Ducks

[Reds4Life 51]

I watched all Red Wings playoff games last year. And imo Ducks were just lucky. Yes, they have bigger guys and at times Getzaf line circled in our end, but they did not dominate. We lost 2 key dmans, thats the biggest reason why Ducks won. But they were not better team than Wings. Physical play do not necessarily leads to succes, yea, it's important part, but if you think they outmuscled us you are wrong. They were more physical team, but that did not win the series for them. You have your opinion, ok, but you do not need to use words like "idiocy and laziness", because that means you cannot put arguments on the table.

Edited January 21, 2008 by Reds4Life

[Duck Guy 86]

I watched all Red Wings playoff games last year. And imo Ducks were just lucky. Yes, they have bigger guys and at times Getzaf line circled in our end, but they did not dominate. We lost 2 key dmans, thats the biggest reason why Ducks won. But they were not better team than Wings. Physical play do not necessarily leads to succes, yea, it's important part, but if you think they outmuscled us you are wrong. They were more physical team, but that did not win the series for them.

just lucky? Ok i will give u that one cuz i dont want to argue. Anyways with or without the addition of teemu ducks will be favorites to repeat. Same D as last year loss of andy mac not that bad he was not producing. And loss of penner not that bad since we got bert. Penner = 50GP and 30 Pts. Bert = 37GP 27Pts no competition. Gain of bert and weight= more offence. And I am not just saying that cuz i am a huge fan i would be the first person to say that they suck if they sucked.

Edited January 21, 2008 by Duck Guy

[Reds4Life 51]

Ducks are great team, I am not fan, but they are great. I think that Ducks were lucky against Wings last year thats all. And I wrote many times on these forums that they are Cup contender this year too. They can beat Wings this year too. I hope they will not

[MIN8TV 0]

I'm worried sick. I think the Wings should pack up after the Queens game and head back to Hockeytown. Just go ahead and give the Ducks the win.

Edited January 21, 2008 by MIN8TV

[Donaldjr2448 43]

I will say this much, I don't think the Ducks will have the same cake walk they had in the first two rounds last year this year. Minnesota didn't even show up in the first round and the only reason Vancouver was in the same arena was because of Loungo (sorry of the mis-spell). The only team Anaheim played last year was the Wings. For those of us that have played any sport there is nothing better than knocking out the defending champion in a playoff series or game. Who ever Anaheim playes will be ready to eliminate them quickly!!

[GMRwings1983 8,804]

just lucky? Ok i will give u that one cuz i dont want to argue. Anyways with or without the addition of teemu ducks will be favorites to repeat. Same D as last year loss of andy mac not that bad he was not producing. And loss of penner not that bad since we got bert. Penner = 50GP and 30 Pts. Bert = 37GP 27Pts no competition. Gain of bert and weight= more offence. And I am not just saying that cuz i am a huge fan i would be the first person to say that they suck if they sucked.

I think Penner's problem is that he's playing for a deadbeat team. If he was playing with Getzlaf and Perry, he'd have much better numbers than Bertuzzi, and certainly better than what he has in Edmonton right now.

[Duck Guy 86]

Ducks are great team, I am not fan, but they are great. I think that Ducks were lucky against Wings last year thats all. And I wrote many times on these forums that they are Cup contender this year too. They can beat Wings this year too. I hope they will not

[/quote

was it game 5 where scott tipped in the puck at the last 7 seconds or so in the 3rd when Det was leading 1-0 which lead to the teemu goal in OT. now that is some crazy luck . If that did not happen wings would of taken that series.

Edited January 21, 2008 by Duck Guy

[Duck Guy 86]

I will say this much, I don't think the Ducks will have the same cake walk they had in the first two rounds last year this year. Minnesota didn't even show up in the first round and the only reason Vancouver was in the same arena was because of Loungo (sorry of the mis-spell). The only team Anaheim played last year was the Wings. For those of us that have played any sport there is nothing better than knocking out the defending champion in a playoff series or game. Who ever Anaheim playes will be ready to eliminate them quickly!!

oh so very true

[Reds4Life 51]

was it game 5 where scott tipped in the puck at the last 7 seconds or so in the 3rd when Det was leading 1-0 which lead to the teemu goal in OT. now that is some crazy luck . If that did not happen wings would of taken that series.

