the top anaheim ducks stories of 2014: puq magazine

PUQVol. 2 No. 1 wiNter 2015

TheBesT

Of2014 The TOp AnAheim

Ducks sTOries frOm The pAsT 12 mOnThs

InsIde thIs IssuePUQ

yOuTh mOvemenTDuring the past year, the Ducks have received key contributions from several talented young players, a signal the team is poised to remain a contender in the Western Conference for many years to come.38

Vol. 2 No. 1 wiNter 2015 PUqmag.com @puqmag

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21 “i’m exciTeD TO jOin A TeAm where peOple cAre ABOuT

hOckey”

12Teemu Selanne ReTiReSAfter a 20-year career, The Finnish Flash calls it quits

18CReaSe waRIs there such a thing as having too many goaltenders?

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14Koivu CallS iT a CaReeRSaku Koivu retires after 18 NHL seasons

15injuRieS deCimaTe The duCKSThe Ducks’ roster is pushed to the breaking point by injuries

16BaTTle of CalifoRniaThe Ducks and Kings face off for the first time in the playoffs

24duCKS deBuT new looKThe Ducks add some orange, but still get it all wrong

26Ryan KeSleR joinS The duCKSAnaheim finally has a second-line center. Can he make a difference?

28PeRReaulT jeTS To winniPegMathieu Perreault gets squeezed out of the picture in Anaheim

29geTzlaf’S yeaR To RememBeRThe Ducks’ captain has the best year of his NHL career

30noT a Bad SeaSonThe Ducks’ win the division and claim top spot in the conference

32The STadium gameThe Ducks and Kings take their rivalry outdoors

36BoB & BRuCeMeet the architects behind the Ducks’ success

Editor’s LEttErpage 4

advancEd statisticspage 6

dUcks in sochipage 8

norfoLk admiraLspage 10

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THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, the more they change. It’s a pithy thing to say, but it’s the way of the world. On some level, everybody has something in their life that, for whatever reason, they’re not ready to move on from, or can’t accept that it’s not the same as it used to be. Never is that more evident to me than when I think about the Anaheim Ducks in 2014.

A lot happened in 12 months—definitely more than enough to warrant putting this issue together. There were some incredible high points along the way: the Ducks and Kings played an extremely suc-cessful outdoor game, the first of its kind in a warm climate; the Ducks saw unprecendented success in the regular season, winning their division and con-ference; and the team welcomed plenty of new faces who are eager to become the superstars who inspire the next generation of California’s kids to pick up a stick and play the game.

There were plenty of tough stories that unfolded, too. Anaheim said goodbye to Teemu Selanne, one of the greatest players of all time. There was a bitter loss to the Kings in the playoffs, and then having to watch Los Angeles celebrate its second Stanley Cup championship in three years. Admirals fans in Nor-folk, although they didn’t know for sure until 2015, watched what will turn out to be some of the last AHL hockey to be played in their city for a while.

Through it all, the good and the bad, one theme remained present: change. The change of attitudes as the league and its fans begin to embrace hockey in non-traditional markets. The changing of the guard in Anaheim, which is losing a legend but welcoming a crop of young talent that will try to lift the team to new heights. The change that is not inherently good

or bad, but always happening. Change is exciting and a little bit scary.

So turn this page and join me in celebrating that change, which in the past year has helped shape the team and players we love, and will continue to act as an inexorable force on everything they do.

Because this is the first issue of Puq that has been published in more than two years, it has changed so much that it can hardly be called the same mag-azine. The first issue, released in December 2011, didn’t even bear the same name. The most recent issue dealt with the aftermath of the Kings’ Stanley Cup victory—in 2012. Now that it’s 2015, we’re doing things a little differently. Before we get to breaking down the year’s biggest stories, we take a look at some stuff that didn’t quite fit with the rest. What’s on tap for 2015? What of the Norfolk Admirals and their fans? We also touch briefly on a burgeoning area of the sport: advanced statstical analysis. These numbers and ideas have managed to add a more ce-rebral layer to the consumption of hockey, and while they are not everybody’s cup of tea, the insights they offer are both interesting and informative. Then there are the top stories themselves. Until you see them all lined up next to each other, it’s easy to forget exactly how much goes on in 365 days. There was a lot to write about, and my hope is that you’ll enjoy reading about it all.

PUQeDiTOr’sleTTer

Vol. 2 No. 1 | wiNter 2015

publishing groupoj media

Editor-in-ChiEfpatrick odell

CrEativE dirECtoralex jones

Contributorsmatt eakenHeath soreymatt weller

stephen janes

spECial thanks toanaheim ducks

National Hockey leaguegetty images

[email protected]

tWittEr @puqmag

Turning The pAge

NHl, the NHl shield, the word mark and image of the stanley cup are registered trademarks and NHl stadium series name and logo, NHl all-star game logo, NHl awards name and logo, NHl draft name and logo are trademarks of the National Hockey league. all NHl logos and marks and NHl team logos and marks depicted herein are the property of the NHl and the respective teams. © 2015

editor-iN-cHief

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4 Puq magazine

puck dropWhat’s in store for 2015? It won’t be borIng.

