Ducks Gift Wrap 4-2 Win for Giguere in Return to Anaheim
by Jen Neale on Dec 31, 2011 9:17 PM PST
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Same story, different night. Ducks go down early blah blah, power play ineffective blah blah, penalty late in game blah blah, iffy goaltending blah blah, etc.
The only change to this all too familiar script is that the Ducks welcomed back their former superstar goalie, Jean-Sebatien Giguere, to Honda Center since his early 2010 trade to Toronto. I can only surmise that the Ducks still have a soft spot for Jiggy because they didn't make it a very difficult victory for him. Giguere stopped 18 of 20 shots, and those two goals came when the game was pretty much out of reach (i.e. two goal lead) for this iteration of the Ducks. I miss those days when a two goal lead felt like no big deal, now it's certain death.
Anyway, Bruce Boudreau's attempt to shake things up by throwing the top two lines in a blender didn't work. We started the game with Bobby Ryan - Saku Koivu - Corey Perry and Niklas Hagman - Ryan Getzlaf - Teemu Selanne, only to see the Ducks go down 0-3 with those line combos. Boudreau went back to more conventional line pairings with Ryan-Koivu-Selanne (the only line on the ice for the Ducks two goals) and Perry-Getzlaf-Cogliano(??). Long story short, nothing new because nothing works.
Happy 'effing New Year, Ducks.
GOOD
-- With the triumphant return of Saku Koivu, the Selanne-Koivu-Ryan line picked up right where they left off. As I said in the open, they were the only line on the ice for both of the Ducks goals, making them the only plus players on the Ducks. Ryan had a goal and an assist. Koivu had two assists and tied with Andrew Cogliano for the team lead in face off percentage at 50%.
-- The Ducks out-hit the Avs 29-19. The team leader in hits was, of course, Lubomir Visnovski and Andrew Gordon with 4 each...wha? Gordon I can see, Lubo not so much. All Ducks except for two were credited with at least one hit tonight.
-- After the Avs scored their 3rd goal in the second period, Boudreau called a timeout and really let the Ducks have it, f-boms and all. He was turning a shade of pinkish purple that couldn't be identified. Who gives a crap if the team's self esteem is low? They need a big time ass kicking that comes from someone other than the other team.
-- I never thought I would be happy to see the Sharks come to town. 3-0 versus the Sharks this season. I know, I don't get it either.
BAD
-- I saw waaay too many suicide passes tonight in the defensive zone. Instead of long stretch passes moving the puck up the ice, there were short passes directly in front of or through the crease.
-- Now is the appropriate time to have the Jonas Hiller versus Dan Ellis conversation. Ellis should get his shot until he doesn't deserve it any longer. Hiller doesn't have it. The magic is gone for now. I'm not even going to bring up the "v-word". I don't believe that's a factor in his performance any more, he's just off, and it's time for Ellis to take the reigns.
-- Lubo taking a penalty with less than two minutes to go in the third was very Getzlaf-esque. I thought that Lubo should have taken the body, without wrapping his arms and stick around the other player, and then let him take the shot.
-- Getzlaf is an anomaly. I thought he played awful when paired with Selanne and Hagman. He picked it up once paired with Perry, but still nothing remarkable. He had another atrocious night in the face off circle, 5 for 14 (36%), yet he had 3 blocked shots.
-- Penalty kill continues to slip going 1 for 2 tonight. The power play remains lifeless going 0 for 2.
-- Putting Andrew Cogliano on the top line was just a bad idea. I tweeted that and someone responded to me with "he skates faster than his brain can think". So true. Guy has zero puck control and looks like a faster version of Matt Beleskey. No more. He does not give the Ducks the best chance to win as a partner to the The Twins.
UGLY
-- The Ducks were boo'd off the ice - again - by a fanbase that is seen as apathetic. If you can get even the bandwagoners boo-ing, you know you're bad. I would have boo'd if I was there.
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Next Sunday is the battle for the #1 pick in the draft
Columbus @ Anaheim
Could be the most boring hockey game I’ve ever seen. Then again, it could also possibly be an 8-6 final, or something ridiculous like that
*I will ever see
Considering I haven’t seen it yet
Maybe it is just me, but the difference between last year’s team and this year’s team isn’t that different. The only real difference is the results. It’s the same errors resulting in the same chances, but the puck is going in. We are generating the same style of offense, but aren’t finishing. There’s a bigger problem here than a coach.
by Daniel AC on Jan 1, 2012 10:28 AM PST via mobile reply actions
No not just you.
