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I had a chance to see the Mighty Ducks play in person during ESPN's Sunday Night Special, as they hosted the Dallas Stars.
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| 2002-2003 SEASON STATISTICS |
| GM |
G |
A |
PTS |
+/- |
PIM |
| 40 |
10 |
11 |
21 |
-2 |
14 |
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Prior to tying the Pacific Division leaders, 1-1, the Ducks had lost five straight games and were reeling. But, boy, are they a fast team.
You have to love another one of their little guys, Andy McDonald, who compliments Paul Kariya. This kid just proves that if you're a smaller player (he's 5-foot-10, 175 pounds soaking wet) who goes undrafted, like he did after his Colgate career, you can make it if you stick with it. The Ducks shifted Adam Oates to left wing so the little guy can do some heavy grunt work down low and allow Oates to carry the mail from the wing. Great stuff!
Another guy to watch is Swiss-born goalie Martin Gerber. He was brilliant against the Stars, going post to post as well as anyone I've seen this year, especially in the first period. His goalie coach, Francois Allaire, told me he has tremendous athletic ability and powerful legs. The Ducks, with J.S. Giguere as well, have a strong present and future in goal.
I wish the New Jersey Devils would allow 35 shots per game for about 10 games, just so I could selfishly enjoy the ability of Martin Brodeur. Instead, I get teased by the fact he doesn't have to steal games. He's faced shots against of 17, 15, 14, and 19 in four of his last five games. You know what he did in the fifth game, the one in which he faced 33 shots? He won 1-0 at Boston and was the game's No. 1 star. It kills me.
|  | | Roloson |
|  | | Fernandez |
The Wild continue to battle and keep pace with the Western Conference leaders, all while splitting time between their goalies. Manny Fernandez was exceptional against the Sabres in a 4-3 win, making 37 saves and earning first-star honors. Dwayne Roloson followed up with a 4-1 win over the Ducks. Manny was first star in the 2-1 win over Edmonton before Rolie lost 3-2 at Calgary. Fernandez injured his left knee Monday night against the Kings and is expected to miss a month. The Wild recalled Dieter Kochan from Houston to back up Roloson.
Meanwhile, future Hall of Famer Patrick Roy was sensational in two wins after the holiday break, winning 6-1 at L.A. and 6-1 vs. San Jose, making 40 saves and earning the game's second star.
The tag-team duo of Roman Cechmanek and Robert Esche continue to impress, as they played well in a recent six-game stretch, all of them on the road. Cechmanek gave up only eight goals in his four games (three wins, one loss), while Esche was strong in a 1-0 win at Anaheim (28 saves) and a loss to his old partner, Sean Burke, 4-0 at Phoenix.
I like the way the Flames are playing right now with my old teammate, Darryl Sutter, at the helm. He's benefiting from the play of Roman Turek, who has won three of his last four games and tied the other. Keep an eye on the Flames, who will certainly challenge in the West for a late spot.
How long will Jocelyn Thibault keep up this Vezina pace? He has been quietly brilliant with the Hawks. We will see him against Tony Amonte and the Coyotes on Wednesday on ESPN2. He lost 4-3 in overtime against the Wings, but won two of his previous four before that. Great work Joc!
Let's move on to the New Year and our latest rankings.
The top five rankings:
|  | | Belfour |
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5. Ed Belfour, Toronto Maple Leafs
5 GP, 3-2-0, 1.98 GAA, .937 save percentage
Not since Jacques Plante in 1970-71 -- at the age of 42 -- has a Leafs goalie ended the season with a GAA of under 1.90. (Plante's was 1.88). Belfour is at 1.98, with a league-best 1.66 on the road. He's 2-2 in his last four games, but the Leafs scored only twice in those two losses. He lost 3-2 at Edmonton (33 saves, second star) and 2-0 at New Jersey (23 saves). He was second star in Vancouver, where he won 5-3, and he put on an MVP-like display with 50 saves in a 2-1 win at home against the Devils.
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|  | | Kolzig |
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4. Olaf Kolzig, Washington Capitals
5 GP, 2-2-1, 2.13 GAA, .919 save percentage
The Caps have climbed back atop the Southeast Division and Olie is a huge reason why. He is 2-2-1 in his last five games and was a star in three of them. The only blip was when he faced just 14 shots in the 2-1 loss to Sean Burke and the Coyotes. He won 3-2 vs. N.J., making 29 saves in the first game of a home-and-home, then lost 2-1 after making 38 saves in the second, during which he earned second star honors. He also tied the Rangers, 2-2, by stopping 28 shots.
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|  | | Turco |
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3. Marty Turco, Dallas Stars
5 GP, 2-1-1, 1.56 GAA, .944 save percentage
Coach Dave Tippett has wanted to get Ron Tugnutt in the net more frequently. After a stretch of seven games on the bench, Tugger shutout Florida. Then, Turco played three straight, giving up only four goals in the process. He was terrific in a 2-2 tie vs. Detroit (27 saves) and was solid in both the 4-1 win vs. Edmonton and the 3-1 win at San Jose. Tugger played in the 3-2 win at L.A. before Turco put on an outstanding display in Anaheim with 32 saves. Turco will become a restricted free agent with arbitration right on July 1.
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|  | | Osgood |
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2. Chris Osgood, New York Islanders
5 GP, 4-0-0, 1.58 GAA, .950 save percentage
Ozzie is back after floundering early in the season. He has gotten on the kind of roll that can carry a team into the playoffs with momentum. He had two shutouts in three games to begin the post-holiday break. He earned first-star honors with 25 saves vs, Carolina (3-0) and second-star honors in a 2-1 victory over spunky Florida. He then stoned Buffalo by making 38 saves in the 1-0 victory and beat Boston with 39 saves in the wild 8-4 win before getting pulled in the 3-2 loss at Pittsburgh.
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|  | | Burke |
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1. Sean Burke, Phoenix Coyotes
5 GP, 4-1-0, 1.00 GAA, .955 save percentage
He gets the nod as Player of the Week, but will be on the sidelines for at least the next two weeks with a knee ligament strain, which he suffered during a scramble in the 4-1 win at Detroit. Burke spurred a revival of confidence for the 'Yotes by winning four straight after coming back from his high ankle sprain. He started with 23 saves in a 4-0 win vs. Philly (first star), made 31 saves in the 4-3 win vs. Edmonton, then stopped another 31 shots at Washington (second star). His confidence and leadership really stood out at Detroit, where he made 40 saves and, naturally, was the first star.
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Darren Pang, a former goaltender with the Chicago Blackhawks, is a hockey analyst for ESPN. His goalie rankings appear every other week in Net Effect.
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