Everyone should watch this. After the Ducks skills competition on Saturday, the players were interviewed by the NHL network, or the Fox Sports people or even by the Ducks organization just for the sake of making this brilliant video. I laughed, and Teemu's panty dropper t-shirt is hilarious, albeit mildly sexist. The original link is from Puck Daddy, but the brilliance is free for everybody. Enjoy.

Defending the Blue Line, a group that your very own George Parros has been a major part of, is up for an award directly from the President of the United States, and we need votes from the people... we need votes from you. The contest was going very smoothly, until this morning. One of our competitors has made a huge push today, and is threatening to take our lead.

We don't want that to happen.

So here I am, asking for your help. The process is very simple. Go to the Joining Forces Community Challenge DTBL page and click "vote." You will need to register, but that process takes less than a minute. Once confirmed, your vote will be counted, and you will be given the chance to share your vote on Facebook or Twitter.

The voting is open to one vote, per day, per person. The voting window resets each day at midnight eastern, so if you are willing to help, be sure to go back each day and vote again.

We would appreciate any support we can get, and would love the support of the Ducks fan base, as you all have been very good to our organization in the past. Would you do us the honor of casting your vote to help us out?

For your reference, you can visit Defending the Blue Line's website HERE, should you need more information.

Sorry for the distraction from hockey talk, but we really could use all the help we can get.

So last year we started this keeper league up and it went very well for the first one. The winner of the league was angelfan114.

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http://www.bluejacketsxtra.com/content/blogs/puck-rakers/index.html

Now, this hasn't been confirmed yet...but rumors are flying around that this Saturday, the NHL board of Governors will announce that the Columbus Blue Jackets will be the host of the 2013 All-Star Game. This article states that it's all but a done deal at this point and it includes a quote from the Blue Jackets owner. Even NBCsports.com has shared this news. At this point in time it is only a rumor, but as a Ducks fan, if this rumor is true it is very irritating.

Of the 30 teams in the NHL, only two clubs have yet to host an All-Star game OR an Entry draft. The Phoenix Coyotes and the Anaheim Ducks. It is understandable that in Phoenix's volatile situation, the NHL would not award them one of these events just out of principle. It is very likely that the original Winnipeg Jets, now the Coyotes, may find themselves in a new market entirely, as early as next season. With that much uncertainty, we can write off the Coyotes easily and understand it perfectly. What is beyond my understanding is why Anaheim is being ignored. We are not in any financial trouble. For a small-market team we've done pretty well in our almost 20 year history.

The Blue Jackets are 8 years younger than the Ducks and it hasn't even been 5 years since they last hosted the NHL Entry draft. Next year will be Anaheim's 20th year in the NHL. Not only have we never hosted either event, butwe will never get the chance to participate in the NHL's biggest event, the Winter Classic. Bettman has made it very clear that a Winter Classic in California is simply impossible. So we can only put our eggs in the ASG or draft basket. And what would be a more perfect time to host than our 20th anniversary. Noooooo. Give it to the club that desperately needs an NHL event...oh wait. They just hosted one. We've waited patiently.

To my knowledge, we have submitted bids for both events dating back to AT LEAST 2006. Brian Burke confirmed that during his entire time in Anaheim he tried to get us both events, and Murray has confirmed that he has continued the tradition, and we've been rejected every year since the lockout. Talking to a few NHL.com people, and a few TSN guys on Twitter it seems that last year the decision came down to Anaheim and Ottawa, and we both know how that played out. So wouldn't it make sense to give it to the runner up the next year? I mean Columbus has publicly stated that they submitted bids for the 2013, 14, 15, AND 16 games. What was the rush in giving it to them? I know we didn't retract our bid this year. Why would we?

My only explanation for this is, that the NHL feels bad for Columbus. In it's 12 years the only thing they have to be proud of thanks to terrible management is one playoff appearance. And as a fan how can you even brag about being swept clean in the first round of your only playoff appearance in 10 years? You can't. They aren't struggling to sell tickets however...this isn't a move by the NHL to stimulate their finances. The only LOGICAL explanation is this is a pity present. And the NHL expects us to just be happy to be continually sent to Europe to make us forget the other ACTUAL NHL events exist.

Most of us couldn't and still can't afford to go to Europe to watch our teams play. I honestly think the All-Star game has become a sham these days. But that doesn't distract from the principle of it. It's no secret that the NHL doesn't respect us as an organization. But it's really becoming a slap to the face every time we're rejected for this event. And as a fan, I still want to attend an event like this as a fan of the host team, even if it is a sham...it's part of the experience. Something Montreal fans have been granted almost 35 times (combining all their ASG's and drafts).

It's not just that we don't get this event. It's the complete and total disregard, and lack of respect the National Hockey League has for this organization. The league should be helping it's small market teams and rewarding it's patience, not stroking and coddling the teams that already get enough media attention as it is. Obviously Columbus is small market as well, but Pittsburgh (host of the 2013 Draft) is not and they certainly aren't struggling to put fans in the seats like we are.

How much longer do we have to wait until the NHL final says, "Damn! I wish Anaheim would stop bugging us about the All-Star Game. Just give it to them!" 5 years? 10? 20? Why wouldn't this be a good destination? It's not like we're located in the heart of the Mexican desert. We're in SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA! I'm sure the All-Stars wouldn't mind 70 degree weather in January.

