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While most of the details only pertain to me personally, but if you agree with anything on this piece, feel free to sign your name or leave a comment of your favorite Giguere moment.

Dear Jean Sebastian (JS) Giguere,

I want to personally thank you for being an Anaheim Duck, in my opinion the model of the Anaheim Ducks for the past several years. I don’t live in Anaheim. I live about 650 miles away. I loved the duo of Kariya and Selanne, what took me away from my love of the Los Angeles Kings, but later got distracted while living in Michigan for a short time. However, your goaltending and your love of the game brought me back to the Anaheim Ducks in 2002. I still loved the Ducks during that short time away, but I didn’t follow the team. I still remember listening to NHL.com’s radio feed of your shutout win of 5-0 over your hero Mario Lemieux in December of 2002.

While going to the Cup Finals in 2003 I was serving my church in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and was only allowed to check my e-mail once a week. My future brother in law taped your shutouts on the VCR and saved the tapes for me. My younger brothers sent me newspaper articles and scores through the mail and internet. Your shutout streak gave me inspiration to achieve difficult goals. Your face of disappointment gave me hope for the team. You taught me an important lesson; you can’t win them all, but you can enjoy the ride along the way.

My son was born March 30, 2007, a few weeks within your son’s birth. I remember reading what was happening with Maxime’s eyes and praying for your family, wondering what it would be like for me to go through the same with my newborn son. Following the playoffs this time was much easier than 2003 (and 2006 for that matter). I was so relieved when you got your job back from Bryz to take on Vancouver, to best Detroit and to finish the finals to win the Cup against Ottawa.

The past two years have been hard for me to watch. I’ve cheered you on every day when others doubted, I knew there was a warrior inside you. You deserve to be number one Giggy. I’m so sad to see you leave the franchise, but I am glad you will be able to rise to the top again. A part of me hopes you shut the Ducks out the next time we see you, as long as you don’t ruin anything for us.

Thank you, J.S. You’re the best.

We won’t ever forget what you did for us.

Sincerely,

Bryce Randle

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I haven’t blogged about the Ducks in a while. I blame that on my schedule with the new DVD I edited and was also an associate producer on entitled, Growing Up Hockey. Now that we are on to a new year and that project is about over, I hope to give more attention to the Ducks of Anaheim and nurse them back to good health.

A few things I have noticed.

1. Name a starting goaltender.

Let me be more specific. Name J.S. Giguere as a starting goaltender. I don’t see the consistency needed as a starting goaltender in Hiller. He can’t do back to back nights and he just hasn’t convinced me that he can carry the team. Giguere has the track record and is showing a performance much better than last year.

2. Getzlaf is/should be a Power Forward.

Being from out of town, I am unable to make it to games much and I can’t pay the price for Center Ice. Point is I don’t SEE a lot of games. I watch about every episode of Ducks TV, read the OC Ducks Blog, munch on my Ducks twitter feed and  clips on YouTube. However, the one game I have made it to was in the end of October against the Stars. It was an exciting game- if you count just the 3rd period. However, if you take a look at Getzlaf’s goal (below) you can see the commanding presence he has.

That was his first goal of the season. He should be scoring more goals like that. Granted, he is one of the best on the team in points, but we expect higher goal production. Yeah, I know what you are saying, “Stop picking on the injured guy.”

3. Defense.

Get us some more defense! Work on the turnovers. Give our goalies a chance to keep us in the game. Niedermayer can’t do it all alone. Today we saw Whitney’s name not be included on the Team USA roster. He went from a favorable chance to a no chance. Our D needs to be tighter. Keep Boynton out there. Our record speaks for itself when he is on the ice.

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Amongst the excitement of have Koivu, Boynton, Lupul and others join the Ducks I have not had time to sit back and think about where our favorite players for the past years have gone. Then Todd Marchant was brought back. Ever since that day I have been waiting to hear some sort of news on Rob Niedermayer.

