yave1964 Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 PRESEASON EXPECTATIONS: The Ducks have established themselves as a power in the Western conference. With the big trade for Kesler before the season and the switch in net the Ducks were hoping to go all the way. FINAL RECORD:51-24-7 109 points best in the West HIGH POINT OF THE YEAR: After running over anyone and everyone all year the Ducks swept the Jets and made quick work of the Flames in 5 in the second round. Then they started out red hot against the Hawks, going up 3 games to 2 only one win away from the Stanley cup. LOW POINT OF THE YEAR: Then the Ducks stopped skating, stopped doing everything they had done all year, quit playing defense, and lost game six and seven by a whopping combined score of 10-5. To many it felt as if the Ducks had choked the postseason away. WHAT WENT RIGHT: Getzlaf (25-45-70) still plays at a high motor as do Perry (33 goals in 67 games) and Kesler who filled the second line center admirably. The defense was elite, Lindholm was plus 25 with 34 points, Vatanen (37 points, 67 games) and Fowler round out a trio of youngsters to make any team in the league green with envy. Matt Belesky managed 22 goals. Frederik Andersen (35-12-5) and John Gibson gave the Ducks two brilliant yoyoung choices in net. Rackell established himself as a solid #3 center and Beauchimen was a steady influence on the kids on the back end. WHAT WENT WRONG: Coach Boudreau did a terrible job of matching wingers on his lines all year, guys like Maroon, Palmieri, Cogliano Fleischman, Etem and Silferberg were shuffled anywhere from first to fourth all year and none ever really looked comfortable. Even in game seven he shuffled lines as if he were still experimenting. Bryz was godawful and should be done. Wisniewski never got comfortable in the rotation after coming over from Columbus. STRANGE STAT OF THE YEAR: From the when he was bad, he was really bad department, Goalie phenom Frederik Anderson lost only 12 times in regulation but of those he gave up four or more goals a whopping ten times. It continued into the postseason, of the Ducks five postseason losses, he gave up 4 or more 4 of the five losses. UFA's:BeaucheminBeleskyFleischmann TOP PROSPECTS FOR 2015-16: John Gibson may be the most polished ready now rookie goalie in all of hockey....Big Nick Ritchie will be turning pro this year and may get a shot with the big club.... other than that not much, a bunch of cannon fodder like Wagner and Kerdiles and that is about it. OFFSEASON QUESTIONS: Who to blame for the collapse? The coach who has a history of them or the rookie goalie Andersen? Do you resign aging but still effective Beauchemin? Where do you find a scoring winger? Do you trade Andersen or Gibson or have them battle it out all year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxpin Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 OFFSEASON QUESTIONS: Who to blame for the collapse? The coach who has a history of them or the rookie goalie Andersen? Do you resign aging but still effective Beauchemin? Where do you find a scoring winger? Do you trade Andersen or Gibson or have them battle it out all year? Nice write up once again. I smiled at the title. I'm just going to skip right to the above, because I never believed in this team. The lack of faith is squarely on Boudreau. I've typed this elsewhere but it's more appropriate here: Bruce Boudreau is not a playoff coach. The Ducks won the first two rounds because they had superior talent. "Vastly" superior might be an overstatement, but some superlative just below that will work. But when they ran into a team where talent was at least matched, it came down to the fact that the coach was greatly over-matched. Once again. We saw this last year, and we'd seen it previously in Washington. People at the time blamed Ovechkin, and there is some merit in that. But ultimately even Ovechkin can be blamed on the coach. If it were my team, Boudreau would not be returning. But that raises the question of who is available who is at least as good. The short list is probably already hired. I think Bylsma would be a horizontal move. But yes, the collapse is entirely on Boudreau. Goaltending: Anderson clearly wasn't stellar in the WCF but was probably good enough that if other things went better he'd have been enough. Even allowing that this is partially on him, it's his first go at the playoffs and the experience will ultimately be good for him. If it's my team, I'm keeping him AND Gibson another year and going in with the plan to play them 65%-35% unless Gibson steals the show or there's injury. I'm just not making that move until I'm fairly sure what I have. If I'm really lucky, both play well and I have a terrific bargaining chip later. If I get a hometown discount on Beauchemin, I resign him for a one-year, maybe two-year, deal. The winger is not a high concern for me, but one could be had in FA or a minor trade or draft. None of the last matters if Boudreau is still coach. If he is, they're ultimately doomed unless the GM is able to assemble a team that is vastly superior in skill to the rest of the West. I don't see that happening, so we're back to "they're doomed." