St. Louis, MO (My Sportsbook) - The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim begin their quest to end a three-year playoff drought tonight when they visit the
St. Louis Blues at Savvis Center to open the season.
The Ducks, who haven't qualified for the postseason since 1999, tied with Columbus for the Western Conference's second-worst record last season, and scored a meager 175 goals, which was worsened by only Atlanta in the entire NHL.
Anaheim, which will be coached by rookie benchman Mike Babcock, who takes over for now-GM Bryan Murray, addressed its offensive woes this summer, first with the signing of free agent center Adam Oates. The 40-year-old playmaker led the league with 64 assists last season -- contributing 26 of them on the power- play. Oates also has the most points among active players on opening night with a goal and 24 assists.
And he wasn't the only player obtained to help captain Paul Kariya, whose 32 goals and 57 points marked the worst complete showing -- not including injuries or lockout -- of his eight-year career. The club acquired winger Petr Sykora, among others, from New Jersey in a deal that cost underachieving winger Jeff Friesen and defenseman Oleg Tverdovsky, who had become disgruntled in Orange County.
The club is also counting on players like the oft-injured Steve Rucchin to provide support for the top tier players, as well as highly-touted rookie Stanislav Chistov, who was the fifth-overall selection in the 2001 draft.
An area the Ducks can already feel comfortable with is in the defensive zone, where they allowed just 198 goals in 2001-02. Goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere put himself on the map with a club-record 2.15 goals-against average and .920 save-percentage. In all he ranked fourth in GAA among NHL backstops with 50 or more appearances, and the three goalies ahead of him were future Hall of Famers Patrick Roy and Dominik Hasek, and Hart/Vezina winner Jose Theodore.
Anaheim is 1-8-0 in season openers, with its only victory coming on October 8, 2000 against Minnesota at the Pond.
The Blues, meanwhile, will attempt to extend their streak of qualifying for the postseason to 24 consecutive years. Last spring they defeated the Chicago Blackhawks in five games in the opening round, but were humbled by the eventual-champion Red Wings in Round 2.
St. Louis' quest to make it 24 straight seasons of playoffs will, however, have an early obstacle, as captain and all-world defenseman Chris Pronger is expected to be sidelined until at least January while recovering from knee and wrist surgeries. The defense corps, led by an aging Al MacInnis, will have to find some way to make up for the quality minutes Pronger normally logs.
Up front, Keith Tkachuk, and his new five-year, $45 million contract, leads a solid corps that should be bolstered by a healthy Doug Weight. The all-star centerman appeared in just 61 games due to a pelvic injury and was relatively ineffective upon his return. He was even relegated to fourth-line duty in the playoffs.
Goaltender Brent Johnson enters his second season as the starter in net, and posted a 34-20-4 mark with a 2.18 goals-against average and .902 save- percentage a season ago.
The Blues are 18-11-6 all-time in season openers, but are 0-3-2 in their last five. St. Louis has won two straight meetings with Anaheim and is 9-1-1 in the last 11. The Ducks are 1-4-1 in their last six trips to the Gateway City.
