2011-12 NHL Season

[Still MIGHTY]

Ducks beat the Canucks. Winners of 5 of the last 6. One loss was an OT loss. Still in 29th place. I mean they're closer to 28th and farther from 30th, but their best streak of hockey this season gets them no where.

It's great to see some wins (and really that's all that matters at this point. OT losses mean nothing. Losses mean nothing. Wins are it. And even the wins mean nothing at the end, except draft position), but at the same time, seeing the wins is frustrating. This is the way I know this team could have been playing all year. They had the talent. They had it in them. And even now when they are playing up to their potential, they're going absolutely nowhere. A little late, but eh, I'll take them.

[Funky Bunky]

So the question is, do we want them to keep it up and go for the miracle playoff run, or do we want them to keep good draft position?

[The_Admiral]

They're 14 points out of a playoff spot with six teams to jump. Best to just lick your wounds on this one.

[ninersdd]

They're 14 points out of a playoff spot with six teams to jump. Best to just lick your wounds on this one.

They could maybe pull a New Jersey last year and just fall short. The Ducks do have some talent; don't count them out just yet.

[nash61]

Anyone for another mask trivia question?

Hint: New Jersey Devils

Mike Dunham?

Bingo

[The_Admiral]

They're 14 points out of a playoff spot with six teams to jump. Best to just lick your wounds on this one.

They could maybe pull a New Jersey last year and just fall short. The Ducks do have some talent; don't count them out just yet.

To what end, though? This is not an elite team. Even if they did implausibly pass all those teams and finish 8th, they'd just get gobbled up by a markedly superior Vancouver/Detroit team in a best of seven. And if they come up short, they're hurting their draft positioning in what I'm pretty sure is already a weak system with no postseason revenue to show for it. The Ducks missed the playoffs in 2010 and survived. They can do it again. Sell off some parts and restock for a brighter future.

That's one of the things that sucks about the NHL, this whole "the Dallas Stars are in 12th place and only half a point out of first!" muck that tells us nothing about quality of teams. In a sane world, Calgary and Phoenix would've packed up for the year, but they still think they're in it. Some of us could use a Shane Doan or Jarome Iginla, you know.

[Kramerica Industries]

If they pulled a 2011 New Jersey, though, then they'd be on track to completely overachieve to begin the 2012-13 season.

[Still MIGHTY]

They're 14 points out of a playoff spot with six teams to jump. Best to just lick your wounds on this one.

They could maybe pull a New Jersey last year and just fall short. The Ducks do have some talent; don't count them out just yet.

To what end, though? This is not an elite team. Even if they did implausibly pass all those teams and finish 8th, they'd just get gobbled up by a markedly superior Vancouver/Detroit team in a best of seven. And if they come up short, they're hurting their draft positioning in what I'm pretty sure is already a weak system with no postseason revenue to show for it. The Ducks missed the playoffs in 2010 and survived. They can do it again. Sell off some parts and restock for a brighter future.

Exactly what I would like to see. The season is lost. Just go down with the ship, ride it out, and prepare for the future. While wins are nice, I'm not concerned with the wins/losses, especially because they're not amounting to a whole lot in the standings. This is just an extremely extended preseason for Boudreau and the guys that will be here going forward. We're rotating a lot of guys in and out from the minors, evaluating our talent, getting everyone on board this system, and moving forward. To make the playoffs, it'd have to be some damned miracle run. Second half surges have been a trademark of the Ducks every year since the 2007 Cup, and they've long covered up the issues that finally showed up in force this season.

The system is pretty barren right now. There are a few guys, but not too many guys outside of one or two that could come in next season and make an impact. The guys we thought we had have either been traded away or haven't lived up to the expectations we had. It's nice to hear a guy coming up is our #1 prospect in our system, but it's scary when the guy that shows up in the NHL is actually our #1 prospect.

Wins are fun, but any real success from here on out will just be masking the problems we've had over the last several seasons. Make some trades to get some picks/prospects/productive roster players. They don't need a blockbuster trade, except for maybe a 1 or 2 defenseman. (Not that I want to, but if you're going to do a Getzlaf or Ryan trade, I hear Shea Weber is available.) And ride out the string, take advantage of the draft position a bad season allows, and get back on the horse next season.

Also, fire Bob Murray. I don't want him making any of those decisions.

[charger77]

Going to Sabers/Wings tonight. My first live game of the year.

[The Six]

The Ducks' problem is they've refused to rebuild, so they're halfway between contending and starting over. Trading people like Getzlaf makes no sense because there's no way you'll get something fair in return. Who would center the top line? Unless they just get rid of every veteran, build around Bobby Ryan and plan for 2014.

[Still MIGHTY]

The Ducks' problem is they've refused to rebuild, so they're halfway between contending and starting over. Trading people like Getzlaf makes no sense because there's no way you'll get something fair in return. Who would center the top line? Unless they just get rid of every veteran, build around Bobby Ryan and plan for 2014.

"But we've REBUILT ON THE FLY!!! WE'RE STILL A UNDER-BUDGET CONTENDER!!! I SEE IT IN THEM!!!" - Bob Murray

Go the away, Bob.

[wildwing64]

The Ducks' problem is they've refused to rebuild, so they're halfway between contending and starting over. Trading people like Getzlaf makes no sense because there's no way you'll get something fair in return. Who would center the top line? Unless they just get rid of every veteran, build around Bobby Ryan and plan for 2014.

"But we've REBUILT ON THE FLY!!! WE'RE STILL A UNDER-BUDGET CONTENDER!!! I SEE IT IN THEM!!!" - Bob Murray

Go the away, Bob.

