Back at It
Hopefully, my long nightmare, er house search is finally over; its time to get back to work.
Devil its Due
A tip of the hat to our new Stanley Cup champions. It makes three cups in six seasons for the Blackhawks. In the modern free agency era, this may be the closest thing to a dynasty there is. Although the question remains, with a break or two the other way, could the Ducks have won back to back titles?
Op Ed
Ducks General Manager Bob Murray did all he could in in the nine month run up to the trade deadline to assemble a championship team. The Ducks were weak on faceoffs the previous season, Ryan Kesler and Thompson were brought in. If toughness was an issue before, it wasn't after Kesler and Clayton Stoner were added. In the end Anaheim came up short. There was maybe one additional area that could have been addressed. A veteran been there/done that locker room leader.
This is not a condemnation or even a judgment about Ryan Getzlaf's leadership abilities. Rather the addition of an attribute the Ducks lacked. For all their talent, the Ducks are still a young team. Getzlaf and Corey Perry are the only two players on the roster who have won anything at the NHL level. A “grizzled… veteran, with a cup winning pedigree would have helped immensely. Looking back, I'm not sure who that player was, but he was out there. Patrick Sharp might be that guy now.
Ducks News and Such
* Nate Thompson will miss the next five to six months after undergoing surgery for two labrum tears in his shoulder. Got to give the man his props for playing through the pain. Chris Wagner might.
* Ryan Getzlaf has a sports hernia. I had to look it up on orthoinfo.com. “A sports hernia is a painful, soft tissue injury that occurs in the groin area. It most often occurs during sports that require sudden changes of direction or intense twisting movements.… That answers a ton of questions.
* On his rumor page, Ek has James Wisniewski as a trade target for the Kings. With all due respect to the boss, I'm not to sure about that one. I can definitely see him being moved, but not across town.
* Marcus Petterson, the Ducks second round pick in 2014 has signed an entry level contract with the club. He's got game and is worth keeping an eye on the next few years.