In the big picture, the Ducks’ 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars on Sunday was arguably one of their more significant wins of the year.
Not only did it move the Ducks one step closer to ensuring home-ice advantage in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs — most likely against the Stars — but it featured the return of two players who figure to play huge roles in the postseason.
Scoring leader Ryan Getzlaf returned after missing three games with the infamous “upper body injury� — a strained shoulder, apparently, though in classic NHL fashion, the Ducks weren’t saying — and assisted on both Anaheim goals in regulation, giving him 79 points (23 goals, 56 assists) in 75 games.
“It felt good out there tonight,� said Getzlaf. “Everything went as planned. It was a big win for our hockey club.�
Coach Randy Carlyle said the 22-year-old forward clearly wasn’t quite himself.
“He looked a little winded at times, but he still is a pretty good player with the puck. And the power play, he made it work … we dominated as far as holding onto the puck and having good end-zone time.�
Getzlaf’s return was clearly a boost to a team that has averaged just 1.5 goals its last six games; the last time the Ducks scored more than two goals was in a 5-2 win over St. Louis on March 15. Overall, the Ducks have 197 goals, the fourth-lowest total in the league, but Getzlaf downplayed that stat.
“We’ve got to play with what we have,� he said, “and I think that’s our identity. Last year, we were a little more of a scoring threat, and everybody expected us to be the same way this year, but we don’t have the same team we did last year. … Look at our (defense) corps. If we score two goals, we should win a lot of hockey games.�
Sunday also marked the return of goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere after being sidelined for three games with back spasms. Giguere made 23 saves in regulation and overtime, and made shootout saves on Mike Modano and Jere Lehtinen to help the Ducks win the shootout 2-1.
“It was only a week, so it wasn’t that bad,� said Giguere. “I felt pretty comfortable out there.�
The win was crucial to the Ducks’ home-ice hopes because it gave them a five-point lead over Dallas in the race for fourth in the Western Conference. Dallas could still catch the Ducks, but it would have to win all three of its remaining games — a home-and-home series with Phoenix, and a home game with San Jose — while the Ducks could get no more than one point out of their final two games, Saturday at the Kings and Sunday at home against Phoenix.
Home is ice looks particularly significant for the Ducks, who are just ahead of Detroit for the league’s best home record and have set a club record for home victories at 27-9-4. And if they do end up facing the Stars — who could still be caught by sixth-place Calgary — they could need the edge. Dallas won the season series 5-3, although the Ducks won the final two games, with a 2-1 win at Dallas on March 19 and Sunday’s decision.
“There’s very much of a possibility we’re going to meet each other in the playoffs,� said Giguere, “so you want to set the tone right now. It’s something I did pretty well.’
Said defenseman Mathieu Schneider, who had two goals Sunday, “They’re one of the elite teams in the Western Conference, and if we do play them, it’s going to end up being a battle. … But we’re just excited to get there.�
More to come? Carlyle pointed out the Ducks will get at least one more player back for the playoffs — defenseman Chris Pronger’s eight-game suspension for stepping on a Vancouver player concludes Saturday — and other reinforcements are a possibility.
“Ryan Carter will skate this week,� Carlyle said of the forward sidelined for 16 games by a fractured wrist. “He’s actually in Minneapolis right now. There’s a hand specialist there with a machine that has had success with hand injuries, and he’s spent three days there. He could possibly play one of those games (this weekend)
“And then the next person on the list would be Corey Perry� — out for the last 10 games with a lacerated quad tendon — “and that’s into the first round, as a possibility.� Perry, visibly limping as he walked through the Ducks’ dressing room area Sunday, is clearly not too close to an immediate return.
Not in action: Center Doug Weight, acquired from St. Louis in December, was a healthy scratch Sunday, a reflection on the fact he has just one goal and four assists in his last 12 games. Since joining the Ducks, Weight has six goals and eight assists in 37 games.
“Just a coach’s decision,� said Carlyle. “I just felt that right now, there’s some work to be done. He’ll get another opportunity to get back into our lineup for sure. We’re going to need every body, as we talk about all the time.�
Opinions, please: For the first time this year, I have a vote in the selection of five NHL awards — the Hart, Norris, Calder, Lady Byng and Selke trophies — as well as the all-star and all-rookie teams. I'll be weighing my decisions over the next week, and would welcome the thoughts of any readers who wish to share them here as comments. Just remember that, because I have to check comments to avoid spam, it may take some time before your comments appear here on the blog.
Next week: No notebook on Tuesday because of NCAA Final Four coverage. It's possible I'll have one a little later in the week. Stop by or watch The Star for an update.

PHOENIX — As longtime readers are aware, I’m something of a ballpark connoisseur, so when I discovered the Arizona Diamondbacks were playing Colorado in an exhibition game Friday night at their downtown ballpark, Chase Field, there was no doubt how I’d spend my evening between games of the NCAA West Regional – and this would have been true even if downtown Phoenix wasn’t one as drab and lifeless at night as it has proven to be.
Since the ballpark is about three blocks from my hotel, it was easy to stroll over and add to my list of places I’ve seen games — a list now at 42.
And I have to say, I’m happy I made the visit.
