JEN:

By now, everyone is well aware that Bob Murray emerged from his Fortress of Solitude to finally comment on his plans for the Ducks. To me, his comments weren't all that surprising. I'm glad he's not focused on rebuilding and realizes that if he trades a "core player" he needs to get one in return. The only thing that really caught me off guard was saying that no one (save Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu due to their 'no movement clause') was off the trading block. I would think that Corey Perry would be added to the list of people to keep their grubby mitts off of.

This got me thinking - is this Bob's desperate attempt to look like he knows what he's doing to save his job? Is he trying to calm the masses before they hit the panic button for him? Does he actually know what he's doing? I was taken back to a post Arthur wrote back almost a year ago about Murray's history and it is more relevant than ever. It leads me to believe that we are completely screwed, and I'm wondering if other Ducks fans feel the same. So, I decided to take the easy way out and re-run the post below.

Indicting a Ham Sandwich (originally run February 10, 2011)

ARTHUR:

In law school, I was exposed to various iterations of the aphorism that "a good prosecutor can get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich." Most often, I heard the phrase with the prosecutor removed i.e. "[Regarding grand juries], if you get the right 16 people together, you can indict a ham sandwich."

Blogospheres calling out General Managers are so often an example of this idea. When I express disappointment in Bob Murray, or even support of the rise of David McNab, it is so often based on quotes I did not gather, situations much deeper than what was reported and transactions whose negotiations are not always colored with the emotions of the fan base.

I am not an insider, so I understand how it is, at the very least, inappropriate for me to act as a person who culls information from published articles in the press to present a case for or against an individual. That is, at best, the rationalization of a torch-toting mob's demand for redress of grievances, and the raison d'être with which most mainstream news sources paint blogs, while hoping to discredit them.

There was no significant blogosphere the last time Bob Murray was a General Manager. But that mattered very little in the ultimate estimation of his failures; he was crucified by the mainstream media as effectively as any blogger could eviscerate him today.

I'm not a regular reader of the Chicago Tribune, nor was I twelve years ago, when Bob Murray regularly haunted its pages, but I have to wonder when it became okay for insiders to call him out. Was it the 15 trades in one season? Was it missing the playoffs again, with no signs of a return? Was it the trade of Chelios, where Murray was probably just a triggerman, but the defenseman found the situation with his General Manager rather personal? Was it the signing, waiving and buyout of Wendel Clark, where Murray called out the legend (and, by extension, the general manager's own mistake in signing Clark as a free agent) after only 13 games?

Before there were bloggers, it was, at some point, 'okay' to question the competence of a General Manager without evoking the 'insider versus outsider' debate. And you can argue that the press themselves are outsiders, but on page 2 of that above-linked Tribune article, a definitive insider in Murray's situation, Bob Pulford, made sure to distance himself from Murray's actions.

Ten years later, most would hope-- you figure Murray, at the very least, hoped --that memories would fade. But memories can be refreshed.

Continue reading this post »

For most, the minute that Bruce Boudreau was named as successor to Randy Carlyle there were high expectations. How could there not be? The lore of Boudreau taking 2007-08 Washington Capitals from 30th place to 3rd place in the Eastern Conference (winning the Southeast Division nonetheless) was widely talked about in his first few games as Ducks coach. Here we sit after the Ducks holiday break and the team under Boudreau is an abysmal 2-6-2. Skyrocketing their way, not to the Pacific Division title, but to the first or second pick in the 2012 draft.

I think of Boudreau's success in Washington and lack thereof in Anaheim as a hockey version of the "nature versus nurture" argument. When Boudreau took over in Washington, he had spent the last three-ish years as a coach with the Caps minor league affiliate the Hershey Bears. Generally, the same system is taught between the AHL club and its NHL parent. When Boudreau got up to the big leagues, he was likely coaching the same system as in Hershey, just with a different "voice". Of the young players on his team, many of them had been coached by Bruce before. They knew what he expected of them and he knew what he was getting, for the most part, when he came to up to Washington. The team was already built, they were just waiting for him to arrive.

Upon his hiring in Anaheim, Boudreau made it no secret that he hadn't really paid much attention to the Western Conference, specifically the Ducks, unless the Caps were playing them. He knew the super stars, but not the small role players on the team or the prospects in Syracuse. His system is different than the one taught by Carlyle and what is being taught in the AHL. The players are taking everything that was ingrained in them for the past six years and turning it inside out. The construction of the team is moot because no one can really figure out what type of team this is supposed to be.

