Manitoba Moose

Dan Sexton has come to learn a thing or two about twists and turns during the past several months.

The latest step in the incredible journey from relative unknown to red-hot-rookie saw the shifty right-winger reassigned to the Manitoba Moose after putting up nine goals and 18 points in 28 games with the Anaheim Ducks.

That in itself isn't that shocking, but considering Sexton started the campaign in the ECHL with the Bakersfield Condors, the level of success he had in the NHL was a pretty big eye-opener.

"I feel so lucky with the situation I'm in -- last year I was in college with nothing like this in sight," said Sexton, who was signed by the Ducks as an undrafted free agent following his sophomore season with Bowling Green State University of the NCAA. "If you had told me I would be playing in the AHL, I wouldn't have believed you. To be able to play in the NHL for as many days as I did and have that sort of impact, it was a dream come true. It was a special time up there, everything I expected and more."

While there was an obvious dose of disappointment upon hearing the news he'd been demoted, Sexton's not planning to waste any time pouting about being back to the Moose.

"Whenever you get a change of pace, it's exciting," said Sexton, who had a goal and three points in five AHL games with the Moose in November and early December. "You never really know what to expect. I feel pretty lucky to have a place like this to come back to. Everything here is first class and I'm excited to be back. I'm going to work as hard as I can while I'm here and see where that takes me.

"The two months I had up there were great and they were a surprise. To be down here now is perfectly fine with me. It's where I thought I would be most of the year anyway. I've had such a roller-coaster year that coming here just seemed like another step."

Sexton didn't hide the fact he was excited to face the Rampage, a team that cut him after AHL training camp and sent him to the Bakersfield Condors of the ECHL.

"It's going to be interesting," said Sexton, noting a few of his close friends and fellow Ducks prospects play for the Rampage. "I haven't seen them since I got axed from San Antonio. It'll be a good time. You always want to do well against a team you got sent down from."

Sexton admits he was a bit wet-behind-the-ears in terms of experience when he joined the Moose the first time.

"It'll be kind of cool to see how far I've come now and how the game has kind of changed in my own eyes and my own head," said Sexton, noting he enjoyed playing for former Moose head coach and general manager Randy Carlyle. "The amount of pressure I put on myself to play well and play my game is going to be more than what other people put on me, no matter how much that may be. All I want is to produce. I plan to come in and do the same things that made me successful in the NHL."

Sexton, 22, figures to move onto the top line with Marco Rosa and Michael Grabner for Friday's game.

"Anytime you can get a goal scorer -- and he's proven to be a goal-scorer here very quickly -- we'll throw him right in there and hopefully he has success for us as well," said Moose head coach Scott Arniel, who admitted he was a little surprised by Sexton's immediate success with the Ducks. "You don't often see guys make the jump that quick. In saying that, we did hear about his hands and about how skilled he was. The one thing he was really good at is putting pucks in the net and he capitalized on his opportunity."