[Ed. Note: Back in the pre-season, before our hopes and dreams were still alive, Daniel ran a contest. Readers were given the chance to guess where THN would predict the spot the Ducks finish in this season. The prize for guessing correctly would be the chance to post on the front page of AC. Reader DennisKE guessed correctly and below is his post - written before the Ducks current run.]

DENNIS:

So after half the season is over and I keep wondering why I get up to watch Ducks games from Europe (they usually start around 2 am; speak of a ruined night), I figured I might as well write the piece on AC that I was promised for guessing the right projected finish of the Ducks (what a dream that would be) from THN in their season preview. I have decided to write about how I became a Ducks fan and Teemu Selanne's induction to the Hall of Fame.

Basically I always thought hockey was a cool sport, but here in Germany (which is where I am from), soccer rules about every aspect in sports. Nevertheless, I somehow started going to games of the local professional club, the Cologne Sharks in 1996, when I was 14 years old. At some point (pretty quickly I guess) I started realizing that all the really good players play in the NHL and after I saw the very first few highlights from NHL Powerweek (the cool show where Jaromir Jagr and Eric Lindros claim this is the "coolest game on earth" in the trailer), I decided that German hockey is for me no more.

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JEN:

I've read a good share of other Ducks writers since I started writing. When I can't poach talent (cough SK and Chris cough), I like to borrow it for my own benefit. Join me in welcoming to the Anaheim Calling family, our new monthly columnist - Ryan!

RYAN:

Hi, everyone! I want to tell you a bit about myself and how I came to fall in love with the Ducks.

Like many others, I too was not very familiar with hockey when the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim played their first game in October 1993. I had just turned 13, and recently began playing roller hockey in the streets outside my parents suburban Orange County house over the past couple years. A new friend in the neighborhood championed a group of us to start playing, and the afternoon street game developed. I've always been an athlete. I played baseball year round at a relatively competitive level. I was on traveling teams, went to baseball camps, all that sorta stuff. Hockey was so different though, it was constant action. In contrast to baseball, hockey was a welcome recreational change suited for my overtly competitive ways.

SI had watched a few Kings games, including the Stanley Cup Finals, but I didn't actually become a true fan until that team in eggplant and teal started playing. It started casually at first - just watching an odd game on TV here and there. Mostly I wanted to learn about the new game I started playing. I am forever molded by Ron Wilson and his dump and chase system. Terry Yake, Bob Corkum, Randy Ladoucer, and of course, Guy Hebert became names I began to know. I did not realize at the time that we had a journeymans team thrown together from the rest of the NHL's castaways. Nonetheless, I endured myself to them - they were MY team.

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JEN:

A while back, I was on Puck Daddy Radio because I played - and won - a contest. On Twitter, I profusely thanked Greg Wyshynski (editor of Puck Daddy) for the opportunity to play. Moments later I received a reply from a guy named @robpizzo complaining that he was not thanked equally for my experience. You see, Rob Pizzo is the co-host of (the now defunct) PDR on The Score. From that moment on, a contentious friendship was born.

Pizzo is a broadcaster for The Score up in Canada. He's got a new gig talking hockey with Justin Bourne (also formerly of Puck Daddy) on the NHL blog Backhand Shelf. They also have a podcast available on Tuesdays and Thursdays on iTunes that I plan on forcing myself on to as soon as the Ducks do something fantastic (I'm looking at you, Corey Perry).

Now that we've got the introductions out of the way, time for the good stuff. What I haven't mentioned yet is that Pizzo is a die-hard Red Wings fan. This is yet another point of contention. I decided to take one for the team and interview Pizzo about all things Ducks, Red Wings, and of course, Saved by the Bell. Don't worry about me guys. I knew I was going to talk to a Red Wings fan, so I drank a half a bottle of Jack to make sure I came down to his level. Enjoy!

Jen: So let's get right to it. You're Canadian and a Red Wings fan. Who hurt you as a child?

Rob: Jen, didn't anyone ever tell you that jealousy gets you nowhere in life?! Here's how it happened, I had two hockey heroes growing up: Wayne Gretzky and Steve Yzerman. The problem with Wayne was that EVERYONE was a fan; therefore, many of them were Oilers and King fans. I didn't want to be another kid wearing the silver and black in school so I went with Detroit. It's fared pretty well for me wouldn't you say?