Part of it was that weather-wise, the night couldn’t have been better. Locals will tell you this is the best time of year in Phoenix, and this evening could not have been more of an advertisement for the local Chamber of Commerce. With the roof rolled back, the game-time temperature was about 80 degrees with a light breeze.
I suspect I would not have liked the ballpark as much with the roof closed. Even with the roof open, no one is ever going to call it a beautiful facility — it’s a little too utilitarian for that — but in terms of sightlines, at least in the lower deck, it’s certainly not a bad place to watch a game. My ticket was down by the right-field bullpen — row 12, officially, though the second row from the field — but I spent the last few innings wandering around and checking out different vantage points, and they all seemed pretty good.
The stadium’s signature feature, of course, is the swimming pool in right field, but what really makes the place interesting — and maybe this is the sort of thing you can’t really appreciate until you’re physically in a ballpark, as opposed to watching on TV — is how many little quirks there are to the outfield. One of the Rockies tripled off one of two balconies that are in play in center field. The center field wall has a few pillars in it, creating the possibility for some very odd bounces, and there are some odd angles in the corners near the foul poles as well.
Beyond that, the place is pretty much the standard new-era ballpark — lots of food choices, ranging from a Fatburger to a Cold Stone Creamery to more conventional hot-dog fare. (Sadly, I didn’t choose particularly well. My pulled-pork barbecue sandwich was essentially bread and barbecue sauce, with a little pork as a condiment, although the seasoned fries were good.) There seems to be an impressive amount of good handicapped seating — since my dad spent time in a wheelchair, and I have a good friend temporarily confined to one while recovering from leg surgery, I tend to be more aware of this — there’s no shortage of souvenir stands, and the hitting backdrop in dead center hides a little shopping-mall-type play area, as well as a giant arcade, in case the kids aren’t particularly captivated by the game.
All in all, not a bad place. No ballpark with a roof is ever going to rank too high in the pantheon, because it’s hard to make a roofed field attractive, but you also wouldn’t want to be stuck outdoors when it’s 115 degrees in midsummer, so this is basically a pretty good compromise between esthetics and utility.
One of these days, I’ll probably tackle a full-fledged ballpark review — it’s probably been more than 10 years since I last wrote one — but at the moment, here’s how I’d rank my top 10 parks I’ve been in:

1. Wrigley Field.
2. Fenway Park.
3. PNC Park, Pittsburgh.
4. AT&T Park, San Francisco.
5. Dodger Stadium (probably slightly undervalued because these days, I spend most of my time there in the press box, which is awful).
6. Oriole Field at Camden Yards, Baltimore.
7. Angel Stadium (though I wish they’d do away with the cheesy Big Thunder Mountain rocks in center field)
8. Coors Field, Denver.
9. Kaufman Stadium, Kansas City.
10. Comerica Park, Detroit.

Chase Field would land somewhere in the next 10, which includes (in no particular order) Jacobs (oops, Progressive) Field, Safeco Field, Yankee Stadium, Petco Park, Turner Field, Ranger Ballpark (or whatever they’re calling it this week) in Arlington, Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati, Rogers Center in Toronto, and Miller Park.
That leaves, at the bottom (also not in any particular order) Macafee Coliseum in Oakland, the Metrodome, U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago and Shea Stadium. Not visited, and therefore not ranked, are the current parks in Houston, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Tampa Bay and Miami.
The now-defunct parks where I’ve seen games are Arlington Stadium, the Astrodome, Atlanta Fulton County, the previous Busch Stadium, Candlestick Park, Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Comiskey Park, Exhibition Stadium (Toronto), Jack Murphy Stadium, the Kingdome, Metropolitan Stadium (Bloomington, Minn.), Milwaukee County Stadium, Mile High Stadium, * Olympic Stadium (Montreal), Riverfront Stadium (Cincinnati), Three Rivers Stadium (Pittsburgh), Tigers Stadium and Veterans Stadium (Philadelphia).
*—Full disclosure: I never saw a major-league game at Mile High Stadium, but since I regularly attended minor-league games there, and there were no significant alterations when the Rockies moved in, I feel comfortable including it in my tally. On the other hand, I don’t count Dolphin Stadium in Miami, even though I saw USC play there in the Orange Bowl, because I think seeing football in a stadium — and probably in that one in particular — is a lot different from seeing baseball there.

Nominees were announced over the weekend for the NHL’s Bill Masterton Award. Unfortunately if understandably — given both the NHL’s general standing in the sports world and the huge number of awards the league hands out every year — these announcements did not get a huge amount of attention. So we’re going to give them a bit more of their due here.
There are three reasons I find the Masterton significant. One, it’s given by the Professional Hockey Writers Association, of which I’m a card-carrying member. Two, at least as much about the character of the recipient as his on-ice skills, and given that hockey players are, in general, the most down-to-earth and accessible athletes in professional sports, to be singled out in this regard really does say a lot about the recipient. And third, Masterton is a product of the University of Denver hockey program — not only my alma mater, but where I spent four years as the hockey team’s student manager — and not enough people know who he is.
