Going all the way back to 2013 in a first round series against the Detroit Red Wings where the Anaheim Ducks were favorites to win, that series can be summed up after that one game 7, disappointing. Jump to about one year later when the Ducks got past the Dallas Stars in the first round then were set to match-up against the Los Angeles Kings. A battle of two heavyweights but another series tied 3-3 that would soon be overshadowed by another bad game 7.
Coming into the 2014-15 season it had that feeling management and fans alike hate, win now or face dramatic changes. After an opening night loss at the hands of the Pittsburgh Penguins by a 6-4 score things never got out of control for the Ducks. That opening night loss was followed by a seven game winning streak and Anaheim was soon to run away with the pacific division.
The Ducks would continue to rack up the wins and quickly stop losing streaks with their longest losing streak being three, four separate times. The Ducks kept banking points even when losing, their first back to back games without any points earned came on November 28th and 29th against Chicago and San Jose. After those two games the Ducks went on another seven game winning streak just to make sure there wasn’t any doubt this team was pretty great.
Anaheim would go on another six game winning streak later in the season and the division title was never really in doubt. The only question that seemed to hover over this team was how many goals they gave up and if the defense was good enough. Saying that, the Ducks went 33-1-7 in one goal games setting a NHL record for most win in one goal games. The Ducks worst months were the final two and a half months of the season and perhaps fueling fear that running away with the division might make them struggle when the intensity of the playoffs starts.
They didn’t seem to lose much focus. In a closer series than a sweep would tell you the Ducks ousted the Winnipeg Jets four games to nil. Having to come back after trailing entering the third period in the first three games showed the character this team possibly lacked in the previous years.
The second round wasn’t much of a challenge for the Ducks. After the first two games it was clear that Anaheim was clearly a better team than the scrappy and hard working Calgary Flames. The Flames would fight back and make the Ducks work the final three games in that series but the Ducks would go on to win four games to one and giving head coach Bruce Boudreau his first trip past the second round.
This is where the Ducks would face their toughest challenge not surprisingly against the Chicago Blackhawks. A great back and forth series in both momentum and wins saw the Ducks up three games to two with a chance to win the series in Chicago in game six. A close game was busted open by Chicago in the second period where the Hawks scored three goals in three minutes-forty five seconds. Anaheim would force the game back to 3-2 with goals at the end of the second and start of the third but the Blackhawks would hold them off forcing a game 7.
The bad game 7 trend for the Ducks would pop up yet again. Allowing a goal in the first three minutes then another just after the midway point of the first put the Ducks in a tough position on home ice. The Blackhawks would add two more in the second and going into the second intermission up 4-1. The game ended 5-2 and even a strong third period couldn’t help the bad feelings of another great chance blown. Going into the off-season was an odd feeling. Not many times to teams get to the conference finals and feel so bad after losing. The 3-2 series lead and game 7 loss on home ice stung hard and even coach Bruce Boudreau didn’t seem safe after the loss. Boudreau would keep his job and the Ducks off-season started.
Has it been a successful off-season to this point? It’s kind of hard to improve a fifty-one win team, a team that gathered one hundred and nine points tied for third best in the entire league. With fifteen million left in cap space the Ducks could improve their defense if they wanted to, but their defense looks pretty solid filled with young promising guys like Folwer, Vatanen and Lindholm making up one of the cheapest defenses in the league. They seem set in the goalie category as well with Andersen set to be the starter after a good year and great playoffs with new signee Khudobin set to be the back up making for a very cheap goaltending pairing. The forward group is as threatening as ever with Getzlaf and Perry leading the charge and a great supporting cast behind them. The trade for Carl Hagelin should only help the depth as well as the team speed that this team possesses.
The one black mark on this off-season was the Ryan Kesler extension. Kesler is a great player and an extremely important member of this Ducks team who plays in all situations, but is he worth his 6.8 cap hit after this season? Kesler’s best years seem to be behind him and he plays a very physical kind of game as well as throwing himself at shots, The Ducks are most likely praying his play doesn’t decrease like their SoCal rivals LA Kings and their situation with Mike Richards. The Ducks do have a ton of cap space and the cap should only rise in the coming years but should Kesler’s play decline, that could be a nasty deal in the not so distant future.
The biggest stories of this Ducks off-season has been the trade for Kevin Bieksa, Trade for Carl Hagelin, the Ryan Kesler extension and the loss of Matt Beleskey. Has any of those made this Ducks team better. Unlikely in my opinion. This team will still be great and hover around what they got last season. This team should be western favorites and a chance to get into the Stanley Cup Final and win the Stanley Cup are very good.
I’m not here to give grades but I’d give the Anaheim Ducks a passing grade. The Ducks should get a better challenge from the division this year but they are still clearly the best team and are most likely the best team in the whole western conference and a very big threat for the Stanley Cup.
Note: I wrote this blog on July 20th, after the NHL draft and the opening of free agency being the busiest time of the off-season. I decided to write about the off-season of all the NHL teams and decided to do the pacific division first and do the teams alphabetically. Unfortunately for Anaheim this puts them first and fairly short into the off-season, a lot can change between now and October. Up next, Arizona Coyotes.
