Open Gameday Recap Thread Kings @ Ducks
by Daniel AC on Feb 8, 2010 10:44 PM PST
in Gameday
34 comments
DANIEL:
Three streaks came into this game, but only one survived. The Kings had a 5 game win streak against the Ducks, they had won their last 9, and the Ducks had a 9 game home winning streak. The Ducks now have a 10 game home winning streak. Unfortunately, it came at the expense of Ryan Getzlaf's ankle. Associated Press reports that Getzlaf sprained his ankle and that x-rays were negative.
Still, being able to solve the Kings might go a long way to helping the Ducks' confidence considering how the Kings had found so many ways to beat them. Jonathan Quick made some phenomenal saves early on, but was eventually solved by Teemu Selanne while the Ducks had a 2-man advantage. After that Getzlaf and Saku Koivu put the Ducks up by two and Corey Perry answered a power play goal by Anze Kopitar to preserve the 2 goal lead.
An overall solid effort by the Ducks, although I still think we can't trade Wisniewski soon enough. Some of the things he does are just infuriating. It'll take more games like this to get the Ducks to close that gap between them and the 8 seed in time to make the playoffs.
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Some shots from the game
I was saying boo-urns.
by Floyd Gondoli on Feb 8, 2010 11:24 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
You lucky bastard
haha. awesome shots. I gotta get Row A in the next three years. I can’t let 20 years go by without sitting on the glass and without taking a ride on that damned Zamboni.
by Arthur from Anaheim Calling on Feb 8, 2010 11:41 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Dude
They had one of the power player girls on the Zamboni tonight. It was almost like they couldn’t find somebody else to be up there….
Best parts of the night:
1.) Some guy kept calling Troy Bodie “Lurch”. It was awesome. He looks like a monster up close. The reason I think he hasn’t been reassigned is that everybody’s afraid to tell him he’s getting sent down.
2.) Jason Blake actually makes Todd Marchant look like a grown up. He’s not 5’10", he’s 5’10" with his skates on and 186lbs wearing all his gear.
3.) I am officially on the Ryan Whitney sucks bandwagon now. Guys half his size were out muscling him for the puck in close quarters. At times he looked lost/confused out there and I just hope that being named to the Olympic team hasn’t made him think that he’s better than he is.
4.) God bless James Wisniewski. Nobody tries harder (well, other than Koivu) and I just wish I could transfer his determination and confidence to somebody with some size, skills and an idea of where he’s supposed to be on the ice.
I was saying boo-urns.
by Floyd Gondoli on Feb 9, 2010 12:18 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Just about sums that up. Didn’t notice the PP girl on the Zamboni though, didn’t pay attention to who was riding them, although I did have a conversation about riding on them in general
Ohh! You guys!
by brokenyard on Feb 9, 2010 12:53 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
in keeping with site rules, all substantive posts entitled ‘dude’ are rec’d
by Arthur from Anaheim Calling on Feb 9, 2010 1:03 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
haha didn't know that rule
Draft Mocker/ Co-Leader of yearly 7 round live mock draft at MtD
previously known as (ANGELSFAITH)
by TheAngelsColts on Feb 9, 2010 6:57 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
I love that last picture, because we do need to get some D.
Ohh! You guys!
by brokenyard on Feb 9, 2010 12:54 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Glad to see that the Ducks won! :D I went to bed early just so I wouldn’t get tempted to watch the game.
"Just another Halo victory" - Rory Markas
by Slyintine on Feb 9, 2010 1:16 AM PST reply actions 0 recs
Soldier
by Arthur from Anaheim Calling on Feb 9, 2010 12:16 PM PST via mobile up reply actions 0 recs
It’s pretty tough not watching a Ducks game. Hockey is my one of my two most favorite sports to watch and follow.
"Just another Halo victory" - Rory Markas
by Slyintine on Feb 10, 2010 12:35 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
An overall solid effort by the Ducks, although I still think we can’t trade Wisniewski soon enough.
Seriously — I’d hate to see the team win an eleventh in a row at home. He’s really turning this home win streak into a downer, apparently.