I think so.

[chrisdetroit 189]

As far as I am concerned, they are the team to beat until someone proves otherwise. They have what 29 other teams want, including the Red Wings.

I don't really care honestly what the Ducks are doing in comparision to the Red Wings in January. Anaheim has proven before they are better than Detroit when it matters.

I am not sure how you get the Ducks are struggling to make the playoffs anyways. The Ducks are one point back in their division now, and six points ahead of the eighth place team in the conference. The only team with any substantial ground in all of the West are the Red Wings. The Ducks will make the playoffs, you can count on that.

Until the Red Wings, or any other team really, prove they can beat the Ducks when it matters, Anaheim is still the best team in my book.

Look at the standings and factor in the games in hand. The Duck have a 0.588 percentage (points/available points). Project that over 82 games and they would finish with 96 points. The cut-off would be 94 points and there are 5 teams with 94 or 96 points - Minnesota, Dallas, Aneheim, Colorado, Vancouver, and Calgary. If they slip up by only 3 points, they don't make the playoffs. The numbers don't lie regardless of what your book says. They are on the edge.

Lastly, noboday has played this years Ducks when it mattered. You are still dwelling on last year.

GP Pts Pt % Proj Pts.

1 Detroit * 49 74 0.755 124

2 San Jose 47 57 0.606 99

3 Minnesota 47 55 0.585 96

4 Dallas * 51 61 0.598 98

5 Anaheim 51 60 0.588 96

6 Colorado 48 56 0.583 96

7 Vancouver 48 55 0.573 94

8 Calgary 49 56 0.571 94

9 St. Louis 45 50 0.556 91

10 Phoenix 48 52 0.542 89

11 Nashville 47 50 0.532 87

12 Columbus 49 52 0.531 87

13 Chicago 48 50 0.521 85

14 Edmonton 50 49 0.490 80

15 Los Angeles 49 40 0.408 67

[chrisdetroit 189]

I think so.

How bout the fact that the Ducks got to play weak Minnesota and Vancouver teams when the Wings drew Calgary and San Jose. Or the fact that the Wings lost Kronvall for the entire playoff the last week of the season. Or the fact that they lost Schneider for the entire 3rd round.

It was game 5 and the puck deflected off of Lidstrom's stick and flew up in the air and into the net. I still have nightmares...

[chrisdetroit 189]

Most of the stats for this season before 12/16 (addition of Weight/Scotty) I am personally throwing out. Before all that includes the London trip which absolutely destroyed them mentally and physically and the "Cup Hangover," and I know that you all know that the first part of any season following a Cup win is always a little tough. So coming off a short summer to go play 9 time zones away and then come 3 days after to go on a 3 game road trip in which every game was a home opener, really took a toll. Anyways

Since that date, this Ducks team has looked worlds different than the one that started the season. They are looking confident and looking like they've regained the swagger they played with for a majority of last season. 12-3-2 since then. Im still amazed that a team that was 15-15-4 at one point had vaulted themselves into 1st in the division, 2nd in the conference, and 3rd in the league (That Dallas game yesterday was an abomination. That was one of those that you take and immediately put behind you, because it was just that bad. Just a blip on the radar). I think that the Ducks are still the team to beat in the West besides the Red Wings. I'm really looking forward to this game on Wednesday to gauge where we really are in relation to the goal we want to achieve, Repeat. I'm convinced that we are perfectly fine division wise, it's the bigger things I'm worried about.

And BTW Teemu Selanne is going to make a decision within the next week or so on whether he'll be back or not. He's been skating in full gear and a Ducks practice uniform by himself at the Ducks practice facility which is 30-50 minutes (depending on traffic) away from his house in Coto de Caza. I dont think someone goes out of their way that much to not comeback, but thats just my feeling.