So, we've been patient...but how much more patient do we have to be? And when will the NHL finally respect us? I think we're going to have to wait a LONG time.

DANIEL:

Honestly, I'm as surprised as any of you. I don't know if I wasn't alive back in November, but I missed this. Apparently, Bobby Ryan is a huge Twilight fan, and he reviewed the latest movie in the series for Greg Wyshynski. In fairness to Bobby, he's not just a Twilight fan, he loves all things vampire. Ok, I'm not going to make fun of Bobby yet, and just say read this. It's funny.

Now all of you are probably wondering, "what does Bobby's love of Twilight have to do with Daniel?" I'm glad you asked. Bobby had this to say of Taylor Lautner's, performance in the recent film.

He’s been the guy who takes his shirt off and 12 year old girls scream. You can’t expect a lot from him to begin with. But he was so cheesy, man.

This is how I've always felt about Bobby. I never knew he'd be able to express my feelings so perfectly. When you all wonder why Bobby and I don't get along, it's because I think of him as the hockey equivalent of that dude in the film who's just there to take his shirt off. Alright, fun over. But seriously, read it. It's hilarious.

A month ago it was clear that we were sellers, so much so that even our Core players were available for the right price. Now this may still be true to some extent, but our current run has fogged up this question a bit. Usually a buyer is defined as a team looking to make a run deep into the playoffs or a team on the bubble trying to get in. We still don't really fit either of those criteria which by default means we should probably be sellers. So who do we Sell? Expiring contracts are usually the easiest to move. Young strong talent, which we have an abundance, could also be moved. But to what gain? Murray has already effectively taken one expiring contract off the block by giving Beachemin an extension. Some think that was a move to bring up his trade value, but if Murray traded him now I would probably protest outside Honda center. That leaves desirable assets such as Jason Blake, Niklas Hagman, George Parros, Selanne and Koivu for forwards and Brookbank on D. So who do we Sell and what do we want in return?

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Two Entry Drafts ago, Cam Fowler was predicted to go top-5, easily. A franchise defenseman, they said; a smooth-skating, cerebral guy that could put up points like no other in his age group. Inexplicably, he fell to the 12th pick, and became a Duck. (Perhaps the hockey gods love a good pun: after all, doesn't Fowl-er just fit with the Ducks?). Two years later, Fowler has become a tantalizing prospect- defensively unreliable and prone to offensive slumps, yet displaying his developing talents on a nightly basis. There is no doubt that he still has the potential to become the defenseman he was predicted to be, but the question needs to be asked: are the Ducks managing his potential in the way that they should be?

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So Teemu withdrawals from consideration for the ASG, where I personally think he would have been selected as a Captain alongside Alfredsson perhaps.

A member of the Ottawa media expresses his displeasure for Teemu (and Nick Lidstrom) withdrawing from consideration for the ASG. As a fan, especially a paying fan for an exhibition game, I would be disappointed if the real stars of the game don't go. Even as a Duck fan, and a Teemu fan, I too am slightly disappointed he won't be there. But I understand. Plus, it gives younger stars such as Corey Perry an opportunity to be there. I'd still rather have Teemu tthough.

What are your thoughts on Teemu skipping the game? Yay or Nay, and why?

I've linked the Puck Daddy post on here for reference.

PD

Ok. GO!

Lyle Richardson writes the rumor roundups for The Hockey News. In his latest installment, he reveals that Jeff Schultz is an unhappy camper on the Washington Capitals' scratch list. He's been scratched 12 of the past 14 games. Schultz is exactly the D we need. He's 6'6" and somewhere between 220-230 pounds, depending if you look at his player page at nhl.com or yahoo sports. Schultz has been a minus player twice in his professional career, both times with the Calgary hitmen. He was a remarkable +50 in 73 games, when he was playing for Bruce Boudreau. I haven't been watching every game the Caps have played so I don't know why the guy isn't playing, but he sounds like someone we should be interested in. He's also 2 years into a 4 year 11 million dollar contract. He's cheaper than Lydman, gives the puck away once every other game and blocks a fair amount of shots, although he isn't much of a hitter. Anyway, it's an option. Discuss.

I was reading an ESPN insider article the other day and it laid the Ducks troubles on the fact that we don't posses the puck. They based this on shot based metrics that the writer didn't really go into, but apparently we don't do well in these categories. This isn't surprising considering on frequently we get out shot. Last years success the writer attributed to being on the good side of Lady Luck and now we are seeing things come back to normal. This led the writer into what I believe to be the premise of the article and something we around here have been saying for 2 years. Ready for it?.... The Ducks lack Depth. These people get paid to write these things, its amazing... but I digress. It did, however, get me thinking about our depth scoring and what the numbers actually looked like. So I sat down and crunched a few numbers and found them to be encouraging. As a disclaimer going into these calculations I considered depth scoring any goals scored by players not typically in our top 6 in addition of Lubo and Fowler. To make things easier for myself I just subtracted their goal totals from the team total instead of trying to figure out all the goals each player that has been rotated into our bottom 6 or an occasion step in on the top two lines. Here are the results for the first 41 games:

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