Look for Bryan Burke and Randy Carlyle to play up-tempo hockey with Sergei Fedorov and the Ducks.

Filling plenty of
'Neids' in Anaheim
By Phil Coffey | NHL.com
Sept. 1, 2005

From top to bottom, significant change has been a constant for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in recent months.

That change has started right at the top, with new ownership in Henry and Susan Samueli, a new general manager in Brian Burke, a new coach in Randy Carlyle, and a very significant new player in defenseman Scott Niedermayer.

All these additions will play significant roles in the direction the Mighty Ducks will take in the months and years to come. But for 2005-06, the spotlight swings to Burke and the moves he has made, most notably hiring Carlyle and signing Niedermayer.

Burke is widely credited with helping turn the Vancouver Canucks into a winning and profitable organization.

Burke joined the Canucks on June 22, 1998, as team president and GM. During Burke's watch, the Canucks increased their point total for four consecutive seasons, from 1999-2000 to 2002-03. With 104 and 101 points, respectively, in the last two NHL seasons (2002-03 and 2003-04), the Canucks joined Detroit, Ottawa, and Philadelphia as the only teams to reach the 100-point mark in both seasons. The Canucks had 90 or more points in each of Burke's last four seasons with the team.

Clearly, the man knows what he's doing, and he says the Mighty Ducks will play an exciting, up-tempo brand of hockey under his watch.

"My goals for the team are simple: have a consistent winning team on the ice and ensure we become an integral part of the Orange County community," Burke says.

Carlyle, who won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's best defenseman in 1981 and played in 1,055 games with Toronto, Pittsburgh and Winnipeg, has been a very successful AHL coach with the Manitoba Moose, Vancouver's top farm team. In 2004-05, the Moose went 44-26-3-7 and advanced to the Calder Cup semifinals.

Carlyle says he and Burke are squarely on the same page when it comes to hockey philosophy.

"I believe Brian's philosophies as a general manager mesh perfectly with my style as a coach," he says. "As a team, we will be marked by aggressive play and an up-tempo, offensive-minded system."

Which brings us to Niedermayer, the 2004 Norris Trophy winner who ranks as one of the NHL's great skaters and top offensive defensemen. In 2003-04, Niedermayer scored 14 goals and 40 assists for the New Jersey Devils. For his career, Niedermayer has 112 goals and 364 assists in 892 regular-season games. He was a member of all three of New Jersey's Stanley Cup championship teams and is widely considered the top free-agent signing of the summer ? a signing that proves Burke is serious about turning the Mighty Ducks into a formidable presence.

Forwards

The Ducks boast one of the most dynamic offensive players in the League in Sergei Fedorov. In 2003-04, Fedorov scored 30 or more goals for the 10th time in his NHL career, netting 31 goals and 34 assists in 80 games. Fedorov has tremendous speed and a slick array of moves that can send an opposing defenseman twirling off to oblivion. His defensive abilities often are overlooked because of his offensive skills, but Fedorov also has won the Selke Trophy as the NHL's top defensive forward. He will place a huge role in the Ducks' fortunes in 2005-06.

The Ducks have excellent depth at center after Fedorov, with the recently re-signed Rob Niedermayer (Scott's brother), who scored 12 goals and 16 assists in 55 games in 2003-04. Rounding out the center ranks are Samuel Pahlsson, who had eight goals and 14 assists in 82 games in 2003-04 and Andy McDonald, who chipped in with nine goals and 21 assists in 79 games in 2003-04.

The Ducks are happy to welcome back Teemu Selanne to the fold.

The 2005-06 season will mark a homecoming for one of the most popular players in Ducks' history as right wing Teemu Selanne returns, signing a one-year deal. Selanne played in Anaheim from 1995 to 2001 when he was traded to San Jose. He spent three full seasons away from Southern California and now returns. Certainly the Ducks welcome his career totals of 452 goals and 499 assists as well as his genial personality.

Veteran wing Petr Sykora will be counted upon for a big season as well. Sykora, a former teammate of Scott Niedermayer in New Jersey, is coming off a 2003-04 season that saw him score 23 goals and 29 assists. Anaheim would like to see him return to the form that saw him net 34 goals in 2002-03, his first season in Anaheim.

