Each and every Saturday this season I'll be taking a look at the random happenings and absurdities that occur in the world of hockey. Feel free to suggest stories, complain or otherwise babble at me via electronic mail.
Seriously. What's with you hockey fans, teams and players? Why don't you know what refs are thinking about doing? Why don't you know what they intend to do? More importantly, you should know why the ref is intending to do what he hasn't done yet but will since he intends to do what he's about to do.
Confused? So am I, and so is the majority of the hockey world.
Anaheim Ducks defenseman Scott Niedermayer decided to celebrate his team's 4-3 overtime win (in which he scored the game-winning goal) against the Tampa Bay Lightning by giving his stick to a young girl seated in the front row.
Unfortunately, that's when the lower bowl of the Honda Center turned into the thunderdome and fists started to fly. (Video of the incident after the jump.)
The Anaheim defense has experienced some significant changes in the past year. Gone are Chris Pronger and Francois Beauchemin; In are Ryan Whitney, Luca Sbisa and Nick Boynton. In terms of toughness and physicality, it's a night-and-day transformation, but an upgrade in terms of youth and long-term potential (while also stocking the cupboard with draft picks).
One player that's returning, at least for the short-term, is 17-year veteran Scott Niedermayer. The 35-year-old is coming back for at least one more season after signing a one-year deal worth over $6 million earlier this offseason. He talked about his decision to return to the Ducks with our Susan Slusser in early July.
The Anaheim Ducks still have plenty of veteran presence on their team, despite the trade of defenseman Chris Pronger to Philadelphia.
Captain Scott Niedermayer and forward Teemu Selanne have both said they will return. For Niedermayer, the future is uncertain beyond next season. Selanne, meanwhile, says 2009-2010 will be his last year in the NHL.
Scott Niedermayer had to take some time after Anaheim's grueling seven-game loss to the Red Wings to think about his future. He'll be 36 next month, and the defenseman wanted to make sure he still had the fire to play another full NHL season, with all the time and energy and sacrifices that entails. It's a decision he grapples with on a semi-annual basis.
All it took was watching the Penguins and the Red Wings play for the title to get Niedermayer in the right frame of mind to say "yes" to the Ducks and their one-year, $6 million offer. He officially agreed to the deal on Wednesday, the first day of free agency.
"The Stanley Cup Finals obviously gets you excited to get back on the ice," Niedermayer told FanHouse by phone from Vancouver.
That said, the defensive corps will still be led by a grizzled, accomplished veteran. Scott Niedermayer's agent has informed the Ducks that their captain will return for an 18th NHL season.
It's officially the offseason, meaning the time is right to look into the future. We continue our division-by-division preview of the potential wheeling and dealing with the Pacific Division.
San Jose saw its Presidents' Trophy campaign come to a surprising end in the first round of the NHL playoffs, Los Angeles is still the perfect spot for Dany Heatley, and is there any hope for success on the ice in Phoenix?
DETROIT -- After the Red Wings stopped the Ducks in Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinals on Thursday. Detroit forward Mikael Samuelsson said, "Sometimes the stars take each other out a little."
And when the big-name guys cancel each other out, the Wings usually are left in a better position that their opponents, which was the case in Game 7, when Darren Helm, Samuelsson and Dan Cleary provided the final three goals in a 4-3 victory. Jiri Hudler scored the first goal of the night on a power play.
Helm never has scored a goal in the regular season (14 games) but he has four postseason goals, and his breakaway score on Thursday showed off his terrific speed. Samuelsson is a role player, but has a nose for big playoff goals, while Cleary is a grinder. His game-winner with three minutes left Thursday was his first goal of the series.
DETROIT -- This was more like it when it comes to a Game 7.
The second-seeded Red Wings and the No. 8 Ducks continued their hearty battle in the Western Conference semifinals on Thursday here at Joe Louis Arena, and Anaheim very nearly pulled off an upset of the defending champs, two weeks after knocking off the top-seeded Sharks.
Instead, it was hard-nosed Dan Cleary, not one of Detroit's marquee players, who willed the Wings into the conference finals by hammering the puck past Jonas Hiller with three minutes to play, giving Detroit a 4-3 victory over the tough Ducks. Detroit will meet the Chicago Blackhawks in a matchup of Original Six teams for the right to go to the Stanley Cup Finals.
At the end of Tuesday night's Game 6 between the Red Wings and Ducks, Anaheim's Scott Niedermayer added to Anaheim's history of extreme physicality, elbowing Pavel Datsyuk in the face and, in the process, adding to a large melee. Don't expect Niedermayer to get suspended, though, because this is the NHL, and that would make too much sense. Video of the elbow is above, and video of the fight at large is after the jump.
Each and every Saturday this season I'll be taking a look at the random happenings and absurdities that occur in the world of hockey. Feel free to suggest stories, complain or otherwise babble at me via electronic mail. 
FanHouse's Adam Gretz takes a look at his 
The Anaheim Ducks still have plenty of veteran presence on their team, despite the trade of defenseman 
The Anaheim Ducks are slowly getting younger, thanks to dynamic players like 
It's officially the offseason, meaning the time is right to look into the future. We continue our division-by-division preview of the potential wheeling and dealing with the Pacific Division.
DETROIT -- After the Red Wings stopped the Ducks in Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinals on Thursday. Detroit forward 
