Anaheim Ducks

Goodbye Jiggy

Jean-Sebastien Giguere easily ranks among the top five Anaheim (Mighty) Ducks of all time; without a doubt, the best goaltender in franchise history.  For a fan like me, who has lived and died with this team for 16 years, losing a player like Jiggy isn’t difficult because of the caliber of his play, but because of the caliber of his character. 

On the eve of the draft, I wrote in my blog that it makes good business sense to deal Jiggy and that the only logical option was Toronto.  Obviously, that prediction came to fruition, and the deal was just about as good as anyone could ask for considering his so-called untradeable contract, but it doesn’t make it any easier to cope with sentimentally.

His play carried this team to heights I never imagined I would see, twice.  He brought this team from expansion era laughing stock to Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Final.  He gave us clutch overtime performances the likes of which I have never seen before or since. 

 He gave this team and these fans enduring images to last a lifetime:

His mask-less emergence from a heap of Red Wings with the puck held high over his head like a less arrogant but equally victorious version of his childhood hero Patrick Roy.

The longing look in his tear soaked, heavily bearded face as he begrudgingly accepted the Conn Smythe Trophy as a consolation prize from Gary Bettman.

But, easily the most touching image is of Giguere skating across the ice with his infant son Maxim, recently released from the hospital, in his arms amid the confetti at a celebration four years in the making.

J.S. Giguere, along with Paul Kariya, Teemu Selanne, Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger, built is the foundation of this franchise and have made it what it is today; the most successful hockey franchise in the history of California.

The Kings had the best player of all time, and are the oldest in the state’s history; The Sharks have been the most consistent Californian team, winning nearly as many playoff rounds as Anaheim only spread over almost twice as many appearances; The Golden Seals? Perhaps the most quirky; but, for now, with two Stanley Cup Final appearances and one championship, the Anaheim (Mighty) Ducks are the most successful team in the history of California hockey, and Ducks fans owe a large part of that to J.S. Giguere.

He reigned as the number one in Anaheim after becoming a playoff hero.  He was challenged by an up and coming Ilya Bryzgalov and won. Then came a goaltender by the name of Jonas Hiller who stole the show in a dramatic playoff victory as Giguere had done in 2003.  Now he moves on to Toronto to mentor Jonas Gustavsson, aka “The Monster,” and in a year or two, if everything goes as planned, Jiggy will once again be on the hot seat in favor of an emerging young talent.

More importantly, however than all of the franchise records or the highs and lows on the ice, he has gone through all of this here, shared his experiences with the fans and the community, and has shown a level of class, dignity and grace rarely seen among professional athletes today.

Though the media may have wanted it to be a dramatic soap opera of competition and ambition in the dressing room, he never made it a public controversy.  When either Bryz or Hiller were starting and winning in the playoffs, though you knew he wanted more than anything to be in that crease he contained himself and remained a good teammate.  What more could an organization ask for from a franchise player sitting on the bench?

While it is a great opportunity for Jiggy to get a fresh start as a number one goaltender in Toronto, It may also be just the beginning of the same old story, but such is the life of a veteran goalie in the NHL, and if anyone can handle it, he can.

I wish him the best in his new beginning with the Maple Leafs, and I hope to one day see number 35 raised to the Honda Center rafters.

Thank you Jiggy, you’ll always be a Duck to me.

Ducks Avoid Wild Repeat

The Ducks and Wild finished up their season series last night with a 4-2 Ducks win.  Each team won their home games, but in another year the Ducks would have been able to close out the games in Minnesota and sweep the season series.

The losses in Minnesota were certainly low points of the season thus far for the Ducks, and last night’s game had all the hallmarks of another painful lost lead.  The Ducks came out on fire taking the game to Minnesota in the first, followed by a much more even second period and lead by two goals going into the third.  Then they sat back and trapped for the whole final period only putting three shots on goal and took three consecutive penalties. 

The difference came in the defensive execution, the ability to match lines better at home, and the mental toughness not to fall apart defensively after giving up an early third period goal to Kim Johnsson. 

While the two losses in Minnesota this year are indicative of the new inconsistent Ducks team, Ducks fans can only hope that last night’s game was a sign of a turn around for this season. 

With Teemu Selanne and Ryan Getzlaf coming back into the lineup shortly and Bobby Ryan and Dan Sexton stepping up in their absence there is reason to be optimistic, but so far all they have been able to do is hover.  Only time will tell if they can take the next step in the New Year.

The Bright Side

They’re not what the Ducks need, but moral victories and silver linings are just about all that is available after the team lost 5-2 in San Jose tonight.  With that in mind, here are some optimistic spins on the Ducks’ current situation.

Cloud:  0-11 on the power play in the last three games.