As for our defensemen. I've watched a few Wings game this year but not enough to rank your guys besides Lidstom, Rafalski, and the aging Cheliosauras. Here's my rankings for the Ducks D-men.

1. Niedermayer - 4 Cups, nuff said. Arguably one of the best defensemen of all time. Definitely the most decorated (overall not just Norris trophies). He's won every major championship a Canadian player can win.

2. Pronger - Long reach, physical, one hell of a slap shot, and a nasty disposition (a trait most Ducks fans have come to love )

3. Schneider - you guys know him, quick, makes mostly good decisions. Extremely good offensively. Most defensive mistakes he makes he makes up for by getting back into position quickly.

4. Huskins - most Ducks fans mark him as a poor-man's Scott Niedermayer. He's good positionally. Makes most plays with his stick. He's not afraid to carry the puck up-ice himself and bring it down low. He also just makes smart plays every time he has the puck. He's 14th in the NHL with a +14 rating. 2nd on the Ducks to Getzlaf. He's really a lot better than most of you are giving him credit for.

5. O'Donnell - Good positionally, physical some weird decisions from time to time, but he goes unnoticed for the most part, which is a good thing for D-men in my book.

6. Beauchemin - He's good, don't get me wrong. But early this season when he wasn't with Scott, he didnt look as comfortable or as smooth as he had the past 2 years. He's ok defensively. He makes some really good decisions and then some really bad ones. Most of his mistakes are saved because he has Scotty by his side. Has really good offensive upside.

7. DiPenta - There's not too much I can say, except he makes the safe play everytime. He's not amazing in any certain facet of the game. But he's a safe defenseman. He's kinda gotten lost in the shuffle once Nieds returned. I think he's been a healthy scratch since then. It's really too bad considering Carlyle loved Joey "DiPendable." He would love to play the guy but theres just noot a spot at this point. Plus he skates funny.

Thats my take

See you in May

I was worried when you started out because some of your logic made sense, then you said "Neidemeir - 4 cups, nuff said" What happened to logic. What he did in the past means nothing. This is 2008.

Yes they have improved in the last 15 games but you are saying that they are the team to beat based on 15 games?!

Aging players huh? Like Back Surgery Bertuzzi, Schneider and Weight? Who replaced young studs like Penner and McDonald. Last year was last year.

Another 1 year cup winner just like Tampa and Carolina

[VM1138 1,921]

People, people. I know sports fans love to quote stats, but they mean nothing. upsets are frequent in hockey, so stats mean absolutely nothing, especially in Red Wings history.

ANyways, Anaheim is playing much better, and if Selanne comes back, all they have been ridiculed for all year will be gone. They will be essentially the same team (only with Schneider and Bertuzzi added to the mix and each contributing), so I'd dare say they stayed the same or improved.

Now, I'm not going to ***** about losing defesemen in the playoffs last year. Anyone who really watched the games knows that the Wings did just fine without injured players. What finally caught up with them, was luck. This is not to say that Detroit owned that series. It seemed Anaheim and Detroit split the games as fara s playing goes. But there were at least two games when Detroit outplayed Anaheim and lost, and one game when Anaheim outplayed Detroit and lost. And a lot of goals were flukes, mistakes, etc.

Those mistakes are not represented in stats. We can talk about "If Jiggy is injured, they're screwed." But who's to say he gets injured? It's much more likely he's healthy come playoffs, and we all know Jiggy is only good in the playoffs, and by good I mean amazing.

I'd say that a rematch in the Western Finals will happen, and it's either teams' series for the picking. The teams are about the same, talent wise. Last year was defined by flukes (for both teams), freak plays and luck. It all depends on how those flukes fall this year.

[chrisdetroit 189]

People, people. I know sports fans love to quote stats, but they mean nothing. upsets are frequent in hockey, so stats mean absolutely nothing, especially in Red Wings history.

