Big games by Selanne, Getzlaf lift Ducks past Red Wings 5-4

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The Anaheim Ducks showed the Detroit Red Wings that repeating as Stanley Cup champions might not be so easy.

Francois Beauchemin batted in a rebound 1:39 into overtime, Teemu Selanne scored three goals for his 21st NHL hat trick, and Ryan Getzlaf had a career-high five assists Wednesday night in the Ducks' 5-4 victory over the Red Wings in a meeting between the past two Stanley Cup winners.

"These kind of games are tough ones from the standpoint that you're playing the best team in the league and they push you to the limit just to compete with them," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "We started to grind and play more of our type of game, and things turned our way."

Brian Sutherby gave Anaheim a 4-3 lead with 7:04 left in the third period. The Red Wings pulled even with 1:23 remaining when Dan Cleary beat Beauchemin to a dump-in and fed a pass to Henrik Zetterberg for his second goal of the game and seventh this season.

Ducks ink D Hedican

Anaheim, CA (Sports Network) - The Anaheim Ducks signed veteran defenseman Bret Hedican to a one-year contract on Thursday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Hedican, 38, spent the past five-plus seasons with Carolina, where he won a Stanley Cup in 2006.

"Bret is a mobile defenseman coming off a strong season with Carolina last year," said Ducks executive vice president and general manager Brian Burke. "He's a proven winner and class act, and we're pleased to add him to our roster."

A native of St. Paul, Minnesota, Hedican compiled two goals and 15 assists with a career-high plus-17 rating in 66 games for the Hurricanes in 2007-08.

"Obviously the last month in particular I've had a lot of teams calling and making offers," Hedican said. "But I kept focus on this team because I like it so much and I like the defensive core that Mr. Burke has assembled here. They've won a Stanley Cup (in 2007) and ultimately that's why I play the game now. I want to win another Cup and I think this team has the opportunity."

Anaheim, though, is off to a sluggish start this season, posting a 2-5-0 mark.

Anaheim Ducks tough guy George Parros

George Parros had more goals through the first nine games than the Anaheim Ducks' top scorer from a season ago (Corey Perry) and just as many as Teemu Selanne and Ryan Getzlaf. Parros' two goals don't put him atop the scoring column for the Ducks —- Francois Beauchemin leads that category with three tallies —- but it's almost as surprising that the Ducks' tough guy isn't leading the team in penalty minutes. He recently spoke with USA TODAY's A.J. Perez:

Question: You're known for fisticuffs more than anything, but take us through your breakaway goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Oct. 21.

Parros: The puck went to Brad May and (the Maple Leafs) were caught in our zone. They'd been pretty aggressive all night pinching down our zone. They got caught. We got the puck up (the ice) quick and I had a step on their defenseman. I was able to get in all alone. That was probably my first (breakaway goal) since high school.

Q: We're one month into the season and you've already reached your career high in goals. Did you find your scoring touch in the offseason?

Parros: I don't know. I've been able to get some good shots on net. Some years they go in for you, some years they don't. I usually don't get too many shots, but I've gotten myself into some good position. I don't think there's any way to explain it. They've just gone in. Thank God for that and I hope they keep coming.

Q: You've played on the same checking line with Brad May and Brian Sutherby for a while. The combination has provided a disproportionate amount of offense when compared to how little ice time you guys get. Are you guys just clicking right now?

Parros: We're pretty comfortable playing with each other. We've been playing for a couple years. I think we work the puck well together. If you take one of us and put us on a scoring line, I don't think it'd work as well. We all play the same game. It's not pretty. We get the puck deep, work hard and now we're being rewarded. We're happy to contribute.

Q: You graduated from Princeton University with an economics degree. Since it appears we could be in a recession and the stock market is in upheaval, have any of your teammates come up to you and asked for some advice?

Parros: Not exactly. Nobody has asked me for some stock tips or anything like that. We're all keeping an eye on it. I'm watching a few stocks right now, a few good companies I feel that are a low point. I'm going to give it a couple months and let things settle down a little bit before I invest in them.

Q: The Ducks have had an erratic start, losing the first four games of the season before winning the last three. What has been the message inside the dressing room?

