Home is sweet for Ducks in 2023 so far

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

It’s a different Dells Ducks team local fans have been given a chance to see since putting up new calendars at the beginning of this month, continuing Sunday with an important 6-1 win against the Minnesota Mullets.

After beginning the USPHL Premier Midwest-West regular season with seven straight home losses, the Ducks dropped another in October before snapping a 14-game season opening skid with a 2-1 edge agaisnt the Minnesota Blue Ox Nov. 5, 2022.

That was the lone win in 10 games played in Lake Delton before the Christmas Break.

Since returning from the break, the Ducks are 2-1 on home ice including the big one Sunday that takes the team a giant step toward clinching the eighth and final playoff spot.

On Sunday, the Ducks opened a 2-0 first period lead adding three more in the second before Mullets finally hit the scoreboard late in the frame.

Ethan Matthews (’02/South Bend, IN) led the way with two goals and an assist while linemate Adam Brown (’02/Westmont, IL) checked in with a goal and two helpers. Jack Kopfstein (’05/Vista, CA) and Reece Atkins (’03/Amery, WI) both added a goal and assist, the other goal coming from Jackson Stubblefield (’03/McKInney, TX).
Logan Potts (’03/Allen, TX); Ashot Davtyan (’05/Russia); Bryce Jacobsen (’02/DeForests, WI); Gage Senio (’02/Red Deer, AB); Alic Schuster (’04/Menomonee, WI) and Gabe Krueger (’03/Blaine, MN) each added an assist.

The Ducks pounded the Mullets’ goal with 57 shots while Chris Maszurek (’03/Batavia, IL) stoped all but one of 34 Mullets’ chances.

The Ducks have a total of seven games remaining in the regular season schedule. Following the three home games this weekend there will be one ore, Feb. 26 against the same Mullets. In between the Ducks will pay a visit to Coon Rapids, MN for a pair against the Minnesota Blue Ox and they have one more visit to the Hudson Havoc as well.

Ducks hoping to pack the Poppy Sunday afternoon

The Dells Ducks have a long way to go to get back near the top of the Premier Midwest-West Division, but this season has been a great turnaround campaign so far.

The team has enjoyed playing in front of growing crowds at the Lake Delton Ice Arena this season but they are asking for local support Sunday afternoon in what is likely its most important game of the season so far.

The Ducks will play host to the Minnesota Mullets with a 4:30 p.m. faceoff in its only game of the weekend.
As of the writing of this article (Thursday, Jan. 26, 2023), the Ducks sit at 9-24-2-1 on the regular season so far — not too shabby for a team that opened the campaign with 14 straight losses (including two in overtime and one in shootout).
That means, since the team collected its first win on home ice against the Minnesota Blue Ox on Nov.5, 2022, the Ducks have posted a record of 9-10 and that is a clear sign of success.

The nine wins is more than double the team’s total from last season and the Ducks, with eight games — five on home ice — to play, the Ducks have scored 84 goals this season, just 10 off last season’s pace and the team will likely break the 100-goal plateau for the first time since the 2019-20 campaign.

The biggest improvement comes in goals against though. The Ducks have allowed 172 goals this season, a wide disparity when compared to goals scored, but it is a near certainty the team will lop at least 100 goals off last season’s final total of 333. The Ducks have an outside shot at finishing with under 200 goals against which would be a huge improvement.

The Ducks currently sit in the eighth and final playoff position, six up on the Mullets and eight points behind the Blue Ox in seventh place. There are two games remaining with the Mullets, both at the Lake Delton Ice Arena. A win Sunday wouldn’t clinch that final playoff spot, but it would give the Ducks a more comfortable margin. The lead could be trimmed as the Mullets also play a home game Saturday against the Blue Ox.
Game time on Sunday is 4:30 p.m. and the Ducks could use the backing of local fans in this crucial game. Anyone who has been thinking about checking out the Ducks, this is the time as it should be an entertaining game as well as important.

Here is a quick look at what is left for the Ducks.

Games Remaining — 8

Home Games — 5
Jan. 29 vs. Minnesota Mullets 4:30 p.m.
Feb. 3 vs. Hudson Havoc 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 4-5 vs. Minnesota Squatch 7:30 p.m./1:30 p.m.
Feb. 26 vs. Minnesota Mullets 4:30 p.m.