When a new year begins, it’s easy to get swept away by the optimism pervading every NHL fan base that

thinks its team has a legitimate chance to win the Stanley Cup. If we just add this piece... if we just get on a hot streak... if the goaltending holds up—we’re in!

The fly in the ointment, of course, is that only one team can win. That doesn’t mean fans shouldn’t harbor that opti-mism, but they have to be realistic about it, too. When it comes to the Ducks, is it realistic to expect a Stanley Cup this year? Maybe.

The team has no trouble piling up wins in the regular season, but doesn’t dictate the pace of play like past champions have. It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that everything falls into place for a run, though. It has certainly happened before, as Mighty Ducks fans nearly witnessed a miracle unfold in the 2003 playoffs.

The goaltending will have to stay sharp (page 18), Ryan Kesler will have to prove he’s worth it (page 26), the young guns will have to chip in (page 38)—and even with all that, they’ll need to stay healthy (page 15) and get a few bounces. If that happens, they’ll square the score with the Los Angeles Kings (page 16) and be back on top of the hockey world for the first time since 2007. It will be a long road to get there, with plenty of challenges to overcome along the way.

But the fun is in the journey.

is This The yeAr The Ducks reAch The nexT level?

StatS P.6 breaking doWn the

game With numbers

olympIcS P.8 ducks players go for gold in sochi

ahl P.10 norfolk admirals move to san diego

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50+50+Q50.3%

AnAlyzing The gAme

51+49+P50.5%

If you follow the NHL, you’ve probably heard about advanced statistics. What are they, and why are they considered advanced? Actually, most of the numbers people talk about—Corsi, Fenwick, PDO—aren’t too complicated. They just take data that the league already records and look at it in useful ways. It turns out when you dig a little deeper into the game and go beyond goals and assists, you can learn a lot about your favorite players and teams.

data collected from war-oN-ice.com

15.3%

corsi (for) PErcEntagEsince Bruce Boudreau took over in late 2011, the ducks have controlled just over half of all even-strength shot attempts, adjusting for different score situations. the number is a good approximation of puck possession time. anaheim’s total ranks about middle of the pack,

three to six percentage points below the NHl’s top teams when it comes to controlling the play.

scoring chancE (for) PErcEntagENew findings by hockey statistics researchers have

revealed a predictive connection between the number of scoring chances a team earns and its future share of goals—and the more a team scores, the better the odds it will win games. the ducks’ 50.5% control of scoring chances during 5-on-5 play since Boudreau became

coach ranks 12th in the league during that span.

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shooting PErcEntagEcorey perry scored on 15.3% of the

shots he took—for a total of 154 goals—from the start of the 2010-11 season through the end of 2014. for superstars, natural shooting talent is

one of the big factors separating them from other players who fall closer to

the league average of 8 to 9%.

What is dEPLoymEnt?what game situations a player is used in can have an

impact on his performance. things to watch for include the zone where he starts his shifts, the quality of his

teammates, the quality of his opponents and how much time he spends on the power play or penalty kill.

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puck drop“ ThiS CoRSi STaTiSTiC $#!%

iS Really going To Come uP and Bug me” BrUcE BoUdrEaU

the ducks’ coach uttered these words at a press conference during the 2014 playoffs after a game where

the ducks had been badly outshot, but won on the strength of john gibson’s goaltending.

101.3Pdo

what does pdo stand for? Nothing in particular. it’s simply the number you get when you add a team’s

shooting percentage to its save percentage. why does that matter? teams that are playing well but have a pdo number above 100 can be getting some puck

luck. or maybe some of their players are on hot streaks. either way, it’s usually not destined to last—good or

bad—as most teams tend to level off between 99 and 101. the ducks’ number of 101.3 during 5v5 play since Bruce Boudreau took over (through the end of 2014) is on the upper edge of that range, but the sample of games is large enough that it’s a reasonably accurate

representation of what to expect.

What arE WoWy nUmBErs?a big issue when trying to parse data is separating the

meaningful signal from the statistical noise. wowy numbers—which stands for with or without you—help accomplish that by showing how players perform with certain teammates or against certain opponents. for

example, if a player puts up great numbers alongside a teammate, but when they’re apart, the teammate keeps playing well and the player does not, it might be worth a deeper look to see if one player is responsible for the

other’s success.

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puck drop

Gallery

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Ducks AT The 2014 Olympics

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from a logistical perspective, the Anaheim Ducks’ move to bring the Norfolk Admirals to Califor-nia makes a lot of sense. Having

an affiliate in San Diego has a lot of immediately visible benefits. First, it allows players who are called up or sent down to make a much fast-er trip than before—at least when the Ducks are playing on the west coast. Second, it will be easier for the team’s front office to watch its up-and-coming players because the new team will play in a newly formed regional division. Third, it will certainly help grow the sport in California. It sounds like a win/win/win situation.

