The Official Anaheim Ducks 2014-15 Thread

[halobob]

I'm with xboom on this one, as long as the Ducks re-sign Kessler we have 5 years of watching one of the best teams in hockey.

[NJHalo]

Two game 7s for the NHL and NBC

 

Three large markets NYC, Chicago, Sothern California

 

hmmm........

[xboom28x]

Getz and Perry just turned 30. They will still perform at an elite hockey level for at least 5 more years. That's a big enough window to give Boudreau 1 more year regardless of what happens Saturday night.

[Gavin]

To further xboom and HB's point, I trust in Bob Murray (and his scouting staff). Dude has built a great core on a budget team.

[QuinlansMinion]

A great core that could potentially go to waste by a coach who doesnt know how to use them.

[xboom28x]

A great core that could potentially go to waste by a coach who doesnt know how to use them.

 

1 year is not a waste. Tell you what, give me a name of a coach that the Ducks can hire and I'll discuss further. Otherwise, you can't fire someone 'just because'

[QuinlansMinion]

1 year is not a waste. Tell you what, give me a name of a coach that the Ducks can hire and I'll discuss further. Otherwise, you can't fire someone 'just because'

I cant name any.  But ill tell you what, tell me what your solution is to this whole game 7 thing?  And with the amount of talent that we have, why cant we beat a good team?  

[xboom28x]

I cant name any.  But ill tell you what, tell me what your solution is to this whole game 7 thing?  And with the amount of talent that we have, why cant we beat a good team?  

 

Are you saying the Ducks have beaten bad teams in the playoffs so far?

[halobob]

I cant name any.  But ill tell you what, tell me what your solution is to this whole game 7 thing?  And with the amount of talent that we have, why cant we beat a good team?  

My solution to this whole game 7 thing?  Win on Saturday.

[QuinlansMinion]

Are you saying the Ducks have beaten bad teams in the playoffs so far?

In the last 3 years we have beaten the Dallas Stars, Winnipeg Jets, and Calgary Flames.  Is anyone really proud of this accomplishment?  You may as well be a Sharks fan if you are.  

[xboom28x]

In the last 3 years we have beaten the Dallas Stars, Winnipeg Jets, and Calgary Flames.  Is anyone really proud of this accomplishment?  You may as well be a Sharks fan if you are.  

 

They weren't bad teams. They were in the playoffs. The Western Conference in hockey isn't the equivalent to the Eastern Conference in the NBA. Just because they aren't an elite team that you can brag to their fans about doesn't mean they aren't a good team. The Ducks have improved over last season whether you like it or not. If you want to focus on the fact that they "can't win game 7s" fine. I'll choose to wait until after next season before calling for the coach's head.

 

Just out of curiosity, did you want Sosh fired the last 4-5 seasons 'just because?'

[QuinlansMinion]

They weren't bad teams. They were in the playoffs. The Western Conference in hockey isn't the equivalent to the Eastern Conference in the NBA. Just because they aren't an elite team that you can brag to their fans about doesn't mean they aren't a good team. The Ducks have improved over last season whether you like it or not. If you want to focus on the fact that they "can't win game 7s" fine. I'll choose to wait until after next season before calling for the coach's head.

 

Just out of curiosity, did you want Sosh fired the last 4-5 seasons 'just because?'

Sosh?  I did remember I wanted Mickey Hacker fired.  Sosh never had the talent to work with that Bruce does, so no I didnt want him fired, we have always had weaknesses on our team that management failed to address.  If you were asking me right now, I probably wouldnt mind if he was but I dont think its absolute necessity.  

 

Bruce has a different situation with the Ducks.  We have the best GM in the league that has done a ridiculous job of stock piling talent.  How we always find ourselves to be in this position is beyond me, but there is something about this team that they just cant get up for an elimination game to put an actual elite team away.  Im not sure how you could fix this team by adding more talent to it, while still being within the cap rules.  Thus my only solution would come from a coaching change.  

This is all assuming we lose Saturday.  I wouldnt go that far to say im expecting it to happen but I definitely see a trend here with this team and if the inevitable happens then you really have to consider that maybe we just have poor leadership.

[AngelsFaninGA]

Are you saying the Ducks have beaten bad teams in the playoffs so far?

