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Ducks trying to make (glove) save on season
November 18th, 2009, 8:00 pm · 18 Comments · posted by Curtis Zupke, Staff writer
Through success and stretches of mediocrity, the Ducks seem to be defined by their goaltending. 
The club rode Jean-Sebastien Giguere and Ilya Bryzgalov in their Stanley Cup run two years ago, and then got on a roll with Jonas Hiller late last season.
This season again has gone the way of Giguere and Hiller: Spurts of solid play but mostly inconsistent.
Not one to sugarcoat a situation, Giguere put the onus on himself and his partner to lead out of last place in the Western Conference before the Ducks open a seven-game home stand Thursday against Tampa Bay.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that, altogether, if the team wants to move forward, goaltending is going to have to be better,” Giguere said. “Try to give the team a chance to win every night. We know that as a goalie tandem. We’re aware of it. We want to do better.”
Neither Giguere or Hiller have stood out in a season in which both were supposed to push each other for the No.1 job. Hiller, who had a 2.39 goals-against average last season, has a 3.03 GAA while Giguere carries a 3.38 GAA.
Both had opportunities in a recent road trip, and neither came out with a victory.
Giguere held Columbus to two goals in regulation but fell in a shootout, and he was in goal for a 5-2 loss to Pittsburgh. Hiller gave his team a chance in a loss to New Jersey and was somewhat victimized by shoddy defense in a 7-4 loss to Detroit.
While only Coach Randy Carlyle knows who will start tonight, it’s clear that the home stand is an opportunity for the two goaltenders to revive the competition.
“We’re both in the same boat,” Hiller said. “We both try to get better and we both try to help the team, especially in the situation right now.
We have to find a way, and goaltending can win you games even if you don’t play that (well),”
Hiller, who voiced displeasure after the Detroit game about his teammates allowing scoring chances, reiterated, along with Giguere and Carlyle, that it’s a group effort.
“Right now all we need is points,” Hiller said. “Goaltending can definitely (give you) a chance to win. That’s what we want to do and I think that’s what we try to do. But it’s not always that easy. It’s got to be the whole team.”
Tonight will mark the 20-game point of the season for the Ducks, who seem to carry an undercurrent of uneasiness after general manager Bob Murray’s recent comments that players will depart before Carlyle does if the losing continues.
Giguere bluntly stated that the feeling-out period is long over.
“We’re 20 games into the season,” he said. “If you don’t know the system, you’ve got to go and ask the coach. If you have any question about anything, you’ve to go ask (captain) Scotty (Niedermayer) or go ask the coaches. Right now there’s no more excuses.”
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IMO, the way the goaltenders are being handled by Carlyle is not only divisive to the tandem, but to the entire team. There has to be a more constructive way than “win and you’re in; lose and you’re out” to determine the starter.
Competition is healthy, but with both goalies feeling like their careers are on the line, they are working against each other. This team needs to all be pulling together.
Marc, good point. I would say it applies to almost every position. You make a mistake, you are demoted or benched, you score a goal, you will go up to play with better linemates. This approach completely ignores any methodical process to organize our game into an efficient system, based on chemistry and teamwork, and player’s real quality and long-term potential. .
Tactics of a coach desperate to hold on to his job.
I think they might be suffering from an ego problem.. its the same problem Tampa Bay had last season. The top three lines are top 3 guys on most teams, this leaves them wanting on a checking line…
If you wonder how important a checking line is look at the Avs and Islanders they are doing well playing with less then a third of the talent as the ducks!
BTW not a Ducks fan b/c of fans but you guys are good fans on this board… so good job!
So would you suggest just picking a goalie and going with him no matter what? Brilliant!
Carlyle is waiting for one of them to step up and prove that they should be the starter and neither one has.
If you can’t handle the pressure of possibly being replaced when you perform poorly, you might as well forget about being a pro athlete.
Then what he’s waiting for is the end of the season. Giguere and Hiller are clearly working against each other - not with each other. That is destructive.
I think it’s entirely possible that if Carlyle said to the goalies: JS this is your homestand; win or you’re done as a starter here (or said the same to Hiller) that it COULD work.
Personally, I think he should just outright alternate games between them for at least the next 10 games. It’s not the best system, but it has worked for successful teams in the past and it’s better than what is taking place now.
The need to focus on stopping pucks (playing the current game), not retaining their jobs (looking past the game they’re playing).
The main reason as Curtis Zupke writes that “Ducks seem to be defined by their goaltending” is our system. The high risk “pressure the puck carrier” defense favored by Coach Carlyle requires great goaltending.
For example, watch how often you see no Dman in front of our net while the opposition posses the puck in our zone. Notice how we attempt to defend 2 on 1’s by turning them into 2 on 2’s with the Dman responsible for the puck carrier and the goalie responsible for the guy driving in the lane.