Lost in all of the self-congratu-latory back-slapping, however, is the sobering reality that the city of Norfolk is losing its hockey team. Getting a new ECHL team is cold comfort to the fans who went to the Norfolk Scope to watch the team win a record 28 games in a row just three years ago. The same fans who watched the team win the Calder Cup. The same fans who watched John Gibson, Rickard Rakell and countless other future Ducks, Light-ning and Blackhawks players take the ice for 15 years. It’s all too easy

for sympathy to be drowned out by the voices shouting about how great it will be. It’s just a business, after all.

But for anybody who has grown up watching a sport and cheering for their hometown team, the news should be enough to give pause. If your team packed up and left, how

would you feel? Would it matter how justifiable it was?

While sunny times undoubtedly lie ahead for San Diego’s fans and their new team, it’s still important to honor the memory of better days past. The AHL’s Admirals may be gone, but they will live on in the hearts of Norfolk hockey fans.

nick ritchiEthe ducks’ 2014 first-round draft pick will start his

professional career in san diego if he doesn’t make the jump directly to

the NHl

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puck drop

JAN. 8, 2015JuNE 9, 2012 JuNE 14, 2012 EARly 2014 FAll 2014 JAN. 29, 2015

Admirals win their first ever Calder

Cup as AHLchampions

Tampa Bay severs ties with Norfolk, Anaheim affiliation follows shortly after

Rumors surface of AHL west division, Ducks and Kings

leading the charge

Ken Young, owner of the Admirals,

says he will not sell the team

Reports say Ducks will buy Admirals, move team to San

Diego

Ducks confirm Admirals will move to San Diego for 2015-16 season

The rOAD frOm nOrfOlk TO sAn DiegO

The decision to move the admirals to San diego has one major forgotten cost: the fans left behind in norfolkBy HEATH SOREy & PATRICk OdEll

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10 Puq magazine

top stories of 2014

The AnAheim Ducks hAD A preTTy gooD yeAr

how AbouT A LiTTLe creDiT?

TEEMu SElANNE RETIRES AFTER 21 SEASONS

TOp sTOries

Not many players in the annals of NHL history can claim to have had a career as brilliant as Teemu Selanne’s. He burst onto the NHL scene more than two decades ago by scoring 76 goals in his rookie season to shatter the

previous record. In the roughly 1,400 games since, he tallied totals of 684 goals and 774 as-sists. He has won the Stanley Cup. He has rep-resented his country at the Olympic and won medals. He helped put hockey on the map in Anaheim.

After going through the same contempla-tions for seven summers, Selanne finally de-cided to hang up his skates for good at the conclusion of the 2014 playoffs. He walked away from the game known as a player who was always a fierce competitor on the ice, and always a gentleman off of it.. His legacy lives on as an inextricable part of Ducks franchise history.

When the Mighty Ducks traded for Selanne in 1996, people were excited. Although many knew he was disappointed to leave Winnipeg, they also knew he represented the type of of-fensive potential the franchise had never seen in its short existence. Adding him to a roster that included Paul Kariya looked to be a very smart move, at least on paper.

Almost immediately, the pair became an offensive dynamo and began to light up the league. In 1996-97, they combined for 95 goals and 113 assists. The three seasons between the fall of 1996 and the spring of 1999 were the most productive of Selanne’s career, as he potted 150 goals during that span.

Most impressive was the 1997-98 season, when Kariya was seriously injured and limit-ed to just 22 games. Although Selanne could not drag the Mighty Ducks to the playoffs, the majority of his production came without his superstar linemate.

After brief tenures with the San Jose Sharks and the Colorado Avalanche—the team both he and Kariya signed with only to have a disastrous season unfold—it was fitting that Selanne managed to find his way back to Ana-heim in 2005. Although his return appears to be an obvious fit in hindsight, Selanne was anything but a sure bet at the time. He had just completed the worst season of his career and had spent the past year during the NHL lockout recovering from knee surgery. Mighty Ducks general manager Brian Burke took a chance by signing Selanne to a one-year, $1-million contract.

Most figured Selanne would gently wind down his career—nobody knew how much

By MATT EAkEN & PATRICk OdEll / PhoTo By deBoRa RoBinSon/geTTy imageS

“HIS lEGACy lIvES ON AS A PART OF ANAHEIM HOCkEy HISTORy

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Saku koivu hangS up hiS SkateS for goodSaku koivu came to define the term hockey warrior during his 18-season NHL career. He beat a deadly disease, recovered from a serious eye injury, captained the most storied franchise in league history and was a leader on the ice and in the community. After 13 seasons with the Montreal Canadiens, Koivu joined countryman Teemu Selanne on the Ana-heim Ducks. He finished his career with 255 goals and

