I was reading an ESPN insider article the other day and it laid the Ducks troubles on the fact that we don't posses the puck. They based this on shot based metrics that the writer didn't really go into, but apparently we don't do well in these categories. This isn't surprising considering on frequently we get out shot. Last years success the writer attributed to being on the good side of Lady Luck and now we are seeing things come back to normal. This led the writer into what I believe to be the premise of the article and something we around here have been saying for 2 years. Ready for it?.... The Ducks lack Depth. These people get paid to write these things, its amazing... but I digress. It did, however, get me thinking about our depth scoring and what the numbers actually looked like. So I sat down and crunched a few numbers and found them to be encouraging. As a disclaimer going into these calculations I considered depth scoring any goals scored by players not typically in our top 6 in addition of Lubo and Fowler. To make things easier for myself I just subtracted their goal totals from the team total instead of trying to figure out all the goals each player that has been rotated into our bottom 6 or an occasion step in on the top two lines. Here are the results for the first 41 games:

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Guys, I realize that whole "Fire Sale" Series that tries to come up with trades for our core players is just a theoretical exercise (or so most seem to hope) AND I completely agree with the following "common" points that most of AC and their readers seem to agree on: In order to be successful the Ducks need (1) to fire Murray, (2) re-establish a significant defensive forward unit a.k.a. the 3rd line on most teams and (3) get a top-notch defenseman of the calibre of Weber, Niedermayer, Pronger or even Doughty. What I find weird though is the value that some of the AC guys have attached to our core players in their posts. Here come those trades I find impossible:

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http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog/Eklund/Source-Derek-Roy-Key-in-Anaheim-Blockbuster/1/41147

Interesting article today on hockeybuzz.com. I know it's just a rumor, but I think it may have some validity. What players do you think would be involved, and do you really think the ducks would trade for an injured player? I would really hate the see Ryan go based on the fact he's one of the few players that can actually score these days. Yes, he is very inconsistent, but at least he is getting the job done when no one else is (Minus teemu of course).

On a side note..

Bob Murray is an idiot. That is all.

Today, apparently Bob Murray told the media that he is putting everyone on the roster up for sale except Selanne and Koivu. It may just be a motivational tactic, but if it isn't I think there are two main points about this: First, this is a clear sign from the GM that he does not believe in his own work, namely the construction of the roster. If anything says more firmly "fire me now", I don't know. Secondly, I think it would be a huge mistake.

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Hey guys let me start out by saying I don't want to be a troll at all. I'm a Rangers fan and I'm just curious to know what you guys make of the whole Bobby Ryan debacle. I just wanna know how you guys feel about him.

Just a couple questions.

Would you trade him?

Looking at the Rangers roster what kind of return would you want? That's probably difficult for you guys to say because your probably not that familiar but i'm just wondering what you guys would think is a fair deal.

How good do you think Bobby Ryan is? Do you think Getzlaf and Perry make him better than he is or his truly a good talented player? I've never seen him play much, aside from a couple highlight reel goals and games against the Rangers so I don't know.

Thanks guys I know i'm a guest here i'm just curious to hear what Ducks fans think of him.

Eric Stephens and Jeff Miller don't exactly give Murray a vote of confidence in this Q&A they did. They raise important questions. Miller even took it a step further and said the Ducks should trade Getzlaf in a column. The only thing I'll say before we get into comments is that it is important not to overreact. There's a lot facing Anaheim fans right now. It's going to be tough for the rest of this year.

As everyone already knows, the Ducks are having an abysmal season to this point. Blame for this poor play has often been spread around the club, with some saying the defense needs to be better, or that the offense needs to get more shots on goal and maintain pressure.

However, I believe that Jonas Hiller and Dan Ellis combined are an enormous part of why the Ducks are fighting to stay out of last place in the league.

In either case, something needs to change. And i believe that something could very well be a new goaltender.

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Hey everyone,

I've been busy with school and work lately and unfortunately haven't had enough time to post here on AC. But I would like to ask a favour out of some of you who appreciate a good jersey collection.

If you could, take the time out of your day (it will literally take 1 minute of your time) and read my write-up and look at my jersey collection (made up of some pretty rare Ducks jerseys). If you could do this, I would greatly appreciate it.

I'm vying to win a free jersey, and the jersey goes to the submission that gains the most votes.

The link is found here.

After the jump, I'll post the write-up I made to try and win this jersey:

(And justly, and if you feel the need to do so, vote anyone else if you are more impressed with their collection)

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While I wait for the next Ducks loss, during such a soul sucking season, I can't help but wonder what will happen next season. And while I would usually wait until some time in May to post something like this, I am bored and curious to see how people feel now versus how they will feel come the offseason. So simply put I pose this question to all of the Anaheim Calling readers:

1) Who would you like to see the Ducks RESIGN from the current roster?

2) Who would you like to see the Ducks target in Free Agency?

3) (Optional) What would your ideal lines look like next season?

Here is a (somewhat dated) link for who will be available:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?page=NHLFreeAgents-11-12

You can add draft picks if you want as well. This is just a fun way to distract everyone from this season and start looking towards the greener pastures of next season.

I don't live in California so I can't see the Ducks play very often, but I'm back for the holidays so I want to go as many games as possible. I've tried my usual strategies (StubHub, Craigslist, begging friends with tickets) to no avail. You'd think it would be pretty easy to find cheap tickets with the season the Ducks are having, go figure. Anyways, I need 2, 3 or 4 tickets to the following games.

Thursday 12/29 Vancouver

Saturday 12/31 Colorado

Wednesday 1/4 San Jose (need 4 tickets to this one)

Sunday 1/8 Columbus

Tuesday 1/10 Dallas

I live in Huntington Beach but I can meet up at the game or anywhere in Orange County to purchase the tickets. If you are interested, post in the comments or email me (wildwing08@yahoo.com, set up just for this purpose). My budget restricts me to 400 level tickets unless someone is having a Christmas-generosity hangover and feels like they need the hair of the dog. Please help get a few more Ducks fans to Honda Center - every ticket I acquire is one less Canucks or Sharks fan at the game! Plus, the Ducks tend to play well in games that I attend. In the last two seasons they were 11-1 in games I personally attended. We all know the Ducks need every bit of help they can get.

If this isn't an appropriate place to buy/sell tickets, I apologize and feel free to delete this post.