Rinse, trim excess fat from duck. Take a sharp knife and cut slits in the SKIN of the duck in a number of places on the back, ribs sides, thighs, drumsticks but NOT in the skin on the breast. Place duck on a rack in a roasting pan, laying it with the back up. Place in preheated oven for about 7 minutes. Turn duck over and place in oven for another 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from oven (turn oven off) and move duck to a cutting board and allow it to cool enough that you can handle it. Drain fat off pan and discard it. Reserve roasting pan. When duck has cooled, with a sharp knife, quarter the duck. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees F. Place duck pieces skin side down on a roasting pan, sprinkle salt and black pepper. Bake in preheated oven at 350 Degree F. for 10 minutes. While duck is cooking, in a 2 quart saucepan, combine ginger ale with sliced ginger root; bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer until reduced to about 1 cup. Add orange juice, brown sugar, orange marmalade, and chopped green onions and 2 Tbsp brandy. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until mixture is a thin syrup. This takes about 30 minutes. Remove ginger; turn duck skin side up and drain off any fat. Baste thoroughly with sauce. Return to oven and bake for 7 minutes basting well. Add 3 Tbsp brandy to the remaining sauce and simmer until thickened. When duck has reached desired doneness (DON'T OVERCOOK), place duck on serving platter and pour sauce on it. Serve with wild rice, or parsleyed potatoes.

The only thing cooking in Denver at the moment is the blood of the fan base.  Neither team coming into this game is setting the league on fire. While the Ducks still sit in the 8th playoff spot, they are 3-7-0 in their last 10 games and could very soon find themselves basted with an orange sauce and sent to the tables.  The Avs are currently on the outside and if things don't change in a hurry their reservation for dinner will be canceled. The Avs had hoped to take advantage of an 8 game home stand, but instead of serving up some tasty desert to their fans, they left the oven unwatched and have been burned in 4 of their last 5 games and 6 of the last 10.

In the first match of the season the Ducks defeated the Avs 4-1 in Anaheim, with Teemu Selanne scoring twice.  Selanne has 25 goals and 54 points in 50 games versus the Avs. The Ducks, however, have struggled lately on the road, and more so in Denver, where they are 1-5-2 since 2003. Selanne hopes to give his team a boost as he plays his second game since missing 17 straight with a lacerated thigh.

"I think this is going to be the statement for ourselves," Selanne told the Ducks' official Web site on Thursday. "We are going to take a huge step forward in those away games."

Other Ducks to watch are youngsters Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry who lead the Ducks with 58 and 44 points respectively.  Rookie Booby Ryan is riding a six game point streak and is tied for the team lead in goals with 17.

If the Avs want to cook up a win they need to get on the Ducks early and keep them off the board. The Ducks have scored 2 goals or fewer 23 times this season and have won just seven of those games, with three wins coming in OT/SO. The Avs continue to get scoring from their first line as Milan Hejduk scored twice in a 4-7 basting at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs. But with youngster David Jones out of the lineup the Avs need someone else to step up and put some points on the board.

Goaltenders have yet to be announced but I would bet Peter Budaj will get the start after Raycroft was roasted for seven goals on Thursday by his former team.  For the Ducks, it might be better for the Avs if Giguere is in net as apposed to Hiller.

J. Giguere 12-12-4  3.08 GAA and a 9.04 Sv%

J. Hiller 12-10-1  2.14 GAA and a .926 Sv%

P. Budaj 14-19-1  2.91 GAA and .899 Sv%

A. Raycroft 9-6-0  3.01 GAA and .895 Sv%