The first day of camp in Las Vegas on Sunday began with morning skate at the Orleans Arena that saw several of the still sleepy-eyed Anaheim Ducks rookies try to get going for the 8am (pacific time) practice. As the game that night approached and as the tempers flared outside in the near 100-degree heat, so did those inside during the Ducks first game against the San Jose Sharks rookie team. Both the Ducks and the San Jose Sharks rookies were eager to get things started after a summer of anticipation.
For those interested fans in Iowa wondering what the roster will look like, it is hard to say how many of the rookies at this camp will actually end up with the Iowa Chops in this their inaugural season, but one thing is for sure… the Ducks held true to the form that they have become known for. From the get go, the Ducks came out as the more physical team and they had solid goaltending, two of the key components that make the Ducks one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup every season.
On Sunday, it was hard hitting started by Matthew Caruana, Josh Brittain, and Stu Bickel (pictured). The Ducks physicality also found them in the box quite a bit during the first period of play, but thanks to the solid goaltending of Jean-Phillipe Levasseur, the Sharks could not find the back of the net. “I thought Levasseur was very solid and showed a lot of poise,” said Iowa Chops Head Coach Gord Dineen, who along with along with Assistants Paul Jerrard and Matt Laatsch, are running the Ducks rookie camp. The Ducks had their chances to score in the first period as well. With about 10 minutes remaining, 2008 1st round draft pick Logan MacMillan found himself on a partial breakaway, but could only manage a one-handed shot that was snuffed out by Sharks goaltender Timo Pielmeier. The Ducks best chance came off the stick of 19-year-old Maxime Macenauer, who’s turnaround drive from the face-off circle snuck behind Pielmeier, but rang off the right post. The Sharks best chance in the first half came with seven minutes remaining as Jamie McGinn sent a shot off the post over the blocker side of Levasseur and out. The most exciting part of the scoreless first period was a big hit by Ducks rookie forward Jason Bailey, who leveled the Sharks toughman Frazer McLaren. McLaren took exception to the hit and dropped the gloves to fight the smaller Bailey, but Bailey held his own during the scrap. The Sharks would outshot the Ducks 11 -7 in the period in large part due to the time spent on the power play.
The second period was much more free-flowing than the first. Levasseur continued his hot play in goal for the Ducks, stopping an early backdoor drive with the right pad. The Ducks turned up the offensive heat thanks to three power plays, but close chances from Logan MacMillan and Nicolas Deschamps were snuffed out to keep the game scoreless. Sharks toughman Frazer McLaren again found himself in a scrap with a Ducks player, but this time it was the equally big Stu Bickel, who did quite well in his first pro fight. Halfway through the contest goaltender Marco Cousineau replaced Levasseur, who had to feel good about keeping the Sharks scoreless in his first test of the season. The second half of the second period saw more tempers flare as Josh Brittain of the Ducks squared off with Mike Moore from the Sharks. In the same stoppage, Jason Bailey got in his second fight, this time with Sharks forward Jamie McGinn. With the Sharks on a late power play in the period, forward Mike Morris got San Jose on the board first as he smashed home a loose puck in front under Cousineau. The Ducks outshot the Sharks in the second period, 13-7.
The third period saw the majority of the scoring as both teams opened up the offensive playbook. The Sharks took a 2-0 lead as Matt Fornataro smashed home a backdoor drive past Cousineau. The Ducks scored their first goal of the camp with the slapshot from the point from defenseman Eric Regan, who’s shot deflected off a Sharks defenseman and into the back of the net. However, the Sharks would take a 3-1 lead with a goal from Steven Zalewski, who smashed home a loose rebound after two saves from Cousineau. Charlie Kronschnabel tried to fire up his team by fighting San Jose's Brett Westgarth, who spent a part of last season in Iowa with the Stars. The never-say-die Ducks came back to make it 3-2 as Nathan Dey, smashed home a loose puck as he was falling on his belly with assists to Maxime Macenauer and Stefan Warg. Anaheim pulled the goalie with a little more than a minute remaining, but a turnover at the Sharks blueline with the extra attacker on the ice led to an empty-net goal by Mike Morris and a 4-2 win on Day one for the Sharks. Jimmy Kilpatrick and Matthew Caruana led the Ducks with four shots each in the game. Anaheim would end up outshooting San Jose 30-28. The two teams face-off in Game #2 on Monday at 7:00pm (pacific time).
Iowa Chops Head Coach Gord Dineen summed up the game with the following thoughts:
“It was good for the guys to get out there and finally start playing some games. I thought we played a good, physical game and I saw some good things. I think a lot of our guys had some nervousness at the start of the game. There is a lot on the line here and each one of them is trying to make an impact and show what they can do. They know a lot of eyes are watching them.”