577 assists in 1,124 games played. Although he never won a Stanley Cup champi-onship, he competed at four Olympics, two World Cups and seven IIHF world cham-pionships, winning a gold medal for Finland in 1995. The diminutive center was well-liked by fans, teammates and even opponents, many of whom sent congratulatory messages to him when he announced his retirement. There are few moments in

hockey history as moving as when Koivu stepped onto Montreal ice for his first game back following his battle with cancer and received a stand-ing ovation from the crowd. The class he exuded was also second to none: after his departure from Montreal in 2009, fans could hardly wait each season for the Ducks to visit, because it gave them one more chance to fill the arena with chants of “Sa-ku! Sa-ku!” —staff

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he had left in the tank. Selanne scored 40 goals in 2005-06 to help the upstart Mighty Ducks reach the Western Con-ference final. The following season, he scored 48—his highest total since 1997-98—and helped the Ducks cap-ture the franchise’s first Stanley Cup.

During the playoffs, the 36-year-old Selanne was not just a depth player, either. His overtime goal in Game 5 of the Western Conference final against the Detroit Red Wings still stands as one of the most famous moments in team history. Most who watched the Ducks that season would agree it was that goal that sealed Anaheim’s even-tual Cup win.

It’s easy to look back on recent times when Selanne’s game declined, pushing him increasingly nearer to the fringes of the lineup, and realize the Ducks of 2014 were ready to move on without him. Even a few years ago, people were coming around to the idea that every star eventually fades and Teemu’s time was near. But it’s also important to look back with rever-ence and remember that the franchise owes a great deal to Selanne. In the early years, while the team was strug-gling to establish its legitimacy, he and Kariya were there to give it credibility on the ice, no matter who owned the team or what the uniforms looked like. The Mighty Ducks, and expansion teams all over, struggle to be taken se-riously, and the impact of a well-liked superstar who becomes a role mod-el within the community cannot be overstated. Hockey in California might have never taken off without the pres-ence of Wayne Gretzky, the forebear of Selanne, Kariya and all who followed in his footsteps.

As he skates off into the sunset, Selanne leaves a franchise that has found stability and success in a place nobody thought it could as recently as 20 years ago. Hockey is in California to stay. Three times the Stanley Cup has been hoisted by a local team. By the end of the 2014-15 season, two teams in the region will have hosted outdoor games in front of more than 50,000 fans. More young players are joining hockey leagues than ever before—not just roller hockey, either, as ice hock-ey programs in the state are thriving. As a result, more kids are growing up with dreams of becoming the next Ryan Getzlaf or Drew Doughty. Soon, they will be idolizing the homegrown likes of Emerson Etem, Matt Nieto and Beau Bennett.

And maybe, if they’re lucky, they will grow up to become idols in their own right.

Just like Teemu Selanne.

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injurieS and mumpS leave gaping holeS in the roSterPity Corey Perry. After starting the 2014-15 season on an absolute tear, he contracted mumps—one of the first cases in an eventual league-wide outbreak—and missed a handful of games. Not long after he returned, he was levelled by Minnesota Wild defenseman Keith Ballard and hurt his knee, and missed another month. Perry’s problems are a microcosm of the ones the Ducks faced on the injury front throughout the year. On defense, Ben Lovejoy broke his finger during a fight early in 2014-15 and missed about two months. Francois Beauchemin broke his finger too, which happened not too long after he had overcome his own case of mumps. Clayton Stoner had

mumps at one point too. Eric Brewer, who was acquired to help fill in on the blueline—mostly because of the aforementioned injuries—got hurt in his second game and ended up missing almost two months. Forward Patrick Maroon was injured in the first week of 2014-15. The Ducks had so many battered and bruised goaltenders that general manager Bob Murray had to sign Ilya Bryzgalov. Ryan Getzlaf took a puck to the face during the team’s series against the Dallas Stars in the 2014 playoffs. Stephane Robidas broke his leg in that same series. When it comes to injuries, there aren’t many teams that had worse luck in 2014 than the Ducks. —staff

TOp sTOries

teemu vS. Bruce

teemu vS. jiggy

When Selanne retired in 2014 at the age of 43, most assumed he went out on his own terms. After all, how much could he have had left in the tank? Apparently enough to keep playing. By the time training camp rolled around, news broke of harsh words from the Finnish Flash directed at coach Bruce Boudreau in a new biography. In the book, Selanne criticized his former coach for reducing his ice time and diminishing the role he played in his final season. The disagreements were not exactly private to those who spent time around the team, but it was surprising to see a well-respected icon like Selanne air his grievances publicly. Boudreau said he was disappointed to learn about the remarks, but he also understood the frustration that had caused them. He said Selanne was one of his favorite players, but he had been caught between Selanne’s idea of how much he should play and what was ultimately best for the team. Any bad feelings seemed to have been forgotten by the time Selanne returned to the Honda Center when the Ducks honored him by retiring his number.

