BTB MARCH.indd - Anaheim Ducks

WITH THE CHECKING LINE
DID YOU KNOW...
The History of the Helmet
2008 PLAYER RINK
TOUR RECAP
PLUS...
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Portland Pirates Update
Ducks in the Community
Season Ticket Deposits
Available Now
Samuel Pahlsson, Travis Moen and
Rob Niedermayer form the Ducks’
longest-tenured forward line
In the past two seasons, the Ducks have made occasional changes to their forward lines, trying to
come up with the best combinations of players. But the “checking line” of center Samuel Pahlsson
and wingers Travis Moen and Rob Niedermayer has stayed pretty much intact since they were first put
together. “We clicked right away and we’ve been together ever since,” Moen says.
The role of the players on the checking line (also known as the “shutdown line”) is mainly to stop
the opposing team’s top scorers. They’re also expected to chip in goals from time to time. Pahlsson,
Moen and Niedermayer performed both of those roles outstandingly during the Ducks’ run to the
Stanley Cup title last season. In 21 playoff games, their line scored 15 goals (seven by Moen, five
by Niedermayer and three by Pahlsson), including five game-winners. Meanwhile, all three worked
together to help hold the top forwards from Minnesota, Vancouver, Detroit and Ottawa in check.
Pahlsson, Moen and Niedermayer recently spoke to Beyond the Boards about
their roles on the checking line.
BTB: What do you think makes your line so successful?
Samuel Pahlsson: We work hard all the time together, so we know what
our job is.
Travis Moen: I think all three of us are focused on playing great defense.
I think [Coach Randy Carlyle] trusts us defensively and that’s why he has
stuck with us.
Rob Niedermayer: The fact we have been together for so long, we kind of
know what each other is going to do on the ice.
BTB: What was it like to have Ryan Carter fill in
for Samuel Pahlsson while he was out for two
months with an injury?
TM: I don’t think there was a difficult part. Carter is a great
BTB: Out of the three of you, who “wears the
pants” on the line?
player. He is fast, has great hands and he played well for
us. He is a great young player. There were no downfalls with
him on our line.
SP: It’s got to be me! (laughing)
RN: I just think sometimes you play with one guy for so long
RN: I do, no question about it.
you get use to how he plays and that was the case with
Sammy. With a new guy you have to get used to him. But it
was not too bad, Carter is a fast and smart player. He was
fun to play with.
BTB: How do you guys communicate on the ice?
SP: Usually it is a short yell.
TM: It is a combo of short yelling and signals.
RN: A little of yelling and signals. Depends maybe if the guy
is not getting the signals you start to yell a bit, but usually we
know where we have to be.
BTB: Does each one of you have a different
role on the line?
SP: All three of us focus on defense. We all work together to
cycle the puck and try to create scoring opportunities for one
another.
TM: No it is pretty much even. Sammy is a center man so he
is down low a little more. He is a little bit better defenseman
than Rob and I are, but no one really has a role.
BTB: Last season, your line had game-winning
goals in Games 1 and 2 of the Stanley Cup Final.
How did it feel to contribute like that on the
biggest stage in hockey?
SP: It was great. I think everyone would want to do that. It
was fun, but it was not our first job. Everyone needs to help to
create the game-winners.
TM: It is pretty cool to score game-winning goals in the Stanley
Cup Final. It was pretty special.
RN: It definitely felt good to contribute that way.
TM: I say me, definitely me.
March marks the beginning of the stretch run for
the Portland Pirates in their quest to get back into
the Calder Cup playoffs for the first time in
two seasons.
#2 9 B o b b y R y
an
Ranked third out of seven teamss in the Atlantic
Division, the Pirates are currently in position to be one of the
four teams from the division to gain
ain entrance into the playoffs. In
order for that to hold true, the team
am will have to translate the
success they’ve had all season to the final 20 games of the
season, of which 15 will come during
ring the month of March.
The Pirates have played their best
est hockey when scoring
early in games. The team possesses
ses a 20-6-0-2 record
when scoring the first goal and an
n even more stellar
16-1-1-1 mark when leading after
er two periods of play. If
they can continue those trends during
uring the month, they should
be in good shape for the playoffs..
Pirates Andrew Ebbett, Geoff Platt
att and Bobby Ryan continue
to reel in the points for the team. While Ebbett (58 points) and
Platt (49) each rank in the top 12 in the AHL in points, Ryan
(39) ranks in the top five among rookies in the category.
Each will be integral cogs in the team’s
eam’s charge toward
the playoffs.
For all things Pirates, including their push toward the
playoffs during March, visit portlandpirates.com.
andpirates.com.
#18 Andrew Ebb
ett
Not until the 1979-80 season was it mandatory for
NHL players to wear a helmet. The league adopted
a rule stating all new players joining the league after
that point had to wear one.
Today the NHL rule book states that “All players of
both teams shall wear a helmet of design, material
and construction approved by the League at all
times while participating in a game, either on the
playing surface or the players’ or penalty benches.”
A player may continue to participate in the play if
his helmet is knocked off. However, if he goes to his
bench to be substituted for, he may not return to the
ice during play without a helmet. Should he do so,
the play shall be stopped once his team has gained
possession of the puck.