Away Games — 3
Feb. 17/18 — @ Minnesota Blue Ox
Feb. 25 — @ Hudson Havoc

Havoc defense stymies Ducks

By Jim den Hollander
Editor/Publisher
Saukhockey.info
The Dells Ducks got a good look at what a division championship team looks like Saturday (Jan. 21) because thats about all the Hudson Havoc let them do.

The Ducks made the trek to the Wisconsin/Minnesota border for the first time this season to face off with the Havoc who entered the game riding a seven-game winning streak. The Havoc have dominated with rock solid defense this season and that was evident with a 53-5 edge in shots and a 5-0 win Saturday night.
The meeting was the second of the season, the Havoc collecting an 8-0 win in their first game of the season at Lake Delton Ice Arena in October.

The blanked defense Saturday earned the Havoc its second shutout in 24 hours with just five stops. Meanwhile, the true hero in this one…again…was Chris Mazurek, the Duck’s ’03 goaltender saddled with the loss despite a 48 save effort.

The Havoc scored twice in the first period with a 16-1 edge in shots adding two more in the second with an 18-2 margin and one more down the stretch when they outshot its guests 19-2.

The game was the only one of the weekend for the Ducks who will look to snap a four-game losing streak Sunday when the Minnesota Mullets pay a visit to the Lake Delton Ice Arena. The game will again be the team’s only game of the weekend, but it will begin a stretch of four straight on home ice.

The Ducks currently hold down the eighth and final playoff spot in the USPHL Premier Midwest-West Division, six points up on the ninth place Mullets who have played one game fewer. The Mullets will be even when they arrive in Lake Delton with a game the previous night on home ice against the Minnesota Blue Ox.

Havoc, Steele dominate Ducks in final three games

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The Dells Ducks wrapped up the USPHL Premier regular season with a tough trio of games but some friendly faces on the finale on Sunday night.

Back-to-back losses (10-0, 6-1) in Hudson against the Havoc Friday and Saturday and a 7-0 loss in both its home and regular season finale at Lake Delton Ice Arena Sunday against the Steele County Blades wrapped up a stretch of 13 losses suffered by the team since returning from the Christmas Break.

Some trades in the past few weeks have seen the team’s top two scoring players – Caden Glamkowski (‘04/St. Charles, IL) to the Chicago Cougars for Francesco Addante (‘02/Glenview, IL) who scored the previous weekend in Wisconsin Rapids and Jayden Tkaczuk (‘02/Channahon, IL) traded to the Detroit Fighting Irish for Andrew Crawford (‘05/Seattle, WA) heading to teams with a shot at a long playoff run.

They would be eligible to return next season which could give them a chance to improve on some strong offensive seasons this time around. Glamkowski became just the third player in the 11-year history of the Ducks to hit the 30-goal plateau in a season, joining Aidan Verbeke (37) in the team’s first season and Ian Wood (36, 34) who accomplished it in both the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons.

Tkaczuk was the team’s leading scorer last season, and his 56 points (24g, 32a) ranks him 16^th all time, two points and one spot in front of Glamkowski.

Ducks 0, 1 @ Havoc 10, 6

Friday night was a tough one for the Ducks in Hudson, the home side scoring twice in the opening six minutes on its way to a 4-0 first period lead, a total it matched in the middle period before rounding it off with two more down the stretch.

Anthony Falzone (‘03/St. Charles, IL) and Drew Moseley (‘02/St. Louis, MO) were the busiest players on the ice, facing a combined 67 shots while the Ducks challenged Matthew Powell with 19 shots, and he kicked them all away.

While cutting down the shots against and improving its own shots total Saturday night, the goaltending of Moseley was tested once again. He stopped 47 of 53 shots including all 19 of the shots he faced in the first period.

The Havoc found a way past him in the second period though and scored four times before Ducks’ captain Bryce Jacobsen (‘02/DeForest, WI), notched his 12^th goal of the season, unassisted.

Hudson added one more in the final period to clinch the win.

Blades 7 @ Ducks 0

Sunday’s game saw the Ducks once again outshot by a wide margin on a night that saw the team struggle in all three periods to get the puck beyond its own blue line.