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted June 1, 2015 Author Share Posted June 1, 2015 @ruxpin I started a topic back in February that Boudreau was doing a poor job of establishing his wingers, and my belief is that this caused the loss to Chicago as much as anything else. He tinkered all year long with the wingers, the team never had cohesion on any line one thru four. You play fantasy hockey (very well) and you scan the waiver wire. Guys like Maroon, Silferberg, Fleischmann, Palmieri and Cogliano were constant pickups and drops. Maroon for instance would be bumped to the top line and get 4 points and a fight in 4 games, a rush would occur to pick him up and then Boudreau would forget about him, dropping to to the checking line or the pressbox, moving the next guy in for a week or two. Then a mad rush to pick up Silferberg or Palmieri would occur only to see them quietly dropped a week later. That is no way to run a fantasy team. That is certainly no way to run a pro team. I have defended Boudreau for years, his regular season record is nearly unequaled and the postseason is a crap-shoot, in the age of parity truthfully ten teams are capable of winning a cup in a given year. But this year, I really think Boudreau screwed the pooch. He never established the lines. He had a goalie controversy down the stretch between Gibson and Andersen. A goalie controversy of Boudreau's making by benching Andersen for much of March for gibson. I think making the conference finals makes him a viable return, actually deserving of return but I would order him to quit tinkering and just create a lineup and leave it alone for more than two games at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 it's his first go at the playoffs and the experience will ultimately be good for him.Anderson played in 7 games last years playoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruxpin Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Anderson played in 7 games last years playoffs.So, like I said. It's his first go after his first go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FD19372 Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Good topic. I think one of the problems besides Boudreau lack of skill and leadership behind the bench was, as the series went on, it became apparent to me that their defense was really slowed down by the speed of the Chicago forecheck. Other than Despres, they really (much like the Flyers with Streit) don't have a lot of mobility nor speed back there. Don't be surprised (if the Pens let him go) that they compete with the Flyers for the services of Ehrhoff, who has speed and quickness,.even though he also has problems with turning the puck over from time to time.They have $17 million in capspace, so they the ability to sign him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 So, like I said. It's his first go after his first go. Oh...now i see.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 @ruxpin I started a topic back in February that Boudreau was doing a poor job of establishing his wingers, and my belief is that this caused the loss to Chicago as much as anything else. He tinkered all year long with the wingers, the team never had cohesion on any line one thru four. You play fantasy hockey (very well) and you scan the waiver wire. Guys like Maroon, Silferberg, Fleischmann, Palmieri and Cogliano were constant pickups and drops. Maroon for instance would be bumped to the top line and get 4 points and a fight in 4 games, a rush would occur to pick him up and then Boudreau would forget about him, dropping to to the checking line or the pressbox, moving the next guy in for a week or two. Then a mad rush to pick up Silferberg or Palmieri would occur only to see them quietly dropped a week later. That is no way to run a fantasy team. That is certainly no way to run a pro team. I have defended Boudreau for years, his regular season record is nearly unequaled and the postseason is a crap-shoot, in the age of parity truthfully ten teams are capable of winning a cup in a given year. But this year, I really think Boudreau screwed the pooch. He never established the lines. He had a goalie controversy down the stretch between Gibson and Andersen. A goalie controversy of Boudreau's making by benching Andersen for much of March for gibson. I think making the conference finals makes him a viable return, actually deserving of return but I would order him to quit tinkering and just create a lineup and leave it alone for more than two games at a time. Another guy you can add to that list was Matt Belesky. He would be moved to the top line with Getz and Perry, fill the net and be in the press box by the following month. I feel Silferberg established himself as one of the up and coming young stars in this league, but he will never reach full potential with this lame duck coach in the mix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyS Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Their depth scoring just flat-out disappeared against the Blackhawks. That is what killed them more than anything else. The Blackhawks held the Ducks' top line in check, and no one else really stepped up for them from their 3rd & 4th lines. No way they should have lost either of those multi-OT games. I've never seen a team ring so many shots off the crossbar in my life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.