All Mighty
Registered User
I think the his greater point (or at least my POV) is how would we know for sure? Might as well try. Have to imagine it would go better than it would with LaCombe, especially since he wouldn't be playing his weak side.
Speculation: 2023-24 Roster Thread
- Thread starter Leonardo87
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Ducks DVM
sowcufucakky
My concern with Gudas is that he’s slow at times and people just blow right by him. If he’s the guy hanging back to cover for Fowler pushing forward to do the stuff he does best, I can see a lot of breakaways happening. I think defensive zone play would likely be better by a substantial margin though.
I’ve noticed that with the man to man system, the defensemen are frequently nowhere near the net though, and having a crease clearing partner may not be as relevant, because he may be out near the blue line somewhere.
Firequacker
used wall of text! It's not very effective...
- Jun 3, 2022
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It's true, and while it tailed off a bit after the deadline they kept enough of it to piss people off. It's been weird seeing the "last year's team just quit on games" narrative become conventional wisdom after watching "why won't these idiots just quit?" be so widespread at the time. Not sure how bad it was here since I avoided the tank thread, but on other sites a lot of the same people who are currently saying "last year's team would've just rolled over lol" were the ones screaming and gnashing their teeth and wanting players kicked off the team for not being with the program when they scored a tying goal or picked up a loser point.
I don't think the ducks are bad team. They're a flawed team (partly due to youth) which leads to inconsistency and several games where they're just outclassed. But it also means they can surprise particularly if the goal tending is strong (e.g., several quality wins against top teams). Much better than last year on all fronts.
I must say, your attempts to defend/prop up Eakins cannot be dissuaded though they are wholly unconvincing. It is odd that you constantly want to bring up him and Murray when they are both gone.
In prior posts, you have suggested that the ducks improved play was due to roster turnover - that Eakins' poor record wasn't really a reflection of his (poor) coaching abilities. Yet you also want to give him credit for Cronin "inheriting" a team that didn't quit. How did Cronin inherit a team if there was such massive roster turnover? You need to pick an argument.
And for the record, I don't think the ducks quit last year. But that was in spite of (not due to) Eakins' coaching. He is a very nice guy but demonstrably a very bad NHL hockey head coach.
Didn't quite know where to put it, but Elite prospects has a long-ish article on the Ducks in their EP Rinkside columns:
eprinkside.com
Keeping up with the Anaheim Ducks
We're keeping up with the 2023-24 Anaheim Ducks in the debut instalment of Keeping up with the NHL, featuring a Q&A with head coach Greg Cronin and a look at what's made the Ducks so compelling to this point in the season.
eprinkside.com
Hockey Duckie
Registered User
Let's focus on your post:
- HD says: last year's team didn't quit.
- @duckpuck says: "And for the record, I don't think the ducks quit last year."
So you're in complete agreement with "last year's team didn't quit." WTF is your malfunction?! Do you have serious cognitive dissonance?
=== Roster ===
Forwards here last year: Zegras, Terry, Rico, Mac, Strome, Vatrano, Silf, Carrick, Leason, Jones, Groulx, and Carrick. That's a total of 12 forwards out of 14-16 roster spots?. Groulx played 18 games in 2021-22 to start the season and then got a 2-game call-up last year.
Defensemen here last year: Fowler, Drysdale, and Vaaks. That's 3 out of 8 d-men. Fowler is our 1D and leader of the defense. In fact, those three were here two years ago and the team didn't quit then. LaCombe did get a couple of games last year, but that's just 2 games.
Apparently, that's a huge contingent returning. As for forward lines, our top line isn't producing like a top line, but the rest of our lines are churning, provided you do watch the games. Adding #2 pick overall in Carlsson does improve the first line when he's on the ice than when he's not on the ice. Yet, the team can still win without Carlsson in the lineup.
There is a difference between being on the roster and actually being healthy to play. Drysdale and Vaaks weren't on the roster long enough to make an impact last year, which is why they both were considered part of the influx of talent. Vaaks got injured in pre-season last year, returned to play 9 games, got injured, returned to play 14 games, and finally out of the season.
Our biggest influx of talent is on the blue line with two rookies (Mintyukov), two FA vets (Gudas, Lyubushking), and two returning talents from injuries (Drysdale and Vaaks)... sadly, Drysdale is back to being injured. Many of our defensive starters last year are in Europe or in the AHL this year. White (here last year) and Hagg (new FA vet) couldn't beat out the rookies LaCombe and Mintyukov.
Losing Drydale was detrimental last year, but losing Drysdale this year is not so detrimental because we have talent depth this year to make up for that loss.
=== Can a few players make a difference? ===
This is where history is important and why you have cognitive dissonance that a few players can make a difference.