Falzone got the start and once again faced a barrage from the opening faceoff, the Blades topping 20 shots in each frame while the hosts couldn’t get to double digits. Overall, it was a 74-15 edge for the visitors who scored, three in the first and last periods and once in the middle.

The seventh goal came against Jadon Mammen (‘04/Grapevine, TX) who replaced an exhausted Falzone through the final few minutes and faced eight shots.

Playoffs ahead

The Ducks move on to the post season as a major underdog, the number eight seed in the Midwest-West Division, taking on the top seeded Minnesota Blue Ox who finished the regular season 66 points ahead of the Dells’ squad.

The Best of Three series will begin Friday at the Coon Rapids Ice Center at 7 p.m. and the second game will be played Saturday night at the same time and place.

If needed, a third game would be played on Monday at 2:30 p.m., also in Coon Rapids.

Winner of this series will advance to the second round of four, battling for one of two Midwest-West division berths at the league’s national championship tournament to be played in Hudson, NH March 24-29.

Learning curve still steep for improving Ducks

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The Dells Ducks have shown a marked improvement over the course of the season, but the Minnesota Moose showed them in games Saturday and Sunday, the road to the top half of the USPHL’s Premier Midwest-West Division still features several cutbacks up the side of a steep mountain.

Recent games against the fifth place Steele County Blades showed the Ducks who for a second season are by far the youngest team in the division are closing in on being more than competitive with mid pack teams.

But back-to-back 11-2 defeats at the Fogerty Icehouse in Blaine, MN against the Moose were a tough pill to swallow for the locals.

In the opener on Saturday night, the Moose fired nearly 80 shots at Anthony Falzone (‘03/St. Charles, IL) and Drew Moseley (‘02/St. Louis, MO).

Again, the Ducks showed promise, staying with the Moose through the opening 20, but a 2-1 Moose cushion turned into a 5-1 lead in the second period and the Moose exploded for a half dozen down the stretch.

There have been some bright spots and one is the play of Samuel Soltes (‘04/Trnava, Slovakia). He scored his third goal in six games since joining the Ducks on a feed from Justin Green (‘01/Fort Worth, TX). The other goal came from Ethan Matthews (‘02/South Bend, IN) making his debut with the Ducks.

On Sunday, the start was similar, the Moose carrying a 1-0 lead into the second period before Jayden Tkaczuk (‘02/Channahon, IL) tied it with his 12^th goal of the season early in the second period from Caden Glamkowski (‘02/St. Charles, IL) and Bryce Jacobsen (‘02/DeForest, WI).

The Moose responded with the next 10 goals, five in the second period and five more in the final 20 before Tkaczuk notched his 13^th, again with help from Glamkowski and Jacobsen 47 seconds from the final buzzer.

Falzone and Jadon Mammen (‘04/Grapevine, TX) shared the work in this one, sharing the workload against another 70-plus shots on goal.

The losses in Blaine extended the team’s current losing streak to eight games with five games to play.

The first four are on the road in Wisconsin with a pair at the South Wood County Recreation Center in Wisconsin Rapids Friday and Saturday (Feb. 18-19) against the second place Riverkings and a week later in Hudson against the third place Havoc. The Ducks will wrap up the campaign at the Lake Delton Ice Arena Feb. 27 with one last chance to get by the Steele County Blades before the playoffs start.

Cyclones, Patriots spoil day for Dells Ducks

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

Coming off its most impressive win of the season and second win in its past three games, the Dells Ducks rolled into the middle day of action at the Islanders Hockey Club Showcase tournament at Merrimack College, North Andover, MA.

What awaited them though was an ambush from the Cincinnati Cyclones and Potomac Patriots. The level of competition was stepped up in a big way and the Ducks took a pair of losses on the chin by a combined score of 18-2.

Cyclones 10 Ducks 2

First up was another early morning contest against the Cyclones, a new team in the Great Lakes Division with a solid group of offensive weapons, including league leading scorer Drake Barnish who played three previous seasons with the Hudson Havoc.

Dells Ducks

Barnish added six more points to his total with three goals and three assists, Brendan Walk, another former Havoc player also racking up a half dozen with two goals and four helpers.

The Cyclones outshot the Ducks by a 16-6 margin in the opening period and carried a 5-1 margin in to the middle period.