Anaheim expects big things from Joffrey Lupul, its first-round selection in 2002. Lupul scored 13 goals and 21 assists with Anaheim in 2003-04 and had a terrific 2004-05 season with the AHL's Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, scoring 30 goals and 25 assists in 65 games.

The Ducks have plenty of muscle on left wing in Todd Fedoruk, a 6-foot-2, 235-pounder acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers, and Garrett Burnett, a 6-3, 234-pound bruiser.

Defense

All eyes will be on Niedermayer on the Anaheim backline and with good reason. He is a superb all-around player, blessed with outstanding skating skills, great offensive instincts, and a defensive conscience thanks to being schooled in the New Jersey system. Niedermayer can easily eat up 25-30 minutes of ice time per game and is equally confident and proficient as the point man on the power play and as a penalty killer. He is the complete package and represents a huge upgrade for Anaheim.

The Mighty Ducks also have another skilled offensive defenseman in Sandis Ozolinsh, who was limited to just 36 games in 2003-04. But looking at his career as a whole, Ozolinsh has 158 goals and 367 assists in 779 regular-season games. So figure the Anaheim defense will be jumping into the offense on a regular and frequent basis in 2005-06.

Veteran Keith Carney will hold down the fort on defense for the Ducks. A reliable veteran, Carney scored two goals and five assists in 69 games in 2003-04. But his value to the team isn't related to offense, but rather on his ability to play solid defense and keep the front of the net clear. The Ducks were still talking contract with Ruslan Salei as NHL.com posted this preview. Salei had four goals and 11 assists in 2003-04. Like Carney, Salei tends to his own end first and plays with a mean streak. Vitali Vishnevski is an underrated physical presence on the Anaheim backline. Like Carney and Salei, his contributions aren't adequately measured by offensive totals like the six goals and 10 assists in posted in 73 games during the 2003-04 season.

A young defenseman who could earn some minutes this season is Kurtis Foster, who is coming off a terrific AHL season in 2004-05. In 78 games with Cincinnati, he scored 17 goals and 25 assists and was plus-16. Those kinds of numbers usually earn a long look at training camp.

The Ducks brought veteran defenseman Jason Marshall back to add some depth to the backline.

Goaltending

The heat will be on Jean-Sebastien Giguere this season. After carrying the Mighty Ducks to Game 7 of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals and winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, Giguere struggled in 2003-04. His regular-season stats went from a 34-22-6 record and 2.30 goals-against average to 17-31-6 with a 2.62 GAA. Not coincidentally, the team missed the playoffs with a 29-35-10-8 mark.

Giguere has to play up to his 2002-03 form for the Ducks to make the playoffs again.

With Martin Gerber traded to Carolina at the end of the 2003-04 season, the backup duties will likely be handled by Ilya Bryzgalov, who was 17-13 with a shootout loss in 36 games with AHL Cincinnati in 2004-05. He was 27-25-10 for Cincinnati in 2003-04, and has accomplished about all he can do at the minor-league level.

Outlook

Burke served notice right from the get-go that he is serious about building a winner in Anaheim. He proved his point by outbidding a number of teams for the rights to Scott Niedermayer.

But signing Niedermayer is just a starting point for a team that took quite a plunge after coming within one game of winning the Stanley Cup in 2003. Niedermayer isn't going to turn things around by himself, but he'll certainly improve things.

The onus will be on a number of players to raise their games, most notably Fedorov, Selanne, Sykora and Giguere. Fedorov figures to get a boost from the rule changes being implemented this season. Sykora also is a talented offensive player who should benefit from some extra elbow room. Selanne never found his stride in Colorado in 2003-04, scoring 16 goals and 16 assists, both career lows.

But until proven different, goaltending is just so vital for overall success. The Mighty Ducks rode Giguere's heroics to the Cup finals in 2003, but stumbled as Giguere struggled in 2003-04.

So, while Niedermayer will be in the spotlight and there will be scrutiny on Carlyle's decisions behind the bench and Burke's maneuvering, until proven different, the Mighty Ducks will have to get great goaltending to compete in what should be a pressure-packed battle to secure a playoff berth in the Western Conference.