JN: You do realize that you're talking to a Ducks fan, right? Your decision between the Kings and Red Wings is like a reverse Sophie's Choice. You should have just given up on hockey all together and joined a curling team.

RP: Sophie's Choice? Sorry, I don't watch chick flicks. (turns on Bridget Jones's Diary)

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JEN:
For those who frequent the blog, you know that I don't claim to be a journalist in any way. I prefer to let the boys do the heavy lifting in that arena. I'm not about to change my ways now. I've brought in an expert...drum roll please...Mr. Sean Leahy, Associate Editor of the stellar Puck Daddy hockey blog. He and I began a rather contentious friendship on Twitter, discussing all things hockey, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, blogging pajamas, and basements. (I suggest following us (Jen and Sean) if you want to see the beauty in real time)

Let's get started. Ladies and gentlemen, Sean Leahy:

Jen: Welcome to Anaheim Calling, Sean. For those who don't know, you're a displaced Pittsburgh Penguins fan. Being that this is a Ducks' fan blog, I have to lead with the obvious. How much did you sell your soul for in regards to the Ryan Whitney for Chris Kunitz trade? You know we got screwed, right?

Sean: You're leaving out the most important part of Ray Shero's fleecing: Eric Tangradi, the Penguins' power forward of the future. And I didn't have to sell any piece of my Irish soul to the devil to make that deal happen. In Ray Shero I Trust!

J: Thanks for the reminder. Note to self: call therapist for appointment on Monday. The shame-spiral is beginning again.

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ARTHUR:
With the Ducks building their AHL roster and the dog days of the summer NHL news cycle in full effect, AC user Newport Rebel offered to write a correspondent's report from the Power Player tryouts at Anaheim Ice. I hear he also held a party for some hopefuls who missed the cut. Those details are conveniently absent from his report. Check out his notes after the jump.

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ARTHUR:
From high in the stands at Anaheim Ice, donning his school's crimson colors, the focused gaze of University of Denver Head Coach George Gwozdecky is unmistakable. This was the coach's first trip to the Ducks West Coast Prospects Camp, though members of his staff have attended two of the previous three, and if anyone knows the value of a strong California player, it's the University of Denver.

"We've had Rhett Rakhshani, we've had Gabe Gauthier, and we're going to have Beau Bennett," Coach Gwozdecky says of the steady stream of California impact players coming through his program. "Gauthier scored the game winning goal for us in the 2004 National Championship game. He wore number 9, and when he graduated, he passed it on to Rhett, who just left us. And now, Beau's going to wear the number 9, so our 'California Connection' [even] maintains the same number."

The same number and the same stall in the locker room, it turns out. Denver has become a place where a California prospect can not only make an impact but become part of a tradition. And Coach Gwozdecky is happy to seek out players looking to join that tradition, because he finds that California players have an abundance of skill and commitment, both born, perhaps, of the unique process of pursuing hockey in the Golden State.

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ARTHUR:
You might have missed him. It was a 7:45AM start for Day 2 of the Ducks West Coast Prospects Camp, and he was sitting quietly in the far upper corner of the stands, poring through his scouting guide. Still, for the skaters on the ice who noticed, it must have been a thrill to see Anaheim Ducks Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations David McNab watching them play.

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ARTHUR:

On June 18th, Anaheim Ice will host the 4th Annual Ducks West Coast Prospects Camp, an event which brings coaches and scouts from the premier College and Junior hockey teams to California to watch LA and Orange County's best AAA prospects participate in a three day round robin tournament. Between games, the Camp invites a speaker, this year Paul Kelly of College Hockey Inc., to educate the players and parents about their opportunities at the next level. The Camp is the brainchild of Anaheim Ducks Assistant Coach Newell Brown, who wanted to provide a local resource for Southern California's hockey talent to receive the exposure they once had to travel all over North America to get.

"When I first came out [to California]," recalls Brown, "it was during the Lockout, and one of my jobs was coaching Bantam AA hockey. So I got right into the youth hockey community here and learned a lot about what parents go through, what players go through, the expenses, the challenges to put teams together, and going to Minnesota [for camps], going to Toronto [for camps], having to travel all over the place. It's a huge sacrifice. I just got to learn a lot about it, and one thing led to another, and we decided this would be really helpful for the kids, and that's why we did it."

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