ARTHUR:
It's happening again. People are describing us as an easy two points. They're circling us on the calendar as vacation time. Remember those days? Visiting players would come into Anaheim, hit the beach, party, then watch Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne try to do something special out there while the Ducks were down by 4 goals. We're there again.
And by there I only mean that we are perceived as an easy two points. In a recent fanpost, someone endeavored to describe Atlanta that way, but those are homer glasses. We're dead last, probably 10 or so spots under Atlanta, in a lot of power rankings. Teams feel they can't afford to embarrass themselves by not beating us in regulation the way the Thrashers did. "The Thrashers suck. I mean, they couldn't even beat the Ducks in regulation," they say.
Don't believe me? Go over to Five For Howling. After saying 'frankly' two or three times in describing how bad the Ducks are, the last line before the jump in Travis Hair's game preview is this:
It's quite frankly a team that we need to beat tonight.
Wow. I no longer feel guilty for spending the summer wishing your team would move back to Winnipeg already. We're getting put down as an easy win by fans of a team whose success Gabe from Behind the Net once attributed to goaltending, overtime wins and whatever shady human trafficking deals were required to keep them in Glendale. Okay, I added the last part. You can calm down, you dirty Coyotes fan.
There's an upswing and a downswing to East Coast bias. After the 2009 playoffs, we had that sweet pro-bias where everyone assumed Jonas HIller was a god and that Ryan-Getzlaf-Perry were unstoppable (or even played together for half of the next season). Now, we're on the downswing, where everyone assumes the Ducks are awful because they're starting Ryan at center and Hiller is having a bad year. It won't change any time soon. I mean, even people in Arizona don't watch our games, apparently. Not that I blame them; MST is tricky. I hope those fans can figure out the time difference when their team moves back (and c'mon they EVENTUALLY will) to Manitoba.
It's an important game for the Ducks. This is a team they need to beat. Not because the Coyotes are a bunch of mark-ass tricks or coming off back to backs or anything, but because Anaheim hits the road again this week starting with a pair of back to backs against the Blue Jackets and Flyers. If you're going to tonight's game, stop by the concourse to learn about USC Ice Hockey, something I know waaaaay too much about.
Sexton gets a shot at the second line tonight. Lilja puts on a Ducks uniform. I end up apologizing to Travis when he shows up in the comments. Not because I mean it, but you know, coworkers and all.
FOWL!