the point, and the four goals and eight points he contributed in 20 playoff games in the 2007 playoffs while averaging a hefty 30 minutes and 33 seconds’ ice time per game.

Lupul came back from a devastating post-surgical infection to score five goals and 13 points in 26 games with the Ducks this season. Gardiner, 20, has averaged a point per game with the University of Wisconsin this season and was chosen by the Ducks in the first round of the 2008 entry draft. The Ducks were reluctant to give him up but paid that price to reinforce their defense for a playoff run this season.

Ducks General Manager Bob Murray had been looking to strengthen the defense since the team rebounded from a rocky start and reentered the playoff picture. If Beauchemin can approach his old form, their top six defensemen should be fairly strong.

Check back later for comments from Beauchemin and Murray.

-- Helene Elliott

Photo: Francois Beauchemin in 2007. Credit: Kevork Djansezian / Associated Press

Drew Doughty, Teemu Selanne lead the local teams in NHL All-Star voting

The overall vote leader in the NHL's All-Star balloting is no surprise: Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins (pictured above). After two weeks of online voting, he now has 218,791 votes. 

The nicest surprise? The guy who jumped up to second place while no one was looking. That would be Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price, whose 145,726 votes are the most among write-in candidates. That's right. Write-in. Price has been outstanding in goal so far this season.

Tampa Bay's scoring machine Steven Stamkos is third with 141,818 votes.  More than 6 million votes have been cast through last weekend.

But what about the Kings and Ducks?

Teemu Selanne is doing the best among Ducks with 25,545 votes. Ryan Getzlaf, Bobby Ryan and Corey Perry aren't far behind him, though. Noteworthy write-in totals: goaltender Jonas Hiller has 9,791, Lubomir Visnovsky 7,137 and Cam Fowler 6,938.

The Kings?

Drew Doughty is leading the way with 94,606. Anze Kopitar has 31,923, while the very deserving Ryan Smith has 16,465. Noteworthy is team scoring leader Justin Williams as a write-in candidate with 8,486. Jonathan Quick comes in ninth among goaltenders with 40,140, while defenseman Jack Johnson has 12,871 write-in votes.

But it really makes you wonder what is going on when former Kings player Sean Avery (he currently ranks third in the league for penalty minutes) of the New York Rangers has 38,551 write-in votes. Even as a joke, this isn't funny.

Through Jan. 3, NHL fans will be able to select up to six players by position -- three forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender -– without regard to the conference in which their teams play.

As part of a new format for the 2011 All-Star game, the three forwards, two defensemen and goalie with the most votes will be named first NHL All-Stars. Want to vote? Click here. Meanwhile, here are

4 Ducks, 4 Kings make NHL All-Star ballot

The NHL released the All-Star ballot Friday, and the steady Kings and the newly surging Ducks each placed four names on the 100-name list.

For the 11-3-0 Kings, goaltender Jonathan Quick, forwards Ryan Smyth and Anze Kopitar and defenseman Drew Doughty made the ballot, while the high-scoring "core four" forwards from the Ducks made it -- Teemu Selanne, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan.

The defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks have a league-high six players on the ballot: defensemen Brian Campbell, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook plus forwards Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa and Patrick Kane.

Twenty-year-old center Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning, is making his first appearance on the ballot. He currently leads the league in goals and points this season, and his 51 goals last season tied him with Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby for the goal-scoring title.

Crosby also made the ballot. Here is a full list.

Voting, which begins Monday and runs through Jan. 3, will be entirely online -- including for the first time through Facebook (facebook.com/NHL) -- and through mobile devices. Fans can select up to six players by position -- three forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender –- without regard to the conference in which their teams play.

The three forwards, two defensemen and goalie with the most votes will be named first NHL All-Stars.

Oh, and fans will also have the ability to write in a player of their choice. Anyone for Ducks rookie defenseman Cam Fowler or forward Saku Koivu or Kings forward Justin Williams or defenseman Jack Johnson?

After the fans select the top six, the remaining 36 All-Stars will be named by the NHL from the list and write-in votes for a total of 42 All-Stars (three goalies, six defensemen and 12 forwards per team). In addition, 12 NHL rookies will be chosen by the NHL to participate in a skills contest for a total of 54 participants.

After the 42 have been selected, two captains will be chosen per team by the players. Then a draft will be held with all 54 during which the captains will draft the remaining members of their respective teams.

The All-Star game will be Sunday, Jan. 30, at RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C.