Masterton’s story is a tragic one. After a distinguished career at Denver — 66 goals and 196 points in 89 games over three seasons — he spent a few years in the minor leagues, then retired, eventually returning to play as a amateur for the U.S. national team. When the NHL expanded from six to 12 teams for the 1967-68 season, he joined the Minnesota North Stars.
On Jan. 13, 1968, in a game against Oakland, Masterton was checked and fell backward. His head hit the ice hard enough to cause a massive brain hemorrhage; he died two days later without regaining consciousness, becoming the only player to die as a result of injuries sustained in an NHL game. The incident helped lead to widespread use of helmets in the NHL.
The hockey writers’ association established the Masterton Award that season. The 2007 winner was Phil Kessel of Boston. Anaheim’s Teemu Selanne won the award in 2006, and three members of the Kings have been honored: Butch Goring in 1978, Bob Bourne in 1988 and Dave Taylor in 1991.
The local nominees this year include an oddity. The Anaheim chapter nominated Todd Marchant, while the Los Angeles chapter nominated Jaroslav Modry, even though he is no longer with the team.
“We felt strongly about nominating him — even after he was traded to the Flyers a week before the (nomination) deadline — and wanted to stick with the original submission,� the L.A. chapter explained in its nominating statement.
Here are the full nominating statements for both players. And then, because the PHWA believes nomination is an honor in its own right, I’ve included the nomination statements for the other 27 candidates as well. (The New York Rangers writers did not have a nominee this year.) That makes this the longest entry in the history of this blog, but there are some worthy stories there. If nothing else, it allows you to see the names and check the details if there’s a team you follow other than the local ones.
Next notebook: The hockey notebook may or may not be on hiatus the next few weeks as I follow UCLA in the NCAA basketball tournament. Stop by or watch The Star for updates.

The Masterton nominees:
ANAHEIM: Todd Marchant — Marchant, 34, is a consummate professional, having played all three forward positions for the Ducks this season, in second-, third- and fourth-line roles, while also serving as one of the team’s top penalty-killing forwards. A serious abdominal injury that eventually required surgery kept Marchant out of 26 regular-season games and the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs last season, but it did not stop Marchant from contributing to the team’s success even before he returned to the lineup for the Western Conference finals against Detroit and the Stanley Cup Finals against Ottawa. For each round of the playoffs last season, Marchant supplied his teammates with new T-shirts – with a new word added for each round. In the end, the shirts spelled out the phrase “Destiny is Heart, Sacrifice and Passion,� and the inspiration provided by the shirts was often credited with helping the Ducks win their first Stanley Cup championship. The same shirts are now sold online, with all proceeds benefiting the club’s charitable arm, Ducks Care. Marchant is extremely active in charitable causes, often participating in hospital visits and so forth. He and his wife, Caroline, were co-spokesmen, along with Ducks goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere and his wife, Kristen, for last season’s seventh annual Dux in Tux charitable event. In a telling quote from Marchant about his charitable activities, from a column written by Randy Youngman of the Orange County Register, Marchant said that such work is “not his responsibility as a professional athlete, but rather his responsibility as a citizen of this planet.�
LOS ANGELES: Jaroslav Modry — Not only did Modry accomplish near-impossible, a defenseman on the last-place Kings with a plus rating (plus two in 61 games) but he served as a defacto mentor to the rapidly improving rookie, Jack Johnson. He performed with his usual professionalism and class and you would never have known he was playing under difficult personal circumstances. His father, also named Jaroslav, is dying of cancer and Modry briefly left the team early in the season to return home to the Czech Republic to make sure he could visit with him at least one last time.
ATLANTA: Johan Hedberg — He's rarely been the No. 1 goalie. Even in the minors, Johan Hedberg often had to sit and watch while talented young goalies in the San Jose system got more playing time. And he thought about quitting. Life wouldn't be so bad if he left for Sweden and spent 10 years in the Swedish Elite league. But he held on, his work ethic and desire more than making up for any deficiencies in talent. Since getting his break in Pittsburgh, Hedberg has bounced around but one thing hasn't changed - his desire to play and an unchallenged work ethic. In Dallas, Marty Turco said Hedberg made him work harder because he didn't want to be shown up by the backup. It's the same in Atlanta - he's ALWAYS the first player on the ice, and is willing to work with anybody to improve their game. That's why teammates love him, and that's why he's survived all these years in the NHL. This year, he has 13 wins, the most since 02-03 and is an unquestioned leader - a rarity for a backup goalie.
BOSTON: Glen Metropolit — Metropolit grew up one of three children to a single mother in the "Cabbage Hill" section of inner-city Toronto. He'd carved out a career playing in the ECHL, IHL, AHL, Finland and Switzerland, and even Roller Hockey International, before finally getting a legit NHL shot last season. A UFA last summer, he believed in himself enough to go to Boston Bruins camp as a free-agent tryout. All he's done since then is emerge as the team's No. 2 center, a vicious penalty-killer and he's been a major reason the Bruins have survived this long without Patrice Bergeron. Metropolit is also one of the quiet leaders of the team.
