Anaheim Ducks: A Call For us to Rise and Fly Together

These past twelve games have been tough, not only for Anaheim Ducks fans but the players as well. Our contributor, TJ Watson, has a message of encouragement for everyone.

Dear Anaheim Ducks Nation, to players and fans alike, 

We as Duck Nation are facing some turbulent times, with our beloved Anaheim Ducks losing twelve straight games. Some have been close, other times, the losses have been heart crushing. There are feelings of despair, anger, frustration.

The Anaheim Ducks have become the laughing stock of the NHL, with memes being created by our rival fanbases who have longed for a day like this. It’s as if we’ve been kicked down and there isn’t light at the end of a dark, murky tunnel.

Then when things couldn’t have gotten worse, our beloved fan favorite, Andrew Cogliano, was traded to Dallas. He was one of our favorite heart and soul players, and in my opinion, a Todd Marchant style forward, his roots based on defense more than offense.

With him gone, combined with the current slump we have fallen into, it’s as if we’ve regressed to the laughing stock of the NHL. It’s been hard for fans like me, who fell in love with this team when I was a kid.

With this year being the 25th anniversary, I was hoping for something special, and now we’re hoping that we don’t land in the last place spot of our division, or worse, in the entire conference.

Despite all the bad news, we’re somehow, someway, still in relative range to make the playoffs as a wild card heading into the All-Star break. Though the organization hasn’t made a splash move, there have been some small moves that have been made that have people amongst our Anaheim Ducks family arguing whether we should tank or not.

As for me, I won’t concern myself of analyzing those moves, rather I’ll focus on trying to encourage my fellow Duck Nation family to rise and fly together.

Rise and Fly Together

For starters, this isn’t the first time we’ve been in this hole before, struggling and scrapping to get to the playoffs. Last year we were here too. The Anaheim Ducks struggled through injuries in the first half of the season, but they fought. They scratched and believed that they would and could make the playoffs.

Yeah, we got swept by our Northern California rivals, but still, in all, the Anaheim Ducks played their way back into the race. Another example, and a famous one at that, was the 2003 Stanley Cup run in which we finished seventh place in the conference, look what happened then.

Are there moves that we wanted to happen? Yes. Are there changes in management that we wished that would occur? Absolutely. Do we all wish that this slump would end, and the Anaheim Ducks would be flying high once again? Of course.

These questions are valid, and I, for one, am wanting some of these changes to occur myself. So, this isn’t a message that in any way insinuates that what we want is wrong. We all want this team to succeed, in the long run as well as in the short run.

However, over the last month, it’s been anything but fun around here. The only thing we’re united on is that something had to be done, whether in the management roles, or players needing to be traded.

While all of this is true, there hasn’t been a sense of belief, a sense that something can come out of all this. Our hearts have been hoping, hoping that our beloved team would find a way to win again, only to see the team mired in frustration and losing all hope.

As for me, well, though I agree with all that has been discussed, I still believe in this team. You see, I’m a fan of this team in the good and in the bad. Plus, I believe that somehow this season can be saved. After all, the season isn’t over yet and we’re only a few points from the first and second wild-card spots. That is a sliver of hope in a time of turmoil.

If I could come up with the single best reason to hold onto hope and belief in this team, it’s found in what made the Mighty Ducks special in the first place.

In the movies we have all come to cherish, the beginning was tough and rough. The team lost their way, struggling to find their wings, while their rivals laughed in their faces and called them names.

However, as the movies taught us, in the end, they learned to fly. The team learned to stand up for themselves, and they learned the most sacred saying that all Mighty Ducks fans should remember: Never Say Quit, Never Say Die, that is how the MIGHTY DUCKS FLY!

So, as the season progresses this year, we might be laughed at, and we might not make the playoffs, but I do believe that one day we will have a deep run that mirrors of 2015 and 2017.

Yes, the valleys are low and many. We wish we were out of that phase this season, with all the injuries that this team has to battle through. Still, despite all that, we must believe in this team, because if there’s one thing I’ve learned it is that sometimes the underdogs rise to the occasion and fly high when they’re the least expected to.

Now is the Best Time to Stand By Your Team

If there is anything I could say to the players, it’s this: I know times are tough, and this team has been through a lot, and people are angry at one another. However, though we fans may be angry with what has happened, we believe in you guys.

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We believe that deep inside, you don’t want to give up, you don’t want to give in. I know that right now, the team looks frayed, but now more than ever before you guys have to remember what it means to wear that logo on the chest; to remember that as Hans said it best, “It’s about having fun.”

Try to have fun when you take the ice and remember that as many fans are out there to tear you guys down and only focus on the negative, there are fans like me, seeing the situation as it is, but are willing to fly alongside you.

I may be naïve, and I might be hoping and wishing. What can I say? That doesn’t mean I’m a fair-weather fan just because I want to focus on the positive, and there are fans like me who want to do the exact same thing.

Yes, we do need to see some changes in order for us to see that the future looks bright, but right now, we must remember to band together as one nation, as one family and be the wind beneath their wings.

Several times they’ve been there for us, either signing autographs, giving us pictures with them, inspiring us to fly with multiple come back wins. Now it’s our turn to inspire them, to remind them that we stand with them. More than anything else, we must learn to stand tall ourselves, as fans, despite the jokes thrown at us. We should be proud that we are the fans of a one of a kind franchise.

So in closing, this isn’t an article criticizing those who want to find solutions. I am in that same department. This isn’t an article that focuses solely on the negative either. This is an article for those who want a reason to believe, a reason to have hope for this team here in the now and in the future.

It is a reminder as to why we chose a franchise that was born not from history, but inspiration, imagination, and dedication.

I understand this is high in the cheesy department, but sometimes, in situations like this, cheese is what we need.