Caden Glamkowski (‘04/St. Charles, IL), the Ducks’ leading scorer, fired his second of the game and 17^th of the season early in the middle period, but the final five goals all belonged to the Cyclones.

Jack Kopfstein (‘05/Vista CA) continued a four-game points streak of his own with assists on both Glamkowski goals, other help coming from Jayden Tkaczuk (02/Channahon, IL) and Lucas Taylor (‘04/Chandler, AZ).

Patriots 8 Ducks 0

The road was no easier later Saturday when the Ducks hit the ice against the Potomac Patriots.

The Patriots rolled into the contest buried in fifth and last spot in the league’s Southeast Division, a group that has laid claim to the league championship for the past half dozen seasons.

Charged up by a win against the always powerful Hampton Roads Whalers the previous weekend, the Pats rolled to a big shutout win and nearly 50 shots against the Ducks.

Despite a lopsided 13-4 edge in shots in the opening period, some standout work in goal (once again) from Drew Moseley limited the damage to a 1-0 Patriots’ lead.

Potomac put up another three in the middle period and four more down the stretch.

The Ducks, beginning the second half of the USPHL regular season with the Patriots, fell to 1-2 on the weekend and 3-20 in regular season play. The Ducks were hoping to wrap up a .500 weekend heading into Sunday and a final Showcase game against the Jersey Whalers.

Despite losses, Ducks making steps forward

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publsher

Saukhockey.info

The young and short-staffed Dells Ducks continue to inch closer to respectability despite a growing number in the loss column.

This past weekend the Ducks dropped all three games in a brief homestand against the Wiscolnsin Rapids Riverkings and Hudson Havoc.

After dropping the first game 10-2 against the Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings, the Ducks welcomed the Havoc on Saturday and Sunday, falling 9-2 and 6-0.

Dells Ducks

The Ducks fell to 1-17-0-0 with the losses but despite the lopsided scores there are clear signs of progress – albeit baby steps – especially when compared to the previous season.

Riverkings 10 Ducks 2

The Riverkings demolished the Ducks by a combined score of 63-3 in six games played last season. The Ducks grabbed two-thirds of those goals for in their first meeting with the Riverkings Friday and have made strides on offense this season.

Early goals have hindered the Ducks this season and while the Ducks looked sharp through the first five minutes, the Riverkings did manage to notch one in the eighth minute, the only goal of the opening period.

The Ducks’ Waterloo came in the final five minutes of the second period. The Riverkings went up 3-0 but Caden Glamkowski responded with his 12^th goal of the season, from Jack Kopfstein and Jayden Tkaczuk less than a minute later.

Teams traded four more goals through the final three minutes of the period, but three of those four came off Riverkings sticks turning a 3-1 lead into a 6-2 margin heading to the third.

Glamkowski notched the other Ducks’ goal was well, help coming from Bryce Jacobsen and Jacob Cartland.

Anthony Falzone stopped all but one of the 17 shots he faced in the opening period, but the Riverkings wore the Ducks’ goaltender down in the middle frame with 28 more shots and he ended up with 47 saves on 55 shots before William Carney took over in the final 15 minutes, beaten twice on 20 shots before the final buzzer.

Havoc 9 Ducks 2

The puck was dropped on Saturday night and the Ducks immediately found itself under pressure from the Hudson squad.

Thanks in part to some standout goaltending from Carney, the Ducks made it into the second half of the period without surrendering a goal, despite a dominant from for the guests who fired the game’s first 21 shots on its way to a 38 shot period and a 3-1 lead on the score sheet.

Ironically, the Ducks cut into a 3-0 Havoc lead with its first shot of the night as Tkaczuk buried his fourth of the season, from Glamkowski.

Tkaczuk added another in the second, from Glamkowski and Kopfstein and the Ducks were still in the game, trailing 5-2 with 20 minutes to go. Four more down the stretch for a Havoc team on its way to an overwhelming 82-19 margin in shots led to the lopsided score

Havoc 6 Ducks 0

After allowing the first 21 shots the previous day, the Ducks came out and put the first shot of the game at the Hudson goaltender, but the lead was short-lived as Drew Moseley kicked out all 18 he faced for the Ducks who remained scoreless entering the second despite an 18-3 edge on shots for the visitors.