Selanne’s friend and former teammate Jean-Sebastien Giguere poked fun at him during a ceremony to honor his career. Before Selanne’s No. 8 was raised to the rafters in Anaheim, the ex-Ducks goaltender told the crowd in attendance that before he became a father, he had watched the way Selanne interacted with his own children and knew he wanted to be that kind of dad. He also ribbed Selanne about the “muffin” shots—which is to say, soft shots—he used to see in practice. “How did you fool so many goalies?” he asked with a laugh. Giguere will undoubtedly be one of the first Ducks players after Selanne to be honored in a similar fashion, as both have roots burrowed deep in the franchise’s history. After the final regular season game in April, which saw Selanne’s Ducks face Giguere’s Colorado Avalanche, the pair joined hands and skated a lap around the Honda Center ice. It was a delight for the fans, who were given a chance to show their appreciation to two of their all-time favorite players.

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The Ducks AnD kings meeT fOr The firsT Time in The sTAnley cup plAyOffs

There was a buzz heading into the first ever playoff series between the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings because for the first time, both teams looked to be serious contenders. Many hockey fans south of L.A. wanted to give the Ducks a lot of time when the team was founded. It was new, cool and had the potential to flourish away from the Lakers and Raiders spotlights. But early adopters had to really stomach the presentation: Disney almost killed it with ridiculous gimmicks that turned a lot of people off.

The off-ice rivalry in Orange County was fuelled by the friction between established hockey fans who hated the gimmicks and newer fans that loved the team because it was theirs and it didn’t wear gang colors.

So in 2014, because both the Ducks and Kings were finally good at the same time, it meant the matchup was both a great hockey series and also one with a ton of regional baggage. Like classic rivalries in Montreal and Toronto, older fans could cheer for their team while simultaneously cheering against their team’s biggest rival. It was something newer hockey fans in the area had never lived through, however, so they weren’t as decided. When the series began, they had to pick a side.

What happened on the ice more than lived up to expectations. The series began with a dramatic overtime showdown. Each team took a turn winning a pair of games on the other’s home ice. The Ducks surged to the brink of the conference final thanks to spectacular play from rookie goaltender John Gibson before the Kings stormed back to take the final two games and cap a dramatic two weeks of hockey.

It connected all generations of fans in the area, and coming on the heels of the outdoor game at Dodger Stadium, it made hockey in Sourhern California a big deal nationally. It created a more distinct rivalry that will only help hockey in the region and the west coast in general, because Los Angeles is a gigantic media market. There are hockey fans from San Bernardino down to San Diego now, and that’s a win not just for the sport itself, but also the people who watch it. —matt EakEn

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Top STorieSBATTle Of cAlifOrniA

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creAse wAr

creAse wArin The nhl, TheRe iS no SuCh Thing aS Too muCh goalTending dePTh... unleSS you’Re The anaheim duCKS.

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TAkING THE REINS

At some point between the time when Frederik Andersen was just the latest Ducks Europe-an goaltending import and the

team’s season-ending Game 7 loss to the Los Angeles Kings, it became clear a changing of the guard was taking place.

Andersen—better known by one of his nicknames, whether it’s The Anders Mountain, The Great Dane or simply Freddie—took the NHL by storm, winning 20 games and helping the Ducks claim top spot in not just the ultra-competitive Pacif-ic Division, but the entire Western Conference. In doing so, he showed the team he was capable enough to make a case for the starting role. It was something general manag-er Bob Murray had no doubt envi-sioned when he brough Andersen into the fold, but even he would

likely admit to being surprised it happened so quickly. It was also convenient, with incumbent Jonas Hiller’s contract due to expire. An-dersen was making what should have been a difficult decision much simpler.

As Andersen gained more of coach Bruce Boudreau’s confidence, the 6-foot-4 netminder was given more playing time and increased responsibilities, culminating with a start in the Ducks’ first playoff game against the Dallas Stars. Although his first trip to the postseason didn’t go so well, he bounced back by the fall and picked up exactly where he had left off.

Andersen’s job in Anaheim is certainly secure for the foreseeable future, and his presence is crucial if the Ducks have any true champion-ship aspirations. —Patrick odELL

“If the Duckshave any stanley cup hopes, anDersen’spresence Is crucIal

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Win PErcEntagEandersen’s record from the start

of his NHl career through the end of 2014 was 40-11-5

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adjUstEd savE PErcEntagEandersen’s 5v5 save percentage,

accounting for shot distance, through the end of 2014

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jonaS hiller loSeS hiS joB and leaveS townJonaS Hiller spent his entire seven-year NHL career with the Anaheim Ducks, but in July 2014 that came to an end. Hiller signed a two-year, $9-million free-agent deal with the Calgary Flames after falling out of favor with coach Bruce Boudreau at the end of a roller-coaster season. In the 326 regular season games Hiller played with the Ducks, he posted a 162-110-32 record with 21 shutouts and a .916% save percent-age. As the 2014 playoffs approached, rookie Frederik