2020-21: Finished with 2nd worst record. Lindholm and Manson were oft injured. Lindholm played in only 18 games and Manson played in 23 games.
| Ducks | 2020-21 | Covid | Season | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game Set | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | . | Point Share |
| Total | 56 | 17 | 30 | 9 | 43 | 0.384 |
2021-22: Everyone's healthy to start the season!
| Ducks | 2021-22 | Splits | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game Set | GP | W | L | OTL | Pts | . | Point Share |
| Total | 82 | 31 | 37 | 14 | 76 | 0.463 | |
| Gm 1 - 33 | 33 | 17 | 9 | 7 | 41 | 0.621 | |
| Gm 34 - 62 (injuries started) | 29 | 10 | 16 | 3 | 23 | 0.397 | |
| Gm 63 - 82 (TDL) | 20 | 4 | 12 | 4 | 12 | 0.300 |
The team had an 8-game winning streak near the beginning of the season, once they shortened the been and kept the rookies (Drysdale, Zegras, and McTavish) off the ice at the end of close games.
The "injuries started" game set was when our defensive trio of Fowler, Lindholm, and Manson started to miss games due to injury. Lindholm missed 2 games, Fowler missed 4 games, and Manson missed 17 games (nearly 60% missed in the Game set 34-62). Relying on three rookies on the ice in Drysdale, Benoit, and Mahura was cringy. Anaheim had no depth.
At the TDL, we lost only three players: D Lindholm, D Manson, and LW Deslauriers. The team took another nosedive in the standings.
2022-23: Added only OFD's and fringe AHL d-men.
| Ducks | 2022-23 | Splits | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | Games | W | L | OTL | Pts | Points % |
| Game Set | 82 | 23 | 47 | 12 | 58 | 35.4% |
| 1 to 25 | 25 | 6 | 16 | 3 | 15 | 30.0% |
| 26 to 49 | 24 | 9 | 13 | 2 | 20 | 41.7% |
| 50 to 61 | 12 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 50.0% |
| 62 to 82 (TDL) | 21 | 3 | 13 | 5 | 11 | 26.2% |
Verbeek added to the blue line: Klingberg, Kulikov, White, and Beaulieu. At forward, Verbeek had a big splash with Strome and Vatrano. Adding injury to insult, Drysdale was lost to injury after playing in only 8 games. Drydale was our top-pairing RD with Fowler, iirc.
Surprisingly, the team was improving throughout the season, as denoted in the table above. We were winning too much that posters were complaining we were winning!
At the TDL, we lost two players to trades and one to IR. Rico went on IR before the TDL. Then we lost Klingberg and Kulikov. All we did was lose three players and our Points % was nearly cut in half!
Conclusion: Yes. A small contingent of players can vastly improve or vastly crater a team, especially when a team lacks talent depth.
MMC
Global Moderator
Quack Shot
Registered User
The debate is over. The guys call Minty, and not Minchy. They also don’t pronounce his full name with a “ch” sounds either.
Mint-you-cov
I dont get it considering that isnt how Minty pronounces it, but oh well lol.
Glad its minty though.
I dont get it considering that isnt how Minty pronounces it, but oh well lol.
Glad its minty though.
I don't disagree that Fowler has struggled with turnovers this year.
But Gudas has never been a top pairing d-man. He's barely even been a 2nd pairing guy. He's never had a season over 20 minutes of TOI per game. At the age of 33, I don't think it's time to change that trend. Gudas seems to be effective with somewhat limited ice time.
Why would we try to mess with something that's working great the way it is? Gudas has been very effective playing 18-19 minutes this season and for his entire career. Sure, he can handle a game every now and then where we need him to play more, but I don't think there's a secret Chris Pronger hiding inside Gudas. He's a positionally sound, agitating defenseman who occasionally runs into a puck that finds its way in the back of the goal. He's great at that. Let's not break it.
Arthuros
Registered Snoozer
To be fair, I think I coined "Minchy" as a tongue-in-cheek reference to the whole "Minchukov" thing and it stuck for a little bit.
At least it's Minty, and not something completely different like "Yucko" or "Choo-choo".
@Hockey Duckie and @duckpuck take it to PM if you are going to continue to banter with each other. Appreciate it, thanks.
branmuffin17
Registered User
Since he pronounces his own name Mint-chu-kov that's how I'm pronouncing it. But 100% Minchy sounds too funky...Minty is just cleaner (and fresher)!
And this is one thing that drives me crazy about not just our own broadcasters, but many of them. Just learn how these players pronounce their names, and use it! Don't know why they don't put in more of an effort.
And this is one thing that drives me crazy about not just our own broadcasters, but many of them. Just learn how these players pronounce their names, and use it! Don't know why they don't put in more of an effort.
Hockey Duckie
Registered User
Guess it's like how Evgeni got his nickname Geno. If that's what his teammates call him, then that's that.
70sSanO
Registered User
Name pronunciation and nick names are set by the team.
It is a lot like Delta house. Verbeek reads the pledge and Cronin assigns the names.
It has carried over from last year when we actually were Delta. Hopefully things will change in the near future.
John
branmuffin17
Registered User
I like Zegs and Drysdale a lot as players, but for me at least it really feels like this team is going to be built on a foundation of Carlsson, Mctavish and Minty (and there probably will be another player or two that will emerge). But those two dudes are very good to have as a complement to the guys who will be relied upon the most to do the heavy lifting.