ANyways, Anaheim is playing much better, and if Selanne comes back, all they have been ridiculed for all year will be gone. They will be essentially the same team (only with Schneider and Bertuzzi added to the mix and each contributing), so I'd dare say they stayed the same or improved.

Now, I'm not going to ***** about losing defesemen in the playoffs last year. Anyone who really watched the games knows that the Wings did just fine without injured players. What finally caught up with them, was luck. This is not to say that Detroit owned that series. It seemed Anaheim and Detroit split the games as fara s playing goes. But there were at least two games when Detroit outplayed Anaheim and lost, and one game when Anaheim outplayed Detroit and lost. And a lot of goals were flukes, mistakes, etc.

Those mistakes are not represented in stats. We can talk about "If Jiggy is injured, they're screwed." But who's to say he gets injured? It's much more likely he's healthy come playoffs, and we all know Jiggy is only good in the playoffs, and by good I mean amazing.

I'd say that a rematch in the Western Finals will happen, and it's either teams' series for the picking. The teams are about the same, talent wise. Last year was defined by flukes (for both teams), freak plays and luck. It all depends on how those flukes fall this year.

Essentially the same team? Are you ignoring the fact that they lost Penner, McDonald and a very good back-up goalie in Bryzgalov? Last year they came within a few points of the Presidents Trophey. This year they are barely making the playoffs.

How can you say that they are the same or better?

[Duck Guy 86]

Essentially the same team? Are you ignoring the fact that they lost Penner, McDonald and a very good back-up goalie in Bryzgalov? Last year they came within a few points of the Presidents Trophey. This year they are barely making the playoffs.

How can you say that they are the same or better?

Ducks are 4th in west right now not to bad considering their horrid start .We will see only time will tell. West is very tight besides wings and i am sure it will be very tight tell the end.

Edited January 22, 2008 by Duck Guy

[Detroit # 1 Fan 2,204]

Essentially the same team? Are you ignoring the fact that they lost Penner, McDonald and a very good back-up goalie in Bryzgalov? Last year they came within a few points of the Presidents Trophey. This year they are barely making the playoffs.

How can you say that they are the same or better?

Penner will be easily replaced now that Bertuzzi is healthy. Penner has only 15 goals in 48-50 games, Bertuzzi has 10 or 11 goals in 36-37. McDonald did have a big impact on the Ducks, but it's not like Weight is some terrible hockey player that you make him out to be, his leadership will be invaluable in the playoffs. Bryzgalov had no shot at starting in the playoffs, so where's the big lose there exactly? Now with the rumors of Selanne coming back, if he indeed does, this Ducks team will be better then last years.

[Lou_Siffer 1]

Bertuzzi is definitely capable of producing near the same as what Penner would have in the short term. Now in the long run, in a couple years Penner is going to clearly be much better...but as of right now theres really not much difference. Their D is obviously upgraded from last year, and Weight is playing pretty good so far. Getzlaf and Perry are better, most notably Perry is MUCH better. So all in all, if Teemu does come back theres no question all those factors outweigh the loss of Andy McDonald.

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

Ducks are 4th in west right now not to bad considering their horrid start .We will see only time will tell. West is very tight besides wings and i am sure it will be very tight tell the end.

You should feel really good about your team right now.

I put the numbers out there and they were universally ignored here by my fellow brethren. That's because most of them don't like to see what I have to say because it interferes with their circuitry.

The Ducks won with defense last year. Since Niedermayer returned they dropped their goals against per game by nearly 1/2 a goal back to what they averaged last year.

The bottom line is that some Wings fans are so threatened by the Ducks that they can do nothing but scoff at them. That's all they're really doing. All the yakking about who you guys lost and blah, blah is so much wishful bulls*** I am almost embarrassed by it personally.

I said it once already and i'll say it again. I think it'll be Ducks, Wings in the finals unless there's some screwy matchup that sees us playing #1 vs #8. Call me crazy but I think the Ducks will be much higher than the 8 seed.

