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Now that the scary thought of Life Without Teemu has been put aside, with Teemu Selanne signing a one-year deal Thursday to return to the Ducks for a 19th NHL season, we can again joke about that succession of final seasons.

Who would ever hold a retirement ceremony for him? You'd never know if it was actually going to be the real thing. Selanne is so passionate about the game he just can't stay away, and he confirmed that by making it known that the only thing holding up his decision this time was the condition of his surgically repaired left knee.

Still, he was asked on Thursday's teleconference if he was going into the season thinking this indeed will be the last go-round.

"Well, I think so," he said. "Obviously I've said that the last five years, but I've got to stop somewhere.

"And the way I've approached this whole thing, by (annually) saying this is my last year, I think that's really worked well for me."

More from Teemu:

Thursday's column on Jack Ferreira -- hockey lifer, special assistant to Kings' president/GM Dean Lombardi and Riverside resident -- went a bit viral Friday thanks to Ferreira's observations of the kabuki currently going on between the Kings and the agents for restricted free agent Drew Doughty.

(And a sincere stick tap to Kings' bloggers Surly & Scribe, Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo!'s Puck Daddy blog and Adam Gretz of cbssports.com for the mentions.)

But there is one additional observation Ferreira made which might help explain the lack of movement between the Kings and Doughty's people, primarily Don Meehan of Newport Sports.

"Agents are primarily trying to set new ground ... and it's more so now with Donald Fehr," Ferreira said, referring to the new executive director of the NHL Players Association. "They (the union) have become more active in negotiations, as they were with (former union head) Bob Goodenow."

Which makes sense, and speaks to Fehr's background with the Major League Baseball Players Association, which he ran as successor to and protege of legendary union leader Marvin Miller for 23 years. In that environment, with no salary cap, the union was very cognizant of the role individual contracts played in setting market value and driving salaries upward, particularly when that precedent influenced arbitration awards.

With Doughty, a third-year defenseman who hasn't made an All-Star team but was a 2010 Olympian and has one Norris Trophy nomination to his name, it makes sense for Meehan to push for as much as he can get anyway. But the union's interest seems to be a trend that has affected other contracts.

"Contracts that we thought would be easy, like with Alec Martinez (a defenseman who has played 64 career NHL games) ... that almost went to arbitration," Ferreira said. "That's their job. That's the union's job. They're trying to set standards for the next guys coming along."

As for Doughty, those Kings fans/message board commenters who are already approaching panic mode because he isn't signed -- and went into Defcon One mode when Ferreira's forecast of a potential holdout hit cyberspace -- might want to take a deep breath. He will stay in LA, even if someone else presents an offer sheet.

"During this whole process, even when we were trying to get (free agent) Brad Richards, we've always kept X amount of dollars open in our cap in case somebody does come through with an offer sheet on Doughty," Ferreira said. "We can't be blindsided. Jeff Solomon and Dean and Hexy (Ron Hextall), they work on that almost every day. We can't be caught with our pants down."

It's just a matter of when the deal gets done, and these things have been known to develop quickly.

The third and final installment of our conversation with longtime hockey executive and Riverside resident Jack Ferreira, subject of today's column:

The second part of our conversation with Kings executive (and Riverside resident) Jack Ferreira, subject of today's column:

Part I of highlights from our conversation with veteran hockey executive (and Riverside resident) Jack Ferreira, currently special assistant to Kings president/GM Dean Lombardi, subject of today's column:

EL SEGUNDO -- Technically, Kings' goaltending prospect Martin Jones could be considered an Ontario Reign alumnus (see photographic proof, above). But it was a quick matriculation.

Jones, signed as an undrafted free agent by Los Angeles last summer, was assigned to its ECHL affiliate to start the season and played one game, stopping 26 shots in a 5-4 overtime victory at Stockton in the season opener.

Four days later, he was called up to Manchester, after Erik Ersberg went AWOL from that club to sign with a team in the KHL.

"We had four (goalies) one day, and then the next day we had none," Reign coach Karl Taylor said last January, recalling Jones' quick callup and the goaltending flux his team subsequently faced all season. "Those are things you can't plan for ... We'd love to have Jonesy all year -- obviously he's doing quite well in the American League -- but that's just the ebb and flow. They didn't plan on losing Ersberg, either, but those things occur, and the bottom of the tree gets rattled most."

