It's that time of year again. The NHL season is two days old, and the home opener for the Ducks is mere hours away. The first game of the year for Anaheim is against San Jose, who lost their first game of the season 5-2 against Colorado, on the night Joe Sakic's number was retired. Anaheim's job is going to be a bit tougher tonight. Not just because they traditionally struggle in their first game of the season, but because San Jose is going to push hard to ensure they don't go down 0-2 to start the season. I suppose we should also mention that San Jose would love to get a bit of payback for getting bumped out of the playoffs by Anaheim in the first round, after having the best regular season in Sharks' history.
When I say payback I say it pretty loosely. San Jose could win every game against Anaheim this season, and it still wouldn't amount to the 1st round loss of the President's Trophy-winning San Jose Sharks against the 8th seeded Anaheim Ducks. That won't stop San Jose from wanting to prove themselves the better team, and this will be the first of six opportunities that they will have to do it.
Bring it on.
To start the season, I'd like to talk a little bit about some of the changes that have been made to the team. The last couple of months have us looking at a very different team. The amount of turnover in Anaheim has been extraordinary, and it didn't start in the off-season. It began at the trade deadline, last season.
Bob Murray did a masterful job at the trade deadline, moving a number of players that were underachieving and/or up for a new contract at the end of the season. In doing so he brought in some fresh blood and some real good looking prospects. Pahlsson, Moen, Huskins, and Kunitz were all moved, while Whitney, Wisniewski, Nokalainen, and Christensen were brought in. You might expect Anaheim to take a step backwards or move laterally, but the on-ice results were immediate and spectacular. Anaheim moved their way up from the 12th seed to the 8th seed, and they did it while putting together one of the strongest records from the trade deadline to the end of the regular season.
The off-season was no less exciting for the Ducks, or their fans. Bob Murray made headlines the day of the draft by trading Chris Pronger to Philadelphia. The return? Top six forward Joffrey Lupul, a player who is immediately recognizable by Anaheim fans, and Luca Sbisa. Sbisa, a 19-year old defenseman, played 39 games with Philadelphia last season, and he caught the attention of a lot of people while doing so. Oh yeah, and let's not forget the two first round picks in the 2009 and 2010 NHL draft, as well as a conditional third in 2010 or 2011. Chris Pronger is a player no GM would feel happy about trading, but it was a move Murray felt he needed to make, and it makes Anaheim a younger and deeper team.
Not soon after that Murray made headlines again by signing one of the most respected players in the NHL - Saku Koivu. Immediately penciled in as the team's 2nd line center, Koivu's addition to the team adds a strong 2nd line center that Anaheim has been severely lacking since the Andy McDonald trade. He also brings in a tremendous amount of experience and leadership having come from Montreal, where he captained their team for 10 seasons, tying a record on a team with a very long and storied history. Koivu comes to Anaheim where he will play with his best friend, Teemu Selanne, on a pairing that has both Anaheim fans and Finnish fans excited to see how the season plays out.
Back on the blue line Murray attempted to address depth issues, where he now has to put together a blue line that lost two substantial pieces. Not only Chris Pronger, but Francois Beauchemin, who signed with Toronto as an unrestricted free agent. A step in the right direction, he signed Eminger and Boynton, two players who look like they could use a fresh start and are both chomping at the bit to show that Murray's faith in them is justified. Ryan Whitney and James Wisniewski help fill the void left by those two players, and a lot of expected of young Luca Sbisa who is probably going to start the season with Scott Niedermayer as his defensive partner.
Perhaps the most important decision Murray made was a trade he didn't make. In a strong show of confidence for J.S. Giguere, Bob Murray elected not to move the experienced goaltender. Giguere had an emotional year where he had to deal with the illness and passing of his father, and it carried over into his on-ice play, where he just didn't seem to be able to find his game. With a new season comes a fresh start for Giguere, who has been so important to Anaheim's success in the past. The tandem of Giguere and Hiller give Anaheim a strength in net that many teams can only dream of.
The Ducks go into the 2009-2010 season with a lot of new faces to go with a strong core of old faces, and it will be exciting to see how this season begins, and ultimately ends. The first game can't start soon enough. Here's to a new season of Ducks hockey.
