On Saturday night, Steven Stamkos and the Tampa Lightning handed the Anaheim Ducks their sixth shutout loss in their first 21 games of this schizophrenic season.
Afterwards, Ducks embattled head coach Bruce Boudreau gave the world a glimpse into his team's fragile psyche.
“I can’t use any excuses. We can’t let everybody off the hook. We played horrible. I thought our first period was good. And then we came out and as soon as they scored the first goal, we were OK. But once they got the second goal, it was like ‘Ah, we’re not going to come back.’ There was no fight left in us. That’s the bothersome part for the coaches.…
Veteran Ryan Kesler told us that his teammates allowed doubt to creep into their group and before you know it, the Lightning struck again and it sizzled the Ducks.
“The second period killed us. Back-to-back-to-back goals. We just got to figure out a way to … when we get scored on, it’s not the f---ing end of the world. It’s one goal. We got a good team and we can come back. Tonight, I just thought the bench got down. We let in another one and it was a back breaker."
Great teams don't buckle and fold that easily. The greatest teams keep grinding and fighting. They don't panic nor flip out and drop every excuse in the book to rationalize their poor play. Great teams don't d when the opponent scores a goal or two. Great teams go to work with a positive attitude and they erase
Right now, the Ducks are not a great team. They are a middling, average team that will miss the playoffs at their current pace. Good luck beating Western Conference monsters Chicago, Nashville, Los Angeles and San Jose. For the Ducks to be considered in the best of the West discussions they will need to make some changes to their roster and their coaching staff.
The Ducks are fooling themselves if they believe that their roster, as presently constructed, is capable of playing .700 hockey for the next five months to secure a playoff spot.
All season long, my sense has been that it is inevitable that Boudreau will be relieved of his duties as head coach. When your head coach tells the media that his team has no more fight left in it and that his team plays horrible against playoff teams, its time to go.
Were I Bob Murray, I wouldn't bet letting the Ducks players off the hook for their poor play and under achievements this season.
The Ducks started the season 1-7-2 and are 6-3-2 in the last ten games. They are now 7-10-4 overall this season. Bruce Boudreau's mercurial flock are 3-7-1 on road, and 4-3-3 at home.
Their -17 goal differential is ugly. They've scored just 38 goals for while allowing 55 goals against in 21 games this season. It's no wonder that Anaheim is now buried in fifth place in Pacific Division. They are only two points better than sixth place Calgary and only three points better than the last place Edmonton.
Good luck making the playoffs now, Boudreau.
The Ducks have been the soft touch team in the always competitive wild, wild west.
Anaheim management and ownership can't be happy with the current goings on either.
If the NHL season ended today the Ducks would miss the playoffs.
After losing in to Chicago in Game 7 of the 2015 Western Conference Finals, Anaheim was projected by many, present company included, to make a heroic return the the 2016 WCF and beyond. Palms in the air and blood pressure through the roof, Ducks fans are tired of all of the drama and inconsistencies that are the by products of a terrible start to a very important season. I cannot confirm it, however, the Ducks' bean counters likely budgeted for 8-10 home playoff games in their 2016 forecasting. The average gate receipts for an NHL playoff game is in the $1.7- $2 million range per game. Do the math. Were you senior management and ownership, would you be sitting on your hands right now or would you be looking for the hammer to smash the glass on the fire extinguisher?
U.S. Thanksgiving is here and all NHL GMs and their scouting teams have been reviewing all of the analytics and measurable stats on all of their NHL roster players and prospects. If you like NHL trades, then this is the week that we have all been waiting for. NHL GMs met in Toronto two weeks ago to discuss rules and procedures look at when assessing the strengths and weaknesses of their respective rosters. Most teams have played their twentieth game of the season and all GMs have a solid sample size of work to base their future roster decisions on.
NHL GMs are making their lists and checking them twice. They want to find out whose naughty and nice.
Ducks GM Bob Murray is a patient man, but his patience may have just reached it's end after his team was skunked by the enigmatic Tampa Lightning.
I encountered Bob Murray and his Player Personnel Director in the Buffalo Sabres press box last Tuesday night when the Sabres hosted the Dallas Stars. His sun tan was a dead giveaway. Perhaps his tan was made darker by his rising blood pressure. The Ducks have been frequent-flyers to Buffalo in the past eight weeks. Bob Murray and the The Ducks have been evaluating their roster for weeks. Murray and his lieutenants are searching for solutions to correct the repeated problems that are currently plaguing and corrupting the Ducks.
Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray is still open for business. He wants to add a left hamded, top four D. Tim Murray won't rest until he gets his man.
Bob Murray and Tim Murray have worked together in the past. Tim left Anaheim to accept the AGM in Ottawa back in the day. Tim's fingerprints are all over the Bobby Ryan trade. The Murrays know how to build mutually beneficial deals. Having done it before they can do it again.
The Ducks will next play the struggling Calgary Flames on home ice and will then travel to Arizona for a date with the upstart Desert Dogs.
Losses to the Flames and Coyotes could spell the end of the Bruce Boudreau Era in SoCal.
I suspect that Bob Murray will also step up his efforts to move one of his left D. Hampus Lindholm suffered an injury in Florida on Thursday night and missed the Tampa game on Saturday night. His status day-to-day. Cam Fowler though.
The Ducks have been shutout six times this season. They need scoring in a big way. They need a top six forward who does his talking with his hockey stick and not his mouth.