It turned out to be the best thing that could happen to Jones, who essentially beat out Jeff Zatkoff for the No. 1 goalie's job in Manchester and made the AHL All-Star Game, finishing 23-12-1 with a 2.25 goals-against average, a .924 save percentage and four shutouts in 39 games.

"It was a good experience (in Ontario), but I was happy to get called back up and then happy with the way things went there," said Jones, who is one of six goalies in the Kings' Development Camp this week at their El Segundo training complex.

With the season he had, Jones may merely have provided a happy complication to a goaltending picture that already has Jonathan Quick and Jonathan Bernier seemingly entrenched in Los Angeles, prospect J.F. Berube knocking on the door after a strong season in juniors (32-7-8, 2.60 GAA, .902 save percentage in Montreal), and 2011 second-round draft choice Chris Gibson also in the mix.

For an organization that always seemed to be searching for goaltending, this is an embarrassment of riches. Where does Jones fit in?

"Obviously, with the numbers they have, with Bernier and Quick coming back, it'll be a tough task," he said after today's workout and scrimmage. "But my mindset is just to make the team. From there, wherever I play it's going to be a great experience and I've just got to make the most of it.

"Obviously, this upcoming year I'll probably be back in Manchester, but it's not going to change my mindset."

Jones is a 6-foot-4, 191-pounder from North Vancouver, B.C., who was 108-28-9 in four years with the WHL's Calgary Hitmen, played for Canada in the 2010 World Junior Championships -- a tournament in which the U.S. upset Canada in overtime in the gold medal game, with Jones relieving Jake Allen in that game.

Yet with gaudy junior stats he went undrafted. And to go from there to the AHL so quickly surprised him a little bit.

"I handled it well, I guess, but I didn't expect to maybe play as much or have as much success as I did," he said. "It was an easier transition for me becuase of the team we had. It was a young group, and we had a lot of guys who made me feel right at home, so that made it easier for sure."

And what's different from last year to now?

"I hope not too much," he said. "Obviously my game's evolved a bit, but I still think I kind of have the same foundation with my technique. I keep tweaking little things here and there, but generally I'm the same kind of guy."

Having plenty of goaltending gives the Kings the material to trade for help at other positions, if need be. In any event, seeing Jones in Ontario again is unlikely -- unless he's playing in an NHL exhibition game at Citizens Business Bank Arena some year.

(Photo of Martin Jones, from October, 2010, by Kurt Miller, The Press-Enterprise)

Columnist Jim Alexander's take ...

I was told, oh so politely, by former colleague Jeff Eisenberg, that I was out of my mind the other day when I posted this on Facebook:

"Maybe it's just me being a contrarian, but the Stanley Cup finals have been far more compelling than the NBA finals ... "

OK, I may be slightly daft. I know, in this case, I'm in the minority (if you believe TV ratings). But I'm right. The pursuit of the Stanley Cup has been more interesting than the chase for the NBA's Larry O'Brien Trophy, which Dallas concluded Sunday night.

The NBA Finals were a one-act play, in essence: Six games worth of Everyone Hates Miami, the denouement of a season's worth of hype (and punch lines) that began the moment LeBron James announced he was "taking my talents to South Beach."

LeBron's fourth quarter fadeouts, and finally his Game 6 disappearance, provided some drama, true, but I don't think the NBA's show matched the tension and intensity -- and yes, the theater -- coming from Vancouver and Boston and their roller-coaster series.

And I realize there's a disconnect here. If you are predisposed to not watch hockey, then you automatically assume I don't know what I'm talking about, simply because you have nothing with which to compare.

In that case, you have my sympathy.

LOS ANGELES -- Much as we all suspected a week ago, in the end the San Jose Sharks' six-game series victory over the Kings turned on last Tuesday's Game 3, and the Sharks' comeback from a four-goal deficit.

That game, a 6-5 Sharks victory decided on Devin Setoguchi's goal in overtime, hanged the trajectory of the series, after the Kings had played the Sharks on even terms in Game 1 at San Jose, soundly outplayed them in Game 2 in the Shark Tank, and led 4-0 early in the second period in Game 3.

"You feel like you gave them a few games earlier in the series," goaltender Jonathan Quick said. "If we'd played a little better in those games, it would have made a difference."

Even if nothing else in the series had changed -- not the defensive disaster that was Game 4, not the valiant performance by Quick to steal Game 5 in San Jose -- at least holding on to any portion of that Game 3 lead would have had the Kings going back to San Jose for a Game 7 Wednesday. Instead, they're done, a season of higher hopes and greater expectations ending exactly the way 2010 did, with an attempt to explain away a Game 6 elimination.

