New Ducks blogger, and oh yeah, drafting is for suckers!

Duck fan Finny has started a new blog, Girl with a Puck, which already looks awesome. She’s already got me beat, in that she’s actually attended Duck practices, and has put together a compelling argument about why newcomer Ryan Shannon should make the club over enigmatic returnee Stan Chistov. Go check it out!

I’m not that worried about being replaced in the Califhockeysphere so much as I’m worried that she will put a restraining order on me once I start stalking her. What can I say? I’m a sucker for females who know what a forecheck is.

Ryan Shannon, by the way, appears to be a smaller version of Andy McDonald (if you can believe it) and has had a tremendous preseason, mostly playing on a line with Todd Marchant and Dustin Penner. Finny also correctly notes that when Selanne left last game to get his face stitched up, it was Shannon who picked up the top-line ice time. A strong vote of confidence from Coach Carlyle, no doubt.

Q. What do the following players all have in common, aside from a strong likelihood of being in the Ducks’ opening day roster? (Preseason stats included)

Andy McDonald, 4 GP, 4-4-8
Chris Kunitz, 4 GP, 2-0-2
Dustin Penner, 5 GP, 2-6-8
Ryan Shannon, 4 GP, 1-5-6

A. Surprisingly enough, none of these four forwards were ever NHL-drafted, but signed with Anaheim as undrafted free agents. This preseason, these four have combined for 9 goals and 15 assists in a combined 17 man-games played.

Anybody remember the last time a preseason cup favorite used 4 undrafted players among its top nine forwards?

(NOTE: Crap. Kings have made a big trade with the Hurricanes. More to come on that.)