Andersen got increasing amounts of playing time, and Boudreau eventually dropped Hiller to third on the depth chart, opting to play rookie John Gibson when Andersen faltered in the postseason, despite some solid relief work by Hiller. The best the Ducks managed with the Swiss netminder in goal was a surprise first-round upset over the league-leading San Jose Sharks in 2009, followed by a close seven-game loss to the Detroit Red Wings. In 2010-11, he was one of the

league’s best goalies before a bout with vertigo ended his season early. He did not get back on track until 2012, and by then the Ducks’ season was lost. The 2013 playoffs ended in disappointment with another series loss to Detroit, paving the way for Andersen’s eventual emergence. Despite not being able to guide the team to a Stanley Cup during his tenure, it was no doubt still a strange sight for Ducks fans to see Hiller don a new jersey when the 2014-15 season began. —staff

“I’M ExCITEd TO JOIN A TEAM WHERE PE0PlE cAre ABOuT hOckey”As far as goodbyes go, Jonas Hiller’s final words about Anaheim aren’t likely to be ones fans will cherish. When he said those words in a Sportsnet radio interview shortly after signing with the Calgary Flames, they were probably not spoken with animosity toward the fans who had supported him for the past seven years—but it is possible there was some frustration at their root. In September, Hiller bemoaned what he called a lack of respect for some of the Ducks’ veterans by head coach Bruce Boudreau. That came on the heels of comments to the same effect made by Teemu Selanne in a book following his retirement. Only Hiller and Boudreau will ultimately know how much truth is behind the allegations, but there are a few other reasons the Ducks chose to move in a new direction with goaltending for the 2014-15 season:

For his first four seasons in Anaheim, there was a strong case to be made that Hiller was a top-10 goalie in the NHL, and at points, even among the top five. Since late 2011, however, his numbers had been in a steady downward spiral and his play became increasingly inconsistent.

Given the money and term the Flames gave Hiller and how quickly he agreed to the deal, it’s clear Ducks GM Bob Murray felt the money he saved on goaltending could be better spent elsewhere.

If the Ducks wanted to sign Hiller at 32, it would mean either trading the younger Frederik Andersen or forcing top prospect John Gibson to toil in the AHL for the length of the contract.

HiS Play waS deClining

He waS too exPenSive

He waS not tHe future

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The fuTure iS now

John Gibson4

john Gibson had a wild ride in 2014. He started the 2013-14 season with the Norfolk Admirals and was fourth on the Ducks’ goaltending depth chart. By the end of the year, he was back where he started, in the AHL. What happened in 12 months? Not much, unless you count making his

NHL debut, starting and earning a shutout in both the AHL and NHL playoffs and pushing his way up to earn a spot on Anaheim’s opening-night roster by October. He had his share of disappointments, too, including a lopsided Game 7 loss at home to the Los Angeles Kings that ended his team’s season. He also suffered a groin injury in November—but nothing managed to dull the shine of the franchise’s bright future in goal, something that has made the Ducks the envy of other teams in the NHL. —Patrick odELL

2 playoff deButSin 2 weekS

TOp sTOries

April 25, 2014 Gibson was no stranger to high-pres-sure hockey when he made his AHL playoff debut. He had already won a gold medal at the World Ju-nior Hockey Championship and bronze at the men’s World Hockey Championship. Gibson’s performance in the Norfolk Admirals’ first-round series against the Manchester Monarchs was still some of the best hockey he’s ever played. Despite losing Game 1, he notched a 35-save shutout overtime win in the se-ries’ pivotal third game en route to helping Norfolk eliminate Manchester.

mAy 10, 2014 Gibson had just three games of NHL experience when he got the Game 4 start in the Ducks’ second-round series against the Kings. He re-sponded with a 28-save shutout to help Anaheim tie the series, and was rewarded with another start in Game 5. He won again, stopping 39 of 42 shots fired at him. His Cinderella story did not have a fairytale ending—back-to-back losses ended the Ducks’ sea-son—but it capped a whirlwind period for Gibson. In a few short weeks, he took two leagues by storm and proved he was ready to seize every opportunity given to him. —hEath sorEy

22 Puq magazine

ilyA BryzgAlOv

TOp sTOries

An OlD frienD AnD sOme new Ones cOmpleTe The cArOusel

jAsOn lABArBerA

igOr BOBkOv

vikTOr fAsTh

Struggling with injuries that felled Frederik Andersen, John Gibson and Jason LaBarbera, the Ducks turned to Ilya Bryzgalov for help. After leaving Anaheim in 2007, “Bryz” made stops in Phoenix, Philadelphia, Edmonton and Minnesota before returning on a one-year deal. The Ducks didn’t bring him back to handle full-time crease duties, but to provide occasional relief for Andersen and give Gibson more time to sharpen his skills in the AHL.

The Ducks signed LaBarbera to have a veteran presence who could play in the AHL and also handle some NHL minutes. After an injury forced Anaheim to bring in more help, he found himself sharing the crease with John Gibson in Norfolk—a better situation for both LaBarbera and the Ducks.

