Anaheim Ducks: Catching Up With the Winged Wheels
By Ciara Durant
The emotions of Ducks Nation are heightened in the midst of an 11 game losing streak. Bob offers some advice on how to work through the frustration.
Ciara Durant: The Anaheim Ducks are in the midst of an eleven game losing streak. You’ve been a Red Wings fan your whole life, I’m sure you’ve gone through seasons like this before. Is there any encouragement you can offer to Ducks Nation while they’re in the heat of their frustration?
Bob Heyrman: You know something funny? The Wings haven’t been much better as of late. They’ve struggled mightily since December 1st. They have a record of 6-12-4 during that span.
Prior to last season, the Detroit Red Wings had that lengthy 25-year playoff streak. So, although they’ve surely had slumps, they were always able to work their way out of them.
The most important thing I would tell Ducks fans is to be patient. I expect Rickard Rakell to build on his stellar performances from the past three years. He showed continued growth over that span; yet, he’s just having a down year. Although he’s been hampered with an ankle injury, he wasn’t performing up to par before the injury.
Ondrej Kase and Pontus Aberg look like solid prospects moving forward. The Ducks depth up front is nothing to write him about. I love Ryan Getzlaf, but he isn’t the same player he once was. He’s a terrific leader, but imagine how good they could be if he were skating as the second center.
Ryan Kesler owns the untradable contract; I wouldn’t be surprised to see him eventually being bought out. I feel like the Ducks need to continue to clean out some of the veteran players with the gas tank empty before they can turn the corner and make a run again.
My words of encouragement are simple. Be patient. It seems to be the hardest thing to do in society these days. We want results now, forget the process. We expect to contend now. It just doesn’t work that way anymore with the parity of the NHL.
You need to build through the draft, and you need depth down the middle of your line up. Getzlaf, Henrique Kesler… They should be slated 2/3/4. There is one crucial piece missing, the number one center.