However, keep in perspective the injuries etc that we had during the offseason. Hiller had his thing, Lubo and Lydman both had offseason surgery. And thats been proven in many sports that if you miss a preseason your going to struggle. This by my count is 2 missed preseasons for Lydman at least. That has to be a contributing factor. That and i believe his nickname was once ‘Turnover Toni’…so maybe he was never that good. Thats a big chunk of our defence, The other 1/3 of it our kids (fowler and sbisa) who shouldnt be relied upon to anchor a defence.
As for offence…i think if our D was stronger, youd find that the offence would be equally be stronger. Thats just opinion though.
I guess if your angling for the GM to have picked up more or different D, then i cant really argue against that, but it is hard to gauge the effect that injuries will have on players.
I don’t think injuries are the issue. We can blame them as much as we want, but I really don’t think that’s the cause. This team has major issues. It’s had those issues for a long time. We overachieved last year, and then we did nothing. It was a very poor offseason strategy, and it’s the reason we are in so much trouble now.
Possibly not. But they are a contributing factor. As for over achieving last year…well yes. by a long way. But that happens when the stars align and a number of players have career years.
by BennyLightning on Jan 1, 2012 11:29 PM PST up reply actions
I agree, and I think injuries have an effect, but I don’t think this team would be secure in the standings if everyone were healthy. I think that we’d just be closer to a playoff spot. I think that it’s someone’s job to recognize when we overachieve and adjust accordingly, but whose job is it….?
i see where your going with it. and i dont disagree. However id prefer to wait until the beginning of next season. we will have cash and roster spots. there are some free agents worth chasing, and kids like etem will be due for a spot. and as a “bonus” looks like we may have a top 2 pick on the squad.
It just sort of seems to me that this year was always going to be written off, maybe the expectation was a little higher, but generally just a year to burn off some contracts. Maybe thats not the best way to go, but is often done in other sports. And hey unlikely scenario, but what say we go bang, and end up with a Suter, Weber back end? IF ownership wants to spend, our forwards ar cheap enough to make this happen. and that would put us frighteningly close to a SC team…Burke did get them to spend on a SC team…so maybe…a dream. but im holding onto it until i see otherwise!!
On the flip side if this doesnt happen ill jump on board with the sack murray team. no questions.
by BennyLightning on Jan 2, 2012 6:47 PM PST up reply actions
If we get Suter and Weber, Bobby has to go because we won’t be able to keep Getzlaf and Perry.
I don’t have respect for GMs who write off years. If he wants to rebuild, rebuild. Don’t put this shit together and then tell me you were trying to build a playoff contender. This team had to overperform to make the playoffs last year. More importantly, this team has been on a steady decline since Murray took over. This is just the year the big one finally hit. When I judge Murray, I don’t judge on just this year. I think he’s been steadily guiding this team here, and we’ve been ignoring it because the team found ways to pull through to make the playoffs.
by Daniel AC on Jan 2, 2012 8:45 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
Well i could still sleep at night if we lost Getzlaf, and one has to wonder if Perry was on the trading bloke what would the return be? Although i suspect his value is greater to us, than is seen by the rest of the league.
The reason i dont think he could just throw the baby out with the bathwater and do a total retooling, is that the supporter base in orange county cant sustain it. Hence why i am of the belief hes gone about it in this manner. He has in the past years shed some salary and picked up some interesting pieces, but generally has dropped contracts and money. At the same time weve picked up some potentially nice pieces in the draft. So if it was the strategy to build with youth and retool then it takes time for these players to develop. Some (like Fowler) may actually never develop further, but then they might.
IF, and i stress IF, that was the idea, then id expect that some moves are made in the next 6 weeks as the team clearly cant sustain a losing team (which would show that murray would have been correct in that assessment), based on attendances, and even so far as comments made on game day blogs such as this. However, being that the season is gone, then it would make sense to gut the pieces he thinks are excess to need now.
by BennyLightning on Jan 2, 2012 11:28 PM PST up reply actions
So, you’re saying he decided to rebuild, but lied to the fanbase about it in hopes they wouldn’t notice and would keep showing up to the games? I don’t know if that’s the strategy of a good GM.
