Hiller: Last few months with Ducks were “frustrating”

Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

With the rise of a new tandem of goaltenders in the upcoming season (which starts in just under three weeks), it’s not hard to forget the foundation of goaltending for the Anaheim Ducks in the last seven years in Swiss-net minder Jonas Hiller.

For the past seven seasons, Hiller has only had one home in the NHL in the Ducks; however, when general manager Bob Murray announced that the team would not be re-signing the butterfly goaltender, the Calgary Flames pounced at the opportunity of signing an experienced and able goalie in the 32 year-old Hiller.

Despite being 32 years old and a “veteran” of the game, Hiller’s early playing days for HC Davos in Switzerland made him an “under the radar” player, as the Felben Wellhausen-native was signed by the Ducks in May of 2007, undrafted.

The breakout season for Hiller, however, was the 2008-2009 campaign, which saw the Ducks just make it to the playoffs in the final days of the regular season. With the struggling play of revered goaltender, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Hiller rose to the occasion, seemingly out of nowhere. In the 2008-2009 season, Hiller went 23-15-1 with a 2.39 GAA.

It eventually became clear that Hiller would be the Ducks’ number one option, and, with the trading of Giguere to the Toronto Maple Leafs in February of 2010, this looming future had become a present reality.

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Through these past seven seasons, Ducks fans have been through it all with Hiller.

Just after the All-Star Game in the 2010-2011 season, Hiller was plagued by vertigo-like symptoms that were apparent in his allowing three goals on ten shots in the first period of a 4-3 loss to the San Jose Sharks on February 2. Hiller’s bout with these symptoms led to the signing of goaltenders Ray Emery and Dan Ellis in order to allow time for the Ducks number one option to recover.

In the 2011-2012 season, Hiller suited up for 73 games in an otherwise disappointing season, which saw the firing of Ducks coach, Randy Carlyle.

With the rise of the Ducks’ play after the hiring of coach Bruce Boudreau, Hiller once again continued seeing more playing time, and the net minder excelled, winning the 3rd star in the month of December, 2nd star of the week in January, and owning a career-best 13-game win streak.

It seemed as though nothing could stop Hiller from helping punch the Ducks’ ticket into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. For those of you who thought the Ducks could ride out Hiller and coast into the playoffs, I’m here to tell you (as you already know) that you were dead wrong.

With the increasing reliability of Ducks rookie goaltender Frederik Andersen and the lackluster performance of Hiller in early April, Boudreau decided to call up the 21 year-old John Gibson, the same John Gibson who led the United States team to a gold medal in the 2013 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships with a stellar .954 save percentage and a 1.36 goals against average.

At this time, Hiller was “really lacking in confidence”, according to Boudreau.

Hiller played second fiddle behind Andersen in the playoffs, but was quickly replaced by Gibson, which was “frustrating there at the end with not getting to play a whole lot”, Hiller said in a recent interview with the Calgary Herald.

And so begins a new chapter for the Ducks, one in which Hiller is not a piece of the puzzle.

Despite not playing with the only team he’s known in his NHL career, Hiller looks forward to suiting up for the Flames on a fresh slate. Hiller said:

“I’m definitely excited to hopefully be able to play my best again and feel like everybody has confidence in me and trust in me.”

It certainly appears as though the Flames trust Hiller, as after signing him, the team inked the goalie to a two year, $9 million deal.

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