Bobkov has bounced around between the NHL, AHL and ECHL since being drafted by the Ducks in 2009. He has yet to see any big league game action, and his inconsistent play in Norfolk makes it seem increasingly unlikely that he will ever develop into a goaltender capable of sticking around in the NHL.

Fasth was signed prior to the 2012-13 season to challenge Jonas Hiller. His North American career got off to a great start, but he was slowed by injuries and watched from the bench as Hiller and Frederik Andersen took over. His tenure in Anaheim ended when the Ducks dealt him to the Edmonton Oilers in 2014.

curreNt page: deBora roBiNsoN/getty images, roN cHeNoy/usa today, cHris scHNeider/ap pHoto, justiN K. aller/getty imagesfaciNg page: jeff gross/getty images

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NEEdS MORE ORANGE? THE duCkS dEBuT AN uPdATEd IdENTITytHe anaHeim duCkS introduced new jersey designs just before the 2014 NHL entry draft in June, the first significant changes since the team moved on from its Mighty Ducks identity after the 2005-06 season. The new look is more evolution than revolution, playing on the franchise’s Orange County her-itage and doing away with the “Ducks” word mark in favor of the webbed “D” logo. The announcement of new uniforms confirmed a long-held suspicion among Ducks fans that the franchise would press its alternate jersey

into regular service. Moving to a design that features a lot of orange is a good first step, but there are issues with the new look that should have been addressed before anybody signed off on it. Those problems are espe-cially evident on the new white away jersey. In short, the new look is a serious letdown. There is plenty of potential, but instead we’re left with is a deluge of mismatched design elements and ultimately, a missed opportu-nity to properly honor the franchise’s roots. In the long run, however, it may not matter

much how the current jerseys turned out. The all-orange Stadium Series jersey was a hit, and it’s only a matter of time before Anaheim re-introduces that design or one like it. From there, it will eventually become the full-time home jersey, and a new road companion will soon follow. Due to regulations that prevent teams from switching their jersey designs too frequently, it could be five years before that comes to pass. But when it finally does, the Ducks will undoubtedly be a better-dressed group than they are now. —aLEx jonEs

24 Puq magazine

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what if Someone madethe right tweakS to thenew duckS jerSeyS?

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shoULdEr PiPing & yokE

phantom piping on the black jersey disrupts the flow of the design. on the white jersey, the piping and black yoke create an imbalance without matching waist stripes and look especially out of place with orange panels on the sides and sleeves.

1 Logo oUtLinE

the additional black outline around the logo sandwiches the silver outline and makes that area of the white jersey appear overly busy and sloppy looking.

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nUmBEr oUtLinEs

revert to the gold outline on the black jersey. on the white jersey, ditch the needless gap between the number and the outline to keep them contained like the modified striping.

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sLEEvE and sidE striPing

the copy-and-paste striping from the black jersey needs to change. there is too little contrast between the orange and white. By restoring black as the secondary color, the gold and orange will properly contrast with the jersey’s white base.

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25PuqMag.coM

THE duCkSAdd RyANkESlER

TOp sTOriescenter of attention4

By MATT EAkEN & PATRICk OdEll / PhoTo By ChRiSTian PeTeRSen/geTTy imageS

After years of searching for a legitimate second option at center behind captain Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim general manager Bob Murray found his man in Ryan Kes-ler, who wanted out of Vancouver. He is the elusive player the Ducks have long

sought but not been able to acquire or draft, at least until recently, with young Rickard Rakell showing much promise.

The Ducks had previously hoped to fill the need for a skilled second-line center with Saku Koivu. At the stage in his career when he was acquired, however, he was probably better suit-ed to a third-line center role. He was largely successful in his duties of playing responsible minutes there, even though modern-day hock-ey demands more offense from that spot in the lineup.

The job of a second-line center today is defined more by the amount of time a player spends on ice rather than a role that must be filled—though two-way responsibility is still important, it is not as essential to the position. Since the Ducks won the Stanley Cup eight years ago, when the team had Andy McDonald and emerging superstar Ryan Getzlaf, center depth has been an issue for the team.

The problem owes its existence to a series of ill-conceived roster moves that dismantled

the top half of the Ducks’ forward roster. Players were shuttled in and out of town as the lineup was constantly tinkered with, ostensibly to re-main competitive. Perhaps the most telling re-sult of all those adjustments is the team’s track record from 2008 to 2013, when it only once made it out of the first round and missed the playoffs twice. Some of the blame can be set at the feet of former coach Randy Carlyle, but some of the changes made in the post-Cup era have been lat-eral moves at best, and damaging at worst.