BUFFALO: Paul Gaustad — As the front man for the Sabres’ children’s literacy program, Paul Gaustad obviously can read. It’s a good thing he didn’t believe everything he saw in print or he never would have made it to the NHL. And that was just his own coach talking. Gaustad, a seventh-round pick in 2000, was continually deemed too slow. Even Lindy Ruff figured Gaustad was likely a career minor-leaguer. But constant work and extra skating sessions allowed the center to get his foot in the door. Once he did, he banged it down. The hard-hitting 26-year-old is in a fan favorite in his third full season. But it’s not just his on-ice efforts. He is the front man in helping kids to read, and he also spearheads the Sabres’ “Green Team.� It’s a high-profile effort in which Gaustad encourages fans to recycle and conserve energy – something he never does on the ice.
CALGARY: Owen Nolan — A player whose career seemed to be finished a few years ago, the 36-year-old rugged right winger has a shot to crack 20 goals with the Flames, while providing veteran leadership and being a physical force. During the season, Nolan has battled through a recurring neck/shoulder injury - playing despite stingers that cause him to go numb in those areas.
CAROLINA: Glen Wesley — Only a handful of defensemen in the history of the game have demonstrated the longevity and dedication of Wesley, who came into the league as a high-scoring power-play defenseman and remains in the NHL 20 years and more than 1,400 games later as a reliable defensive stopper and dressing-room leader and mentor.
Wesley continued retirement after his long wait for the Stanley Cup ended in 2006 but has twice decided to return and now ranks fifth all-time among defensemen in games played despite career-threatening neck fusion surgery in 2000. Active in his church and in the community, Wesley is the only player left who made the move with the Hurricanes from Hartford and has played for only two franchises in his career.
CHICAGO: Patrick Lalime — Patrick Lalime has had several opportunities to pack it in the last three years following knee and back surgeries. But the 33-year-old veteran never doubted he could return to the kind of form that made him one of the best goalies in the NHL from 2000-04 with Ottawa. Lalime endured a 4-18-8 season with St. Louis in 2005-06, a year that included him being sent to the minors and capped when he tore his ACL. Then after rehabbing all summer and signing with the Blackhawks as a free agent, Lalime hurt his back working out and underwent surgery that kept him out until February of 2007. Finally healthy this season, Lalime has helped keep the Hawks in the playoff race, stepping in for the injured Nikolai Khabibulin and winning some clutch games.
COLUMBUS: Pascal Leclaire — The talent was always there, always visible to those in tune with the finer points of goaltender. But Blue Jackets goaltender Pascal Leclaire could never keep his legs healthy long enough to prove it. Leclaire, after a rigorous off-season workout program, has finally stayed healthy, and he’s emerged as one of the NHL’s top goaltenders this season. The number that used to haunt Leclaire: 46, which stood as the most games he’d ever played in his first nine pro seasons.
Leclaire has played 48 games this season, but here are some better numbers: he leads the NHL with nine shutouts, third in goals-against (2.16) and third in save percentage (.923). Leclaire has been through a lot. Knee surgery ended last season. An abdominal injury wiped out all but 14 games in 2004-05, when he was in Syracuse during the lockout. He’d have more wins and more shutouts if the Blue Jackets had played him more earlier in the season, but Blue Jackets coach Ken Hitchcock was wary of taxing him due to the injury history. Leclaire came into this season with 11 NHL wins. He’s on pace for 30, on a club that’s barely .500.
COLORADO: Andrew Brunette — As of this writing, his consecutive-game steak of 443 is the second-longest in the league. (It will be 453 if he plays in all games again this season.) He has been a pro's pro, wherever he has been. Shows up, plays, works hard, effective ambassador in the community, cooperative with media. The kind of unsung team guy everyone needs and he fits the description of perseverance (plays hurt), sportsmanship (universally respected) and dedication.
DALLAS: Sergei Zubov — The 37-year-old defenseman went through sports hernia surgery in the off-season and was fashioning a Norris-Trophy worthy season before he was felled by a cracked bone in his foot. Zubov came to Dallas in 1996 and has had to change his game to fit in with the Stars' defensive system. He has sacrificed some offensive numbers to do so, but he is a plus-94 in his 11 seasons with the team and has helped Dallas to post one of the best regular season records in the NHL in that span.
DETROIT: Chris Chelios — In his 24th NHL season, Chelios, who turned 46 on Jan. 25, 2008, continues to make an impact with the Wings. He is one of their most reliable defensive defensemen, and is always called upon to kill off five-on-threes — a significant acknowledgement of his tremendous physical conditioning. He doesn’t produce many points, but he has a knack for scoring goals when they really mean something: For example, Feb. 18 at Colorado, minutes after team captain Nicklas Lidstrom had left the game after a nasty hit, Chelios scored the team’s first goal, leading them on to a 4-0 victory.
Chelios was also front-and-center in the battle to force transparency upon the NHLPA, challenging the ascension of Ted Saskin, which eventually resulted in Saskin’s firing. Chelios is always accountable to his teammates, and is always available to reporters whether the team has won or lost. He is a tremendous role model for the young defensemen on the team, such as Brett Lebda and Derek Meech, and every one in the room raves about his fitness level. He has persevered at playing in the NHL because of his physical discipline, and because he has accepted a reduced role, demonstrating his belief that the team is more important than the individual.
