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For those that have missed this segment, this is a weekly series on Anaheim Calling to take a look at how various players on the team have fared. I will arbitrarily rank a random topic along on a scale of 1 to 5 stars and place different Ducks within the categories based on their performance over the past week.
My reasoning for the rating of the Ducks will be based on stats, results, and probably some of my bias. My reasoning for the rating of the random topic will be completely biased #dealwithit. I will elaborate more on some players than others. I expect everyone to probably disagree with me on both topics and all of my takes will be outed. If there is something you would like me to rank please feel free to leave it in the comments. On to the fun!
The games included in the ratings for this week are Feb 11th against the Sharks, Feb 13th against the Red Wings, and Feb 15th against the Blackhawks.
This past week, Black Panther was released to glowing reviews. This made me realize I have not taken on the task of ranking the movies within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. One thing to note is I will not be able to rank every single movie within the MCU, so I will be choosing movies that best fit that star rating. Like past weeks, these rankings are 100% correct and no one can tell me otherwise.
I mentioned this in the past weeks, but a quick housekeeping note: I have decided for ease of research to start using Naturalstattrick for the skaters stats. As a result I will be using SCF% and HDCF% instead of xGF%. In theory, SCF% and HDCF% should tell us a similar story as xGF%.
I have not seen Black Panther yet, and I assume there are plenty others in a similar boat as me. If you want to discuss that movie and where it ranks in a comment, I am all good with that, but please use the spoiler text out of respect for other readers and commenters.
5 Stars: Thor: Ragnarok, Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel’s The Avengers.
All three of these movies are great and all of them deserve the 5 star rating also. Thor: Ragnarok, directed by Taiki Waititi of What We Do in The Shadows, provided such a different perspective on two of the main characters within the MCU. It had such a different look and feel from most of the other movies within this universe. I mean how can you not love a movie that has Jeff Goldbloom basically stopping an idea midsentence to great comedic timing. Guardians gets this rating for similar reasons to Thor: Ragnarok. Guardians was really the first Marvel movie to use comedy effectively.
The Avengers is great for different reasons. It had such a big build up, with 5 different Marvel movies all working to set it up. This was the first movie where we saw all these various characters team up to fight one massive villain and this movie delivered. It was a fun, action packed movie that had you at the edge of your seat.
Nick Ritchie - Adam Henrique - Ondrej Kase - This line was straight fire this week. In the three games this week, Kase had 2 goals and 3 primary assists for 5 points, Ritchie had 1 goal and 3 secondary assists for 4 points, and Henrique had 2 goals and 2 primary assists for 4 points. It was not their best week ever in terms of CF% and SCF%, being slightly under 50% as a whole, but that can be overlooked when you see the production they had. In order to keep up this rating those 5v5 on ice stats need to improve.
4 Stars: Iron Man and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
Iron Man is the movie that kicked off this entire universe. Maybe if you go back and watch it, it might not hold up that well in comparison to all the other movies that have come out, but it deserves our respect for starting off the MCU. Also answer me this: before this Iron Man movie would you have considered Iron Man to be a top tier super hero? I wouldn’t have, but now I would which shows the masterful job Marvel has done in building this universe around this character.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 might be my favorite Marvel movie, but I can admit it has flaws. There are some elements of the main plot line that are really strange, clunky, and awkward. In my opinion these issues are not that big of deal when you experience the movie though. It is a really fun ride and how can you not love baby Groot dancing in the beginning to ELO’s Mr. Blue Sky.
Rickard Rakell - Ryan Getzlaf - Corey Perry - “But I see RPG in my mind, Brand new goals in my mind, But honey I’ll be seein’ RPG, ever, I go, But honey I’ll be seein’ you scoring goals on the road, I’m waiting for it, that red light, I want it” (To the tune of Green Light by Lorde). This line’s production this week was a huge drop off from what we had seen in the past few weeks. They combined for 0 goals and 1 secondary assist. But on a positive note, and also the main reason why they are receiving a 4 star rating, their 5 on 5 play was amazing. They were the only line playing significant minutes above 50% as a whole in CF%, and they finished with an above 50% SCF%.
Chris Wagner & J.T. Brown - These two were really solid this week. Even though they did not produce any points, in limited ice time they were very good at 5v5. They were above 50% in all three 5v5 stats.
3 Stars: Captain America: Civil War and Doctor Strange
These two movies were perfectly average movies. They were very fun, but also had plenty of flaws within them.
Derek Grant - Grant over this stretch was not terrible but was not very good either. He was on the ice for more shot attempts against than for, but was also on the ice for more scoring chances for than against and more high danger shots for than against. He was pretty much the definition of average.
Cam Fowler - Kevin Bieksa - These two were below 50% in CF%, but were well above 50% in SCF% and HDCF% on the week. I really think a big part of this is Cam Fowler carrying Bieksa.
Brandon Montour - Montour was above 50% in CF% and slightly above 50% in SCF%, but was below 50% in HDCF%. He was pretty average on the week.
2 Stars: Avengers: Age of Ultron
Avengers: Age of Ultron was probably the first big miss in the MCU since Disney bought Marvel. This movie had so many issues with it and bringing together all of these massive characters could not save it.
Antoine Vermette - Vermette had a somewhat poor week. He was right at 50% CF% but was well below 50% in SCF% and HDCF%.
Hampus Lindholm - Josh Manson - This pair was not that great this week. They were below 50% in CF% and SCF%, which is kind of strange. The changes to the D pairs could spark both of their games.
1 Star: The Incredible Hulk
Some people probably forget that Ed Norton’s Hulk movie is technically considered a part of the MCU. I have only gone back and watched it once and it is a really tough watch. It is a slog, and you can tell it was pre Disney buying Marvel due to some of the issues.
Andrew Cogliano - Ryan Kesler - Jakob Silfverberg - This line had a real rough week. They were the worst line on the team in terms of 5v5 play (45% CF% and below 45% SCF%). They had absolutely no offensive production either.
Francois Beauchemin - At a glance, Beauch had a decent week. He was above 50% in CF%, but below 50% in SCF% and HDCF%. The real thing that brings him down to 1 star is his poor play at the end of the Sharks game. Fowler got a lot of the blame there for not tying up the Sharks, but Beauch had plenty of chances to clear the zone before that. To me he is at fault way more than Fowler.
Unranked: Black Panther
Like I said in the intro, I have not seen Black Panther yet so I cannot properly rank it.
Marcus Pettersson (1 Game Played)
*All skater stats are from Naturalstattrick unless stated otherwise. All goalie stats are from Corsica unless stated otherwise