Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2001 By Lucas Aykroyd Ruslan Salei gained some notoriety in 1999 when he cross-checked Dallas star Mike Modano from behind and earned a 10-game suspension. But now the Anaheim Mighty Ducks defenseman is making a better name for himself with tough but clean play. Team Belarus will miss him at […]

Originally published on IHWC.NET in 2001 By Lucas Aykroyd When Wayne Gretzky was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988, it proved no one is untouchable. Jeff Friesen, long considered the heart and soul of the San Jose Sharks, learned that lesson the hard way when he was shipped off to Anaheim in a […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2000 By Lucas Aykroyd Paul Kariya may wear the C for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, but it’s clear this team has two leaders. Teemu Selanne’s solid start to his ninth NHL season has been a key to whatever success the Ducks have enjoyed so far. The Finnish Flash has […]

Originally published in The Prague Post in 2002 By Lucas Aykroyd “I’m going to Disneyland” is what pro athletes in North America often crow after they capture a championship. Yet for National Hockey League players, Anaheim has historically resembled a graveyard more than a Magic Kingdom. Winger Petr Sykora is hoping to reverse that trend […]

Originally published in Rinkside in 1999 By Lucas Aykroyd If NHL hockey players were trees, the Kariya brothers would be bonsai. The parallels between Anaheim Mighty Ducks superstar Paul Kariya, his emerging sibling Steve Kariya of the Vancouver Canucks and the meticulously cultivated Japanese miniature trees are more than whimsical. All of them resemble their […]

Originally published on EuroReport.com in 2000 By Lucas Aykroyd For such a nice guy, Teemu Selanne has courted controversy frequently over the last year. On 2 July 1999, he was involved in a car crash that injured the president of the Finnish Ice Hockey Federation. Early in the 1999-2000 season, he seemed disenchanted with the […]

Originally published in Eishockey News in 2006 By Lucas Aykroyd As legendary coach Scotty Bowman recently noted, no NHL team has ever had three Hall of Fame defensemen like Larry Robinson, Guy Lapointe, and Serge Savard since his Montreal Canadiens of the late 1970’s. But the Anaheim Ducks come pretty close to that level with […]

Originally published in the 2004 NHL Yearbook By Lucas Aykroyd In biology, it’s known as a symbiotic relationship. Two organisms feeding off each other for mutual benefit, like the bee and the flower. In today’s National Hockey League, the equivalent is a dynamic duo whose offensive production stings opponents but sweetens their team’s success. Look […]

Originally published in Eishockey News in 2006 By Lucas Aykroyd On an Anaheim Ducks team stacked with former NHL trophy winners such as Teemu Selanne, Chris Pronger, and J-S Giguere, Andy McDonald doesn’t get a lot of attention. But that’s just fine with the 29-year-old playmaking center from Stratford, Ontario. “I don’t think it matters […]