Silver Lining:  The 6th best PP in the league is getting their chances.  Against San Jose last night the Ducks went 0-4 withthe extra man, but moved the puck well, attacked the blueline and held the zone with sustained pressure for the vast majority of their man advantages.  Bobby Ryan scored just four seconds after a penalty expired and hit a post on the power play that could have made this one a very different game had it tickled twine.  It’s cliché, but as long as the chances are there the results will come.

Negative:  Ryan Getzlaf cuts his leg with his own skate and misses third period.

Positive:  Early reports are that the cut is not serious and Getzlaf is listed as day-to-day, where as last season Teemu Selanne missed over a month after cutting himself with his own skate.

Dark Side:  Sharks beat up on the Ducks leading 5-1 after two.

Bright Side:  Ducks show heart in the third, taking the play to San Jose.  Anaheim out shot the Sharks 10-3 in the third and stood up physically with two fights. 

Concern:  The Ducks sit 13th in the conference seven points out of a playoff spot.

Hope:  They were in 13th last March before going 10-2-1 to finish the season and knocking off these same San Jose Sharks in the first round. 

There is a lot of worry and panic out there among Ducks fans this year, and for good reason.  Runs like the one we saw at the end of last year don’t just happen every season.  While the 2003 team was defined by JS Giguere, and the 2007 team was defined (semi-accurately) by toughness this team has been defined by inconsistency and underachievement. 

The Ducks have lost two in a row, but if they would have won those two games they would be 3 points out of a playoff spot in 11th, right in the mix.  So with 43 games remaining there are all kinds of possibilities for the 2009-10 Anaheim Ducks if they can just get on the same page. 

New Jersey 3, Anaheim 1

This one was classic Jaques Lemaire hockey.  New NHL or not there is almost zero chance of coming back two goals in the third period against a team with Martin Brodeur in the crease and Jaques Lemaire behind the bench.  The Ducks need to start games off better if they are going to rise in the standings. 

Corey Perry is playing like a house on fire, as is Mike Brown.  Perry’s play helps Bobby Ryan and Getzlaf, numbers wise and Getzlaf has been doing very well defensively.  When he has been in the lineup Wiz has been almost Beauch like, but the problem right now seems to be the cohesiveness, and consistency over 60 minutes. 

The only player that I would point to as a big disappointment this year has been Ryan Whitney.  He has shown glimmers of what he had two years ago in Pittsburgh, but his inability to hold the zone is infuriating.  The problem may be a subconcious comparison to Chris Pronger. 

The trade rumors that are starting to surround Jiggy and Scott Niedermayer are not serious in my view.  Jiggy is not the kind of guy to ask for a trade, if anything his comments are a testament to his competitiveness and how badly he wants to be the guy here in Anaheim.  As far as Scotty’s comment about a trade back to New Jersey being a “possibility,” that is all it is, and the only way that that is even true is if the Ducks are toast at the deadline.  It is far to early for this kind of reactionary trade talk.

I do see the Ducks getting it all together similar to the way that they did last year, but it might be more like St. Louis’ comeback from last year.  I don’t think that Phoenix and Colorado can keep it up for the long run, but there is also Detroit’s return to prominence that you have to watch out for in the West for the second half of the season.

Lesson Learned

While the first 2 games of the season illustrated what the Ducks were missing with the loss of Chris Pronger and FranceoisBeauchamin, last night’s game in Boston showed exactly what they need to do going forward if they are to stay at elite status in the league without the two stalwart D-men.

Jonas Hiller was strong in the first period, stopping 18 of 19 shots as the Bruins had the better of the play.  The Bruins were able to pass a little bit too easily in the offensive zone in the first period, but the second period was where it all turned Anaheim’s way with back to back power play goals from Teemu Selanne.

Anaheim’s special teams were perfect with Teemu’s two goals coming on the only two power plays of the night and the penalty kill going 6 for 6 including a shorthanded goal.  The Ducks stood up at the blue line and forced the Bruins to dump the puck into the zone on the power play.  Even more impressively, in one instance, the Ducks controlled the puck down low in Boston’s zone for a whole minute before the Bruins were forced to ice the puck with the man advantage.  Anaheim corrected one of their biggest deficiencies from Tuesday night in Minnesota by exiting the zone well.  All the little things were there including Joffrey Lupul continuing to block shots after being cut by a puck to the face on Tuesday. 

Lupul’s blocked shot on the penalty kill lead to Corey Perry’s shorthanded goal, which was an indication of how well the game went for the Ducks by the end of the night.  Early on Bobby Ryan had chances left and right but couldn’t find the net.  After getting the momentum from Selanne’s two goals in 1:23, everything seemed to go in for the Ducks.  Evgeni Artyukhin was able to power his way in for a goal, Corey Perry walked across the slot for a beauty, Bobby Ryan tipped a Scott Niedermayer shot in after having almost countless opportunities and then there was Perry scoring a shorty off of his face.  It seemed that once the Ducks got going they could do no wrong.