Hockey Duckie
Registered User
70sSanO
Registered User
I look at the first half of this season almost like tryouts. The roster will have holes and there needs to be different guys in and out and moved around.
We are not a playoff team. I want us to be an over .500 team and a top 10 pick, but that may be mutually exclusive.
My main concern right now is Killorn. Hopefully he gets it going and starts to earn his keep as it will only go downhill as he gets older. If not, that $6.4m is going to look ugly.
Zegras not playing during this offensive slump, might be a Godsend. If he comes back and provides a spark it will really help him.
By the TDL we should have a good feel for who’s in and who’s out.
John
We are not a playoff team. I want us to be an over .500 team and a top 10 pick, but that may be mutually exclusive.
My main concern right now is Killorn. Hopefully he gets it going and starts to earn his keep as it will only go downhill as he gets older. If not, that $6.4m is going to look ugly.
Zegras not playing during this offensive slump, might be a Godsend. If he comes back and provides a spark it will really help him.
By the TDL we should have a good feel for who’s in and who’s out.
John
MMC
Global Moderator
MMC
Global Moderator
Chase De Leo, who suffered a knee injury during a preseason game against the Kings, took part in his first practice since being injured. This isn’t De Leo’s first time back on the ice, but it is his first time going through the motions with other players on the ice alongside him.
“It was awesome. It was fun,” said De Leo. “It sucks—not the most fun—kind of being on your own page. Kind of get into a rhythm, start the season, (get into) training camp and then have that taken away from you, it sucks. Trying to just take it one day at a time while I was out. Not looking too far ahead and driving myself crazy, just trying to heal every day and work on things that I can throughout the whole time.”
De Leo said he watched a lot of video and that he was also present at all of the Ducks’ team meetings during the time that he was out.
“Even though I was away from the group, I still felt like I was part of the group, which is great. So much fun to be back on the ice and at practice.”
Another player who recently returned to the Ducks is Tristan Luneau, who was on a two-week conditioning loan with the San Diego Gulls in the AHL. Luneau played in six games during his time with the Gulls, picking up two assists.
“It was so much fun,” said Luneau. “Just going back to play games, feeling competitive out there, getting my game shape back. You can do all the weightlifting you want, but I think at the end of the day, you get in shape by playing games. I got my legs back, every game was better and better.”
Luneau said that Ducks management wanted him to work on the same aspects of his game that he had been working on in Anaheim down in San Diego.
“When I went (to San Diego), I told (the coaching staff) what I wanted to work on and they agreed too. That’s what they saw from training camp and those coaches were there for the rookie tournament, so they already knew a bit of my game. We just kept on building what I’ve done for the past two months here in Anaheim.”
World Juniors is next month with training camp for the tournament just a few weeks away. Luneau may have an opportunity to play for Team Canada if given the chance, but he isn’t thinking about that right now.
“It would obviously be sweet to be there and part of that experience,” he said. “But at the same time, anywhere I’m going to be, I’m trying to improve and get the best results for the team as I can. Right now, I’m just trying to focus on the team here and keep my mind where my feet are.”
“It was awesome. It was fun,” said De Leo. “It sucks—not the most fun—kind of being on your own page. Kind of get into a rhythm, start the season, (get into) training camp and then have that taken away from you, it sucks. Trying to just take it one day at a time while I was out. Not looking too far ahead and driving myself crazy, just trying to heal every day and work on things that I can throughout the whole time.”
De Leo said he watched a lot of video and that he was also present at all of the Ducks’ team meetings during the time that he was out.
“Even though I was away from the group, I still felt like I was part of the group, which is great. So much fun to be back on the ice and at practice.”
Another player who recently returned to the Ducks is Tristan Luneau, who was on a two-week conditioning loan with the San Diego Gulls in the AHL. Luneau played in six games during his time with the Gulls, picking up two assists.
“It was so much fun,” said Luneau. “Just going back to play games, feeling competitive out there, getting my game shape back. You can do all the weightlifting you want, but I think at the end of the day, you get in shape by playing games. I got my legs back, every game was better and better.”
Luneau said that Ducks management wanted him to work on the same aspects of his game that he had been working on in Anaheim down in San Diego.
“When I went (to San Diego), I told (the coaching staff) what I wanted to work on and they agreed too. That’s what they saw from training camp and those coaches were there for the rookie tournament, so they already knew a bit of my game. We just kept on building what I’ve done for the past two months here in Anaheim.”
World Juniors is next month with training camp for the tournament just a few weeks away. Luneau may have an opportunity to play for Team Canada if given the chance, but he isn’t thinking about that right now.
“It would obviously be sweet to be there and part of that experience,” he said. “But at the same time, anywhere I’m going to be, I’m trying to improve and get the best results for the team as I can. Right now, I’m just trying to focus on the team here and keep my mind where my feet are.”
So ,Terry demoted to the 3rd line? Cronin must read HF boards, lol.
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