 

They didn't beat bad teams, but all they've beaten are inexperienced teams. That seems to be about our only competitive advantage in the playoffs, draw a young team that's making its first playoff appearance in years and doesn't know how to win in the playoffs. Regarding alternatives to Boudreau, I'd be fine with hiring a supposedly inferior coach simply on the basis that he doesn't have a long history of playoff failures. We know what we're gonna get with Boudreau: tons of largely meaningless regular season wins, disappointing playoff exits. He's pretty much never strayed from this pattern, so we know the same thing will happen next year too. I'd rather take my chances with say, a 4 or 5 seed, but with a non-zero chance of showing up in the playoffs. 

[QuinlansMinion]

By the way dont get the wrong impression that im giving up on Saturday's game, im just thinking of a worst case scenario because if in fact we do lose I probably wont be able to discuss this Ducks team for a while.  I really thought this was our year and I know for certain we have a championship roster and should have taken care of this Hawks team before even getting to a game 7.  

[xboom28x]

Sosh?  I did remember I wanted Mickey Hacker fired.  Sosh never had the talent to work with that Bruce does, so no I didnt want him fired, we have always had weaknesses on our team that management failed to address.  If you were asking me right now, I probably wouldnt mind if he was but I dont think its absolute necessity.  

 

Bruce has a different situation with the Ducks.  We have the best GM in the league that has done a ridiculous job of stock piling talent.  How we always find ourselves to be in this position is beyond me, but there is something about this team that they just cant get up for an elimination game to put an actual elite team away.  Im not sure how you could fix this team by adding more talent to it, while still being within the cap rules.  Thus my only solution would come from a coaching change.  

This is all assuming we lose Saturday.  I wouldnt go that far to say im expecting it to happen but I definitely see a trend here with this team and if the inevitable happens then you really have to consider that maybe we just have poor leadership.

 

My point about the poor leadership though is, who do you bring in? There is no one available? Babcock would have been a good choice, but he's taken. Bylsma has ties to this organization, but he's no longer available. So to fire Boudreau just for the sake of firing and hiring an unproven coach who could have the same 'issue' as Boudreau would be the wrong move. Why pay two coaches to net the same result? I could be persuaded to your side of the argument if there was a proven coach available. But there is not. So it would be in the Ducks best interest to keep Boudreau after this season regardless of what happens Saturday.

Edited May 28, 2015 by xboom28x

[xboom28x]

They didn't beat bad teams, but all they've beaten are inexperienced teams. That seems to be about our only competitive advantage in the playoffs, draw a young team that's making its first playoff appearance in years and doesn't know how to win in the playoffs. Regarding alternatives to Boudreau, I'd be fine with hiring a supposedly inferior coach simply on the basis that he doesn't have a long history of playoff failures. We know what we're gonna get with Boudreau: tons of largely meaningless regular season wins, disappointing playoff exits. He's pretty much never strayed from this pattern, so we know the same thing will happen next year too. I'd rather take my chances with say, a 4 or 5 seed, but with a non-zero chance of showing up in the playoffs. 

 

Wrong. This year is the first year he has strayed from this pattern. He made it to the WCF for the first time. With a very young D core and two very young goaltenders. If you ask me, the future is bright with Boudreau. It's set up for him. If he can't get it done this year or next, then I think you take a longer look at the situation.

 

Some of you act as if this game should be easy for this team by wanting to beat the Blackhawks, who might as well be the late 90s Yankees, in less than 7 games. I think you're not giving credit to the Blackhawks. That is a ridiculous team. They aren't the Jets or Flames but you want this Ducks team to beat them as if they are.

Edited May 28, 2015 by xboom28x

[bakunin]

To be honest any time we beat the Stars is a good time, and an achievement. I hate that team and fanbase. Beating them last year felt so damn good. Second only to any time we beat the Wings. I hate that team and their fan base infinitely more than any hockey club ever. 

Edited May 28, 2015 by bakunin

[HaloCory22]

Getz and Perry just turned 30. They will still perform at an elite hockey level for at least 5 more years. That's a big enough window to give Boudreau 1 more year regardless of what happens Saturday night.

Elite at 35? They have 2 years of their primes left at most honestly. They'll still be great but not at where they're at now.

[nate]

Yeah the Ducks still have a couple prime years left.  The Blackhawks on the other hand, due to the salary cap constraints they have are likely to see a decline next year.