-- Debbie Goffa

 

 

 

Notes after Ducks' 3-2 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes

Courtesy of the Ducks' media relations staff, here are some postgame notes:

The Ducks have gone 2-0-1 in the last three games.

Toni Lydman scored a goal in his second straight game, his first career goal streak.

Over the last three games, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan have combined for 6-13=19 points, including 1-6=7 tonight. Getzlaf has a three-game point streak, earning 2-6=8 points during that span. Ryan has scored 1-4=5 points over the last three, including a career-high three assists tonight.  Perry is also riding a three-game point streak (3-3=6).

Cam Fowler scored his first NHL goal in his sixth career game.

Over the last three games, Jonas Hiller has gone 2-0-1 with a .918 SV% (101 of 110) and 2.93 GAA (9 GA/184 MIN).

Tonight’s attendance was 13,574.

Perry on the game-winning goal: "Bobby made a great play in the defensive zone. He battled for the puck and made a great play to get it to Getzy. The two of us were just trying to get to the net as fast as we could. Getzy found a way to get it through and I got a stick on it."

On earning five of six points at home: "It was huge to get back in the win column and have that feeling going on the road. We know we can win in crucial times. We showed it tonight. We found a way to win. That is how we have to play."

Ducks edge Coyotes, 3-2

Corey Perry's redirection of a pass from Ryan Getzlaf proved the difference as the Ducks held off a late push by the Phoenix Coyotes and held on for a 3-2 victory Sunday at the Honda Center.

Bobby Ryan earned his third assist of the game after he was knocked down behind his own net and managed to get up and feed a pass to Getzlaf. The Ducks' captain skated up the left side and held the puck before timing a pass to Perry, who redirected it past Jason LaBarbera at 14:23 of the third period.

The Ducks had led, 2-0, after two periods but Phoenix pulled even on goals by Scottie Upshall and Eric Belanger and jammed the net in the final seconds in a desperate attempt to score again. Jonas Hiller made 36 saves in net for the Ducks.

Getzlaf had two assists and Perry had a goal and an assist. The Ducks (2-3-1) finished the game without rookie defenseman Cam Fowler, who suffered facial cuts and a possible broken nose in the second period.

More later at www.latimes.com/sports

--Helene Elliott

Photo: Ducks right wing Bobby Ryan and center Ryan Getzlaf (middle) celebrate a goal by defenseman Toni Lydman in the second period Sunday. Credit: Alex Gallardo / Associated Press

Notes after the Ducks' 4-3 victory over Vancouver

Some postgame notes and quotes, courtesy of the Ducks' media relations department:

The Ducks improved their all-time home opener record to 9-8-0.

The Ducks have gone 6-2-2 against the Canucks dating back to March 12, 2008.

The Ducks' three-game homestand continues Friday versus Atlanta (7:05 p.m.) and Sunday versus  Phoenix (5:05 p.m.).

With his first goal of the season (607 career), Teemu Selanne has moved to within one goal of a share of 16th in all-time goals (also Dino Ciccarelli, 608).

Ryan Getzlaf (1-3=4) recorded his fifth career four-plus point game tonight (four four-point games, one  five-point game). The last time he had four or more points was Feb. 14, 2010 at Edmonton (2-2=4).

With an assist tonight, rookie defenseman Cam Fowler recorded his second career NHL point (also one assist on Oct. 9 at Nashville).

Tonight’s attendance was 17,174, a sellout.

 

POSTGAME QUOTES

DUCKS

 

Ryan Getzlaf

It was nice to be able to calm things down and play hockey. It didn’t matter what the score was. Guys were playing with the puck all night long. That changes the outlook on the game. It allows us to keep that calm pace when things aren’t going that well.

We’re coming home where we’re comfortable. We love this building. The fans and everybody showed us what it’s going to be like all year. We’re excited about it.

On his line breaking out:

It was time for it. We have been working hard the last few games. We knew it was just those one or two bounces that we needed our way. We were lucky enough to get them tonight. When our line is effective, we slow that game down and are able to play with the puck more.

Bobby Ryan

When they scored, I thought to myself, "Something good has to happen here." Something had to break because in the past it hadn’t. It finally did. We had some good play through the neutral zone there. Guys made heads-up plays and it led to the puck going into the net. That is a huge win for us.

 

On the play of his line:

We were gripping our sticks a little tight. When you get one, good things happen. We got back to the style that we’re accustomed to. Getzy obviously carried the load tonight and did an incredible job for us.