Where did he go? What is he doing? It’s nearly a month until the preseason starts and he hasn’t signed with any team. Will we see his face in Anaheim again? Will it be soon? I remember when Rob Niedermayer was first a Duck. I thought he added a new kind of face to the team. Then came Adam Oates, Giggy started to become the solid goaltender he is and our team made it to the finals.

This season Rob was a healthy scratch a few times. Could it be because of those scratches we won’t see him in an Anaheim uniform again? We have a lot of people competing for top spots, but I think Rob Niedermayer, our once alternate captain, could be in the mix for the Ducks still. I wouldn’t be surprised if he is on the ice during the season, at some point, but I’m not holding my breath either.

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Koivu is a great signing by GM Bob Murray. At $3.5 million a year (let me remind you that is .5 million cheaper than we got Todd Bertuzzi for) we should be thanking Murray for the steal he just got away with. That should enhance our offense enough to be able to get past Detroit, Chicago and the other Western powerhouses. However, there still remains a void in our defense. Do we try for what D is out there? A Zubov, Bergeron or someone else that can be a top 4 defenseman?

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Updated Hockey news and moves:

Anaheim Ducks: as of today the Ducks have traded Chris Pronger in return for Lupul and Scbisa, or something like that. Anyhow, sad to see Prongs go, but I think he’s not fitting into what the Ducks need now. When the Ducks won the cup, brutal force was the way to go; teams adjusted and now can defend against that so its back to the drawing board which has scoring and speed written on it. Also, late today the Ducks re-signed Erik (Spell) Christiansen to a one year deal along with Troy Bodie.
Updated: Scott and Teemu both returning to Ducks for 1 more year. Also, Teemu has notified the Ducks he will retire after that making this upcoming season his retirement tour!

Flames: Jay Bouwmeester was the biggest name being tossed around draft day as the hot property everyone wanted (before the Pronger trade happened out of no where). So now Calgary has “THE” man of the hour and maybe a renewed sense of being.

Rangers/Kings: The Rangers got the rights to Brian Boyle, a good hard nosed player that I thought worked well for the Kings, but I think they have other plans.
The Kings made a splash by not only signing Defense man Rob Scuderi and now Ryan Smith. Look for L.A. to break its playoffs drought this season.

Penguins: In the first feel good story of the off season, Bill Guerin took a hometown discount to remain with the Penguins, making Hossa look like scum, and letting his team know he’s ready to repeat!

Jaws 2: Rob Blake is going to give it one more try and see if San Jose knows the way to the cup. He signed for 1 year.

Devils: Johnny Oduya re-signed with NJ. Why is this significant? Someone somewhere had him listed as a potential Ducks deal, but low and behold, no dice. Ducks won’t be doing Oduya.

The other Jonas: GUSTAVSSON that is, won’t pick a team until…after July 1st. Why? Make a bigger splash! He’s the most sought after rookie goalie, and as of now everyone and their mother think he’s headed to Toronto.

Le Big Mac: In one of today’s biggest stories, the NY Rangers made a 6 player trade with Montreal that sent Scott Gomez packing to the Canadians! There were 5 other players involved but only care to notice Scott so there.

The biggest Non-Trade today: Heatley was traded, then not traded, then might be traded tomorrow to the Edmonton Oilers! In a deal that supposedly will send Dustin “It’s my fault contracts are so expensive” Penner and a few other bums to Ottawa in return for Heatley and some souvenirs! This deal was apparently finalized tonight around 5 p.m. PST, but then something happened and Heatley hasn’t officially agreed to being traded, so the world is holding its collective breath tonight for some sort of conclusion tomorrow…stay tuned. FYI: Heatley still in limbo.

Possible deals: I’m hearing that Havlat and Gaborik are going to be L.A. Kings tomorrow which I think will definitely spice things up for L.A. and make them a playoff contender this upcoming season. Updated: Gaborik signed with Montreal, and Havlat signed with Minny-sota!

