GDT: Season opener: Ducks vs Coyotes - Thu 7 PM PT

[All Mighty]

Glad we won, but I can't see us winning many games with Holzer, Bieksa, and Beauchemin all in at the same time. I can live with 2 of them, but not all 3.

 

[ohcomeonref]

If this version of Perry showed up last year we would've been in the finals and very possibly hoisting the cup.

 

[Static]

Also rakell was much better at center than I expected. Good start.

 

[Duck Off]

Thoughts on game:

The bad:
Beauchemin looked awful IMO. Looks very old and slow. He and Bieksa on PP unit is a huge mistake.

Bieksa- he's in regular season form. Enough said.

Holzer. He was really bad tonight imo. He is just not the same player when he's plays the left side.

Shaw, Grant, and Boll are useless. None of these players should be in NHL.

I didn't think Rasmussen was that great but not as bad as the 3 i just mentioned.

The good:
Perry. Terrific. 1 game but great start.

Rakell. I will not shy away that I have never wanted him at center but full props to he and RC as he looked great tonight.

Cogs-His forechecking was huge for that line tonight.

I thought Ritchie, Kase, and Gibson were all solid as well. Not sure why Ritchie was demoted.

The solid/mediocre: Fowler, Manson, and Silfverberg. All looked rusty. Stephens tweeted that Silfverberg's status may be up in air before game. I wonder if he's sick. He kind of looked it on a few shots I saw of him up close. None of these 3 were bad, just not their best games.

Montour is going to be a force if he can kind of calm down. He reminds me of someone who's just drank too much preworkout sometimes. He's going to be a dang good player when he adjusts a bit more to the speed of the NHL.

As someone said earlier, best thing was the best players putting the team on their back.

One game, but great start boys.

 

[All Mighty]

Faceoff Notables:
Rakell won 7/15, which isn't too bad
Grant won 7/8
Vermette won 17/24, good to see the new faceoff crackdown isn't affecting him
Wagner won 3/10
Rasmussen won 4/6

 

[Ducks in a row]

Fowler 26:20 TOI
Rakell 21:44 TOI
Beauchemin 19:16 TOI
Bieksa 18:36 TOI

 

[MMC]

Thought we looked good but the players we knew would suck this year really sucked... I'd really like Megna/Larsson in over some of Holzer/Beauchemin/Bieksa and Kossila/Fiore and to a lesser extent Kerdiles in over Boll, Shaw, and Grant.

 

[All Mighty]

Here is our new LA Times writer. He somehow confused Keller with Stoner

 

[Kalv]

I put some money on Coyotes this game but I am definitely not mad ha

We outshot Corsi guru`s team while we had Boll, Grant and old Beauchemin and Bieksa? WHAT IS THIS???

Sad that Fiore didn`t got the go

 

[GetzOffMyLawn]

Typical Ducks hockey lol

 

[la patineuse]

Is it that chick-fil-a breakfast bowl? Because chicken and eggs together bothers me

I think it might be some kind of sandwich at "participating Chick-fil-As." Who knows which ones are "participating."

There is a Japanese dish that will give you the heebie jeebies. It's has chicken and egg and called oyako donburi or oyakodon, which literally means "parent and child bowl."

This was one of my favorite dishes growing up, so it's comfort food. I would still eat it if I ate rice and sugar (used for flavoring the dish) anymore.

 

[kducks]

Here is our new LA Times writer. He somehow confused Keller with Stoner

That's as good as KCAL9 covering the Ducks/Yotes game on the sportscast, then telling us how the Kings met up with their division rivals, Coyotes right after. Seriously, is no one who covers sports even close to being a hockey fan out here?

 

[Beckett]

That's as good as KCAL9 covering the Ducks/Yotes game on the sportscast, then telling us how the Kings met up with their division rivals, Coyotes right after. Seriously, is no one who covers sports even close to being a hockey fan out here?

I actually interned at KCAL in 2006 as a sports writer. One week into my internship I was in charge of ALL ducks coverage for the sports report. I had to phonetically spell every player's name and pretty much write all the on-air dialogue for the newscast. So yeah, nobody cared or knew anything about hockey.

 

[Dr Johnny Fever]

I actually interned at KCAL in 2006 as a sports writer. One week into my internship I was in charge of ALL ducks coverage for the sports report. I had to phonetically spell every player's name and pretty much write all the on-air dialogue for the newscast. So yeah, nobody cared or knew anything about hockey.