I kid, of course, but man — this guy apparently only gets measured in mistakes. Are you guys even looking for upside anymore?
http://www.battleofcali.com/
by Earl Sleek on Feb 9, 2010 6:57 AM PST reply actions 0 recs
Other than a blocked shot
that led to a breakway, he had a good night. Ryan Whitney, on the other hand, single-handedly set up the Kings first goal by making a perfect pass to one of their forwards.
by PhantomPretender on Feb 9, 2010 7:48 AM PST via mobile up reply actions 0 recs
See, I don’t even blame either guy for those things the way daniel does. These are offensive guys. I expect them to force plays, maybe Brett Favre the situation. When wisniewski hobbles back to the bench or just sits on the ice (especially when he finishes those games) and when Whitney is tickling someone half his size in front of the net, that’s when I’m infuriated. I don’t hate offensive defensemen for being stupid. As far as I’m concerned ‘stupid offensive defenseman’ is redundant.
by Arthur from Anaheim Calling on Feb 9, 2010 9:04 AM PST via mobile up reply actions 0 recs
Daniel’s hate is real, but he tends to hold
everything against him, including mental mistakes, turnovers, etc. My only problem with him is that he didn’t do what murray asked, which is just to stay healthy and focus on his offense. After those first few injuries, he cut down his hitting and stopped fighting, but he’s still getting injured on those shot blocks (in a system that emphasizes not leaving your feet to block shots). I just don’t see how anyone who was injured his last contract year could open his next contract year trying to crap awaythe opportunity. It’s like a kid tanking his draft year. why would you draft him 1st round? So, Why should we give him 3m/yr long term? So we can have as many long term disappointing defensemen as possible?
by Arthur from Anaheim Calling on Feb 9, 2010 8:52 AM PST via mobile up reply actions 0 recs
Still unsure how that was the takeaway from last night’s game. Did Daniel even see Ryan Whitney, perchance, or was this a pre-written line?
http://www.battleofcali.com/
by Earl Sleek on Feb 9, 2010 8:56 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
I saw Ryan Whitney. The biggest difference between Wiz and Whitney is who they play with. I think we should all be able to agree that Niedermayer makes Wiz look better than he is, just like Whitney was made to look better offensively by playing with Gonchar. Personally, I think Whitney’s biggest problem is that he doesn’t play to his size. Wisniewski’s biggest problem is that he wants to win a Norris Trophy.
Whitney did a good job along the boards and he skates out the puck, Wiz tends to look for a quick outlet pass rather than let one develop. Wisniewski thinks the best clearing option is the center of the ice, and Wisniewski almost never makes a safe play if he can make a daring one. I think Arthur’s comparison to Brett Favre is very accurate and that’s infuriating to me. Wiz is fragile and unpredictable, and I just don’t think you can be both and demand top 4 money. Plus, Whitney was great when he was playing with Brookbank! I thought he had severely cut down turnovers, he played more physical, and he was contributing offensively. Wisniewski has always been unpredictable, although the offensive upside is a bit undeniable.
Finally, I think the reason I hate Wisniewski so much, and I notice all of his mistakes is because they come at the most inopportune times. For example last night, Wiz goes down to stop the pass to Ryan Smyth, even though Smyth is along the goal line and Niedermayer is going to be between Smyth and the net. As a result, Kopitar slips past Wiz and is open on the other side of Hiller. If Perry doesn’t score 24 seconds later that could have been a huge momentum changer. Whitney is bad, but I think Wisniewski’s desire to be too good is just more dangerous in clutch situations.
by Daniel AC on Feb 9, 2010 9:47 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Let me get this straight
Trying to actively defend a shot which leads to a non lead-changing or trying goal is somehow worse than a lazy pass that sets up the opening goal of the game that puts you behind?
Look, I’m no Wiz apologist. He does stupid things sometimes. But they’re usually the result of too much effort. Whitney makes mistakes when it looks like he’s not focused. I don’t know about you, but I’ll take the guy who plays too hard and takes himself out of position over the guy who seemingly can’t make a routine play.
I know you guys hate on Wiz but its getting a little absurd. Wiz aint the main problem on the D line. I can’t really see us having two offensive D men who are prone to mistakes. But if u have to keep one, why would you keep the one that seeningly doesn’t play as hard as the other?
by PhantomPretender on Feb 9, 2010 10:14 AM PST via mobile up reply actions 0 recs
I've said it before
But let me repeat. I, personally, want to see both of them gone. I know I made people choose in that poll, but that’s only because, statistically, I couldn’t make the argument that whitney was worse than wisniewski, which was my intention.