"It's hard to reflect" so soon after the end of hostilities, captain Dustin Brown said. "But that's the one thing everyone's going to talk about.

"They're not going to remember who had the winning goal tonight (Joe Thornton, for the record). They're not going to remember any game but probably the third. I still thought we fought hard and played well after that. But if we don't blow that, it's 3-3 and we're headed back to San Jose ... We had a great situation in Game 3, but we lost control, and then we didn't play good in Game 4.

"At the end of the day we didn't get the job done."

LOS ANGELES -- If tonight's assignment at Staples Center feels familiar for the Kings, it should. Although they got here in a different manner from a year ago, they are in the same situation tonight against San Jose that they were in against Vancouver one year ago to the day: Trailing 3-2 and facing a must-win game on their home ice.

Last April 25, the Kings led Vancouver 2-1 going into the third period but coughed up that lead and lost 4-2, the second third period lead they'd squandered at home in the series.

The idea, as players said at the time, was that this needed to be a lesson for a young team making the franchise's first playoff appearance in eight seasons.

Now, with a do-over, will the Kings do things right this time and force a Game 7 Wednesday night in San Jose?

"I hope the experience of last year has been a benefit to our playoff (performance) this year," Kings coach Terry Murray said at today's morning skate. "Last year I remember in Game 6, we had two unbelievable opportunities -- a breakaway and a two-on-one -- that could have iced the game. Those are critical moments in the game. You need to identify them, and you need to take advantage of them in a critical situation, because they're few and far between at that stage of a game."

Captain Dustin Brown -- whose most notable comment in the wake of last year's loss was, "In a year's time, if we're sitting here having these same conversations, then we haven't learned anything at all" -- was asked Monday what from that game these Kings could use to their advantatage.

"Going into Game 6 last year at home, it was a different team just from the result of not (ever) being in that situation, win or go home," he said. "I think everyone understands.

"Playing in that game, it wasn't a big mistake or a couple of big mistakes. It was stuff that probably the average fan doesn't even recognize ... that cost us that Game 6. The message needs to be, in this room, eliminating those tiny mistakes. That's what's going to be the difference tonight."

It will help if Jonathan Quick faces a little less pressure tonight, though Brown said that the quantity of shots is less important than the quality. Quick stopped 51 of 52 shots in Saturday night's 3-1 victory.

"You can look at that game and say Quickie stole it for us, and you know what, maybe he did," Brown said. "They've had one of the highest shot totals all year long, so they're gonna get shots. It's just a matter of eliminating those Grade A (scoring opportunities). Quickie's gonna make those saves if they're going to throw it from the outside or the point with no traffic. Those are the shots we want to give up. If we have 50 of those again tonight, that's fine with us.

"It's eliminating those really good chances that's important. They had more than we wanted in Game 5."

ANAHEIM -- For Bobby Ryan, forced to sit out games 3 and 4 of the Ducks' series with Nashville after being suspended for stepping on Jonathon Blum's foot during Game 2, the hardest part may have been the watching.

"It was definitely tough listening to the fans talk around us, yelling and screaming, and not being able to say anything," said Ryan, who witnessed those games from a suite in Nashville's Bridgestone Arena with the rest of the Ducks' healthy scratches.

He will be back in his comfort zone for tonight's Game 5. Ryan, who finished the regular season with 34 goals, second on the team to Corey Perry's 50, had two in the first two games of this series.

"Obvously, we're looking forward to having Bobby back and making the contribution we're accustomed to," Coach Randy Carlyle said.

The big line of Ryan, Perry and Ryan Getzlaf -- who took a "maintenance day" Thursday and didn't participate in the team's afternoon practice followiing its flight from Nashville -- will bear the responsibility of getting the Ducks going. They have played well in the two victories in this series, not so well in the two losses.

"We have to carry the load," Ryan said. "I think that's the pressure that's put on us, and we've set the bar there. That's no more pressure than the three of us put on each other as a line ... We certainly feel we're the catalysts on htis team, and we've got to put our best foot forward every night."

Added Perry: "The whole season, if our line's been going, the whole team's been going. We've gotten secondary scoring at crucial times and crucial points of our season. There's a lot of pressure for us to produce each and every night. We've got to be ready to play and have big games every night, We can't take nights off."