EDMONTON: Fernando Pisani — Pisani has been playing with ulcerative colitis since being diagnosed in 2005. He's kept the illness under control with medication, but his condition worsened last summer. At one point, Pisani lost more than 30 pounds in less than a month and was basically bed-ridden. His long-term health, not to mention his career, was in jeopardy. A new course of drug therapy allowed him to regain his health and return to the Oilers line-up in early December.
FLORIDA: Jassen Cullimore — After winning the Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay in 2004, Cullimore left for a free agent contract with Chicago. By all accounts, his time with the Hawks was a disaster. Last summer, the Blackhawks traded him to Montreal -- with the Canadiens doing the deal only so they could buy him out. Cullimore, 35, tried out with Detroit during training camp, but the Red Wings also didn't want his services. That makes three teams in a few months that told him he was done. Still, Cullimore moved forward. He kept working out on his own, hoping some team would call. In late October, the Panthers finally did, signing him to a two-way contract. He agreed to the deal, went to AHL Rochester on a conditioning stint. The injury-plagued Panthers called him up and he was in the lineup Nov. 9 against the Thrashers. Cullimore has been a surprisingly solid member of the Florida blue line, doing the little things right while sometimes doing the big things as well. His goal in overtime on Jan. 3 lifted the Panthers to a victory over the host Islanders. Of his 22 career goals, seven have been game-winners. "I score 'em when they count,'' he joked.
MINNESOTA: Aaron Voros — Gritty, hard-nosed 26-year-old Vancouver native finally reached his dream as NHLer this season. Called up in November, he played so well, he wound up sticking all season in Minnesota. Five years ago, however, Voros thought his life was in jeopardy. After Voros’ second game of his second year at Alaska-Fairbanks, doctors discovered a lump behind his left knee half the size of a baseball. After an MRI, three doctors diagnosed it as a type of malignant bone cancer. After three biopsies, however, it was determined to be benign. He had several operations in which he had part of his femur removed. He then suffered a staph infection and had to have a Hickman line inserted into his heart for eight weeks. “You know, you think you’re invincible, at least I did,� Voros said. “When you’re young and go through something like that, you say, ‘Not me, not me.’ Personally, I think it’s a miracle when you have two or three doctors who do this for a living diagnose it as malignant cancer.
“I just thank the Lord. I’m just very thankful because it could have gone a lot different way.�
MONTREAL: Mike Komisarek — He has gone through some personal tragedies (death of mother and grandmother) and has turned his game around through hard work and dedication. He is the NHL leader in blocked shots and 2nd in hits and has turned into a solid defenseman.
NASHVILLE: Martin Gelinas — A 19-year NHL veteran, Gelinas has made a quick impact in Nashville, serving as an alternate captain and spending long hours on the ice tutoring younger players like Jordin Tootoo and Vern Fiddler. He’s battled through several injuries this season: a preseason slice to his hand that required 15 stitches; a stick to the eye that needed about a dozen stitches; a shoulder injury; and most recently, a tore anterior cruciate ligament he still hopes to return from. Gelinas was named the NHL’s second-nicest player in a recent poll of players, coaches and media types. He illustrated that by co-sponsoring and paying for a Sommet Center Christmas Party for 90 women and children from Youth Encouragement Services and Morning Star Sanctuary.
NEW JERSEY: Colin White — White missed the first 20 games of this season after suffering a career-threatening injury to his right eye. He was struck in the eye with a deflected puck during a pre-season practice, breaking his nose and causing irreparable damage to his vision. Although White knew his vision would probably never return to normal, he put three-quarter visor on his helmet and returned to the Devils' lineup on Nov. 21 in Pittsburgh and has missed only one game since then. The Devils struggled in their first 20 games without him, going 8-10-2. Since then, they are 29-11-4 (entering Friday's game against Washington) and have resumed their place among the league's best team's defensively. The Devils are second in the NHL with a 2.27 goals-against average. White's encouragement has also prompted teammates Jamie Langenbrunner and Jay Pandolfo to start wearing protective visors.
NEW YORK ISLANDERS: Brendan Witt — Brendan Witt is the epitome of hockey dedication. After nearly eight seasons with Washington, and a couple of months with Nashville, Witt signed with the Islanders as a free agent prior to last season. Witt is the backbone of the Islander defensive corps, and becomes a human sacrifice in the name of blocking shots and throwing his body around in his own zone. (A teammate said Witt told him once, "Pain lets me know I'm alive.") Witt, who wears the alternate's "A", is one of the undisputed dressing room leaders. His name will never show up on the stat sheets in an offensive vein, but Witt is all about selflessness and teamwork. That credo extends off the ice, as Witt is involved in charity work, along with his wife Salima. His entire career embodies the spirit of perseverance and dedication to hockey.
OTTAWA: Luke Richardson — Luke Richardson wasn't supposed to be in the NHL this season. He was supposed to be retired. He was supposed to be coaching. He was supposed to be doing something else. Somebody forgot to tell the 38-year-old Ottawa native. Since he didn't want to give up after finishing last year essentially as an assistant coach with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Richardson called GM Bryan Murray about getting one more chance. Sure, said Murray. Gave him a two-way contract in case he wanted Richardson to make the odd trip to Binghamton to help the young players. He hasn't been there at all this season. Richardson has been too busy playing. Is he the fastest guy on the ice? No. But, he's in the lineup every night. He brings valuable experience, plays within his limitations and is regarded by many as a top-notch leader. A player who has become counted on. Not bad for a guy who wasn't supposed to be in the NHL this season.