I don’t blame wiz for all our problems, but I’m more vocal about wiz because it’s a contract year, an election year, if you will. It’s protest time. Whitney we’re stuck with until someone has salary to spare and cap hit to save to take him. If we sign wiz to a long term as well, you’ll hear me say less and less about it apart from calling out the bad decision making on murray’s part. At the end of the day, neither of these guys chose this system or this team. I can only blame them so much for not adjusting to it or being highlighted by it. But the decision to keep them in it can still be avoided, at least where wiz is concerned
by Arthur from Anaheim Calling on Feb 9, 2010 11:12 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
My hate of Wisniewski stems from a few places.
1) we traded Pahlsson for this guy.
2) he gets hurt too much
3) Being saddled with a big Wisniewski contract when he gets hurt will be awful
4) Everyone seems to think that playing hard is enough and they give him a pass
To address the respective mistakes of last night: I didn’t see Wiz stopping a shot, I saw him trying to stop a pass to a guy who was covered by Niedermayer and letting the Kings most dangerous offensive player glide past him to the far post. I saw Whitney move the puck into traffic a long the boards, granted there was open ice and a defensive partner to take the puck, but it’s not like he was going up the middle. To me, Whitney’s mistake comes on that play happens when he doesn’t give Frolov a good shove when he has the chance. I don’t know if that’s a mental mistake, or him being a little soft, or whatever, but it’s not the PP gift that Wisniewski gives up. Also, I see that as the negative of an offensive D-man; they’re usually a little soft and can be susceptible to power moves. Whitney shouldn’t have that problem because he’s so big, but he does. Wisniewski giving up his check to stop a pass to a guy who has somebody ready to defend against him, is the mistake of a guy who wants to make a great play when the right thing to do is not give up Kopitar
Building off of Arthur’s point about the “election year” of Wisniewski, my choice essentially comes to this: do I hold on to a guy who has a tendency to try too hard and create unpredictable mistakes for the same amount of money I pay a guy who makes more predictable mistakes. My problem with Wisniewski has always been that his game is unpredictable. You never know when he’s going to be a tough guy, an offensive defenseman or a stay-at-home guy. He makes mistakes as all three and his skill set is more conducive to being an offensive d-man, but he insists on doing other things and taking risks all over the ice. Does he try hard? Of course! But he also tries too hard. Think back to the Brett Favre comparison that Arthur made. There are times when I think Wiz’s bad decisions stem from a desire to make an awesome play when a good one will do. I feel like with Whitney, I know the awful that I’m getting, but with Wisniewski he explores new ways of being awful in an attempt to be an amazing that he just doesn’t have the skill set/health to be.
We are stuck with Whitney’s contract; but if we keep Wisniewski at the top 4 money that his stats seem to suggest, I think our defensive corp might be in trouble for a long time. I’m aware of how hard it is to change attitudes, and I’m not sure if Wiz can do anything to redeem himself in my eyes short of winning a Conn Smythe in a 2010 Cup run. Even then, I’d be worried that his knee would break in training camp. In the end, I think that when Whitney plays with a sturdy stay-at-home defenseman he knows his role and he plays it. If you put Wisniewski in the same situation, I still think that he tries too hard and makes the same mental mistakes. I guess for me, I can imagine a situation we can create to limit Whitney’s mistakes, but maybe not Wisniewski’s.
by Daniel AC on Feb 9, 2010 11:47 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
I didn't see last night's game yet
I was just defending myself from the idea that I had anything to do with daniel’s opinion there. He’s his own person, with his own ideas. We don’t write recaps as a tandem. And we hate wisniewski for different reasons. I’ve even posted an “in defense of James wisniewski” thread, which Daniel would never do. So, I was simply challenging the collective address of your comment
by Arthur from Anaheim Calling on Feb 9, 2010 11:17 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
This is hilarious
AC and BoC are going to cause a rift in the mindset of the Ducks fans here. Frankly, this could get awesome.