LOS ANGELES -- This is the part where the Kings have to talk bravely, to convince themselves that their playoff quest isn't about to come to an end Saturday night in San Jose.

Yet actions do speak louder than words. The Kings' deficiencies in their defensive zone through the last six periods -- two periods and an overtime Tuesday night, and all three periods of Thursday night's 6-3 loss in Game 5 -- drowned out anything they could say to explain it away.

And the sight of team mascot Bailey slumped over a table in a Staples Center passageway, oversized head in furry paws, exemplified the mood of the faithful about as well as any words could.

The task is simple, on paper: Do a complete 180 from the last two games, and summon the will and -- equally important -- the efficiency to win three straight from the West's No. 2 seed.

"We gotta go ahead and win that game (Game 5) Saturday," Drew Doughty said. "Then we'll be back here in LA, and, you know, we can take it to a Game 7.

"I think all of us believe we're going to do that. But our main focus is to buckle down on defense."

Yet this is the puzzler. The Kings were seventh in the league in goals allowed during the regular season, and were very good defensively in Game 1 of this series and excellent in Game 2, both in San Jose. But since coming home, the breakdowns have been stunning in their frequency.

"They've scored 12 goals in two games. That's embarrassing," defenseman Jack Johnson said.

"We've had success in scoring goals in the series, fortunately, but we're not an offensive team. We're a defensive team. And if we're letting in that many goals we're in a lot of trouble."

For a brief time, Thursday's game looked like it might be the flip side of Tuesday's game. San Jose took a 3-0 lead in the first 9 1/2 minutes of the second period, but Brad Richardson's rebound goal and Justin Williams' cross-ice pass that deflected off Marc-Edouard Vlasic's stick and past Antti Neimi made it 3-2 and got the team and the crowd back into it.

"I really liked our competition to make it a 3-2 game," Coach Terry Murray said. "And then whatever happened in the third, with giveaways, turnovers, lost faceoffs -- that's sometimes a hard thing to explain."

Said Dustin Brown: "We know what makes us successful. "Why we haven't done it the last two games is a good question for this team. We need to figure it out."

In the Kings' 43-season history, they've trailed 3-1 in a series 10 times. They've rallied to win once -- in the 1989 Smythe Division semifinals against Edmonton, which was Wayne Gretzky's first playoff series as a member of the Kings.

But you have to believe you can, as at least a starting point if nothing else. And this is where the one-shift-at-a-time philosophy -- looking at the task as a bunch of small rocks to clear, rather than a boulder to push uphill -- is crucial.

"We gotta be hyped up," Doughty said. "They're going to have the momentum. They might think we're not gonig to come at them hard, and they might think we're out of the series. But we fully believe we're going to come back in this series and we're still going to win it. So we're going to go out there hard that first period, jump all over them and come out with the lead."

The alternative? Tee times.

LOS ANGELES -- The family of seriously injured Giants fan Bryan Stow attended last night's Kings-Sharks game at Staples Center as guests of both teams. The Sharks paid for their tickets, while the Kings bought them dinner.

Stow, seriously injured when he was beaten by two Dodger fans in the Dodger Stadium parking lot on opening day, remains hospitalized in critical condition at LA County-USC Medical Center.

ANAHEIM -- Even before the NHL announced a one-game suspension for Ducks' left wing Jarkko Ruutu Thursday, for his hit on Nashville's Martin Erat during Game 4 of their playoff series Wednesday night, Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle was dubious about the league's reasoning for reviewing the hit.

Which looked something like this:

"I'm just quite surprised, actually," Carlyle said of the decision to review the hit. "But other people feel differently about it than I personally do.

"To me, it's absurd that there's even mention of a hearing when a guy has a shoulder-on-shoulder bodycheck and the player passes the puck, and they're saying, 'Well, it's so many tenths of a second that they allow and this was two-tenths or three-tenths past the allowable time. It's kind of mindboggling at times.

"But that's part of the criteria that they obviously have established. You live with the consequences because there's no real formal way of appealing it. You take your lumps and move on."

Carlyle was asked if he felt the Ducks were being targeted by the league.

"I don't think we're getting targeted," he said. "If you look at the number of things that are getting reviewed, I think the game is being played under a much broader microscope. In the playoffs emotions run higher, and I'm sure there are more people involved (and) a conscious effort to make sure that everything is screened."