Coach Randy Carlyle

Well, it wasn’t pretty. I don’t think we’re going to frame that one and say that is the way we want to play every night. But at least it’s a starting point for us. We won’t criticize a win. It’s been difficult for us over the first three games that we started on the road. We got our game going as this game went on. Our players are to be credited because they were frustrated. They started to get their game going halfway through the second period.

As always, your leaders have to be the guys with the letters, the big-point guys and the big contracts. It’s as simple as that. There is a lot of pressure on those guys. They were feeling it from our 0-3 start. By no means are we out of the woods yet. We just have to build on this and be ready when we come to work tomorrow.

VANCOUVER CANUCKS

Henrik Sedin

I still think we played well in the third. We had a lot of chances to score but they came back and scored twice on turnovers. Tough loss, but we have to look at the pros. I thought we played a good game. We’ve got to take the positive and move on and get rid of those turnovers. We should have been up more than one goal –- that is how we felt. But at the same time you’ve got look at the way we played. We played hard with all four lines going and we had a lot of chances to score. 

Roberto Luongo

On the Ducks' fourth goal:

It was unfortunate because I was able to get across but I couldn’t see the shot go off because our defenseman was trying to cut the pass off. So I wasn’t able to see the ice like I would’ve liked on that particular play. 

On the Ducks:

I knew, obviously, they hadn’t won a game yet and they weren’t particularly happy with their play. We knew coming in here that they would be a hungry team –- their first home game. We just wanted to make sure we came out and played a solid road game. Like I said before, I don’t think we played bad, but we gave them some opportunities and that kind of hurt us there.

Coach Alain Vigneault

I thought it was our best game of the year as far as limiting the other team's opportunities, except for the two five-on-threes –- where they had a couple of chances –- and obviously those two turnovers in the third that led to goals. We didn’t give them much. We generated quite a few chances unfortunately we couldn’t get the goal that might have really broken them down. When it was 3-2, we missed a couple of open nets and we turned it over in their end. They came back and made us pay for it –- that is hockey sometimes. 

 

-- Helene Elliott

Photo: The Ducks celebrate. Credit: Chris Carlson /Associated Press.

Ducks rally for first win of season, beating Canucks, 4-3

The Ducks looked, well, dead. Out-skated, out-shot and out-hit for two periods of their home opener against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday, they awoke when their big line of Bobby Ryan, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry stirred and carried them back from the abyss.

Ryan stripped the puck from Henrik Sedin, the NHL’s most valuable player last season, at the Canucks’ blue line to start a give-and-go with Getzlaf and finished it off with the goal that lifted the Ducks to a 4-3 victory in their opener at the Honda Center. Ryan’s goal, at 10:12, was his first of the season and capped the first demonstration of the firepower the team was supposed to have but hadn’t shown in losing its first three games by a combined 13-2.

Ryan had been in the penalty box on a weak hooking call in the offensive zone when the Canucks took at 3-2 lead, at 5:23 of the third period. Christian Ehrhoff’s slap shot from the right point deflected off Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler and past Jonas Hiller, deflating the announced sellout crowd and, seemingly, dooming the Ducks to another loss.

But moments after Ducks defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky had cleared the puck out of his own crease, the Ducks went up ice and pulled even, with Getzlaf finding Perry with a perfect pass by the left post. With Roberto Luongo on the other side, Perry had the entire left half of the net — and he didn’t miss, raising his arms in celebration and relief at 8:54.

Hiller was solid in facing 39 shots for the Ducks, who are 9-8-0 in home openers in franchise history.

More later at www.latimes.com/sports

-- Helene Elliott 

Ducks after two periods: Ducks 2, Canucks 2

The Ducks pulled even at 2-2 in the second period thanks only to a five-on-three advantage

With Keith Ballard serving a penalty for holding Jason Blake behind the Vancouver net and Kevin Bieksa banished 20 seconds later for slashing Corey Perry’s stick, the Ducks overpassed the puck for a while before Teemu Selanne took a pass from Ryan Getzlaf and ripped a shot over Roberto Luongo’s shoulder from the left circle.

The goal, Selanne’s first this season, was scored at 15:09.

The Canucks outshot the Ducks, 11-5, in the period for a 27-18 edge in shots through two periods. Ducks goaltender Jonas Hiller was sharp and his solid play was the only reason the Canucks weren’t ahead by five or six goals.