PITTSBURGH: Ty Conklin — The Penguins did not make much news when they signed goaltender Ty Conklin on July 19, 2007. Conklin played in only 16 games for Buffalo and Columbus in 2006-07. He had appeared in only 76 games over seven pro seasons, and was not impressive in the 2006 Stanley Cup final with Edmonton as an injury replacement. Conklin had the reputation as a journeyman when he arrived in Pittsburgh, opened the season in the AHL and only saw action with the Penguins in mid-December due to an injury to No. 1 goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury and inconsistent play from backup Dany Sabourin. By mid-February, the Penguins were atop their division and Conklin placed in the top 10 in goals-against and save percentage. Conklin performed above any reasonable expectation and provided calm and cool to a once-floundering club. He also graciously accepted his duties off the ice in terms of media commitments and community involvement.
PHILADELPHIA: Jim Dowd — Jim Dowd is the picture of perseverance. A seventh-round draft pick of the New Jersey Devils in 1987, Dowd has played for 10 NHL teams, four AHL teams, one IHL team and even spent a year in Germany during the lockout. A hard-working fourth-line center that averages less than 9 minutes a game, Dowd’s career highlight came in Game 2 of the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals when he scored the game-winner for the Devils en route to a sweep over the Red Wings. That season Dowd became the first New Jersey native to win a Stanley Cup for the Devils. Since then, he’s bounced from the NHL to the AHL to the IHL. Released by the Devils after last season, Dowd made a very deep Flyers roster on a tryout contract in September at the age of 38. He was placed on waivers earlier this season, only to come back and play meaningful minutes for the Flyers as a penalty killer and defensive specialist. Dowd, who turned 39 on Christmas, also remains active in the New Jersey community. His Jim Dowd's Shoot for the Stars Foundation has held an annual Shore High School All-Star Hockey Game for 10 years, raising thousands of dollars for local families in need due to catastrophic illnesses. His dedication, perseverance and professionalism make him one of the most worthy Masterton candidates the Flyers have had in years.
PHOENIX: Shayne Doan — A visible figure in the community. Works with United Blood Services, Phoenix Children's Hospital and Phoenix Rescue Mission. He was the runner-up for the NHL Foundation Player Award in 2004 for outstanding community service. This season on the ice, he played for a month with a broken hand that no one outside the locker room knew about. He is the go-to guy in the locker room. No matter if he scores a goal and plays well or has a miserable game, he is always available after a game. He is the last player off the ice at practices, and as captain has held together a young team and kept it in the playoff race.
SAN JOSE: Jeremy Roenick — The 38-year-old has enjoyed a bit of a renaissance in San Jose when for all appearances he was set to retire after last season, his second of two difficult and often-times controversial seasons in Los Angeles and Phoenix. Roenick turned over a new leaf with the Sharks, who came calling in late summer with a surprise offer. He signed for a team-low and league minimum with the instructions he had to set a good example. He's done that and more, playing to role of mentor, accepting whatever role and limited ice time he's given and being the model citizen on and off the ice. Roenick has hit several milestones this season as well, becoming the 40th player ever and just the third American-born skater to score 500 goals and eclipsing 1,300 games played as well.
ST. LOUIS: Manny Legace — He was an afterthought in Detroit, playing second fiddle to Dominik Hasek, Chris Osgood, Curtis Joseph, etc. The Wings gave him the starting job for one year and he went 38-6 and they let him go unceremoniously. Legace signed late in the free agency period with St. Louis in 2006 and a year later he is an NHL all-star. Legace is the definition of perseverance.
TAMPA BAY: Craig MacDonald — A career minor leaguer, MacDonald has persevered since first turning pro in 1998. MacDonald has been a part of six organizations, including five in the past five years, but never appeared in more than 35 games, that coming with Carolina during the 2002-03 season. This year, the soon-to-be, 31-year old native of Nova Scotia earned his spot on the Lightning roster out of training camp as the fourth-line center. Though he was sent down to the American Hockey League for a brief stint in November, MacDonald has stuck around this season. In December he took a puck to the mouth that caused him to lose nine teeth and required four root canal surgeries. MacDonald missed one game after being hit, but since has started to play some of his best hockey, moving his way up to a regular on the third line and despite getting hit in the face with a puck, is one of the team's better shot blockers. As of Feb. 25, MacDonald has already set career highs in games played (45), assists (8) and points (10) in his first year with Tampa Bay.
TORONTO: Jason Blake — His teammates and family were rocked after just a few weeks with his new team when he was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), a rare, but treatable form of cancer. But the Hibbing, Minn., as good on his word not to let the serious ailment take him out of the Leafs’ lineup.
As of March 1, Blake was one of only three Toronto players not to have missed a game in 2007-08. Already one of the smaller players in the NHL, the 5-foot-10, 180-pound Blake has not altered his style against bigger men, while maintaining last year's ice time of almost 18 minutes a game. He has 38 points in 65 games and is among the league leaders in shots.