[UndertheHalo]

The Jets are a team on the rise, sweeping them was an impressive achievement.  Calgary, while not a highly skilled team is certainly a very resilient one, again putting them away in the fashion the Ducks did was impressive.  Like a previous poster said, the western conference in the NHL is not the NBA"s eastern conference it is tough and highly competitive.  Chicago is a very tough team, I think other then yesterdays game 6, the Ducks have shown up and played well in all of the games.  The series would be over in our favor if we could have caught any kind of break in game 2 where we were the better team by a significant margin.  I think the same argument can be made but to a lesser extent of the game 4 OT loss, again we were the better team in terms of possession and quality scoring chances.  The metrics for the series overall suggest that we have earned victory in the series, hopefully that bears out.

Edited May 28, 2015 by UndertheHalo

[Oz27]

Without wanting to turn into one of these d-bags who comes in saying  things like "this is just like reading the main board", some of the negativity here is getting seriously out of hand. Firstly, we haven't lost anything yet. We have a home Game 7 to make it to the Stanley Cup finals. Home teams win those more often than not and the fact we haven't won our last two has no impact on whether we win this one. We are statistically likely to be watching our Ducks playing in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup finals in just a few days and there's discussion about firing BB? I find that absolutely absurd. What this team has achieved so far in the postseason is incredible. We won our first six games and went our first 14 games without a regulation loss, on the back of being the best team in the Western Conference during the regular season. Boudreau has been a huge part of this team's success, remember where we were before he was hired? I find any talk of firing him ridiculous and the idea that whether we fire him or not hinges on the result of one playoff game to be amazingly stupid. If we drop this series it will be extremely disheartening and demoralising and be an opportunity we never should have let slip, but that doesn't mean you rubbish this team's achievements or fire one of the main architects of that success.

Edited May 29, 2015 by Oz27

[HaloCory22]

I do agree that any talk of firing BB is insane. He got us to the following round year after year. We're improving with a young overall team. What else can you ask from the guy? There's only so much a coach can do. It does come down to the players once its all said and done. Before the season started I wanted at minimum a WCF appearance. Anything else is playing with house money. I thought the 2015-16 season would be our true golden year. All the kids a year older with another year of playoff experience under their belts. Obviously, I know we're a Cup caliber team. The West is stacked. 12 teams that were all within contention of a playoff spot. Whoever said the West is like the NBA East is waaaay off. The thing that angers me the most is that it after 2 years of absolutely having our hearts ripped out it feels like the players haven't leaned and haven't gotten that hunger/passion to push them over the top. Of course, we still have a game to play Saturday and they may (and hope) make me eat crow and prove me wrong. Just really hope our defense cleans up their act and we can FINALLY play a full 60 minute game. None of this 20 minute run followed by 40 minute prevent defense. I know this team is capable of absolutely destroying any team they play. Its whether they show up or not.

[deepdrive]

All this talk and no acknowledgement that hockey is entertainment.

The NHL has shown regularly that they believe the entertainment is heightened by manipulating results. There are fouls on a regular basis that aren't called. This necessitates fouling by players to be able to compete. Which allows referees to affect the outcomes of games. Call the games even up and there isn't a game 7 with Detroit two years ago. Stop Garbutt from his reckless play (Like they did in game 5) and that series doesn't go as far as it did.

The only reason the playoffs are 7 games instead of 5 or 3 is for the money. Bruce is less of a factor in the outcomes than the refereeing is. Maybe we should fire the NHL.

[QuinlansMinion]

All this talk and no acknowledgement that hockey is entertainment. The NHL has shown regularly that they believe the entertainment is heightened by manipulating results. There are fouls on a regular basis that aren't called. This necessitates fouling by players to be able to compete. Which allows referees to affect the outcomes of games. Call the games even up and there isn't a game 7 with Detroit two years ago. Stop Garbutt from his reckless play (Like they did in game 5) and that series doesn't go as far as it did. The only reason the playoffs are 7 games instead of 5 or 3 is for the money. Bruce is less of a factor in the outcomes than the refereeing is. Maybe we should fire the NHL.

Doesnt seem like that.  I think the players know they are in this position because of their own mistakes.  I dont see anyone blaming the refs.

[mrwicked]

ducks will take this.

its a lock.

i have $500 that says they win.

and im not even going to watch the game.

got bigger things to attend to.