Getting back to the Ruutu play, Carlyle said: "All we have is what the replay showed. It's very evident no shoulder was driven towards the head. He didn't leave his feet. He didn't do anything other than put his shoulder into the other player's shoulder, and unfortunately he was hurt on the play."

Then, he added:

"You think Jordan Tootoo's crosscheck to the head of Toni Lydman in the last minute of the hockey game shouldn't draw some attention?"

ANAHEIM -- It wasn't all Pekka Rinne Wednesday night. Nor can you say Carrie Underwood's Husband was the villain for Ducks' fans, even though Mike Fisher's two goals helped put this 4-1 Nashville victory away early.

No, when it comes to who was responsible for that Game 1 blowout, the Ducks suggested a glance in the mirror was sufficient.

"I think it's more of a letdown in that we didn't execute the way we need to," captain Ryan Getzlaf said. "You're going to win and you're going to lose in the playoffs. Every day's going to be a battle. We know that. We know we're in for a long series, and I think our execution level's definitely got to go up for the next game."

The Ducks talked before the game about creating traffic in front of Rinne, who only had to make 28 saves but set the tone early with some big stops, including a robbery of Teemu Selanne on a pad save in the first period.

But traffic was light. If there was anything resembling a Sig-Alert it was in front of the Ducks' net.

ANAHEIM -- It wasn't all Pekka Rinne Wednesday night. Nor can you say Carrie Underwood's Husband was the villain for Ducks' fans, even though Mike Fisher's two goals helped put this 4-1 Nashville victory away early.

No, when it comes to who was responsible for that Game 1 blowout, the Ducks suggested a glance in the mirror was sufficient.

"I think it's more of a letdown in that we didn't execute the way we need to," captain Ryan Getzlaf said. "You're going to win and you're going to lose in the playoffs. Every day's going to be a battle. We know that. We know we're in for a long series, and I think our execution level's definitely got to go up for the next game."

The Ducks talked before the game about creating traffic in front of Rinne, who only had to make 28 saves but set the tone early with some big stops, including a robbery of Teemu Selanne on a pad save in the first period.

But traffic was light. If there was anything resembling a Sig-Alert it was in front of the Ducks' net.

ANAHEIM -- The first California born-and-bred player to be a first-round draft pick has become an integral part of the Nashville Predators club that faces the Ducks in round one of the Stanley Cup playoffs beginning tonight.

Jonathon Blum, a 6-1 defenseman who was born in Long Beach and raised in Rancho Santa Margarita, played 23 games for Nashville after being called up from Milwaukee Feb, 22, and has acquitted himself well: three goals, five assists and a plus-8, while fitting into the disciplined style that Predators coach Barry Trotz demands.

"Jon is really smart defensively," Trotz said at today's morning skate. "He's got an outstanding stick. He reads the play very well, and he's got lots of poise.

"He filled in for Francis Bouillon (when called up), and Franzie was in our top four (defensemen). We put Blummer in our top four and he's been outstanding for us. We kept him in the minors for a long time, and when he got his opportunity to come up we felt so comfortable with his play that we actually moved one of our veterans (Alex Sulzer, traded to Florida)."

Blum, whose family had season tickets to the Ducks for a while, said he would probably have 30 family members and friends at tonight's game, and even more on Friday.

He certainly did not expect his return to Orange County to come in a playoff game.

"When I got called up I expected just a short-term callup, but I've played myself onto the team," he said. "I was expecting to have to wait until next year to come to town and see all my family and friends.

"The last time I skated on this ice, I was probably 6 years old, at an intermission at one of the games. So this is pretty cool."

LOS ANGELES -- Sometimes, you've got to do what you've got to do. And Saturday night, Teemu Selanne decided he had to drop the gloves.

It came at the end of a skirmish in the corner late in the third period of the Ducks' 3-1 victory over the Kings at Staples Center. While Sheldon Brookbank and Kyle Clifford squared off -- with Brookbank getting much the better of the Kings' willing rookie -- Selanne took offense to what he felt were some liberties LA's Brad Richardson was taking.

The Selane fight starts around the 1:42 mark of this video.

"When you feel somebody's trying to hurt you, you have to do some action out there," he said.

Richardson was not available by the time media stragglers got to the Kings dressing room. What he did wasn't clear from the video -- initially, it was Jack Johnson that cross-checked Selanne in the corner -- but evidently he did something at some point in the scrum that got Selanne, and his teammates, irate.

