Ed Stein: Guts! + Slaying the Shark

I'm from Calgary visiting Disney in Anaheim and going to the game tonight! Should be a good one!!

Sharks and kings always are good games to go too . Have fun at Disney.

The feathered ones blog is back! What happened? I missed all the quaking.

Nice win, but those defensive lapses are starting to bug me. This is the second game in a row where the Ducks are over-pursuing the puck and leaving people wide open in front of the net. They weren't doing that earlier in the year.

Super effort last night / playing like that will win a lot of games - Shea looking better and better / and what can you say about 67 - just tremendous - 11 goals in 17 games ... Just sick - and JB last night what a bounce back game after Calgary / and def like the look of the younger guys - sprinkling them throughout the lineup -

Anaheim has had some great wins the past few days. It's been good to see this group work their way through the turbulence of the coaching change and contract holdouts to now find their footing. One thing I've enjoyed is seeing some of the Gulls get the call up, and prove to make an impact. Raymond and Etem weren't strong enough on the puck. Wagner's offensive capabilities aren't there. Inevitably, offense is generated through urgency and initiative, and that was lacking. Garbutt got waived. Garbutt does have offensive upside, but when looking at the Carolina game; he took a penalty. When he got out of the box he received a pass from a penalty killer, and the PK unit went to make a change. Unfortunately Garbutt lost the puck at the Canes' blue line. A turnover ensues, followed by a breakaway, followed by a Canes goal. I guarantee that nothing irritates management more than lack of execution on plays of that nature. It was imperative for Garbutt to get the puck deep. I'm not saying that, that play was the sole reason he got waived, but it probably played a factor. Fortunately Cramarossa, Kase and some of the other Gulls have given Carlyle the effort-level and execution necessary to be trusted on the ice. I think giving youth TOI now is imperative for playoff success, as I’ve never been a fan of green rookies playing in the playoffs. It just boils down to experience, for me.


Now onto the heavy lifting. Like I stated earlier, there are a lot of positives. Two critiques I’d like to see is Getzlaf start burying some shots. Of the top 50 point scorers in the NHL, he has the lowest shooting percentage. Moreover, his partner in crime hasn’t fared much better. That needs to change. Secondly, Ritchie has taken 4 holding minors while skating in on the forecheck. Newsflash, refs call illegal physical hindrances. The minor penalty situation has improved, but what is that saying? Joking aside, offensive zone minor penalties, especially in the first period, are killers. This group is really starting to learn the importance of playing 60 minute game, but stupid penalties isn’t the way to start things off. Carolina, who is always on the plus side of minors drawn, knew they’d have a handful of PPs to work with. Sami Vatanen’s stick touched that guy’s foot and down he went. Was the game vs. the Hurricanes more difficult than it had to be? Without question.


Guess who’s back? Silver. That’s right, Mr. Second Place himself will be at the Honda Center tomorrow afternoon. Sadly, Chris Philips, who scored Anaheim’s Stanely Cup winning goal, retired after last season, so no more freebies! Also, the wrist breaker, Jared Cowen, isn’t there anymore, and Daniel “He who shoots pucks at Scott Neidermayer #RageQuit” Alfredsson isn’t around either. Nevertheless, these two teams have a history. Should make for a good game.

Ducks got lucky on some all alone give aways ..a few of them should have been goals. I Really like Andrej Kase. This guys is another diamond in the rough like Manson is. I think Kase has a lot of potential.

Ducks got lucky on some all alone give aways ..a few of them should have been goals. I Really like Andrej Kase. This guys is another diamond in the rough like Manson is. I think Kase has a lot of potential.
- rubberduckies

Kase impresses me more and more every game. He's a keeper.

Tough loss yesterday. I have trouble rationalizing the Niemi was the difference maker. Was he? How many grade A scoring chances does a team need? I know this is going to sound redundant, but the whole point of having momentum, like Anaheim had in the first and second, is to get the puck in the opposing team's net. For 45 minutes there were chances in abundance, but Antti kept calling the raises, and looked what happened.


Hindsight is 20/20. I get it. Was the unorthodox pulling of Bernier with 6 minutes left a mistake? Probably. When was this loss a loss? Was it the fourth goal? Was it the 3rd poorly executed odd-man rush? In order to win, you need to score. That’s how things work. I didn’t make the rules, but that’s how things are. Opportunities don’t get much better than odd-man rushes, yet it was another night where the Ducks made a mediocre NHL goalie look like an All-Star. What’s it going to take to get the puck in the net?


Boston Bruins tomorrow. I can’t think of a better team to channel the hatred and conquer.

Tough loss yesterday. I have trouble rationalizing the Niemi was the difference maker. Was he? How many grade A scoring chances does a team need? I know this is going to sound redundant, but the whole point of having momentum, like Anaheim had in the first and second, is to get the puck in the opposing team's net. For 45 minutes there were chances in abundance, but Antti kept calling the raises, and looked what happened.


Hindsight is 20/20. I get it. Was the unorthodox pulling of Bernier with 6 minutes left a mistake? Probably. When was this loss a loss? Was it the fourth goal? Was it the 3rd poorly executed odd-man rush? In order to win, you need to score. That’s how things work. I didn’t make the rules, but that’s how things are. Opportunities don’t get much better than odd-man rushes, yet it was another night where the Ducks made a mediocre NHL goalie look like an All-Star. What’s it going to take to get the puck in the net?


Boston Bruins tomorrow. I can’t think of a better team to channel the hatred and conquer.
- IGotTheMemo

I think it was because the Ducks pregame show did a whole segment about how lazy and bad Niemi is. Serves us right lol.

Yeah . Nemi always seemed to have good games aginst us . He was a pain when he was in san jose.