Koivu: This is the rumor that won’t die. Apparently the Canadians have declined to offer Koivu and offer which would make him available tomorrow, which for some reason means he’ll come to Anaheim. Hey, I’ll take him, but first let’s see if this rumor is true. Updated: As more time goes by, the reality of Koivu coming to Anaheim seems more likely.

Sedins: This is another story that will be huge once it’s finalized. Vancouver made the Sedins an offer, which apparently they did not accept. The other rumored teams involved trying to sign the twins? Montreal and Toronto. Is it just me, or are all the Canadian teams stock piling players? Is this the year Canada gets the cup? Updated: The twins stay in Vancouver!

Hossa: According to what I’ve read, he turned down a multi year deal with Detroit, and may be headed to Edmonton. Updated: Hossa has cursed the Chicago Black hawks for the next 12 years! Hope it wasn’t a NTC!

Beaucheman: This guy is still without a team! I can not, for the life of me, understand why anybody has not swept this guy off his feet yet. The last thing I read, was that the Kings and Frankie were a year apart on terms.

Finally there is suppose to be a major three way deal on Monday involving the Hawks, Sharks and Maple Leafs, and the only clues that were given were that two goalies were involved and also a NTC. (WTF?)

Again, these are the deals that are of interest to me, so don’t message me saying I left so and so out. I’m aware of that. More updates as they happen.

 

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With the draft and July 1 out of the way, we can almost look back and evaluate how GM Bob Murray did. I like Bob Murray’s move a lot. I was very afraid that when Burke left we would fall apart one trade at a time, but this is not the case.

I still see some holes in the organization, but I expect those to be filled in good time. Let’s take a look at some of the movements so far.

The Draft: I’m not talking about the players traded because we will get to that. We selected 2 in the first round and another five in day two of the draft. We won’t see the immediate effects of the draft take place because the Ducks players tend to stay in development a little longer than other teams bring up their drafted players. Example, Jack Johnson, Anze Kopitar and Sidney Crosby all drafted the same year as Bobby Ryan. Bobby Ryan has developed wonderfully because of the patience he and Brian Burke went through to spend time raising fitness, skill and maturity in the minors as well as other leagues. I don’t think we will see an immediate effect on the franchise, but I like who we drafted and the positions they play.

The Pronger trade: While we will miss Pronger on the blue line very much, I don’t think we will miss the reputation that goes along with him. While sending Prongs out to Philly, we received fan favorite Joffrey Lupul as well as Luca Sbisa and a couple of 1st round draft picks, one for this year and one for next. Lupul was great for the franchise and its been so bittersweet to watch him play for other teams and not do as well as he did with the Ducks. My most fond memory of Lupul was the Playoff game in Colorado in 2005 when the score was Avalanche 3- Lupul 4. He will bring some secondary scoring that we need badly. I can’t say much about Sbisa because I don’t know too much about him. Lupul likes him and he was a first round pick, so I am good. Pronger has done so well for us as fans and as a team (Stanley Cup anyone?) so I know he will be missed.

Selanne and Scott Niedermayer: Aren’t we glad to have these two back for sure. And before the season started, even by the draft! So with those two under contract, we will have the veteran leadership and skill needed to prepare our other teammates for following seasons.

Projected Lines:

Offense

Getzlaf - Ryan - Perry

Lupul - Selanne - (to sign)/Christensen

Ebbett - Carter - Christensen/ Nokelainen

Parros - Brown - (to sign)/Bodie

Defense

S. Niedermayer - Brookbank

Whitney -Wisniewski

Sbisa - Festerling.

Goalies

1A Hiller

1B Giguere

I think the other good thing about the Pronger trade was that it doesn’t force us to trade Giguere away right away. Apparently he has given Murray a short list of teams of he wouldn’t mind being traded too. I suggest we hold on to him until at least pre season. We let him come into training camp, compete for the spot and if Hiller does fine we can get more for him, but I think that having those two in net dramatically increase our changes for winning a cup again.

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Chris Pronger.

Let the trades of the 2009-2010 season begin.

I’m definitely sad to see him go.