And when you get down to it, either team can win that series. There are quite a few people here who didn't think the Oilers or Kings could beat us either....but they did.

Whereas most people here are biased for the Redwings, some to the point that they should be ashamed of themselves. I am baised towards having a team that is brutally physical and skilled. Where we are at, we have more skill than anybody throughout the lineup. But what I wouldn't give to get rid of 2 or 3 forwards and at least 1 dman in favor of guys like Moen. Those are the type of guys who come up big during cup runs.

How quickly people forget the contributions of Darren McCarty, Joey Kocur, Martin Lapointe, etc... when we won our cups.

The edge in skill goes to Detroit

The edge in size, strength, toughness hands down goes to Anaheim

Which one will give out first?

All that said, best of luck to your Ducks and I hope we kick your asses!

[Still MIGHTY 0]

Whoever did the projection that we will end up with 94 points based on the whole season thus far, sure that makes sense.

But like I and Duck Guy have said, this is a completely different team these last 17 games. Over with my colleagues at AllDucks.com, we've done our own mathematical projections based on this last run that puts the Ducks at about 126 pts and the Wings with about 142 once its all said and done. Now thats a little unrealistic. It's hard to imagine any team going 12-3-2 every 17 games the rest of the way. Now, if the Ducks stay healthy and play this well consistently for the rest of the season, they can easily finish with over 100 points. The Pacific will be up for grabs between Anaheim, Dallas, and San Jose down the stretch.

That Getzlaf, Perry, and Bertuzzi line is absolutely on fire lately. Getzlaf himself has a 14 game point streak (3rd longest in club history to only Selanne's 15 and 17 game streaks). Getzlaf is 8th in the league in Points. 4th in +/- in the league. Perry leads the team with 26 goals. Their size, strength, and skill make them very hard to handle down low. And they are always crashing the net.

Defense is solid, as has been already discussed by myself and several others.

And people that mention the McDonald/Weight trade. It's worked out a lot better for both teams. Last year, Andy Mac (a speedy playmaking forward) had a legend in Teemu Selanne on his one wing and a fiesty speedy Kunitz on the other. When the Ducks brought in Bertuzzi, Andy was our 1st line center and Bertuzzi was expected to take Teemu's spot up there. As both teams know, Bert does't have a real premium on speed. Coach Carlyle tried many different combos but Mac and Bert never clicked. Mac needs a quick sniper to play along side with. Thats how it was in before 03 with Kariya and how it was with Selanne these past 3 years. Now that he's back with Kariya he's flourishing. Same can be said with Weight. He wasnt having a great season in St. Louis and wasn't really meshing in their system. Now, that he's here. His physical style and his linemates (whether it be Kunitz, Bobby Ryan, Bochenski, or Bertuzzi from time to time) push their way into open areas and he uses his great vision and puck control to get it to them.

The Ducks have been scoring in bunches lately and the defense has been playing like the Cup team last year. Jiggy has played extemely well as of late, more so than he had earlier in the year.

The Ducks will definitely be a tough team to contend with down the road. Like I've seem a few of you say, the Ducks are built for the playoffs.

I'm real excited for Wednesday's game to see where the new reincarnation of the Anaheim Ducks stacks up with the currently undisputed Western juggernaut at this point that is the Red Wings.

P.S.

chrisdetroit,

It's Niedermayer not Neidemeir. And the past for him isnt all that long ago. He is still one of the premiere defensemen in the NHL today. And personally, I'd say 4 Stanley Cup rings are a big deal.

And as for aging players, the only guy I pointed out was Chelios. It's hard to deny that Cheliosauras is old.

And as I said up top, Weight and Bertuzzi are no slouches at this point. They are producing points quite well. Schneider too. He had a heck of a slap shot against Dallas on Sunday for the first goal. Top-shelf through the screen.

Edited January 22, 2008 by Still MIGHTY