I laughed out loud the other day when I read Coach Carlyle talk about missing zone assignments in our end. His defense sacrifices zone for man on man coverage. HELLO!!!
Yeah okay, blame the goalies. Forget teams playing different systems don’t require lights out goaltending to win. For us to win with this system it required a Selke and two Norris Trophy winners. That would be Pahlsson, Niedermayer & Pronger. Two of those three are gone.
We don’t that kind of talent now but Coach Carlyle maintains the system.
I posted a couple weeks ago I would wait until the 20 game mark before deciding if it’s players or coaching or all of the above. I really wanted to see if Coach Carlyle could simplify things. He hasn’t.
When a 3rd line guy is benched for a stupid penalty but “Hothead Hockey” is given a pass for a giveaway that leads to a goal followed by a fight he picked and lost, the Coach has lost it. He’s reduced to sucking up to stars hoping they’ll bail him out.
There is an unemployed NHL coach with a Stanley Cup ring. A guy who preaches North/South hockey, but keeps it simple on the defensive side. He also has some neat ways of bringing Dman down the weak side on offense. Cap will love it.
It’s time to give Bob Hartley a call. He’s the best currently available.
Interesting post, backcheck. Good analysis. Our defensive positioning used to be even worse during the last season crisis, when both of our defensemen were fighting for the puck in the corner or behind our own goal, and nobody was in front of the goalie. And this problem lasted for 10 -15 games, before it was corrected, at least partially. And from time to time we still see the same problem. At the other end we have similar
hitch. We carry the puck to the corners, cycle it there, pass it behind the goal (often with all three forwards deep down low), until we lose it. The result is very often - no scoring chance, and odd-man counterattack.
Oh yeah forgot to ad, Bob Murray’s comments last week about moving players before firing Coach Carlyle can be taken with a grain of salt. The key is, Hothead Getzlaf wasn’t aware of it when asked this week. If the GM wanted the players to get that message he would have delivered it personally.
It amazes me, why a GM would keep a coach, when what the coach is doing or not doing is not working. A coach needs to be able to motivate his players and this team is not motivated at all.
The players need to take a ton of responsibility by the way they are playing…so basically they are on their own. That is just sad.
I hope they come out pissed off tonight and play hard to get a big win…then we will see what happens next.
Lynne you are absolutely right. Whether Murray thinks it is really possible to move a number of players before he changes coaches or not, it comes down to the coach.
You are right, what RC is doing is not working!!! It is so obvious. He has one-on-one meetings with every player and they come out with their worst effort of the season.
He changes lines, then doesn’t change lines, then changes again, all in the same game. He has demonstrated he is unable to adjust to personnel and and he is unwilling to adapt his system according to the roster he has.
Change a number of players or change coaches??? Which would be more disruptive? Which has a greater chance of sparking a positive change?
Every GM has his own timeline on when to let go of a coach. It is really easy to think we know more than Murray and know what Murray needs to do. You always want a problem to fixed right away, but if you remove or fix the wrong thing, then everything can collapse.
I’m inclined to agree with Backcheck. If we’re going to have any chance of saving this season a change needs to happen right away. Buy out the remainder of RC’s contract and move on!
bb and bcheck are correct. If they have any chance of saving the season, something has to be done sooner as oppose to later.
I’m not disagreeing with anyone on here, I’m just saying it’s a lot easier for us (the fans) to say what we want (not necessarily what we need) to be done.
I agree with most on the idea…hey do well move up do poorly moved down. how is a player supposed to find a groove? Streaks, good or bad happen, it’s consistency that wins the season! Let the players play and shine within their assignments! It’s not shine lone stars shine but rather a serious team effort…isn’t this what a coach tells his squad…
which brings me to RC…last year I argued it’s the players not the coach…this year I can’t anymore. RC cannot adapt his coaching style to his ‘new’ team. It’s not a big bad grinding team anymore. It’s a skills and speed team utilized in completely the wrong fashion. LOL what did RC have his players dress up as this year for halloween…the 2007 ducks! NOT THE SAME!!! Adapt RC or please please anyone listening SHIP HIM OUT!!! Dave T would have been AMAZING for the team we have now.
When every game is a make or break game, it gets tougher and tougher to get pumped up for…..this is it. They have done all the talking they can…I hope they show all the hustle and heart..if we lose with our best effort, I can still appreciate it, if we don’t, even close games won’t matter. I know we can go on a run, I know the guys can do it, they just seem listless, almost like they are gassed all the time. Tonight they can turn this mess around, and start a run at home!!!
There are some coaches who can win games with average players, because they can tailor the game plan according to the quality of their squads. Other coaches adjust their system according to the opposition, and some can do both. I am afraid RC is not one of them, especially not right now.