More later at www.latimes.com/sports

Helene Elliott
 

Ducks after one: Vancouver 2, Ducks 1

In a first period that was equally fascinating and horrifying, the Ducks took the lead for the first time in four games—and quickly surrendered it and fell behind. It wasn’t just the defense that was clueless: forwards who brought home gold, silver and bronze medals from the Olympics played without energy, passion or any willingness to take the body when necessary.

The Canucks took two early penalties and the Ducks capitalized with a five-on-four manpower edge, at 2:41. Ryan Getzlaf took a fine pass from Bobby Ryan and skated in on the right side until he was about 20 feet away from Roberto Luongo before taking a wrist shot that slipped between the goalie’s pads.

Of course, the Ducks were unable to deal with such prosperity. Corey Perry took a penalty for goaltender interference at 3:07 and Vancouver pulled even 50 seconds later. Daniel Sedin took a pass from twin brother Henrik and let loose a sharp-angled shot from the left side on which Jonas Hiller had absolutely no chance.

The Canucks took the lead at 4:14, on their third shot of the game. Manny Malhotra banged the puck off the boards and to defenseman Dan Hamhuis, whose shot was deftly redirected by Raffi Torres and past Hiller as the crowd at the Honda Center groaned.

The Ducks gained a power play at 11:22 but the Canucks had the best scoring chance. Malhotra had a short-handed breakaway that Ryan stopped only by hooking the Canucks forward. The Canucks got a power play out of it but didn’t score.

Vancouver outshot the Ducks, 16-13, a 48-shot pace for the visitors. The most astonishing part of that is that 48 shots against would actually reduce the Ducks’ average of shots against, which stood at 48.3 after their first three games.

More later at www.latimes.com/sports

Helene Elliott

 

Ducks must match their actions to their words

The Ducks said all the right things as they prepared for their home opener Wednesday against the Vancouver Canucks.

They've got to stay out of the penalty box. They've got to show discipline and teamwork. They’ve got to avoid giving in to the frustration that has mounted during an atrocious 0-3 start.

What's left now is for them to back up their words and stop this runaway freight train before it wrecks their season -- and takes Coach Randy Carlyle with it.

Carlyle was animated on the ice Wednesday but relaxed talking to reporters after the morning skate. Pro sports, he said in discussing what rookie Cam Fowler might learn from the team's awful start, "isn't always a bowl of cherries." But to face such adversity at the start of the season -- after repeatedly saying during training camp that they had to have a good start -- makes the fruit smell all the more rotten and increases the sense of urgency to turn things around.

Especially in the first home game of the season.

"For sure. It's huge. There's a huge amount of pressure on our group right now. You can feel it," Carlyle said. "They don’t feel good about what's transpired.

"And we knew going in we’d have a tough schedule. And you open two buildings, Detroit and Nashville, back-to-back and come back and play a young, energized team in St. Louis. We knew that our work would be cut out for us. And now we’re meeting a team for our home opener that some people would classify as a Stanley Cup contender at the beginning of the season. So there's lots of pressure on us to perform to a higher level.

"The task is not insurmountable for our group. We just haven't played anywhere near the level that we’re capable of playing."

Ducks' Bobby Ryan agrees to five-year, $25.5-million contract [Updated]

With only three days left before players were due to report for their training-camp physicals, restricted free agent Bobby Ryan and the Ducks agreed on a five-year, $25.5-million deal that ended a long and tedious negotiating process.

[Updated at 10:57 a.m.: According to figures from capgeek.com, which confirms a report from ESPN's E.J. Hradek, Ryan will be paid $3.25 million in the first season of his new deal (2010-11) and $5,562,500 each of the last four seasons.]

The key element is that Ryan, 23, will be paid less on an average annual basis than Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry, who have seniority -- and a Stanley Cup title. Ryan's salary cap will be $5.1 million annually; Getzlaf and Perry will each average $5.325 million in the three seasons that each has left on his respective contract.

That was a key element for both sides: recognizing Ryan's value after he scored 66 goals the last two seasons but still respecting Getzlaf's and Perry's status and experience. And the Ducks didn't want all three players becoming free agents at the same time, a potential cap-busting situation.

According to CapGeek.com, Ryan's contract is evenly distributed at $5.1 million per year.

Ryan turned down a five-year, $25-million offer earlier this summer, and talks slowed for weeks, but the deal was done Tuesday.

We'll have more later at www.latimes.com/sports

-- Helene Elliott

Photo: Bobby Ryan. Credit: Christine Cotter / Los Angeles Times