With 48 games left to go, Boudreau is only a small factor if the Ducks want to be successful this season. The task to completely turn things around is solely on the Ducks players. The '07-'08 Capitals became the offensive juggernaut we now expect them to be because they had the tools to do so.

Continue reading this post »

If you haven't heard, Columbus won in a shootout on Tuesday night. With those two points, they leapfrogged the Ducks in the standings, leaving Anaheim in the cellar of the NHL. I partially blame myself for the Ducks being in last place. I became entirely too used to winning with the post-lockout iteration of Anaheim's hockey team. A club, up to this point, that had missed only one playoff series since their re-birth.

In my mind, it's like the Mighty Ducks were only a movie, not an expansion franchise that struggled on and off for years. I distinctly remember several times in high school where a teenage, brooding Jen would stomp downstairs only to be greeted by her dad's question of, "How'd they do?" It seemed like night after night I would answer, "They lost - again." I thought those days were gone like Disney and my teenage years. The team had a new name, a new look, and an owner that was committed to do what it takes to win. After that 2005-2006 season, I expected this team to win, and had no reason to believe that they couldn't.

What the hell happened? Why did everything go so incredibly wrong?

Continue reading this post »

Wow. Last night did actually happen. The Ducks have a new coach and a good one at that. This isn't just some former minor league coach getting his first shot at the NHL. This is Bruce F#$%ing Boudreau. Usually I save this kind of excitement for a new player joining the Ducks roster, but this is another level of "new" for the Ducks. How new? Let's take a look:

-- I think Alex Ovechkin is one of the best players of all time. I also think he's one of the bigger prima-donna's this side of Sean Avery. The fact that Coach Boudreau would have the balls to sit one of the greatest players in the world (along with his sidekick, Alexander Semin) for any amount of time should show the Ducks he doesn't give a f*#$@ who you are, you take a shift off, you sit. This is a stark contrast to Randy Carlyle's coaching style. I can't wait to see how Boudreau handles Ryan Getzlaf or how Getzlaf reacts to his new boss.

-- Bobby Ryan stays a Duck, as he should be, but did you know he wanted to be moved? Take a look at this tweet from Nick Kypreos:

#Ducks GM Bob Murray has assured Bobby Ryan he is off #NHL trading market today. Also told Ryan's desire to be moved is no longer an issue.

So it is true, even if it's not said directly, Ryan and Carlyle had issues. For a young star like Ryan to go as so far to request a trade, you had to know that things were bad. This isn't Teemu Selanne asking to be traded so he can go to a winner. This is Bobby Ryan asking to be traded - away from one of the best lines in hockey - to escape a coach. Pretty incredible if you ask me. The Ducks made the right choice by getting rid of the coach, not just for Bobby, but for the benefit of the team.

Continue reading this post »

Since Arthur started Anaheim Calling, the decision was made not to report on rumors. Everyone is welcome to speculate on the rumors in the comments, but you will never see them reported as fact here, at least until they are confirmed by the Ducks. A comment from an "unnamed NHL executive" isn't going to cut it as the truth. In fact, if one of our writers publishes false information, I have given myself permission to exile them to Eklund's website.

BUT...I have to make somewhat of an exception for this. Almost every single media outlet - including Canadian ones - are covering the possibility of Anaheim trading Bobby Ryan. That is as much as I am going to report on it because the Ducks did their best to dance around the issue with Eric Stephens this morning. My kibosh on rumors does not extend to personal observations, though. It starts with: we wouldn't be speculating/gossiping/fantasizing about this if the Ducks, and especially Bobby, were playing well. With one thing going wrong, should the foundation of the team be uprooted? Leadership comes from the top down, but that's just my opinion.

One thing that I noticed all day today is that for the first time, in a long time, the hockey media is intensely following Anaheim. Of course they are, this is a goldmine of a rumor and has "trade of the year" written all over it. The other thing I noticed in the media's reintroduction to Anaheim is that they are are getting some of their facts wrong. That is what's driving me crazy. Not the fact that I think it's a horrific idea trade Bobby Ryan and I am forced to check my phone every five seconds to see if the worst has come true, but the fact that they aren't even reporting correct information.

