Tidbits... like a grab bag, but better.

Despite being fairly disgruntled this morning, I've calmed down enough to take a look at what else has been happening. Here's what I found:

1. The Los Angeles Times had a nice little article on Corey Perry after his performance in the game against the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday night. I laughed out loud at Coach Randy Carlyle's description of Pears as previously being "bright-eyed [and] bushy-tailed" as a rookie. Somehow, it made me picture Pears as this little boy with twinkles in his eyes. Not that the picture was incongruous, but just... unexpected.

2. Speaking of Pears, I'm told that during an interview, the 6'3" baby-faced blondie was asked about his Gordie Howe Hat Trick from Saturday night. The young winger's response was something along the lines of, "What's that?"

I really, really hope he was joking. Since I missed it, I have no idea what tone he used when replying, and therefore, have no way of actually judging.

3. Five of the Ducks have been honored with a nomination for this years' All Star balloting. Vote for 'em starting November 13th. The five players representing the Ducks are Jean-Sebastian Giguere, Chris Pronger, Andy McDonald, and first-time nominees Francois Beauchemin and Ryan Getzlaf. To see the full list of nominees and the press release, clickity-click-click HERE.

4. The OC Register is going to be bringing you closer than ever with insider blog posts coming your way after game day morning skates, post-game, and post-practices on non-game days. I'm a little jealous at all the exposure Dan Wood is getting to the players and management, considering the rest of us bloggers not affiliated with a publication are typically not included as the Anaheim media playground.

5. Injury Report: Ducks high priced free agent summer signing Todd Bertuzzi is finally feeling up to task after suffering through a concussion given to him courtesy of Wild enforcer Derek Boogaard. Off the ice, ole Bert is still dealing with the Steve Moore "incident" in the court system. Apparently a $350,000 offer for settlement was refused by Mr. Moore, who has powered a $15 million lawsuit against the Ducks' replacement for the apparently-retired Teemu Selanne. The Moore camp states that the settlement offer was "calculated to be an insult and was an insult.'' [ TSN ]

6. I'm sure it happened a long time ago, but I refused to look until now... The Anaheim Ducks have fallen off the top 10 on TSN's power rankings. We are actually rated lower than the Los Angeles Kings. And last week, we were ranked 24th. This week? 22nd. Ugh.

7. There have been rumblings stating that Scott Niedermayer spoke with TSN and indicated that he self-imposed a deadline regarding announcing his retirement or intent to join the team this season. I can't find the fabled article or rumor mill, but never mind that. A reliable source has tipped off both Cassie and I that Scotty has recently indicated his intent to announce his final decision in mid- to late- November. The impression he gave indicated that he is leaning towards a December return. Cross your fingers, Duck fans, because until he makes a formal announcement, he can still change his mind. [ Scotty, I beg you... come baaaaacccckkkk! ]

8. Sports Illustrated has a disturbing photo montage of the "Faces of Battle". It's kind of bloody and gross... and if you're like me, you get a bit queasy looking at all that. And, again, if you're like me, you'll be somewhat bemused by how absolutely beautiful some of those guys are (ahem, actually just one: helloooo Markus Naslund! Everyone else looked far too beat up to be 'hot'.). Decidedly not pretty in his photo op? Sid the Kid with blood all over his grill. Ick.

9. On that whole retirement thing? Guess who is? Eric Lindros. This Thursday. Sad, too, because I really did grow up respecting him. Guess who needs to? Poor injury-magnet-but-brilliant-when-100% Petr Forsberg.

10. The Mini-O'Brien Bolt Report: (It's really got nothing to do with O'B, and more to do with his team). People thought that Tampa Bay Head Coach John Torterella might be on the verge of being jobless, but the experts say not so! Despite the recent losing trend the Bolts have been on (a six-game [not seven, as I previously stated. Sorry, Alex.] winless streak), Torts apparently enjoys a measure of job security, unlike a number of other Head Coaches (ahem, Los Angeles). The Bolts continue to be frustrated by their play, as hottie with a body defenseboy Shane O'Brien expressed his frustration by saying, "It's getting old. We've got a lot of good guys in here. The thing that makes me upset, or mad, you work hard, you get something out of it. It seems like the harder we work, the less we get out of it." [ St. Petersberg Times ]. Nice to see the kid doesn't make excuses either. To make matters worse, one of their big boys, Dan Boyle will be out "indefinitely" and is slated to undergo surgery sometime in the near future. The Bolts' fearless leader Vinny Lecavalier, who has lately taken to pounding out his frustration on opposing players' faces, is advised by THN's resident snark Adam Proteau to keep the gloves on and put pucks in the net. In the column, Vinny's listed under the sub-header, "The Ugly" -- definitely not a term I'd typically attribute to squee-worthy.

goal by Finny at 7:05 PM