Pucks of a Feather
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Anaheim Ducks: Five reasons to stay positive

By Ciara Durant

ANAHEIM, CA - OCTOBER 22: Francois Beauchemin #23 and Ryan Getzlaf #15 of the Anaheim Ducks warm up as fans hold up signs during Hockey Fights Cancer Awareness Night before the game against the Buffalo Sabres on October 22, 2014 at Honda Center in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Debora Robinson/NHLI via Getty Images)
ANAHEIM, CA - OCTOBER 22: Francois Beauchemin #23 and Ryan Getzlaf #15 of the Anaheim Ducks warm up as fans hold up signs during Hockey Fights Cancer Awareness Night before the game against the Buffalo Sabres on October 22, 2014 at Honda Center in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Debora Robinson/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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#2 Quick to Resilience

BOSTON, MA – JANUARY 30: Adam Henrique #14 of the Anaheim Ducks warms up before the game against the Boston Bruins at the TD Garden on January 30, 2018. (Photo by Steve Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA – JANUARY 30: Adam Henrique #14 of the Anaheim Ducks warms up before the game against the Boston Bruins at the TD Garden on January 30, 2018. (Photo by Steve Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images) /

The definition of resilience is as follows: an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.

If you summed up this past season in one word, resilience wins by a landslide. Resilience isn’t solely about the recovery, but it also includes the process to adjust.

This season Anaheim was plagued by injury after injury; there’s no use beating a dead horse. They didn’t use those injuries as an excuse. Defying all odds, the Ducks bounced back, charged forward and made it to the Stanley Cup playoffs as the second seed in the Pacific Division.

There isn’t much emphasis on how they adjusted as a team. I want to take a moment to look at a few Ducks players who were the epitome of resilience this season.

Adam Henrique

After Sami Vatanen returned from his offseason shoulder surgery in less than “pristine” playing condition, Bob Murray struck a deal with New Jersey.

Rickard Rakell and Jakob Silfverberg were out with injury and the Ducks needed another forward to fill the growing gap in the lineup. Adam Henrique was the solution to Murray’s problem.

He had never played a game for the Anaheim Ducks, that didn’t matter. Demoted to fourth line center in New Jersey, was tossed into the fray head first. However, Henrique adjusted to the team quite quickly, earning himself a position on the Ducks third line.

Since his acquisition in November, Henrique thrived as a Duck. In 54 subsequent games with Anaheim, he netted 20 goals and added 16 helpers. Adjusting to the change of a new team is not easy. Henrique did it with ease and both parties benefited from the trade.

Brandon Montour

Starting the season off without key defensemen Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen could have sunk the Ducks. Brandon Montour was the next man up. He only played in 27 NHL games the previous season. That isn’t much time for the coaching staff to judge what kind of NHL player he could be.

They were caught between a rock and a hard spot. Randy Carlyle and company had to make a quick decision. They called upon the young defenseman, hoping he might serve as a temporary band-aid for the blue line.

In the absence of Lindholm and Vatanen, and later Cam Fowler, Montour logged significant ice time. He went from the bottom to the top pretty quickly. More and more responsibility came with his expanded role on the blueline. One might have assumed he might buckle under the pressure.

Montour adapted to his role in a way no one expected. He took his opportunity and ran with it. His attitude translated positively into his gameplay. This earned him a well-deserved role in the top four by the end of the year.

He still has some kinks to work out. As shown above, his resilience will be key in making him an even better player in the years to come.

Honorable Mention: Randy Carlyle

My position on Randy Carlyle has been clear from the start. It’s no secret that I think the Ducks should move on and find a new head coach.

However, it would be unfair of me to say that all of Carlyle’s coaching decisions this season were awful. I am by no means letting him skate by on the injury excuse. Nevertheless, Carlyle had some tough calls to make regarding his team.

Not every decision he made benefited the team. Yet, he tried to do his best to adjust to the changes. Somehow, he still had a hand in getting this team into the playoffs.

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