There is something to be said about having a defenseman like Chris Pronger on your team. He’s big, he’s powerful, he’s a great man to have on your Power Play unit and your Penalty Kill…Chris Pronger, no matter what the fans think of him, is a great all around defenseman.

I’m going to miss him.

Chris Pronger has always been the man that other fans love to hate. I don’t care what people think of him, dirty or whatever, he’s going to be loved in Philly. They are going to realize that they’ve got a fantastic ice sprawling, physical, sharp shooting defenseman on their roster. Their fans are going to love him before they know it.

I KNOW Ducks fans are going to miss Chris Pronger.

I’m going to miss that upper cut after a speeding slap shot from the blueline. I’m going to miss the D-man with no fear, willing to lay all 6′6” on the ice to block a shot. I’m going to miss the fact that his feet are 10 times too small for his body. I’m going to miss that crooked tooth! I’m going to miss the way he looks up when you call him “GQ”. I’m going to miss his humorous interviews and his excessive use of the word “obviously”. I’m going to miss that hideous mustard colored jacket that he wore when the Ducks were in Europe…

I’m going to miss Chris Pronger.

I wish you luck GQ, but not too much.

GO DUCKS!!!

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Mr. Commissioner…

Lend me an ear…all of you, for I have a bone to pick.

I’ve been hearing about Manny Ramirez in the news again lately (even more recently Sammy Sosa), and it makes my blood boil (and it’s not just because I hate baseball).

To begin with, I have a real problem with an athletes salary, especially those making 20+ million dollars a year. However, I have an even bigger problem with athletes who have broken the law (I’m not talking about a speeding ticket, I’m talking serious law breaking…like killings, shootings, dog fights - you get the idea) and those who are under the influence of some illegal substance for their performance.

Athletes are role models, whether they like it or not.

All around the world, men, women, and children look up to their favorite sports stars as role models. These elite athletes are someone to aspire to, someone who has everything, can do anything, can be anything.

ROLE MODELS: Individuals compare themselves with reference groups of people who occupy the social role to which the individual aspires. The term has passed into general use to mean any “person who serves as an example, whose behavior is emulated by others.” Wikipedia

Now, I may not necessarily want to be the next NHL superstar (I can’t skate to save my life…so I’ve eliminated hockey as my future profession…it’s ok - I’ve come to terms with it), but I admire the hell out of some of them, on and off the ice, for the things they do.

I’m finding that it’s harder to say that about a lot of athletes these days.

It’s a PRIVILEGE to be a professional athlete…NOT A RIGHT.

No one is guaranteed to play professional sports. It takes hard work, an immense amount of skill and talent, and a dedicated work ethic. There are SO MANY people in this world who would kill to be in Manny Ramirez’s shoes, and yet, he has abused his talent and power. Here is no new piece of information…you’re an instantaneous celebrity, whether you like it or not. You are someone that is inspiring to people all over the world. People who want to play like you, dress like you, wear your shoes, sport your jersey. These people emulate your cross over, your fancy stick work, your juke on the 50 yard line, they call their shot all the same. It is your job, whether you like it or not, to put forth your best, day in and day out, on and off the playing field.

So when you are suspended for taking steroids, caught killing dogs in your backyard, in jail for possession of deadly weapons…I would hope that same day…the Commissioner would send you this simple letter.

—-
Dear (…insert ungrateful athlete name here…),

This league no longer requires your services. It is an honor, a privilege, and a very rare opportunity to play for the NHL/NBA/NFL/MLB…and should only be given to those who appreciate and value this HONOR most highly. You have violated the simple expectations set forth by this league to remain an honorable citizen of society. Good luck to you in your future endeavors.

Clean out your locker.

The Commissioner.
—-
Maybe the MLB would be losing a fantastic talent if Manny Ramirez is let go permanently, but I believe there should be a no tolerance policy in all of sports. Just think, it might make athletes appreciate their time there, appreciate their fans more, appreciate the sanctity of the game. It might make competition fair, true, and real. A 50 game slap on the wrist isn’t going to stop someone else from being just as stupid and pathetic…and an awful role model to men, women, and more importantly, CHILDREN everywhere.