What interesting pieces has he picked up, Lubo? Beauchemin? How many bad trades did it take to get there? Is Cogs worth a second round pick? Has he had any kind of impact?
I’m sorry, Murray has a history of doing this to teams. It’s amazing someone let him takeover this team in the first place.
by Daniel AC on Jan 3, 2012 9:56 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
When we agree we really agree. He has consistently eroded the franchises assets in order to acquire mediocrity and it’s eventually gotten us to to the inevitable point that we are a bad NHL team and we haven’t started rebuilding yet.
Another downside to these trades Murray keeps making is that he’s given away all the pieces we need to bid on any RFA this year. Not that anybody except Kevin Lowe does that anyway, but it would be a nice option to have. This years second and third went on Cogs and a couple crappy months of Winchester. Shoot me now
by bhlloy on Jan 3, 2012 11:00 AM PST via iPhone app up reply actions
Im saying he thought (and many others did too) that this team would be a bubble playoff team. That generally would keep enough people interested to keep them in the stands. Not a full house in OC but more than what has been.
Emery for one. Hagman another. He has picked up players that have worked for us at times. Yes they both are low risk moves, which are exactly the type a good GM makes.
Cogs is definately worth a 2nd round pick. Picks are based on potential, they arent a hard asset and thus can be easily moved. Cogs plays a lot (career) and that is what you want from a second rounder. Is he worth the contract he signed….No probably not. But a pick for an ‘established’ player who hadnt missed a game, is a move i make for sure. As for impact…well even our impact players havent made an impact this year, so harsh to judge a player that should be only a complimentary piece.
Also bhlloy, i would think we have started the rebuilding, as we have drafted well, and have players coming in, over the next few years. That in itself is part of any rebuilding project.
by BennyLightning on Jan 3, 2012 12:52 PM PST up reply actions
There’s a big difference between potential and potential that is very unlikely to be reached. Why do you think the Oilers were so willing to let him go and we were the only team bidding. 2nd rounders are valuable, they are not something to just trade away for a shot in the dark that some kid might be worth what everyone thought he might be when he was 18. Sorry to say but I don’t see any indication he will ever be worth a second. This is exactly the same reason we gave up Kunitz and Tangradi for Whitney. Murray seems to fail to realize why other teams are willing to give young players up so quickly. I’m honestly surprised we didnt end up giving up a pick and a prospect for Turris, that would be a classic Murray move.
As for Murray making some good low-risk moves, sure. He’s also made a ton more that haven’t worked out and that’s what kills us. .300 is a good batting average for a MLB player but not for an NHL GM. Can you honestly look at the roster today and say he’s done a good job getting us here from what Burke left him?
by bhlloy on Jan 3, 2012 1:39 PM PST via iPhone app up reply actions
I think i just value draft picks differently to you guys. I think if you can pick up a player with a second that is going to play every game then you count that as a win. Cogs, has at times looked dangerous (on selanne line) which is as much as anyone has this year. I think his salary is too much for his current production, but i think he can be an effective player and was an ok pickup for what was given up.
I think hes done an ok job. Not a good one. But then, i could make the same argument about many GM’s. So far as i can see his biggest mistake was letting teemu and scott ‘consider’ retirement. They should have been let go, and the club move on. Had that happened we may still have pronger.
by BennyLightning on Jan 3, 2012 1:49 PM PST up reply actions
Burke is the one who let them consider retirement, and he was right to do so. They earned it.
So, Cogs is worth a DSP or a John Gibson? I don’t think so. That’s the type of player you get with a second round pick. Parros plays almost every game, is he worth a second round pick? I would have started by offering a fifth and let him talk me up to a fourth or a third. If he hangs up, I go to another team that realizes their surplus center isn’t worth that price. Then he compounded the error by giving him too much money. Cogs is a failure of an acquisition. He’s a young Jason Blake: a lot of speed and not a lot of finish.
by Daniel AC on Jan 3, 2012 2:13 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
For the sake of the franchise, it was a terrible decision. Ok i appreciate the man management, but on an organisational level, it was terrible. and to do it a couple years straight was disgraceful.
DSP has been good for a first year player. Gibson…did not have a great WJC, and his value remains to be seen. If and when he plays regularly in the NHL we can revisit that, but at this point in time, his value is potential only. There have been plenty of high picks that haven’t worked out. Turris for one recently, and this franchise has had its fair share also. So turn a pick into a regular player, is not a bad move. How that player is used, and how much he costs are different variables. I can agree he’s over-payed, Mostly because i dont see him as linch-pin player, and definately not a centre. Would i have made that move…yes. would i have done it for the reasons murrays seems to have..no.
