Carter sent cross-country

Somehow, I missed this last week, but the Ducks sent Ryan Carter to their AHL affilate in Portland, Maine. He played four games for Anaheim before going to the minors.

Jeff Miller of the Orange County Register wrote some pretty funny stuff about Carter before the demotion:

It brings power, winning a championship does, power and recognition and an allure the depth of which can be difficult to grasp. Take the case of Ryan Carter, who, before last season's conference finals, never had appeared in the NHL.

Then he debuted against the Red Wings, played two more games in that series and one game in the finals. Carter was in for 24 shifts, totaling barely 12 minutes.

And this summer, there was a "Ryan Carter Day" in Mankato, Minn., and a "Ryan Carter Day" in White Bear Lake, Minn.

Had he actually registered a point, the entire state still might be celebrating "Ryan Carter Year." Who knows? Maybe Minnesota's new nickname will be "Land of 10,000 'Ryan Carter Days.' "

"I never thought about that till right now," said Carter, who had as many days named in his honor as Scott and Rob Niedermayer did combined. "I guess that's not something that happens all the time."