Parros: I think the first few games, we lacked the urgency and the intensity. Now, our back's against the wall. We need to keep getting points or else it's going to come back to haunt us. I think we're definitely playing with more desperation now. Even though it's early, we've already played 10% of our schedule. We need to start making things happen now.

Q: You didn't play in the Finals, although you played in plenty of games throughout the 2006-07 season to get your name on the Cup. Was it difficult to watch the final minutes of Game 5 of the Finals?

Parros: We were up 6-2, so it was looking pretty good that we'd be able to clinch it. We weren't on pins and needles. We got dressed and were getting pretty pumped up waiting to skate on the ice. Whether or not I played in the last game didn't really matter.

Q: Where did you take the Cup when it got to you that summer?

Parros: I took it a few different places. I took it to my high school in New Jersey, the Delbarton School, in the morning. Then I drove it down to Princeton and did a thing with some youth hockey kids. I was fortunate to have a friend of a friend to fly us to my uncle's dairy farm in Pittsburgh. That's where all my family met up at and we had a big bonfire. We put it on display. Everybody got a photo op with it. We put some moonshine in the Cup, roasted a pig and just had a good time.

Selanne, Ducks edge Maple Leafs in shootout

Toronto, ON (Sports Network) - Teemu Selanne's wrister past a just-off-the- bench Curtis Joseph proved to be the difference in the shootout, giving the struggling Anaheim Ducks a 3-2 decision over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Francois Beauchemin scored for the third consecutive game for the Ducks, who had lost five of six to open the season.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped 36-of-38 shots, and both Toronto attempts in the shootout to pick up the win.

Nik Antropov scored both goals for the Maple Leafs, and Alexei Ponikarovsky tallied two assists.

Toronto has dropped five straight since a season-opening win over the Red Wings, including three of the past four in the shootout.

Vesa Toskala yielded two goals on 21 shots through three periods and the extra session, but was curiously pulled for Joseph before the shootout began.

"I talked to Toskala and I told him before the game if we were put in [a shootout], I was thinking of [pulling him]," Leafs head coach Ron Wilson said. "You just got to keep giving Toskala a little more practice on shootouts. It's like practicing a three-foot putt. You want to make that putt 100 times in a row, and that's what you want to do in a shootout."

After a Toronto miss, Selanne's quick wrister beat the cold Joseph stick-side, and after the Maple Leafs' Tomas Kaberle went wide right with his attempt, Corey Perry skated right and went top shelf to seal the much-needed win.

Anaheim withstood Toronto's early pressure and scored 4:36 into the game. Chris Kunitz controlled Perry's pass at the right circle and fed Beauchemin for a slap shot at the point, which found the back of the net for the game's first goal.

George Parros found nothing between himself and Toskala after a Toronto turnover midway through the first, and his wrister on the breakaway beat the goaltender glove-side for a 2-0 lead.

"We weren't prepared to play in the first period," Antropov said.

The Maple Leafs controlled most of the action throughout the second period but could only manage one tally on Antropov's backhander past an out-of-position Giguere.

Toronto managed to tie the game with just 53 seconds on the clock. Mike Van Ryn wound up with the puck after a mad scramble in front of the net, and his shot from the point was deflected before Antropov picked up the rebound and scored to send the game into overtime.

Anaheim did not have a shot in the third period, as Toronto outshot the Ducks 28-4 in second and third frames. It was the first time in franchise history Anaheim had not recorded a shot in a 20-minute period, and the only occurrence for a Toronto opponent in its storied history.

"Our lack of scoring comes from our poor play," the Ducks' Scott Niedermayer said. "We need to play as a team. We haven't been willing to go into the tough areas to get goals."

Game Notes

The Ducks head to Ottawa to face the Senators on Friday, while Toronto goes on the road to Boston on Thursday...Wilson coached Anaheim in its first four seasons in the league (1993-97)...The home team had won six straight in the series. The Ducks have won three of the past four meetings.

Burke blows off talk of future for now

Brian Burke's arrival in Toronto -- for an early season game between two struggling teams -- constitutes all kinds of news.