I concede the Parros point
by BennyLightning on Jan 3, 2012 3:29 PM PST up reply actions
Potential is the whole point of pick value though. Second round players SHOULD be top 6, top 4, or quality goalies. Gibson still has tons of potential, DSP still has tons of potential. Cogs never topped 40 points in 4 complete NHL seasons. People can blame the system, but other first round picks managed to produce better than him in Edmonton in those tough years. The guy isn’t a top 6 talent unless he’s playing with future hall of famers. Even then, much like Blake, he threw away almost as many, if not more, chances than he finished. I know it’s important to find positives for the team, but Murray has been a guy who makes so many fringe decisions that add up to a bad team. That’s the real problem. He plays it safe way too much, and then gambles on things he shouldn’t be gambling on. Gamble on a big name guy getting his form back, not on a former pick who never reached his potential.
They may have earned the right, but it doesn’t change the fact that it forced moves that cost the team in the long run. Burke had the right idea, he proceeded as if he wasn’t going to have those players, and rightfully so. The GMs plan for the roster should not depend on weather or not the player returns, in most recent cases this was Selanne. This team should have been competative without Selanne, god knows where we would be if we didn’t have him. If Selanne wants to play by all means sign him but it should not have been a detriment to the team to wait for him. Murray couldn’t sign the depth players we needed because he needed that money to pay Selanne, does he deserve that money, of course, but is it fair to the rest of the team? I don’t blame Murray for giving Selanne the chance to figure out what he wanted to do, I am disapointed that he didn’t make the moves he needed to make the team stronger in case Selanne did retire. If he had made the moves to make the team strong without Selanne I don’t see it being hard to ask Selanne to fit into the plan and take a little less money.
As for the 2nd round pick, I did a little research, and about 1/4th of second round draft picks made it to the NHL and played over 200 games from 1990-1999. Can gems be found in the second round, of course, but playing the s I agree with Benny, Murray took an intangible asset and made it a tangible asset. turning 25 into 100%. Now I will concede that the information I used was older but it’s still relevant as it has more usable sample sizes. Where Murray failed here was again in contract negotiation. We’re not mad that we got Cogs, we’re mad that he’s costing us the almost as much as Koivu.
you said that much better than i did. thank you
by BennyLightning on Jan 3, 2012 5:54 PM PST up reply actions
Whether Selanne is coming back or not, shouldn’t affect where we spend money on depth. Why? Because, Murray should already know how much money he is spending on Selanne. He should still have a budget and a plan for improving depth whether or not Selanne comes back. If anything, saying he can’t plan for it proves that the man can’t think outside the box. Selanne is an excuse for not getting depth. Even if you say he could spend the extra money someplace else, he wouldn’t. He would try to replace Selanne which means he spends that 4 million someplace else on a top 6 forward. Sorry, The only reason it’s a detriment to the team is because the GM can’t plan accordingly.
I’m sorry, but nothing about Cogs’ game says second round pick to me. He’s just not a great player. He’s fast, but he doesn’t have a great shot, doesn’t seem to be a great playmaker, and the space he creates needs to be used by his linemates because he can’t utilize his speed to make good chances for himself. If anything, the contract is reflexive of the draft pick we used. A player you use a second round pick to get should get paid the way Cogs is getting paid. If you think he isn’t worth his contract, you should probably reconsider whether or not he was worth that pick.
No, I’m mad that we spent a second on a guy who is a poor third liner on a real NHL team. The contract just makes it worse.
Like Daniel says above, it’s not how often a second round pick turns into an NHL player, it’s how much value it has around the league and what people are willing to pay for it. You turn a prospect and a second into a good NHL player, not some name who was supposed to be a huge prospect but the rest of the league gave up on 2 years ago. Also there is the fact that if you own your top three picks you can give a max contract to an RFA, which now obviously we can’t do.
I hated seeing Hillere let in those easy shots in.
I loved seeing Giguere back. The Ducks played better in the 3rd than in the 1st two periods. It’s a shame. I was one of those who booed and I wish they were on the ice longer to keep booing. I have been a fan for a long time and I hate seeing my team play with such lack of energy. I traveled more than 400 miles to see players that played with such lack of passion.
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