With the arrival of Kesler, the Ducks now have a capable player to patrol the ice who is not an offensive boat anchor on his linemates. With due respect to Koivu, that is likely the biggest issue Murray was attempting to address. Nick Bonino, despite a good offensive showing in 2013-14, could not reasonably be expected to put up 50 or more points on an annual basis. There was nothing in his track record to suggest his success was more than a blip on the radar. He was a perfectly likable player who was respon-sible defensively and could score a timely goal, but he was not Ryan Kesler. Kesler had centered superstars in Vancouver and held his own. He had proven he was capable of leading a team to the Stanley Cup final, even if the Canucks’ effort came up one game short. Murray, a hockey guy above all else, no doubt valued Kesler’s pedigree

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mathieu perreault leaveS on a jet planematHieu Perreault came to the Ducks from the Washington Capitals at a cost that didn’t break the bank in what turned out to be one of Bob Murray’s most shrewd moves. Perreault gave Anaheim a solid option at center behind captain Ryan Getzlaf—something the team had been seeking for a long time. In 69 games, he scored 18 goals and added 25 assists, but the raw numbers alone don’t

tell the whole story. He was efficient, too: during 5-on-5 play, he posted 2.5 points per 60 minutes, good for the 15th-highest rate in the league among players with 500 or more minutes played. He also put up respectable puck possession numbers on a team that wasn’t always great at controlling the play. When Ryan Kesler arrived and assumed the second-line center’s mantle, however, it was clear that if Perreault had

designs on a more prominent role, it would have to be with another team. When Murray didn’t qualify him before the start of free agency, Perreault was able to go anywhere, and quickly signed a three-year deal with the Winnipeg Jets for $3 million per season. if the early returns are any indication, Perreault’s new team is enjoying everything the now 27-year-old former sixth-round draft pick can offer. —staff

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as much as his skill—a case where a the numbers and the “gut feeling” agree.

In the playoffs, the games get tighter. Never is it more evident than those times that the Ducks need alter-native sources of offense. When op-ponents clamp down on the Ryan Get-zlafs and Corey Perrys of the league, the teams that excel are the ones that get contributions from all over their lineups. A player like Kesler possess-es not only the ability to finish on his own, but also the ability to distribute the puck, which will ease the burden on the Ducks’ top line. The opposition will now have to account for a second-ary threat, which improves Anaheim’s odds of winning.

Away from the net, Kesler still excels with the puck where Bonino and Koivu did not. He is no longer an elite-level play driver like he used to be, but he is certainly in above av-erage, and the Ducks, a historically mediocre team when it comes to shot attempt differentials, can certainly use the help. Kesler has also proven ad-ept at suppressing shot attempts on the defensive side, which should also prove to be beneficial over the course of a long and tiring season.

Not to be lost in the discussion surrounding Kesler is the price the Ducks paid to acquire him, which was essentially nil. Bob Murray wisely de-cided not to overpay for Kesler at the trade deadline because he knew he would get another crack at acquiring him, and at much more palatable cost. Kesler had told the Canucks that Ana-heim was on his shortlist of acceptable destinations, which helped grease the wheels for Murray to get the deal done. In parting with Bonino, Luca Sbisa and the lower of two first-round draft choices, he essentially pawned spare parts to acquire what could be the missing piece to his Stanley Cup puzzle. Better still, the net cost to the Ducks was only about $1 million, far below the price tag to sign a free agent of Kesler’s caliber.

The early returns from Kesler have been decent. Offensively, he has pro-duced at the expected rate, and al-though he plays on the second line, he his time on ice is sometimes more akin to that of a first-line player

On the ledger, adding Kesler was practically a zero-sum equation. Mur-ray’s bet was that from a hockey per-spective, the returns from Kesler’s two seasons—more if he re-signs at the end of his deal—would far outweigh what he surrendered. Not a bad wager to make for a team hoping to win soon-er than later.

28 Puq magazine

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ryan getzlaf haS theBeSt year of hiS career

ryan getZlaf was a leader for the Anaheim Ducks in every sense of the word in 2014. The captain finished 2013-14 with a career-high 31 goals and racked up 87 points—the second-highest total of his career—to finish behind only Sidney Crosby in the Art Ross Trophy race. He was nominated for the Hart Trophy as the league’s most valuable player, the Ted Lindsay Award as the league’s most outstanding player and the Mark Messier Leadership Award. If not for Sidney Crosby, his second-team all-star nod would have

been for the first team. Despite ultimately going home empty-handed without a second Stanley Cup ring or any hardware, there was no question that as Getzlaf goes, so go the Ducks. He was an inspirational leader during the 2014 playoffs. After sustaining what could have been a season-ending injury in the first round against the Dallas Stars, he came back and finished with 15 points in 12 games before the Ducks were eliminated by the Los Angeles Kings. Not all of Getzlaf’s efforts were for naught, either. In February, he helped Team

Canada win its (and his own) second consec-utive Olympic gold medal. As the 2014-15 season began, he picked up right where he left off, helping the Ducks to the top of the league standings and tallying plenty of points in the process. When Corey Perry went down with illness and then injury, Getzlaf stepped up to fill the void. What could have been a disastrous scenario for the Ducks turned out to be no big deal as the team barely missed a beat. He’s one of the best in the world, and he spent all of 2014 proving it. —Patrick odELL

29PuqMag.coM

the top anaheim ducks stories of 2014: puq magazine

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