Exactly what kind of news it constitutes is open to interpretation.

The TV networks have called. The radio stations have called. This doesn't happen when any other general manager comes to Toronto.

This is what happens now with all the innuendo, with contracts unsigned and a GM search still in place with the Maple Leafs.

For the record, Burke is steamed. He was born angry. Only this time, the reason is different.
Instead of being ready to take on the world -- which is his way of saying hello -- Burke is upset about the state of his Anaheim Ducks, a good team gone bad. He's upset and cognizant that the media fascination about his future is not the sidebar to tonight's Leafs-Anaheim Ducks game, but the main event.

Burke put in one basic rule for his interviews while in Toronto. You get one question about his future. Ask a second and, "I get up and leave."

So, I broke the rule on the telephone yesterday and he didn't hang up. I asked a second question. I might have asked a third. The answers were basically the same each time, only increasingly louder.

"If you think or anyone else thinks that I'm thinking about my future or how (early problems in Anaheim) impacts it, you don't know me very well. All I care about is getting back to .500 and climbing back to the playoffs," Burke said.

"Anyone who thinks I'm worried about my future should go get a drug test."

Before making the trip to Toronto, an Anaheim television reporter asked Burke if he considered passing on the Leafs game.

The implication was clear. Is Burke, coming to Toronto at this time in the season, at this point in history, a distraction to his struggling hockey club, which is supposed to be a contender?

"First off, I did not consider not coming on this trip," Burke said.

"Our team is struggling. We have a game (tonight). I have the Lester Patrick tomorrow (being awarded for contributions to hockey in the United States). Just because the Toronto media is fascinated with my future ... I tell everyone the same thing. I've been treated great in Anaheim. There are some contract issues. I have some family concerns I'd like to see addressed. Can we move on from that?"

There are only seven general managers working in the National Hockey League who have led their teams to the Stanley Cup. One of them is running the Leafs right now.

Unavailable

The only multi-time winners -- Glen Sather, Ken Holland and Lou Lamoriello -- either are not available or not what the Leafs would want at this time. After that, there is Bob Gainey in Montreal, who already turned down the Leafs and Jim Rutherford in Carolina, whom the Leafs seemingly have little fascination with.

That leaves Burke -- the leading candidate and maybe the only candidate to run the Leafs next season.

But first, there is a contender to fix. And moves to be made.

"We have an organizational motto -- no complaints, no excuses," said Burke, whose Ducks have one win this season and the worst special teams in the NHL. "We're not going to panic. I'm going to be patient a little longer. But if this continues, we will be making changes. I don't care if it's hard or not."

One change he won't be making is firing his coach.

"Randy Carlyle is as safe as a baby in a car seat in a Hummer," said Burke.

"Every coach has a shelf life and the harder (you are) on players, the shorter the shelf life is. But that said, we're not doing anything about our coaching.

"People say you can't make trades anymore but I've had some simply marvelous trade proposals in the last few days. A lot of teams are anxious to help us out."

One team might even be anxious to acquire their general manger.

"This isn't about me," said Brian Burke.

It never is.

Kings, Ducks tickets below NHL average

A study of National Hockey League ticket costs for the 2008-09 season shows that both the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks have an average ticket price below league averages.

Team Marketing Report of Chicago calculated the cost of a Kings game at $47.20 per seat, up 2.7 percent from last season, and the Ducks at $43.50, up 7 percent from a year ago.

TMR said prices are based on a weighted average of season-ticket costs for general seating, determined by factoring seats in each price range as a percentage of the total number of seats in each arena.

The average ticket cost in the NHL this season is $49.66, up 5.1 percent from 2007-08.

The highest costs are in Toronto at $76. 15 per seat. The Chicago Black Hawks had the largest increase, charging 28.4 percent more per seat this season for an average of $52.22. The New Jersey Devils cut ticket charges by 15.7 percent, down to $57.15.

Team Marketing said the Fan Cost Index, or FCI, indicated it would cost, on average, a family of four $288.23 to attend an NHL game in 2008-09, up 5.5 percent. That takes into account tickets, concessions, parking, programs and caps.