Pretty much. For whatever reason he's refused to admit that the Ducks needs to rebuild. What's he gonna do once Selanne retires? Probably throw a barstool at an innocent bystander.

I'm watching the Avs at Coyotes game now, the crowd looks fairly decent. The Avs' play-by-play commentator is the most testosterone fueled I've heard in the league.

[Don]

The Ducks' problem is they've refused to rebuild, so they're halfway between contending and starting over. Trading people like Getzlaf makes no sense because there's no way you'll get something fair in return. Who would center the top line? Unless they just get rid of every veteran, build around Bobby Ryan and plan for 2014.

"But we've REBUILT ON THE FLY!!! WE'RE STILL A UNDER-BUDGET CONTENDER!!! I SEE IT IN THEM!!!" - Bob Murray

Go the away, Bob.

Pretty much. For whatever reason he's refused to admit that the Ducks needs to rebuild. What's he gonna do once Selanne retires? Probably throw a barstool at an innocent bystander.

I'm watching the Avs at Coyotes game now, the crowd looks fairly decent. The Avs' play-by-play commentator is the most testosterone fueled I've heard in the league.

He's also the most obnoxious.

[Still MIGHTY]

I'm watching the Avs at Coyotes game now, the crowd looks fairly decent. The Avs' play-by-play commentator is the most testosterone fueled I've heard in the league.

He's also the most obnoxious.

Agreed. He's up there. But unfortunately, he's the only option for today. The Coyotes aren't even broadcasting this game on TV locally, nor did they for the last game against Columbus. Instead, we're getting a rerun of the Dan Patrick Show, drag racing, and poker. There are 4 more untelevised games this season: two home games against the Flames, a roady in Columbus, and the season finale in Minnesota. And you better hope you have NBCSports for 3 other games against Detroit and in Dallas/St. Louis.

I do feel bad for the real Coyote fans around here.

[Don]

I'm watching the Avs at Coyotes game now, the crowd looks fairly decent. The Avs' play-by-play commentator is the most testosterone fueled I've heard in the league.

He's also the most obnoxious.

Agreed. He's up there. But unfortunately, he's the only option for today. The Coyotes aren't even broadcasting this game on TV locally, nor did they for the last game against Columbus. Instead, we're getting a rerun of the Dan Patrick Show, drag racing, and poker. There are 4 more untelevised games this season: two home games against the Flames, a roady in Columbus, and the season finale in Minnesota. And you better hope you have NBCSports for 3 other games against Detroit and in Dallas/St. Louis.

I do feel bad for the real Coyote fans around here.

Yeah my wife is an Avs fan, so I hear him regularly. Even she hates him.

[The_Admiral]

The Ducks should rebuild, but that doesn't include moving Ryan or Getzlaf (or Perry, to round it out). I know everyone is up in arms over Getzlaf being too passive of a captain or something, but in the long run he's still one of the best centers in the league, and far too young to close the book on. Plenty of other movable parts on the team to worry about: Koivu, Selanne, Beauchemin, Visnovsky

[Morgan33]

Hate to say it, but it's looking fairly likely that Bruins could repeat. Can anyone think of some teams that could give them a run for their money?

[Funky Bunky]

They're 14 points out of a playoff spot with six teams to jump. Best to just lick your wounds on this one.

They could maybe pull a New Jersey last year and just fall short. The Ducks do have some talent; don't count them out just yet.

To what end, though? This is not an elite team. Even if they did implausibly pass all those teams and finish 8th, they'd just get gobbled up by a markedly superior Vancouver/Detroit team in a best of seven. And if they come up short, they're hurting their draft positioning in what I'm pretty sure is already a weak system with no postseason revenue to show for it. The Ducks missed the playoffs in 2010 and survived. They can do it again. Sell off some parts and restock for a brighter future.

The system is pretty barren right now. There are a few guys, but not too many guys outside of one or two that could come in next season and make an impact. The guys we thought we had have either been traded away or haven't lived up to the expectations we had. It's nice to hear a guy coming up is our #1 prospect in our system, but it's scary when the guy that shows up in the NHL is actually our #1 prospect.

It's not that barren. We have Etem, Holland, and Palmieri who were all recent 1st round picks with 2nd line upside. We also have Sami Vatanen and Justin Schultz, one who is racking up the points in SM-liiga and won the Best Defenseman trophy, and the other who was nominated for the Hobey Baker as an underclassman. Then we also have John Gibson who was one of the top goalies in last year's draft. We're #9 on Hockey's Future, it's not like we're the San Jose Sharks.

You guys are crazy, we don't need a full rebuild. We have some decent prospects, a young core (RPG, Fowler, Sbisa), and a Goalie who has been pretty good in the past. All we need to do is start spending, and get some good vets to go along with our young core. We can be a good team, all we really need is a top pairing defenseman (or if Fowler can turn into a #1, build the D around him), and we need to figure out how we are going to construct our top 6. If Etem, Holland, or Palmieri can take a spot or two in the top 6, great, but if not, we need to sign a couple guys. If we can do that, we can be a contender.

We don't need to go full rebuild.

[Funky Bunky]

Hate to say it, but it's looking fairly likely that Bruins could repeat. Can anyone think of some teams that could give them a run for their money?

I think the Rangers could give them a run for their money.

[maz]

guess without right clicking the image.

Darryl Reaugh

And speaking of the Whalers, how about the man with three names! Frank Pietrangelo

How could I forget the man responsible for "The Save"!?