Blake, who takes a daily pill called Gleevac for his condition, also hosted a leukemia awareness night at the Air Canada Centre in January and donated $1,000 a goal and $500 an assist through January to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada.
VANCOUVER: Trevor Linden — Linden, who turns 38 in April, was drafted second-overall by the Canucks in 1988 and has spent all but four of his 19 NHL seasons in Vancouver. Renowned for his charity work, especially with terminally-ill children, Linden won the King Clancy Memorial Trophy in 1997. Equally devoted to his profession, he is a former president of the NHL Players’ Association and was critical to ending the lockout that scuttled the 2004-05 season. With 1,370 NHL games, Linden is the longest-serving active player still trying to win his first Stanley Cup. A former all-star who scored 30 or more goals in six of his first seven seasons, Linden has embraced without complaint a lesser role near the end of his career. Linden was the Canucks all-time leading scorer until he was surpassed this season by Markus Naslund.
WASHINGTON: Quentin Laing — The 28-year-old career minor leaguer has gotten his first real chance in the NHL this season -- and he's making the most of it. He's become an integral part of the Caps, and is one of only two forwards who has more blocked shots than games played (40 blocks in 32 games).

LOS ANGELES — And so they meet again.
UCLA’s 88-66 rout of Cal and USC’s hard-fought 59-55 win over Arizona State means there will be a third round to the crosstown rivalry this year, and it will come today in a 6 p.m. semifinal of the Pac-10 tournament at Staples Center.
“They’re a very good team, obviously,� said UCLA coach Ben Howland. “We played well at their place and beat them at their place. They had beaten us at home, one of our two home losses.�
Howland noted both teams should be at full strength this time, unlike the prior meetings when there were injury issues.
“(USC’s Daniel) Hackett is back in the game,� he said. “He didn’t play in the last game. Luc (Mbah a Moute) missed the second half of our first game. So both teams are relatively healthy. It should be a great matchup.�
Howland will receive no argument from forward Josh Shipp.
“It will definitely be a battle out there,� he said. “We’re healthy, they’re healthy, so it’s going to the team that comes out and plays the hardest.�
Another rematch: UCLA’s win over Cal was a far cry from the meeting six days earlier,when the Bruins needed a spectacular and controversial basket by Shipp to pull out an 81-80 victory. How did things change so much so quickly?
“Well, they played a game (Wednesday),� said Howland. “That’s always a little harder, when we’re sitting here waiting on them. And they got extended in that game. It was a hard-fought game and went to the wire.�
Of course, the way the Bruins played had something to do with it, as well, as they jumped to a 16-4 lead, made 14 of 25 3-pointers and generally played like the highly ranked team they are.
“I thought our guys were really, really excited to play today,� said Howland. “We had lost to them a year ago in the same game, and we wanted to make sure we won this game, No. 1, and No. 2, that we advance in this tournament.�
Pacing: With a relatively easy victory — and the potential for three games in three days — Howland went to his bench early and often. Six players combined for 58 minutes off the bench, as well as 19 points.
“I need to give these guys a little more of a rest,� said Howland. “I think it helps them with their legs. … We’ll probably continue to do that.�

ANAHEIM — Scott Niedermayer has come back. Teemu Selanne has come back.
But Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry never went anywhere, and they’re a big reason the Ducks are where they are, too.
In Monday’s rematch of last year’s Stanley Cup finals, the line of Getzlaf, Perry and (on this night, at least) Todd Bertuzzi had a hand in all three goals as the Ducks beat Ottawa 3-1 for their 11th win in their last 12 games.
Bertuzzi and Perry scored a little over three minutes apart to help the Ducks build a 2-0 lead in the first 15 minutes. That, and the strong play of goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, was all the Ducks really needed.
“It was nice to come out the way we did,� said Getzlaf. “… It’s big to get on the board right away, and to have the power play get one for us, that’s always a confidence builder.�
Getzlaf, the Ducks’ scoring leader, had two assists and now has 21 goals and 50 assists in 66 games. Perry had a goal and an assist and is second in scoring with 29 goals and 54 points.
The two 22-year-olds have had their ups and downs this season. Getzlaf has had at least one point in eight of the last nine games, totaling two goals and 10 assists in that span, but before that had just one point in seven games. And Perry’s goal was his first in 10 games, though he’d had five assists.
“It was going to come,� said Perry. “I’ve had a lot of chances, and the puck wasn’t going in the net. It was nice to get one and hopefully I’ll keep going.�
But even with the return of Selanne — and center Doug Weight, back Monday after missing eight games with a shoulder injury — coach Randy Carlyle never had any thought of breaking up two players who been linemates almost continuously since their arrival three years ago.
“What’s happened with Getzlaf and Perry,� Carlyle noted, “… is that as they progress in the league, their statistics draw a lot of attention to the coverages of the other teams.
“Historically, when they came into the league, we were able to protect them. We were able to play them against what some people would deem fourth lines. Last year, to start the year, they played against third lines and toward the end of the year, sometimes second lines.
“And then they started to get more power play time, and started produce offensively, and this year, they have to play against some of the best checking lines, and some of the (number) one or two lines in the league.�
That has unquestionably been an adjustment, as Getzlaf and Perry both noted.