Curt Sandoval at abc7 needs your help. He's an absolute dufus when he has to mention anything about hockey. And God help him if it involves pronouncing names. The guy is a f***ing joke for being a sports newscaster for a major LA TV station. Makes zero effort to get anything right if it's hockey related.

 

[Dryish]

What I find amusing is that I'll go to sleep expecting the worse of even worse than that and will still find myself angry and disappointed in the morning. Sports fandom is one hell of a drug.

So, can I save face by being disappointed by not being able to be disappointed or how does this work? Feels good to get a win with this lineup.

 

[AngelDuck]

Rakell will blossom into this teams next great forward. He's that kind of talent

 

[The Noot]

Well, the Japanese have a rice bowl dish made with chicken and scrambled eggs, and the name literally translates to "mother-and-child bowl".

Does this freak you out yet?

To be fair, you don't REALLY eat their children.
It's only the chicken equivalent of menstruation blood.

So it's not THAT freaky.

 

[Elvs]

I didn't think Beauch waS THAT bad. I think he'll be fine on the 3rd pairing once everyone returns.

Holzer was the same last year. Brutal when playing the left side with Bieksa, but a good substitute whenever playing the right side with a decent D partner.

The Kase and Ritchie swap was an excellent move. Even the Boll line stopped being hammered into our own zone.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

I didn't think Beauch waS THAT bad. I think he'll be fine on the 3rd pairing once everyone returns.

Holzer was the same last year. Brutal when playing the left side with Bieksa, but a good substitute whenever playing the right side with a decent D partner.

The Kase and Ritchie swap was an excellent move. Even the Boll line stopped being hammered into our own zone.

Yeah I thought Beauch was fine. He and Montour look good together. I disagree with most on Ritchie - as usual he leaves you wanting a lot more. It's nice that he was in front of the net a few times.

Boll played 5 minutes for no reason. Stupid.

edit - man it is nice to have such a strong reminder of why Perry was ever considered elite. I hope this continues.

 

[mightyquack]

Well that happened, pretty impressive considering Anaheim only played with 2 forward lines. Boll/Grant/Rasmussen/Shaw were all absolutely awful, and Shaw has shown why there should be a forward with offensive upside instead of him (must have missed 4 or 5 great chances). One of Rasmussen/Grant being in the line up is ok, but having both of them along with Boll and Shaw in the line up is pure stupidity. Bieksa was awful too, casual skating, stupid giveaways and caught up the ice constantly, I'm hoping he's the odd one out when the entire defence is healthy (and he should be) but I fear RC's veteran leadership boner might be too strong to resist putting Bieksa in there.

Great to see Perry have a strong game, hopefully it's the start of a bounce back year rather then an illusion. Kase and Ritchie on the 3rd line (when everyone is healthy) would be an interesting one to watch, I think they both had solid games and it seems Ritchie might have found another step to his skating.

 

[Mortal Wombat]

Just finished watching the game. What a come-back!

Most impressed by Corey f***ing Perry! He was way more involved in the game than for a lot of last season, driving the net hard and creating havoc. I guess Domingue hadn't heard what happens when you make Corey Perry mad.

It was so fitting that when Cogs finally scored it was with his skate.

Can't wait for Lindholm and Vatanen to get back. We just can't ice all three of Beauchemin/Bieksa/Holzer long term and expect to win.

And I really hope Rakell signed that game-winning puck and gave it to Katie.

 

[duckaroosky]

To be fair, you don't REALLY eat their children.
It's only the chicken equivalent of menstruation blood.

So it's not THAT freaky.

And it's not even the same "type" of chickens. Layer hens are different than ones you raise for meat.

Still... it bothers me.

 

[JohnnyDrama]

Hey guys, long time reader/fan, first time poster. What a big win, even if it was Arizona that's got to be a big confidence boost for that group to be able to come back and win without so many core guys. Obviously Perry and his line with big games, also liked Kase and Ritchie's game. Montour is going to be sick, really excited to see how good he can be. Was impressed with Rakell at center - we'd have some of the best center depth in the league when Getz and Kes are back if he can blossom into an effective center. Bieksa and Boll have no reason to be in the lineup, hopefully Carlyle will realize that eventually. Good start to the year!

 

[bsu]

Boll is such a waste of space. He looks like a beer leaguer out there.

 

[ScarTroy]

Boll is such a waste of space. He looks like a beer leaguer out there.

Shaw too. I want to like him, he's just so bad. Wagner had a decent game at least which is good.