The Havoc finally opened the scoring in the fourth minute of the middle period and carried a 3-0 lead into the third where three more put the game out of reach.

It was a tough weekend for the Ducks on the scoresheet, but rookie forward Caden Glamkowski continued to add to his team-leading totals with two goals and an assist. He currently leads the team in scoring with 13 goals and 24 points in 18 games played. PHOTO COURTESY VINCE PETERSON

In all, Moseley faced 69 shots.

The shots against is an area the Ducks have tried to address since the beginning of the season and while the edge is still lopsided it is general still better than last season. No doubt though, the goaltenders have accepted the role of trying to put the team on its back on many nights.

The Ducks headed back into practice this week to prepare for its first two-game weekend in a month. It wll seem like a break compared to the 10 games placed in the past two weeks. The Ducks will head to Isanti, MN to take on the Rum River Mallards for the final two times this season. Game time will be 7 p.m. on both nights and both games will be available on HockeyTV

Riverkings, Havoc next challenge for Ducks

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The Dells Ducks will return home for its third straight weekend of three or more games with visits from the Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings on Friday and the Hudson Havoc Saturday and Sunday.

After this weekend, the Ducks, who enter with a 1-14 record will have played all seven of its USPHL Premier Midwest-West Division opponents at least once. While a core group of players are enjoying stellar individual campaigns, the young team has found it difficult to find the win column.

After a thrilling overtime win against the Chicago Cougars in the third game of the season, September 24, the Ducks dropped a dozen straight.

Making things a bit more difficult, the team has played short-staffed the past couple weeks, but the defense corps got a needed boost at the Midwest-West Showcase with the addition of Evan Haddeman (‘04/Hudson, IA), who came to the Ducks after starting the season with the Lake Tahoe Lakers in the Premier Pacific Division.

Also in the lineup was Zachary Windom, an ‘05 defenseman from Allen, TX who has been with the team since opening day but recovering from an ankle injury. Easily the youngest defense corps in the division if not the league, the Ducks enter the weekend with two ‘05’s (Windom and Jack Kopfstein) and three ‘04’s (Haddeman, Thomas Howell and Lucas Taylor).

Once again, the upcoming tests will be difficult as the Riverkings and Havoc are perennial top-four finishers although a quick look at the division history books shows a Havoc team that made its own way up from rock bottom about five seasons ago.

Since 2018, the Ducks have won just twice in 14 starts against the Riverkings and both – a 1-0 win in 2019 that saw Emil Norrman kicking out all 47 shots he faced, and a 4-3 edge in 2020 that saw Jason Heard scoring a pair of goals. Heard has returned to the Ducks on a part time basis whenever his job commitments in Chicago allow.

Last season, the Ducks squared off with the Riverkings five times and scored just one goal….total. The Riverkings meanwhile hit double digits on the scoreboard in three of the games. Needless to say, the Riverkings have had the Ducks’ number in recent seasons.

The Ducks have posted a 2-9-2-0 record against the Havoc since 2018 but the Havoc has claimed the last 11. The Ducks last win came Nov. 3, 2018.

Game time on both Friday and Saturday will be 7:30 p.m. with a 1:30 p.m. Matinee contest on Sunday.

Coach Falzone talks strategy with his charges during a brief break in the team’s second practice of the day at the Lake Delton Ice Arena on Thursday, Nov. 4. The Ducks will entertain the Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings on Friday and follow it up with Saturday and Sunday games against the visiting Hudson Havoc.

Winless weekend but solid moments for Ducks

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

It came as no real surprise the Ducks wrapped up play at its first Showcase of the season with a tough loss against the Minnesota Blue Ox.

The Ducks have improved each time on the ice, but playing in a tough division and wrapping up a four-game weekend with a battle against perhaps the division’s best team, the 9-2 final score defeat didn’t come as a huge shock.

The Blue Ox carried a 3-0 lead out of the first period before Adam Chaudhri (‘04/Allen, TX) collected his first goal as a junior early in the second on a feed from Jacob Cartland (‘02/Mukwonago, WI) to get the Ducks on the board.

Dells Ducks

Blue Ox responded with another pair before Caden Glamkowski (‘04/St. Charles, IL) added a second for the Ducks, his 11^th of the season, from Jayden Tkaczuk (‘02/Chanahon, IL) and Dillon Collings (‘02/Golden, CO) who last played with the team in the 2020-21 season.