“This has been a fun year for us,� said Getzlaf, the slightly larger of the two at 6-foot-3, 221 (Perry is 6-3, 209). “It’s been a huge challenge, and I think we knew right from the start that was going to be the case, especially with Teemu gone. We had big shoes to fill, and we knew we were going to face most of the checking lines.�
Said Perry, “Yeah, it’s tough. But every game’s a challenge, and it doesn’t matter who you play against. This year it has been a little tougher. We’re playing against the checking line most nights. They’re doing their job trying to shut us down; we’re trying to do our job, trying to score. That’s a battle out there.�
This is, as they and Carlyle understand, simply part of the maturing process for players rising in both reputation and accomplishment.
“It’s part of growing,� said Getzlaf. “ It’s now our third year, and people are paying a little more attention to us. It’s the same as anything. You’ve got to work that much harder for your space, and I think you learn all the little things along the way, the little things with the puck. You try not to do too much and play your game.�
And, with Selanne back and playing well, opponents have to pick their poison when deploying the checking line. Ottawa sent their checkers against the Getzlaf line Monday, with limited success; on other nights, it might be Selanne’s unit drawing that attention.
“One period it’s this line and the next it might be that line,� said Perry. “It all depends how the game’s going, I guess. We’ve got two lines that can score, and one checking line can’t check two lines.�
And they can’t necessarily stop Getzlaf and Perry, even when that’s the assignment.
“We’re not disappointed in Getzlaf and Perry,� said Carlyle “Can they provide more over the last little while? I think there’s not a hockey player in there that says they shouldn’t — not meaning Corey and Ryan, but all of them as a whole — provide more.
“We’re a team, and they’re a big part of our success.�
That was certainly true again Monday.
Milestone: With his victory against Ottawa, Giguere is 30-16-5 this season, marking the fourth time in the last five NHL seasons he’s reached that mark. In that stretch, he’s 147-114-30; for his career, including brief stints in Hartford and Calgary, he’s 186-150-51.
“I’m pretty excited about it,� Giguere said of win No. 30. “It’s always a benchmark for a goalie, always a goal you set for yourself and try to achieve. Saying that, you can’t do that without having a good team, and big part of that is us being a pretty good team the last three years.
“The last few years, we’ve had core guys in our leadership group that are unbelievable, and I just follow their lead and a lot of times it brings me to victories. It’s a whole lot of fun.�
Niedermayer certainly likes what he’s seeing from the Ducks netminder.
“Huge saves again today, no doubt about it,� said the veteran defenseman. “He feels pretty comfortable where he is in the net, and he’s making big saves. You need that to win hockey games in this league, and he’s giving it to us.�
Bye week: No hockey notebook next week, because I’ll be on vacation, and the week after is uncertain because of other assignments. But check in on the 18th just in case, or watch the print edition of The Star for a reminder when the notebook returns. And don’t miss the additional notes filed prior to these, from the Ducks’ Monday pregame skate.

Odds and ends from the Ducks' morning skate before Monday's game with Ottawa:
Value added … In case you were wondering, the Ducks were 15-15-4 before Scott Niedermayer return (a nice, easy-to-figure .500, in terms of points percentage), 12-7-3 with Niedermayer back in action (.642) and — going into Monday’s game — were 10-1-0 (.909) with both Selanne and Niedermayer. The math, then, is that you improve your winning percentage by .142 if you add one probable future Hall of Famer to the lineup, and and another .267 when you pick up a second.
No wonder a number of the Ducks were asked if the “swagger� is back in the locker room — and agreed it was.
“I think we feel it a little bit,� said Ryan Getzlaf. “We feel we can win on any given night, but it’s not going to be easy. I think that’s the main thing we focus on every night.�
Agreed linemate Corey Perry, “The confidence has been up, for sure. You get two Hall of Famers back a month and a half or two months apart, it definitely brightens up everybody’s day and puts a smile on their face. Now we know when we go out there we have a chance to win every single night. Not that we didn’t before, but it just got a little bit easier.�
… And subtracted? When Ducks coach Randy Carlyle missed last Friday’s game with Calgary because of the flu (“I had a fever,� he said, adding with euphemistically, “and I had a close friend of mine I couldn’t get away from very long�) injured defenseman Chris Pronger helped out behind the bench, handling the changing of defensive pairs for acting head coach Dave Farrish.
Carlyle was asked if he’d liked Pronger’s coaching, he cracked, “He’s going to have to take a hell of a pay cut.�
Responded Pronger, pulling down a tidy $6.25 million this year, “That’s why I said I wasn’t going to do it again.�
(Re)matchmaker: In another reminder of the silliness of the NHL’s schedule structure — which gets somewhat less silly next year, when every team sees each other at least once — Monday’s game was just the second time in more than four years that there has been a regular-season rematch of the previous year’s Cup finalists. The only other meeting since the league went to its three-year schedule rotation between conferences was Dec. 6, 2006, when Edmonton beat reigning champion Carolina 3-1.
Before that, the last meeting of Cup finalists was Nov. 26, 2003, when New Jersey and Anaheim tied 3-3.