"That's pretty gutless for Richardson to go after a guy like Teemu Selanne," goaltender Dan Ellis said. "Pick someone else. Pick another grinder or someone your same caliber. You don't go after a Hall of Fame guy that's in his 40s. That's completely gutless."

Asked the last time he'd been in a fight, Selanne said his rookie year of 1992-93 with Winnipeg.

"It was against the Oilers," he said.

Or maybe not. A YouTube video, courtesy of hockeyfights.com, showed Selanne popping Chris Chelios, then with the Chicago Blackhawks, with a left hand, starting a donnybrook at the old Winnipeg Arena on Jan. 19, 1993.

"I can look after myself, but usually you don't want to hurt your hand," he said of Saturday night's bout. "But I was pretty mad. I know when someone's trying to hurt me."

LOS ANGELES -- We know this much: The Ducks will have home ice in the first round, cinching fourth place in the Western Conference Saturday night with their 3-1 victory over the Kings at Staples Center to sweep a home-and-home series with their rivals.

We know this, too: If the Chicago Blackhawks lose to Detroit Sunday, the Ducks will face Nashville in the first round. If the Blackhawks win, in whatever manner, they'll be Anaheim's opponent.

The Kings, by virtue of two faceplants against the Ducks in two nights, will finish either seventh or eighth. They have 98 points now. If the Blackhawks lose in regulation, the Kings get San Jose in the first round. If Chicago wins or loses in overtime or a shootout, Los Angeles again would play Vancouver, as it did a year ago.

Pairings and schedules will be official Sunday night, although if Chicago gets at least a point in Sunday afternoon's NBC game aginst the Red Wings, that eliminates Dallas, which plays Sunday evening at Minnesota.

We know this, too: The Ducks are reaching their crescendo. They've won three straight, six of eight and 10 of 13. No matter who is in goal -- and Dan Ellis has been quite good the last two nights while Ray Emery rests his "lower body injury" -- this is not a team you want to face.

Sometimes it seems like a happy accident, for fans of the Ducks. Teemu Selanne (left, being congratulated by Jason Blake and Sheldon Brookbank) just happens to be where the puck winds up, and he puts it in the net.

Trust me. It's no accident.

The ageless right wing, the subject of today's column, is a guy who -- if you can believe it -- swears that he remembers the details of most, if not all, of his 634 career goals. Not out of any sense of self-aggrandizement, but more a sense of self-improvement.

"That's how I practice goal-scoring," he said.

"After the games, before I go to sleep, I go through the goal and how it happened, go through some chances where I didn't score and what I'm supposed to do. That's one way I get better with those situations, by trying to remember those goals."

Almost certainly, he was up late Sunday night thinking about the one that got away, Selanne appeared to have scored the tying goal on a deflection with 2:04 left Sunday night against Dallas, but referee Brad Maier waved it off, saying Saku Koivu interfered with Dallas goalie Kari Lehtinen.

That was one of two goals the Ducks had disallowed in the final minutes of a 4-3 loss, a game that could have clinched a playoff spot. Selanne was so angry he declined to talk to the media after the game, which may have been a career first.

If that goal had counted, it would have continued an amazing streak. Already this season, Selanne has had game-tying goals in the final minutes of the third period in four separate games, an NHL record.

What that stat says: The idea of a goal-scorer's instinct is real.

This one falls into the "happens every spring" category: Critics take aim at the NHL's convoluted standings system, where some games are worth two points, other games are worth three, and a team that loses in overtime or in a shootout might benefit more than a team that actually wins while needing more than the regulation 60 minutes.

Of course, those critics are right. The four-on-four overtime period and shootout are popular, and they make sure every game produces a winner, but they also make hockey the only sport where the losing team gets rewarded.

This time it's Edward Fraser of The Hockey News who takes aim at the NHL's system. And his solution is really so logical, it's perfect: If you need to keep overtime and the shootout, at least get rid of the "loser point" or "pity point" for not winning. Go strictly on wins and losses.

His argument makes sense. Beyond just being silly and all but impossible to explain to someone who isn't already clued in -- but hey, getting new fans interested in the game isn't that important, is it? -- the lure of the guaranteed point in overtime causes teams to go into a shell in regulation time, to hang on at any cost.