If this is a trend of history, then that is a shame. I want to watch talented athletes with NATURAL ability impress me, show me that there is a reason they are getting paid MILLIONS to do what they do. I don’t think there should be second chances in this scenario…we are talking about ADULTS who should know RIGHT FROM WRONG.

Hey professional sports! Grow some balls…expect more from the people representing you! Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, Michael Vick (SO MANY MORE)…they’re an embarrassment to you!

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Along with a few other people (like 12,000 or something) I am now officially a season seat holder! I’m very excited about it!

I got to pick my seats along with all of the other new seat holders at 5:30 (I saw a few Twitter pals there too…even though I didn’t say hi- forgive me). UJ and I then continued to go back and forth between two sections…back and forth, back and forth…until finally settling on my new seats for next season! I am so excited to BE THERE!

So, minus the ice, that is my view for the 2009-2010 season…and I can’t wait!

Is it time for training camp yet?!

Along with picking seats, Bob Murray gave everyone a little update on the off-season plans. There was not one shocking piece of information revealed.

Murray hasn’t heard from Teemu Selanne because his word is based on Scott Niedermayer’s decision. Scotty has promised to make his decision before Murray makes his way to the draft which is in only a few weeks. Everyone is injured (not really, but UJ was talking to me, so I missed some of the specifics) and should be healed by the time camp starts. They’re expecting Francois Beauchemin to test the market (I’m predicting he ends up playing for the Anaheim Ducks of Toronto), they are planning on battling it out to keep James Wisniewski, and also planning on not getting themselves into a financial hole in order to keep Bobby Ryan next season when he’s available to them for negotiations. Murray didn’t give any indication regarding the goal tending situation and they are planning on finding a new goal tending coach to replace François Allaire.

All in all, it’s going to be a crazy off-season…

GO DUCKS!!!

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Funny story…I literally had the previous post almost 100% done…and then I heard the Mike Brown news. I rushed to finish it up…and then realized that I forgot to post my position on the goal-tending situation! (Thanks tu madre!)

So here it is…

With the recent contract for François Allaire and the now “Anaheim Ducks of Toronto”, there have been many questions about what might happen next with JS Giguere and Jonas Hiller. This past season, the Ducks saw an interesting change in the goal tending power as Hiller finished off the regular season allowing the Ducks to make the playoffs when many doubted they could. Hiller also held strong for the Ducks through two difficult rounds in the playoffs by embarrassing the Presidents trophy San Jose Sharks and posing an unexpected challenge for the damn Detroit Red Wings.

I’d like to think that both goal tenders are staying put for the time being. In all honesty, I don’t know much about any of the guys waiting in the wings and I don’t know that anyone is prepared to take a back up spot. However, Jiggy has made it clear that he has no intention of being someones backup, and to be honest…he’s being paid WAY too much for that to be the case. On the other hand, Hiller has proven that he does not deserve to be sitting on the bench either.

I think the Ducks are going to allow these two to battle it out in camp and during the early parts of the season, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a move if Jiggy continues to struggle. I don’t think Randy Carlyle is ready to give up on Jiggy just yet, and also I think he has tons of confidence in Hiller after his performance over the last few months of the season, ultimately making his decision very difficult.

Who do I want to be my 1A? Jonas Hiller.

Unfortunately, I think the Ducks may have seen the best of Jiggy. I don’t think he’s a bad goaltender, and he may be as good as he was in the 2007 playoffs, but I can’t imagine him getting any better at this point.

As for Hiller, he’s been improving exponentially over the past 2 seasons. While much of this credit is likely thanks to Allaire, it is very possible we will see Hiller continue to improve and better his game over the next season and many more to come as he gains experience in net.

Simply…I see Hiller on his way up, and Jiggy on his way down.

No matter who’s A and who’s B…I don’t know that I would complain.

GO DUCKS!!!

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