head coach: Pierre Page

roster: Matt Cullen, Mark Janssens, Richard Park, Sean Pronger, Steve Rucchin, Kevin Todd. lw: Shawn Antoski, Ted Drury, Espen Knutsen, Tomas Sandstrom. rw: Warren Rychel, Joe Sacco, Teemu Selanne, Scott Young. d: J.J. Daigneault, Bobby Dollas, David Karpa, Jason Marshall, Dmitri Mironov, Ruslan Salei, Brent Severyn, Darren Van Impe. g: Guy Hebert, Mikhail Shtalenkov.

injuries: Steve Rucchin, d (bad groin, returned to action 10/28 after missing 10 Games); Bobby Dollas, d (suffered slashed tendon in left forearm 10/28, out 3-6 weeks).

transactions: 10/22, recalled Ruslan Salei, d, from Cincinnati (AHL); 10/27, recalled Matt Cullen, c, and Richard Park, c, from Cincinnati; sent Dan Trebil, d, to Cincinnati; 10/30, Place Bobby Dollas, d, on injured reserve.

standings:

Western Conference - Pacific Division
Team         GP   W   L   T   PTS   GF   GA   
Colorado     15   7   2   6    20   49   38
Anaheim      14   5   5   4    14   32   35
Los Angeles  15   5   6   4    14   48   44
Edmonton     14   5   7   2    12   29   43
Calgary      15   3   9   3     9   39   50
San Jose     14   4  10   0     8   34   46
Vancouver    15   3  10   2     8   36   55

game results:

10/21 at Phoenix       W 4-3
10/22 Detroit          L 4-1
10/25 at NY Islanders  W 4-2
10/26 at NY Rangers    T 3-3
10/28 at Toronto       T 2-2
10/30 at Boston        W 3-0
11/02 at Detroit       L 4-3

team news:

by Alex Carswell, Anaheim Correspondent

ROAD WARRIORS

This issue of LCS brings to a close a five-game roadie for the Ducks. It also ends their respite from the annoying chants of "We Want Paul," which they are certain to hear upon returning to The Pond. Because even though the Ducks copped six of a possible 10 points on the eastern swing (losing only to Detroit), their offense continues to struggle. With one notable exception, that is.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Finnish Flash is back. After an opening stretch in which he couldn't buy a goal with all the money Disney's offering Kariya, Teemu Selanne is on fire. He has paced the offense for the last two weeks, and set a Ducks record by scoring in his seventh straight game (at Detroit). The goals, 10 overall, are coming in all fashions, as well. Against the Rangers, he accounted for all three Anaheim tallies: One on a rebound, one on a breakaway and one on an end-to-end dash through traffic. Against the Maple Leafs, the game-tying marker banked in off his visor. No matter. As Teemu said after the Toronto tilt, "When you're hot, you're hot."

STILL, WE'RE BETTER OFF NOW...

That's good news for the Ducks, who need Selanne's production just to stay in contention game-to-game -- much less week to week -- until Paul Kariya is re-signed. Until then, however, the Ducks are resigned to their one-gun fate. And, actually, are quite proud of the results.

Much of the official team talk lately has been about how the Ducks (5-5-4) are better off now than they were a year ago, when they started 1-9-2. That's technically true, and speaks well of the work GM Jack Ferreira has done. But the work left undone -- Kariya's contract -- will negate those early-season numbers pretty fast.

The truth about the Anaheim roadie is that the Ducks were outplayed most of the way. Goaltenders Guy Hebert and Mikhail Shtalenkov have continued to sparkle, and kept the Ducks in games until the scorers could get their chances. That's okay against lesser teams like the Leafs, but doesn't cut it against the Red Wings and Rangers of the world.

RUCCHIN RETURNS

On the other hand, the return of center Steve Rucchin from a gimpy groin has provided a huge boost, and the spark Selanne needs to stay on track. And the special teams have also been good enough to win most nights. The shorthanded duos of Drury with Janssens and Sacco with Young have led the Ducks to the second-best kill ratio in the league, behind only special teams monster Detroit.

The bad injury news is that the Ducks have lost Super-D Bobby Dollas to a slashed arm tendon, courtesy of the Toronto Maple Leafs, for at least a month.

VOTE HERE

Some might argue the best game of the recent run was the 3-0 shutout in Boston. Others might point to Selanne's virtuoso effort in New York, on the same night Wayne Gretzky racked up the assist that gave him more career helpers (1852) than bitter Gordie Howe has points. But we're voting for the stirring 4-3 win over Phoenix at America Worst Arena back before the road trip got underway.

In a physical up-and-down game against Tkachuk, JR & Company, it seemed as if the teams were working on developing a real rivalry. Perhaps Don Hay's presence behind the Anaheim bench has something to do with it. Or maybe the grudge is starting on the other side, where Roenick has been steaming about Hay's reported comments that he wanted to trade JR for "two or three hard-working Canadians."

DISAPPEARING ACT

As is usually the case for TV-watching Ducks fans, the team has been hard to find on the tube. The difficulty stems from the team's contract with Fox Sports, which last year unceremoniously switched them from FS West, a widely-carried cable channel, to FS West 2, which clears about as many markets as "Wayne's World." You know, the "Aurora, Illinois" public-access version.

And the trip's eastern flavor made it even worse for the stealthy road warriors. On several of the few cable systems that actually carry FSW 2, the channel shares space with other broadcasters, like Court TV, which air their shows until 6 PM local time. That meant live broadcasts starting at 7:30 ET were joined in pitifully-late progress. Except when there was no broadcast at all, as in the Rangers game where Selanne dazzled.

Dish owners gained some solace from the complete game replays available after the blacked-out original event was finished.

FUTURE PUCK

The Ducks now get five of seven at home, including a pair against the Canucks. Perhaps on the 11/08 visit to Vancouver, Ferreira could take a ride out to the suburbs with a bottle of wine, a smile...and maybe even a five-year, $40 million deal. It's just a thought.

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