For a Kings game at Staples Center, those costs are pegged at $281.31, up 3.3 percent from last season. For a Ducks game at the Honda Center, the FCI is $274.50, up 5.5 percent from a year ago.

Toronto is the most expensive with an FCI of $411.30 per game.

Need ducks tickets I have them. Club level section 325 row A. Two seats for $200.

Call me at 714-600-1865

Ducks name veteran Niedermayer team captain

The Anaheim Ducks named defenceman Scott Niedermayer team captain Tuesday, with Chris Pronger and Ryan Getzlaf serving as alternate captains.

Niedermayer, 35, previously served as Ducks captain from 2005-07.

Niedermayer is a four-time Stanley Cup champion, and is the only man in history to have won a Stanley Cup, Olympic gold medal, world championship, World Cup, Memorial Cup and world junior championship in his career.

The Ducks open their regular season Thursday night in San Jose.

Kings sign O'Sullivan to three-year deal

LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Kings have re-signed restricted free agent centre Patrick O'Sullivan to a three-year contract, the team announced Tuesday.

Terms of the agreement were not announced. O'Sullivan made US$650,000 last season.

O'Sullivan, 23, scored 22 goals and added 31 assists in 82 games for the Kings in 2007-08. The Winston-Salem, N. C., native added a team high-tying four shootout goals, and was one of four Los Angeles skaters to play in every game last season.

O'Sullivan, drafted in the second round (56th overall) by Minnesota in the 2003 draft, has 72 points (27-45) in 126 career NHL games, all with the Kings.

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The San Jose Sharks put defenceman Kyle McLaren on waivers Tuesday, possibly ending the oft-injured veteran's 4 1/2-year tenure with the club.

McLaren, a 12-year NHL veteran, had three goals and eight assists while battling constant knee injuries last season, undergoing surgery in January. He appeared in two pre-season games with the Sharks, who didn't even allow him to skate in intrasquad scrimmages while attempting to move him.

McLaren's role with the club already was diminished before training camp when San Jose acquired veteran defencemen Rob Blake, Dan Boyle and Brad Lukowich. The Sharks also signed young defencemen Christian Ehrhoff, Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Doug Murray to contract extensions in recent months.

Crunch honours Newman by retiring Slap Shot jersey

SYRACUSE, N. Y. -- The No. 7 Paul Newman wore as Reg Dunlop in the cult hockey comedy Slap Shot is going to the rafters of the Syracuse War Memorial.

The Syracuse Crunch announced Tuesday the team will pay tribute to the late actor by raising a banner before Saturday's American Hockey League game against the Rochester Americans. The banner will stay there for the entire season.

Crunch president Howard Dolgon says it's appropriate Newman's legacy should be recognized and honoured in the arena where parts of the legendary movie were filmed in 1977.

Newman died last month at age 83 after a battle with cancer.

A video tribute to Newman's role in Slap Shot will be shown during the ceremony.

Authorities interviewing Mets reliever Burgos

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- New York Mets pitcher Ambiorix Burgos turned himself in Tuesday night, a week after police say he was involved in a hit-and-run accident that killed two women.

Authorities were interviewing him, prosecutor Raul Quiroz told The Associated Press.

The news comes after the mother of one of the two victims accused Burgos of intentionally running her daughter over because she refused to go out with him.

Eudosia Ruane, mother of 29-year-old Angely Fana, told the AP she filed a report with police alleging homicide.

Raptors down Cavaliers 104-84 as James rests

CLEVELAND -- LeBron James spent a rare night relaxing on the bench, Mo Williams showed why Cleveland traded for him this summer, and the Cavaliers opened their exhibition season with a 104-84 loss to the Toronto Raptors Tuesday night.

James played just eight minutes in the first quarter before he raised his hand for a substitute and coach Mike Brown pulled his superstar for the remainder of Cleveland's pre-season debut.

Toronto's Jermaine O'Neal, acquired from Indiana in a July trade, scored 11 points in his Raptors debut. O'Neal missed 40 games last season because of lingering knee problems and dropped weight over the summer to ease the pressure on his joints.

Will Solomon scored 17 points, Andrea Bargnani 15 and Kris Humphries 14 for the Raptors.