Ohh! You guys!
by brokenyard on Feb 9, 2010 2:10 PM PST reply actions 0 recs
I don’t think it’s a noteworthy rift. Sleek is pretty in tune with the Ducks fanbase, while either Daniel or I are usually out of step. And I’ve always been out of step— just the fact that I don’t boo Kariya denies me entry to the Duck fan treehouse. I’m sure most every fan agrees with Sleek regarding all things Wisniewski, so the rift is really between AC’s disapproval and the opinion of every other Ducks fan. And no one really cares what we think.
by Arthur from Anaheim Calling on Feb 9, 2010 2:41 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
As a guy who casually drifts in and out of these blogs depending on how busy I am with life, I usually get my dose of Duck fans opinions with friends and co-workers, but it kind of sounds like most people dislike Whitney primarily, simply because he doesn’t really do anything worth noting except the occasional goal from time to time with a shot that really isn’t all too impressive, it was just lucky timing with a fortunate deflection.
When I first heard that Whitney got named to the USA team, I had two conflicting thoughts
A) Cool, that’s one more Duck in the olympics
B) I’m bummed for USA that Whitney is considered one of our best defensemen
I’ve seen way too many turnovers by him, he gets outworked, and overall I’m just very unimpressed considering he’s supposed to be one of our top D-men, particularly coming off from a season with Pronger and Beauchemin in the line up. I was bummed to see Phaneuf go to the Leafs, although I don’t like him much, I would love to see him in a Ducks jersey simply because of his intensity, something Whitney has almost nothing of.
I really don’t think much of Wiz, I don’t hate him, but I sure don’t love him, signing him to a big contract worth a lot will be a big mistake.
And as for the not booing Kariya bit, I stopped doing that like 5 years ago myself. It got old and kind of meaningless
by ASale on Feb 9, 2010 9:26 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Hey ASale
Thanks for weighing in. I didn’t mean to make it sound like I love Whitney and Sleek loves Wisniewski. Daniel’s opinions aside, let me say that I don’t like Whitney, and I certainly didn’t see anything from him in Pittsburgh that would make me think he would be good in the Western Conference. And it’s not as though Sleek loves Wiz. From the barometer I got from him, he just doesn’t mind giving the guy, say, Beauchemin’s Toronto contract – 3 yrs/10M. And I think most Ducks fans feel that way, if not more so, because I think Wisniewski is actually asking for 5 years and I don’t think Ducks fans are balking at that. I just think he’s a bottom pairing defensemen, and we’re forcing him into a role where he can’t really shine or stay healthy on a long contract.
I’m more vocal about Wiz because the decision to sign him is happening in a matter of months. Constantly complaining about Whitney would amount to what they call over at Japers’ Rink: ‘relentless negativity.’ This is a graduated contract that we acquired by trade; it probably ain’t going anywhere. And it’s up to Murray when this experiment is over anyways. Be sure, for me, not necessarily for Daniel, Wisniewski BECOMES Whitney the moment we sign him, another headache that I will quietly sulk about and will manifest itself as FIRE BOB MURRAY in all of my posts.
As to Kariya, I should have been more clear. I NEVER boo’d Paul Kariya. I read Net Worth by David Cruise after the 90s lockout, and I have never sided with management over players on free agency issues since. I don’t really believe Bryan Murray’s side of the story, and even if what he says is true, I don’t blame Kariya for pushing on the free agent wall for 6 years. Every player did back then. Sometimes it was a Fedorov situation, where the fans despised you for doing it. Sometimes it was a Sakic situation, where the fans loved you despite it. But no one was thrilled that teams owned you until you were 30. There are reasons to boo Kariya, for sure, but I simply don’t agree with the reason most Ducks fans boo him. And I don’t know if Sleek does either, actually— I just realized it sounded like that in my last comment.
by Arthur from Anaheim Calling on Feb 10, 2010 9:52 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
In my opinion that is a bit too high of a price to pay for Wiz, simply knowing that I feel that I would take Beauchemin over Wiz any day, simply over on ice play. In terms of personality, I like Wiz much more, he seems more vocal and outgoing, but I’d rather have Beauchemin on the blueline for sure. That being said, I think 10 million for 3 years is too high of a price, however If he wants 5 years, and it doesn’t exceed 10 million I’d be OK with that, simply because we could use depth on defense and it wouldn’t be a HUGE drain on the cap.