Continue reading this post »

All Ducks fans are waiting for something - anything - big to come from the Ducks. So far, the biggest move has been the sending of Brandon McMillan to Syracuse (totally warranted, by the way). Everyone is expecting/calling for Randy Carlyle to lose his job. I've been saying for a while that Carlyle hasn't been axed for financial reasons, but then I started to consider something else.

The Capitals will never admit it, but Bruce Boudreau was fired because of Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin. (And suuuuree you were shocked by that, Ovi.) The Alexes (Alexi?) are superstar players being paid millions of dollars and are the faces of their team. Boudreau is a great coach, but the Caps would sooner trade a struggling Ovechkin or Semin than I would dye my hair back to its natural mousy-brown color (never happening). When the coach held out Ovie in the final minutes of the game versus the Ducks, it was the beginning of the end for Boudreau. Next up was the benching of Semin in a game versus the Devils. Following that, the team tuned Boudreau more each day finally leading to his firing. This had nothing to do with wins and losses. This was about keeping your stars happy, inadvertently showing their power over the organization.

What does this have to do with the Ducks? Bobby Ryan, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry are the future faces of the franchise, in something I'll call PTE or Post-Teemu Era. The Big 3 are well paid and popular, like Ovechkin and Semin, but they don't have the same kind of pull as the Alexes. There was a time last year that the Ducks were struggling and I could tell that RPG was tuning out Carlyle on the bench, and Carlyle was taking to calling them out by name in the media. Had they been able to influence GM Bob Murray at all, Carlyle would not be our coach right now. Instead, Murray threatened to send one of them elsewhere - a threat he hasn't made this season. The Ducks started winning and all was right again in the world.

Continue reading this post »

Remember when we reacquired Francois Beauchemin from our buddy Brian Burke with the Maple Leafs? That was cool then, but do you remember what we gave up to get him? Joffrey Lupul, prospect Jake Gardiner, and a conditional 2013 draft pick. Looking at the 2010-11 season, that really wasn't a big deal. The Ducks made the playoffs and the Leafs didn't. We solidified a piece of our defense that needed help.

Yeah, so how's that trade feeling now? Gardiner has Cam Fowler wunderkin status in Toronto, I have no idea how we're going to be screwed by the conditional draft pick, and Joffrey Lupul has more points than the Ducks in the standings. Just another way that karma has kicked the Ducks in the eggs this season.

Obviously the trade out of Anaheim has suited young Joff more than it has the Ducks. He has had some strong words in the press ahead of his impending return to Anaheim on Sunday. James Mirtle's article highlighted the obstacles Lupul has had to overcome and it really is quite remarkable. However, Eric Stephen's tweets showed another side of Lupul that came across (to me) as incredibly passive aggressive and bitter.

Tweet #1

Ex-Duck Joffrey Lupul on RC: "In my conversation with Randy, he said he didn’t think I had the skill to play left wing in this league."

Tweet #2

Lupul: When I came back from injury, they didn’t want me here. It was pretty obvious to me and obvious to the rest of the guys on the team.

WOW, right? While these kinds of quotes make for great blogging fodder, it strikes me as a little sad.

Continue reading this post »

I said this at the beginning of the season, but now I'm serious: the Ducks should trade Teemu Selanne to the Winnipeg Jets. I won't ask you to hear me out (as all of you have fast forwarded to the comments to complain), but I'll keep typing as though you're reading.

In short, Teemu deserves better. He didn't come to training camp to go through this. Hell, Cam Fowler didn't come to training camp to go through this. And while Selanne may have an equal chance of missing the postseason with either the Ducks or the Jets, I can't imagine he could regret playing one more season in front of the good people of Winnipeg-- win or lose. Another discouraging season in Anaheim? I think he could do without that.

And make no mistake, this isn't trading him back to the Jets organization that betrayed him (i.e. the Coyotes). This is much purer than that. This is sending him home to his first love, the fans that witnessed 76 goals and the second coming of the Finnish Flash.

You could complain about what the Ducks would get (probably not much without the increasingly valuable Anaheim picks coming into play), or the value of making such a purely sentimental trade. But I would argue that Selanne avoided quite a few logical complaints in deciding to come back at age 41 following another knee surgery (not to mention each year before that). He never asked for anything more than the promise that this organization was not rebuilding. But as this squad turns in more and more beer league efforts, with no major changes to the team or higher-ups, the Ducks are getting dangerously close to breaking that promise. Maybe it's time they matched Selanne for sentimentality and offered him the best bang for his buck in his last NHL campagin.