BoC Pre-Gameday: I Don't Want To Say I Told You So, But...

Last year's Ducks Eulogy on Puck Daddy...

You see, the Ducks are an incredibly flawed team that will never go anywhere as currently constructed. The Ducks are probably the most top-heavy team in the league, blessed with two good scoring lines, a solid No. 1 defensive pairing, an All-Star goaltender... and absolutely nothing else. They are a team of stars and trash with nothing in between.

Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan are given responsibility that far outpaces most other No. 1 forwards despite never showing the maturity to handle it.

Ryan Getzlaf is expected to shut down other team's top centers despite never really showing an interest in back checking. Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan are supposed to score the lion's share of the team's goals... when they're not in the box for slashing.

The Ducks were not very good this season despite the plan going as well as Ducks GM Bob Murray could have hoped. The Ducks' top line was fantastic offensively, with Corey Perry leading the league in goals while Bobby Ryan was not far behind (he had 34). Lubomir Visnovsky found chemistry with Toni Lydman and led all defensemen in points. Jonas Hiller made the All Star Game and was in the Vezina conversation for most of the season. Despite all this, the Ducks were still outshot by the 3rd greatest margin in the league (ahead of only Minnesota and Edmonton) and had the 10th best goal differential in the Western Conference.

"But wait," you may be thinking, "Didn't they lose Hiller for most of the season and Getzlaf for a good part? They were pretty unlucky."

It's true, the Ducks did lose Jonas Hiller after the All-Star Break. Is it bad luck that they lost Hiller for the last 30 games or the season, or good luck that Hiller was able to have a .924 save percentage while facing 31 shots a game when he did play?

Is it bad luck that the Ducks lost Getzlaf for 15 games after he got a puck to the head, or good luck that Teemu Selanne was able to average over a point a game at the age of 40?

Was it bad luck that Andy Sutton, Andreas Lilja, and Paul Mara didn't seem to click with the team, or good luck that Lubomir Visnovsky tied his career high in points at age 34?

Not to mention that Getzlaf and Perry both set career highs in shooting percentage, they managed to shoot 20 percent while 4-on-4, they won 8 games in overtime, etc.

So where do the Ducks go from here? They have some offensive talent in the system to replace Selanne and Koivu but there's no guarantee they will be nearly as good as those two Finnish icons were. Their young stars will have good seasons, they'll have great seasons, and they'll take stupid penalties. Their young defensemen will get better but their old defensemen, Visnovsky and Lydman, will get worse. The Ducks killed their star goalie and who knows when, or even if, he'll be back.

Anaheim is only relevant when they're actively being annoying. They are of no more consequence than one of those terrible NHL Geico Caveman commercials -- when they're on they're irritating, but then they're gone and people forget they exist.

Los Angeles will always be important because c'mon, we're kind of a big deal

Comments!

what a fking @#$%. you kings fans are arrogant and stupid. ducks have been in the league for 17-18 seasons. they won the stanley cup, been in the cups seventh game. what have kings achieved in thier 50 year history, 1 trip to the final and a out in 5 games. only a sore loser will write something like this. there was no way on earth the predators beat the ducks on a fair nhl level. but we all know that does not exsist. even with all the bad calls, they were 30 seconds away from 3-2 lead. bottom line is ducks got unlucky and were on the short end of every call in the series, i ll even expand this, every game of the season. hey rudy what was that non call on sellane last game of the season against the kings? what was that the game against stars, 2 disallowed goals last 2 minutes, no penalty calls last 40. what was that against detroit, at home, with detroit having 9 power plays? yet the ducks still won, and they beat your kings also. check your facts, before you write this @#$%. you kings fans show some respect or shut the heall up before you talk about ducks.

Very good analysis really until a so-called "professional" sports writer then messes it all up by becoming completely unprofessional. Why didn't you leave out the last three paragraphs, which, if taken seriously, pretty much discredit any "impartial" or "professional" opinion you ever posted. Sad to see...

"So-called?" Who has called me professional?

Wow, I sure didn't expect this him to be such a dick in this article, or for it to be such poorly written. He barely mentions Ray Emery, or why Jonas Hiller is out. How about the fact that the Predators (who he claimed were talentless offensively) had all but two players collect a point during the series. How about how close many of the games were? How about the blown calls by the refs towards the end of game 6? I'm honestly disappointed Yahoo Sports would post this on their site. Complete and total garbage, I really hope a Ducks fan gets to write the Kings Eulogy.

I'm not going to lie, reading these kinda sorta gives me a boner.

The writer of this childish scribble obviously gave the Ducks a second thought - and a third, fourth, and fifth. In fact, Ducks are probably all he thinks about in the middle of the night as he lays in his racecar twin bed wearing Wonder Woman pjs.

It's clearly Power Girl, dipshit.

I enjoyed your comments as much as a fat man enjoys broccoli. If you understood the English language you would understand that a Eulogy involves praise and commendation. You completely destroyed a team that although had many sub-par players but had the most devastating first line in hockey. (maybe tied with that of Sedins). Ryan, Perry and Getzlaf are big strong and do whatever they want. I am utterly pissed that you choose to write about what a horrible team they were and forgot to mention that it was ONLY because of them, they made the playoffs. I completely agree that the defensive parings were either really good or really bad but you ultimately decided to $hi* away the whole team and not give credit where its due. You are entitled to your opinion but I would rather have someone classy and respectful giving eulogies than a red-headed step child LIKE YOURSELF!!!! Have a terrific day. (I hope the Kings get more respect from this @$$Hole.

This is my favorite because he is mad that I didn't follow the rules of a eulogy.

Actually, if you watch the ducks, Getzlfaf is a great backchecker. Literally, I am not making this up. Watch the games, and you will see.

Actually, this one is my favorite. Oh god they're all my favorite!

Waiting for the King EULOGY next from a sub-par King goalie at best in his glory days!

Hey, watch it!

I am a diehard Kings fan, and the last few paragraphs of this "eulogy" are way too self-centering. I apologize but not all Kings fans are this way.

Some classy Ducks fans were the first to comment how they felt bad for us for losing Kopitar. At the end of the day we are both on the golf course, and next season we both start at ZERO.

Haha everyone look at this pussy!

Better luck next year , you bunch of whinny babies, coaches included. Those bunch of Prednecks in Hee Haw Nashville as some of you LA/Anaheim media goons refer to our town, sent you home with all your feathers plucked.

Goddamn Nashville fans are so sensitive about the fact that their city is horrible. They do the same thing with their horrible music, too. And their horrible opinions. Fuck Nashville, is what I'm saying.

Hey Rudy you need to shut your pie hole you blogging idiot!

I'm cumming. There's cum everywhere. Eww gross it's in my eye

The guy made sense.

Rudy is probably the funniest Ducks hater on the web

Loved the article. A whole lot of fun.

Amazing, AMAZING eulogy, Rudy.

I am from St. Louis and sporadically read Battle of California, as per linked from GameTime, and I think its a great publication. All of SB Nation is written by real fans who watch their teams closely, most of the NHL ones at least. Everything he said makes perfect sense, albeit satirical.

Finally, some good opinions.

So yeah, I don't want to say I told you so but... I totally did. I don't know why Ducks' fans don't take advantage of my keen insight more often. Stupidity, most likely.

Also:

Hey rudy kelly go jump off a bridge