If you were to go to a strict wins and losses format, with no pity points -- and with games-in-hand as the first tiebreaker and victories in regulation being the second one, here's how the NHL standings would look at this very moment. (Hint: It would be a very positive development for the Ducks and the Kings, who are third and fourth, respectively, in fewest overtime/shootout losses.)

There is this aspect to the Kings' acquisition of Dustin Penner that may make today's trade with Edmonton even more of a successful deal for LA than it first appears. In a sense, the pressure's off.

Yes, Penner is leaving a team going nowhere and joining one fighting for the playoffs. But he's also leaving a smothering situation, a place where people eat and sleep hockey and the glare of the media is omnipresent, for one where he should be able to take a deep breath and relax.

Penner has scored 93 goals in 304 games since joining the Oilers. But, given the five-year, $21.25 million deal he signed with Edmonton as a restricted free agent in the summer of 2007, fresh off a Stanley Cup with the Ducks, it never seemed to be enough. The critics -- and there were plenty, in a country where every citizen considers himself a hockey expert -- called him lazy and unproductive.

"If I believed everything I've heard, I'd quit hockey," Penner said to a TSN interviewer this afternoon. "Maybe five or six, or 20, years from now I'll look back and say things actually weren't that bad. It's different when you can step out of the box (and look back).

"Obviously, there were ups and downs, but I think I grew as a player and as a person."

Consider: Playing under that lesser glare in Southern California, he scored 29 goals on the Ryan Getzlaf-Corey Perry line in 2006-07 in Anaheim. If he can provide that sort of production to the Anze Kopitar-Wayne Simmonds line, it will be two draft picks and a defenseman well spent.

Consider also: He is signed through 2011-12, which means from here on in he's playing for his next contract. That's motivation.

By the way, here's the transcript of Dean Lombardi's comments on the trade, courtesy of lakingsinsider.com

Dustin Penner, acquired by the Kings this morning, had some comments for the Edmonton media this morning, as heard via TSN and the NHL Network:

"I had a decent first year (after signing with Edmonton in 2007), the second year was something to forget, and the last two I've enjoyed thoroughly. The situation I came into here ... with big contracts and big money also come big expectations. If I tried to meet everybody's expectations I'd drive myself completely insane."

(On having one year left on his contract, and the speculation that he would not be re-signing with Edmonton) "I wasn't opposed to anything. It was one of those things where you listen and see what would come out of the conversations ... My family enjoyed our time here. We had a lot of fun. It's a great place to play."

(On how he found out) "Because I was still at the arena I didn't have my cell phone. I was playing ping pong ... It (the word) came at a good time, because I would have lost 50 bucks."

(On an earlier Twitter rumor that he'd been traded to Montreal) "I know people complain that someone tweeted it, but to believe it is another thing."

Presumably, he will address LA media some time later today.

The Ducks, their concern over Jonas Hiller's medical condition now out there for all to see, traded goalie Curtis McElhinney to Tampa Bay this morning for goaltender Dan Ellis, a veteran of 142 career NHL games who had 13 victories in 31 games with the Lightning this season.

Ellis, who turns 31 on June 19, is 63-49-14 lifetime with a 2.71 goals-against average. This year with a resurgent Tampa Bay squad, he was 13-7-6 with a 2.93 goals-against and .889 save percentage, and was 5-2-2 with a 2.44 goals-against and .910 save percentage in his final 11 appearances.

McElhinney, acquired last year at the trade deadline for backup purposes, played a solid game Wednesday night against the Kings but was unrewarded in a 3-2 loss. He was 6-9-1 with a 3.43 goals-against and .890 save percentage for Anaheim this season.

Ray Emery, an NHL veteran signed by Anaheim a few weeks ago, had been recalled from Syracuse earlier in the day and was expected to be in the pipes Friday night against Minnesota.

Now? Remains to be seen.

"We are excited to acquire a goaltender of Dan's caliber, someone we feel can help us immediately," Ducks executive vice president and general manager Bob Murray said in a statement released by the club. "He has experience playing in big games down the stretch."

Ellis previously played three seasons with Nashville (49-42-8, 2.64, .912 in 110 games). During his rookie season in 2007-08 he had a 233:48 shutout streak, the fifth best streak in the NHL's modern era at the time.

Another distinction: He was the fourth NHL goalie to win seven or more games to start a career, going 7-0-0.

One of the other three? Fella named Ray Emery.

ANAHEIM -- How it looked after deadline, following Kings 3, Ducks 2 ...

