Apr 1, 2013; Dallas, TX, USA; Anaheim Ducks center Andrew Cogliano (7) skates in the Dallas Stars zone during the game at the American Airlines Center. The Ducks shut out the Stars 4-0. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

Every year, each NHL team has a nominee for the Bill Masterson Memorial Trophy. The trophy is awarded to the NHL player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey. The respective chapters of the Professional Hockey Writers Association (PHWA) for each team selects the nominees. This season, the Anaheim chapter of the PHWA nominated Ducks forward Andrew Cogliano for the Masterson.

Cogliano is enjoying a career season and his streak of career games played in a row continues. His points-per-game this season (0.48) is second best in his career and his goals-per-game (0.26) is the highest it has been in his career. His streak is now at 456 consecutive games, which is third best out of all current NHL players, behind Jay Bouwmeester (633) and Henrik Sedin (627). Oh, by the way, he has never missed a single game in his entire career. So, that streak started back in his rookie season with the Edmonton Oilers, until now.

As much as I would like to see Cogs win the Masterson, I do not think he stands much of a chance against Minnesota Wild goaltender Josh Harding. It’s been a pretty big story around the NHL for over a year. Last fall, Harding was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Here is what WebMD.com has to say about MS:

“Multiple sclerosis is a chronic neuroimmunologic (both the nervous system and the immunological system are involved) disorder of the central nervous system involving the brain, spinal chord and optic nerves. By means of a mechanism not clearly understood, the protective fatty, insulating substance called myelin sheath that covers the nerve is destroyed. The inflammatory attacks that produce the characteristic scarring (plaques or patches) of the myelin sheath occur randomly, vary in intensity, and at multiple sites. The course of the disease may advance, relapse, remit, or stabilize. The randomness of the location of plaques or patches affects the nerve’s ability to transmit information (neurotransmission) and causes a wide range of neurological symptoms, which may vary from person to person.”

My favorite teacher from high school suffered from MS and it was tough to see him struggle with it at times. He was on a bunch of medication to help counteract his pain. Much like the common saying, “he had good days and bad days.” He once told us about how he knew that he would be in a wheel chair much earlier than he had ever thought. So, I know a little bit about how people have to deal with it. I must say that it is very impressive that Harding continues to play. So, I do hope that he wins and it certainly seems like he will. The winner will be announced during the 2013 NHL Awards Show after the Stanley Cup Finals.

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February 4, 2013; Anaheim, CA, USA; Anaheim Ducks right wing Teemu Selanne (8) and the Ducks celebrate the 2-1 victory against the San Jose Sharks at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Say hello to the 2013 Pacific Division Champs: your Anaheim Ducks.

Relish it, enjoy it, because it may be the last time the Pacific Division has a champion, ever.

The Ducks tonight beat the Oilers, 3-0, sweeping this season’s series with the Oilers while also clinching the Pacific Division title, and the second seed in the Western Conference.  Perhaps more importantly however is that the Ducks who played tonight looked more like the Ducks who took the NHL by storm for the first half of the condensed season.

Ryan Getzlaf would get his fifteenth goal of the season on the powerplay tonight about 6 minutes into the first period.  Radek Dvorak would follow him up about 5 minutes later, scoring his fourth goal in only 8 games off a beautiful no look pass from Emerson Etem.

The second period would be scoreless, but the Ducks would add to their lead in the third as Sami Vatanen picked up his second goal of the season with a perfect shot from the point that found it’s way into the top corner thanks to Ducks traffic in front of Nikolai Khabibulin.  The game would remain at 3-0 and the Ducks would leave Rexall Place as Pacific Division champions.

Perhaps more importantly however was that the Ducks not only clinched 2^nd place in the Western Conference, but that they seem to be rediscovering their game.  Just consider some of the Ducks successes tonight:

• Fasth posted his 4^th shutout of the season
• The Ducks scored on the powerplay, (out of three total powerplays)
• The Ducks got depth scoring from Radek Dvorak and Sami Vatenan
• The Ducks out-shot the Oilers 28-24
• The Ducks were perfect on the penalty kill, (3 for 3)

Add to this list that the Ducks played with no Bobby Ryan, Luca Sbisa, or Sheldon Souray, and that Oilers goaltender Khabibulin was the only reason the score wasn’t worse and you’re beginning to see a Ducks team coming back to their early season selves.  Despite the game being the second in a back-to-back the Ducks seemed to show no signs of exhaustion.  Teemu Selanne seemed to have more pep in his step and Nick Bonino continues to show himself as a solid glue player for the Ducks.

Now the Ducks need to keep the train rolling against teams that aren’t the Edmonton Oilers.  The Ducks will be in Vancouver on Thursday and return home for the final game of the regular season on Saturday against the Phoenix Coyotes.  While neither game has much impact on potential playoff standings it nonetheless is important that the Ducks keep their confidence high entering into the playoffs.

But before looking forward to the playoffs we should take a moment to reflect.

Very few predicted that the Ducks would make the playoffs this year, making it a true accomplishment that they managed to win the Pacific Division, (especially in a division with the reigning Stanley Cup champs).  Bruce Boudreau and all the coaching staff deserve a ton of credit, as do players who have had huge bounce back seasons this year, namely the captain Ryan Getzlaf.  Bob Murray deserves a ton of credit for the signings/acquisitions of Sheldon Souray, Daniel Winnik, Radek Dvorak, Ben Lovejoy, Bryan Allen, David Steckel, and of course, Viktor Fasth.

Even bigger than all those moves however is that Bob Murray managed to re-sign Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry.  We still have to see how the Ducks perform in the playoffs but no matter the end result, no one was predicting the Ducks have as successful a season as they have had.  The future looks bright in Anaheim.

So here’s to hoping for two more solid games from our Ducks as we wait to see who ends up in 7^th place and our first round opponent.  For tonight however let’s simply enjoy our 2^nd place clinch, and that we get to hang at least one banner in the rafters next season.  Oh, and how’s that for karma Justin Schultz?  Congrats to the Anaheim Ducks, Pacific Division Champs!