Lost in all the controversy surrounding the suspension of defenseman James Wisniewski is that the Ducks have beaten the top two teams in the Western Conference, San Jose and Chicago. They will try to keep the momentum going Friday against the New York Islanders.
Will they have Ryan Getzlaf back? How will they adjust without Wisniewski? Correspondent Tanya Lyon tackles those topics in this video report.
EmilyVan Gorder will be nervous on two fronts when she sings the national anthem at a Ducks game next month.
Van Gorder at Thursday's final audition at Honda Center.
Not only will she sing in front of about 15,000 people at Honda Center, she will do so more than eight months pregnant with her daughter, Zoey.
Van Gorder, 26, from Garden Grove, beat out nine other finalists Thursday to win the second annual “Oh Say Can You Sing?” contest to sing the anthem on Fan Appreciation Night at the Ducks-Edmonton game on April 11 at Honda Center.
“It’s kind of surreal,” Van Gorder said. “It’s just wonderful everybody voted for me as much as they did. Any opportunity to perform, I’m happy to do, so I’m very excited to be here.”
In hockey parlance, Van Gorder won in overtime against Jordan Kelley, 20, of Laguna Niguel as the seven-person panel was deadlocked and asked the two to sing again (Scroll below to watch a video report by correspondent Tanya Lyon).
Van Gorder also won a trip to Edmonton and two tickets to the Ducks-Oilers game on March 26, although she didn’t know how she would be able to fly while pregnant.
“We’ll figure that out,” she said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Over 70 singers applied online. The top 10 finalists were comprised of the top five vote getters and five picks from judges.
DUCKS (32-29-8) vs. N.Y. ISLANDERS (29-32-9)
Time: 7 p.m.
Site: Honda Center
TV-radio: KDOC/KLAA 830
How they match up
Some very delayed tidbits from Thursday’s practice:
– Clearly, the hit by the Ducks’ James Wisniewski on Chicago’s Brent Seabrook that resulted in an eight-game suspension for the rugged defenseman was the dominant topic of the day as the ruling by NHL discipline boss Colin Campbell didn’t come until the afternoon.
The impact of the suspension will not only be heavy on Wisniewski but the Ducks as well as they’ll lose a top-pairing defender who is is averaging over 24 minutes and plays in all situations. Wisniewski may have went overboard in getting back at his good friend Seabrook for his hit on Corey Perry but he also gives the blue line some bite.
“He’s a 20-something minute guy,” Ducks GM Bob Murray said. ”Obviously it’s an awful blow to the hockey team.”
Kim Johnsson. Brian Campbell. Brent Seabrook.
In that order, Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville has lost each one of those defensemen in respective eventual losses so there could be reason that he would be in a foul mood. But Quenneville didn’t mince words in his response to Seabrook getting plastered by James Wisniewski in the Ducks’ 4-2 victory Wednesday night.
“You hit a guy without the puck, you can kill a guy,” Quenneville said. “It’s the most dangerous hit in the history of the game. And he tried to hurt him. If that’s not intent, that’s as bad a hit that you can ever have in the game.”
Which drew this response from Ducks coach Randy Carlyle, “Well, that’s Joel. Then he obviously hasn’t saw that many.”
In supporting the eight-game suspension of defenseman James Wisniewski late Thursday afternoon, Ducks GM Bob Murray said his player “crossed the line” with his hit on Chicago’s Brent Seabrook in Wednesday’s night game at Honda Center.
But Murray also took issue with the amount of games that Wisniewski was punished for as handed down by NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell following a morning hearing with the parties involved.
The NHL has yet to formally announce it but TSN has backed up ESPNChicago.com’s report that Ducks defenseman James Wisniewski will be suspended for eight games because of his hit on Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook.
It is the third suspension of Wisniewski’s career and a likely reason for the severity of the discipline is that he was considered a repeat offender. Wisniewski sat out two games in early November because of a forearm to the head of Phoenix’s Shane Doan and, according to TSN, served a one-game suspension in March of 2008 as a member of the Blackhawks.
The rugged blue-liner was anticipating a scenario where he’d be judged on his past offense, saying after Thursday’s practice that “they could do that.”
Wisniewski’s eight-game benching is the longest for a Ducks player since Chris Pronger served eight games in March of 2008 for stepping down on the leg of Vancouver’s Ryan Kesler.
NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell is expected to issue a statement within the hour on the reasoning of his decision, according to league officials. Ducks GM Bob Murray, who took part in the hearing with Campbell this morning, will comment on the suspension after the league makes the official announcement.
UPDATE: Here is Campbell’s statement to the media.
ESPNChicago.com says that the NHL will suspend James Wisniewski for eight games after his hit against Brent Seabrook of the Blackhawks Wednesday.
The Ducks received official confirmation from the league later Thursday afternoon.
Apparently Wisniewski’s previous 2-game suspension in an incident involving Phoenix’s Shane Doan had a lot to do with the heavy suspension.
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James Wisniewski had a hearing with NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell on Thursday morning and the defenseman said he’s now waiting for a decision on his hit to Chicago’s Brent Seabrook in the Ducks’ 4-2 win Wednesday.
The hearing took place prior to the team’s practice at Honda Center on a conference call that included Wisniewski and Campbell, Ducks GM Bob Murray, the defenseman’s agent and two representatives of the players’ union. Brendan Shanahan, the league’s vice president of hockey and business development, was also on the call.
Wisniewski said he was anticipating a call back later this afternoon. Ironically, Campbell is in Boston attending the Penguins-Bruins rematch after Pittsburgh’s Matt Cooke leveled Boston’s Marc Savard with a blindside hit that’s put renewed attention on shots to the head.
”We’re just waiting for the call back,” Wisniewski said. “We just pleaded our case. We’re just waiting to see what happens.”
Nick Boynton was looking forward to being back to the NHL, and he jumped in with both fists, er, feet Wednesday night.
Former Ducks defenseman Nick Boynton (No.24) fights James Wisniewski at the end of Wednesday's game.
The former Ducks defenseman had been recalled from the American Hockey League by Chicago and played his first game as a Blackhawk in a 4-2 loss to the Ducks at Honda Center.
After former Ducks teammate James Wisniewski knocked Chicago’s Brent Seabrook out of the game in the second period, Boynton ended up trying to mete out justice by fighting Wisniewski at the end of the game.
“He got a good shot in on one of our best players,” Boynton said. “You got to make up for it somewhere, I guess.”
Wisniewski understood.
“Sometimes in this sport, you’ve got to fight your buddies,” Wisniewski said. “He had to do what he had to do because it’s one of his teammates. That’s what happens. For him to do that, you’ve got to respect that. I have to answer the bell.”
A 10-year veteran, Boynton said he was nervous but was able to settle down somewhat. He played mostly alongside Niklas Hjalmarsson and logged 15:29 with four shots on goal and a blocked shot in a game marred by the Seabrook play.
“It probably could have gone a little bit better,” Boynton said of his ‘Hawks debut. “But it was good. It’s a different situation here and good opportunity.
Adam Brady’s Ducks blog