The only reason I really boo’d Kariya was because he kept hinting that he’d be back the next year, after having taken us on a monumental Stanley Cup run and have being one of the main faces of our franchise for nearly a decade, only to leave us for a drastic pay cut to play for a team that seemed like it was cashing in all it’s chips just for one Stanley Cup run. Basically I felt like Kariya was saying “I want to play with this team that WILL win (even though they didn’t) rather than take my chances with this cinderella team again.” That with the fact that we would have next to zero scoring without him (prior to the Fedorov signing, which really didn’t do much anyways), it felt like any chance we had at doing something great again went out the window.
However when it comes down to contract work, I was just a kid in high school, and knew little to nothing about the situation, to be honest I don’t really know what went on between Murray and Kariya still today.
by ASale on Feb 10, 2010 11:31 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Wiz would want 15-20M for 5 yrs.
On Kariya, he took the paycut to become an unrestricted free agent. Under the old CBA, one of the only ways to become a UFA before turning 30 was to take less than the league average. I don’t even know if he cared where he played as long as he was a UFA, though I’m sure playing for a contender mattered to Teemu.
The tough thing about that CBA is superstars basically sold out the young players to avoid the salary cap. And Kariya, who was on a small (compared to Daigle) “wait and see” first contract found the rules had changed and Anaheim intended to keep him until he was 30 when they negotiated in 97. Now you can say Kariya changed his mind about the ducks and Anaheim in that time or that management always intended to screw him, but from that holdout in 97, both sides clearly wanted different things.
And I don’t think it’s a stretch to say they hated each other; I definitely think sakic signing that rangers offer sheet was hateful and that franchise gave him a cup. It’s really tough fr me to blame either side without relying on innuendo and rumor. What I do know, is from a cold management perspective, Bryan Murray had the power to tender a qualifying offer and keep Kariya a Duck, and he didn’t exactly use the 10M to wheel and deal afterward. Whether Kariya ever wanted to play for us or whether he hated us and the front office from ‘97 is meaningless to me (mostly because I don’t care if sports stars are assholes). Bryan Murray had the power to keep the product on the ice, but he didn’t. And someone, undoubtedly, is going to put up Murrays side that Kariya bamboozled Murray. Even if that’s true, so what? Murray got tricked by a guy who had a very public holdout trying to get less money for fewer years. He was a free agency flight risk as much as Sakic was, and the Avs managed to force Sakic to play for them, even using the investors’ money for the pepsi center to pay that ridiculous first year signing bonus. If Joe sakic can have a tearful jersey retirement after trying to abandon the franchise he faced, I don’t see why anyone disagreees that Kariya could have been forced into peaceful servitude until the second lockout
by Arthur from Anaheim Calling on Feb 10, 2010 4:35 PM PST via mobile up reply actions 0 recs
MOM!!! DAD!!!
Stop fighting!!!!
I was saying boo-urns.
by Floyd Gondoli on Feb 9, 2010 3:27 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t see it as a fight. Earl is a well established blogger, and I am the lesser half of a new blogging team. If anything this has been a great exercise in defending my opinions as a blogger and recognizing the impacts that my writings have. Maybe it’s just me, but it hasn’t sunk in that people might read my work and actually “care” about my opinion. This has been good for me. I make the comments about Wiz and if a fan, or a more established blogger, disagrees then I should be forced to defend my opinions. I try to have clear arguments, but I fail like anybody else. It’s always good to have an alternative view. And let’s face it, these types of conversations are the ones worth having. It’s been good for me.
by Daniel AC on Feb 9, 2010 3:33 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
In all honesty
this has been the most thoughtful and in depth game recap I’ve read on AC so far. Spirited discussion between informed parties of differing opinions should be what blog comments are all about.
I was saying boo-urns.
by Floyd Gondoli on Feb 10, 2010 11:02 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
Poor Floyd. Came home to show mom and dad the pictures from the game and found them bickering
by Arthur from Anaheim Calling on Feb 9, 2010 5:38 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
I know. It’s like my childhood all over again.
…too real?
by Daniel AC on Feb 9, 2010 8:04 PM PST up reply actions 0 recs
I dunno. Is the dad a drunk in this shouting match? If drunkenness is in any way a factor, I gotta give it to Sleek, he’s got that Irish/Korean genetic engineering.
by Arthur from Anaheim Calling on Feb 10, 2010 9:58 AM PST up reply actions 0 recs
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