Even before the NHL made
the helmet mandatory, it was
not uncommon for players to
wear one before that. Greg
Owen of the Boston Bruins was
the first NHL player to wear a
helmet during a game in 1929. Owen wore his old
leather football helmet he played with in college.
After witnessing their teammate Eddie Shore body
check Ace Bailey, and end his career with a head
injury, the Boston Bruins were the first NHL team to
completely outfit their team in helmets on January
4, 1934. Even though the hit was devastating to
Bailey, he knew it was a freak accident. On February
14,1934, before an All-Star benefit game, Ace
publicly shook the hand of Shore at center ice.
Even with Ace’s head injury costing him his career,
the majority of the NHL players still did not wear
helmets.
That all changed in 1968, when Minnesota North
Star center Bill Masterson struck his head on the ice
e
during a game against the
n
Oakland Seals. Masterson
died 48 hours later. This
ers
tragedy led to many players
to begin wearing helmets.. It
became mandatory for allll
junior and college hockeyy
players to wear helmets by
the 1970s.
After the NHL enforced a
ers
rule for all new NHL players
he
to wear helmets during the
ntil
1979-80 season, it was not until
the 1996-97 season that the last NHL
player ever played an entire game without a helmet.
That was Craig MacTavish of the St. Louis Blues (now
the coach of the Edmonton Oilers), who was already
in the NHL before the 1979-80 season, so it was not
mandatory for him to wear a helmet.
Ducks Visit Southland Rinks
ks
As part of the Future Ducks Rink Program, the Ducks visited
isited
several rinks in the Southern California area in February..
At each site, Ducks players interacted with a youth team by
visiting a locker room or actually lacing up their skates during
a team’s practice. Each rink visit ended with an autograph
ph
session for the general public.
The Ducks headed to four different rinks on Feb. 16.
Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne spent time at
the Ducks’ newest rink, Anaheim Hockey Club of Corona.
a.
Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Doug Weight spent
time at 949 Roller Hockey Center in Irvine, while Sean
O’Donnell and George Parros teamed up at Planet
Hockey in West Covina. Chris Kunitz, Joe DiPenta and
nd
Jonas Hiller gave a locker room talk and dropped the
puck before a game at KHS Ice Arena in Anaheim.
The following weekend, Chris Pronger and
Francois Beauchemin appeared at Coast 2 Coast
Roller Hockey Club in Huntington Beach. Veteran
player Rob Niedermayer visited EastWest Ice
Palace in Artesia. Riverside Ice Town got a visit from
two of the younger Ducks, as Ryan Getzlaf and
Brian Sutherby stopped by. Two of the Ducks on
the checking line (see other story), Travis Moen
and Samuel Pahlsson visited Ontario Ice Skating
Center. Good friends Todd Bertuzzi and Brad
May dropped in at Yorba Linda Ice Palace.
Ducks in the Community
Hormel® Chili Food Drive
TheAnaheimDucks and Hormel® Chili will be hosting
its annual Food Drive at four home games this season to
support Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County,
the local affiliate of America’s Second Harvest, the
nation’s largest hunger relief organization. The two
remaining dates for food collection at Ducks home
games will be on March 9th and 15th and will be
located in the Fun Zone. At each game, each person to
donate five non-perishable food items to the Hormel®
Chili Food Drive will be entered to win an Anaheim
Ducks autographed jersey. Please join the Ducks and
Hormel® Chili in helping to feed the local community.
Surprise Puck Sale
To help raise funds to support Ducks Care, a fund of
the McCormick Tribune Foundation, Anaheim Ducks
players’ wives and significant others will be selling
“Surprise Pucks” at the Sunday, March 30th home
game against Dallas. Fans will have the opportunity
to purchase a “Surprise
Puck”
P
for $40. Fans
will
w pick an individually
wrapped puck at random and receive either a Ducks
player autographed black puck or- for 24 lucky
fans- the “Surprise” Ducks player autographed orange
puck. The fans that choose the orange pucks will
win the opportunity to attend a 2008 - 09 Ducks
training camp practice where they will meet the
player who autographed their winning orange puck,
as well as two Terrace Level tickets to a preseason
game next season.
2008 Anaheim Ducks
Grant Cycle
Attention all nonprofit organizations!
Ducks Care, a fund
of the McCormick
Tribune Foundation,
will be accepting grant
applications for its annual
grant cycle. Grant
applications are available on the Anaheim
Ducks website under Ducks Care in the Community
section and are due on March 31st. Ducks Care is
dedicated to supporting organizations that facilitate
positive change in our community by focusing on
the education, h
health and wellbeing, and recreation
of
o children and families throughout
Southern
California, principally
S
Orange
O
County, with a particular
emphasis
on programs aimed at ate
risk
r and disadvantaged populations.
Since 1997 Ducks Care has granted
S
more than $6.1 million and over 171
m
grants to 81 nonprofit organizations
gr
throughout Southern California.
thr
FFor more information on how to apply
for a Ducks Care grant please contact
the Anaheim Ducks Community Relations
dep
department at 1-877-WILDWING.