The Ox added one more in the second period and widened the gap with three more in the final frame.

The Ducks finished the Showcase winless and continue to home ice this coming weekend with a 1-14-0-0 regular season record.

The record is certainly not what the team what hoping for at the beginning of the season, but while the team is having its struggles, there are players who have made their presence felt in a big way.

It’s hard to miss Caden Glamkowski, on a pace for one of the best offensive seasons in the team’s history. The Illinois rookie has hit the 20-point mark (11g, 9a) in 15 games, one more than Jayden Tkaczuk had as the team’s leading scorer last season. Glamkowski collected points in all four games at the Showcase and has been kept off the sheet just twice in the team’s first 15 matches.

Tkaczuk also has been making up for lost time. He has three goals and nine assists in just 11 games with the team so far while rookie Jake Cartland has 15 points (6g, 9a) and the 14 points (4g, 10a) is five more than he collected playing in 23 games last season.

The gap between those players and the rest of the pack is wide, but 16 Ducks’ players have collected at least a point and the supporting cast is becoming more of an offensive factor.

The Ducks began preparing for another busy weekend against the only two teams the Ducks have not played yet in the Midwest-West Division.

After a Friday night contest against the always tough Wisconsin Rapids Riverkings (7:30 p.m.) the Ducks will complete an all-Wisconsin weekend with matches against the Hudson Havoc on Saturday (7:30 p.m.) and Sunday (1:30 p.m.). The homestand will be the fifth of the season for the Ducks who will not play at home again until 2022.

Ducks squad runs out of gas near finish line

By Jim den Hollander

Editor/Publisher

Saukhockey.info

The ninth and final period of a busy weekend was where the understaffed and not entirely well Dells Ducks team hit a wall on Sunday afternoon.

With a pair of decent, but ultimately unsuccessful efforts in the Twin Cities against the Minnesota Mullets already under its belt, the Ducks stopped at the Four Seasons Center in Owatonna on the way home Sunday afternoon to take on the host Steele County Blades.

The Ducks entered the weekend with a depleted roster with several team members either battling or just finished with a cold. Even at 2-2 early and down 4-2 with a period to go, the Ducks ultimately succumbed 8-2.

The Ducks were facing a Blades team that opened the season with five wins in its first eight games but coming off an 11-5 win on home ice against the Minnesota Blue Ox who beat them soundly for a second time already this season.

The Ducks tried to take advantage in the opening periods, staying with the Blades for the most part, but trailing 3-2 after 20 minutes. The Blades added one more in the second and the game was still up for grabs entering the final 20. But the Ducks were running on empty and got beat four more times although the shot clock showed a somewhat closer margin, 15-11 for the host Blades.

Overall, the Blades outshot the Ducks 53-28, a margin that while still wide, is staring to be narrowed at both ends. Ducks enjoyed its best weekend in terms of shots on goal so far this season.

Down 2-0 before the game’s three-minute mark, the Ducks fought back with goals from Bryce Jacobsen and Jayden Tkaczuk 18 seconds apart to even the score at the 7:16 mark. Thomas Howell and Jacob Cartland also collected points with an assist apiece.

Tanner Stendel paced the Blades’ attack firing three goals and adding three assists for his first six points of the season.

Anthony Falzone started for the Ducks, stopping 38 shots before Drew Moseley mopped up in the third with another seven stops.

It would be nice to be able to say the Ducks will get a chance to catch its breath, but instead the team is rolling through its shortest off-week of the season, heading back to Blaine, MN for a four-game weekend at the Midwest-West Showcase.

Ducks will begin play at 12:30 p.m. Thursday with a rematch against the Mullets, then gets a rematch against the Blades on Friday at 9 a.m. The Ducks will play a second game Friday at 5:40 p.m. against the Rum River Mallards, the first meeting since the opening weekend of the season with this rival. Wrapping up play on Saturday, the Ducks will face off against the Minnesota Blue Ox at 5:40 p.m.

The Ducks enter the Showcase with a 1-10-0-0 record, in eighth place in the division, three points behind the Mallards and a Hudson Havoc team that has played just four games so far.