It didn't always seem like a road game -- after all, those "Let's Go Kings" chants after LA scored got pretty loud -- but technically the Kings ended their 10-game trip Wednesday night with 15 out of a possible 20 points, a 6-1-3 record marred only by the flop last Saturday night against the New York Islanders.

And yes, Los Angeles coach Terry Murray said that he'd set a goal going into the trip and discussed it with his team, and then they went out and surpassed it.

"We broke the trip into segments and (discussed) not only what we needed for points, but we were looking at the little things that would lead to goals -- number of shots on the net, power play percentage, penalty killing percentage, a few things we threw in there just to create a little bit of focus," he said.

"We were looking at five-game segments, so we were looking at trying to achieve six points out of each five-game segment."

Now, he said, "it's important that we just keep our focus on how that happened: the hard work, the intensity, the concentration every game, to bring it every night and do things right. Now we've got to do the same thing (Thursday night) at home."

Willie Mitchell almost wished that the coach hadn't brought it up, "so we wouldn't get too confident about ourselves and what we've done so far on the road trip," he joked.

"But he's talked about it, and by talking about it he wants the team to continue to play with the confidence we have ... I think with a younger team when you're playing good, feeling good, things go well. Sometimes if you have a little hiccup along the way, you can get too down and get too panicky and it can turn the other way.

"We've had that a couple of times this season and we don't want that to happen again, not at this time of year."

The Kings, who play Minnesota Thursday night at Staples Center, overall are on a 9-1-3 run dating back to Jan. 22.

* * *

The Ducks get the Wild Friday night at Honda Center, and they figure to have Ryan Getzlaf back. The Ducks' captain missed the game because of the birth of his and wife Paige's first child, Ryder James Getzlaf, who checked in Wednesday at 9 pounds, 5 ounces.

Saku Koivu may be a tougher call. Koivu was a game time decision because of a groin injury, and the decision was no.

"Guys stepped up, came into those situations and did well" in the regulars' absence, Bobby Ryan said. "You can't replace our captain and a veteran leader for us. Those are tough guys to step in and fill voids for. The outcome could have been different and it would have been better if it was. But guys worked hard."

After giving up goals in huge bunches in the previous three games, Anaheim tightened up defensively Wednesday (or maybe it had something to do with playing the offensively challenged Kings). Curtis McElhinney didn't embarrass himself, after three horrendously rough outings, but he didn't have much margin for error.

"I think we played good enough to win the game," said Teemu Selanne, whose 626th career goal moved him past Colorado's Joe Sakic into 14th on the all-time list.

"It was a better effort and that is what we have to build on. We have to stay positive. We had our two top centers out. If you take them out of any team, it's going to be a big hole. We did a lot of good things, but it's very frustrating right now. A lot of guys played hard and deserved better than this."

Though McElhinney looked better, it's likely that Ray Emery will start Friday and likely for the foreseeable future, at least until the Ducks have a better handle on Jonas Hiller's health."

ANAHEIM -- The "play your way into shape" portion of Ray Emery's career reclamation with the Ducks lasted a whole three games in the American Hockey League. Emery was recalled from Syracuse this morning, after winning two of the three games he played, and he will be in uniform as the backup to Curtis McElhinney tonight against the Kings at Honda Center.

This is how it's been going: With Emery in transit, Timo Pielmeier sent down to Syracuse and Jonas Hiller still nowhere near being ready to play with a serious and baffling medical condition -- one that he addressed in a session with the media this morning -- the No. 2 goalie during the Ducks' morning skate today was one of the equipment managers.

(Someone suggested to Brian Hayward, the former Montreal goalie who is now a Ducks TV analyst, that he could get between the pipes. Hayward turned that one aside pretty emphatically.)

Emery, who signed with the Ducks Feb. 7 after being out of the game for close to a year following hip surgery, was 2-1-0 with a 2.62 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage for Syracuse. He played Tuesday night against Charlotte and stopped 34 of 37 shots in a 4-3 shootout victory.

"He was signed (for) this specific reason," Ducks coach Randy Carlyle said. "We felt if we had any issues with goaltending as far as injuries and whatnot, he was a viable option for us ... Obviously we didn't think it was going to be this quick, but he's played three hockey games and played very well, and it's a situation where if we need him, we're not afraid to put him in net."

As for Hiller, who was in the midst of an All-Star season, the symptoms that officially have been categorized "light-headedness" seem to be far more complex than simply getting dizzy.