Most importantly, though, they learned from their mistake on Tuesday by never letting off the gas.  Whether on the man advantage or the PK, down a goal, or up four the Ducks stuck to their game plan and showed that they can be successful this season by playing their game. 

Baby Steps

Cutsie offensive zone play, sloppy passing and bad turnovers marred Anaheim’s home opener on Saturday, as they were trounced by the Sharks 4-1.  With a three goal lead after two periods last night in Minnesota Ducks fans had forgotten all about that, until their team crumbled in the final 20 minutes and eventually lost to the Wild in Overtime. 

Defensive play is going to be tougher to watch this year in Anaheim with the absence of Chris Pronger.  We saw it Saturday with atrocious outlet passing and loose coverage down low last night.  The Wild’s three power play goals looked almost identical.  The puck started from below the goal line and moved to an unmolested Minnesota player in the slot who slipped it five hole on Jiggy.  The exception was the game winning goal where the pass was broken up but Andrew Brunette was able to pot the rebound. 

Giving credit where credit is due, my girlfriend, Amy, gave me the title for this blog last night in pointing out the Ducks’ improvement from game one’s debacle to game two’s collapse.  No doubt, it has been a slow start for the Ducks but there have been glimmers of hope. 

The second period Tuesday night was one of those glimmers; the best 20 minutes played by Anaheim thus far this season, by far.  The Lupul-Koivu-Selanne line clicked for two of the three goals (one on the power play).  The coaching staff is still trying to find the right chemistry up front after some serious turnover in the off season.  It seems to be coming along with that second line as expected, as long as they can simplify their game like they did in the second last night.  It’s going to take a little bit of time to get to that mid-season form, where things are clicking and players are in a groove.  Once the top line of Ryan, Getzlaf and Perry get the ketchup bottle flowing the things should turn around.  

Ducks 3, Phoenix 2 (SO)

Mike Brown hits like a freight train.  Obviously the 24 year old right wing had been itching for some real contact for months.  And he finally was able to lay the body on some young, unsuspecting Phoenix Coyotes last night. 

That was just the first observation I made as my girlfriend and I arrived at Honda Center half way through the game, after I got off work.  The most important thing I saw, however, was that Bobby Ryan is ready to start exactly where he left off in his breakout campaign last year.  With two real goals, a shootout marker and a little bit of the rough stuff it’s evident that the 2009 Calder Trophy runner-up has been working hard over the summer with Sean Skahan to avoid a sophomore slump.

Skahan’s other star pupil, Luca Sbisa, was also impressive in his preseason debut as a Duck.  The first thing you notice with Sbisa is his skating: unbelievable.  Two instances stuck out for me.  In the second period he broke into the zone, passed the puck off then went into stealth mode and appeared as if from thin air, at the side of the net.  Also at the end of overtime he turned on the afterburners, breaking out of the zone and weaving through Coyotes in the neutral zone, although the clock struck zero before he could make anything out of it but a lasting impression.

On the defensive side of things, Steve Eminger continued his case for a roster spot with some very solid responsible play in his own end, and Sheldon Brookbank might want to take a page out of Mike Brown’s book.  Brookbank was beaten by Chad Kolarik and as they fumbled for the loose puck behind Timo Pielmeier Kolarik battled it across the line for the game tying goal.  Had Brookbank taken the man they might not have needed the extra five minutes and skills competition to decide it.

Finally, the only thing I can think to say about Joffrey Lupul’s laser guided wrister into the top of the net on the shootout is:  Welcome back Lupes!

Training Camp Begins

While not quite on the order of Montreal’s Free Agent overhaul, or the complete rebuild in Colorado, the Ducks have undergone a serious retooling this offseason.  The trade of Chris Pronger for Joffrey Lupul and Luca Sbisa combined with the acquisition of Saku Koivu represents a shift in the structure of the Ducks roster this year, as well as a number of questions Randy Carlyle will have to consider as training camp started on Sunday in front of a standing room only crowd at Anaheim Ice. 

On defense Ryan Whitney and James Wisniewski will have to step up in a big way to fill the shoes of Pronger and Francois Beauchamin.  In his first full year as a Duck Whitney will have to prove that he can return to the form he showed in 2007 and 2008 before his injury shortened ‘09 season.  Wisniewski’s heart and soul style makes him a great fit to take over for Beauchamin but he’ll have to stay healthy and prove that he can handle the added responsibility and ice time that come with a $1.65 million raise.  As Scott Niedermayer is the only defenseman attending training camp who has spent a full year with the Ducks, most of the season previews out there would like to have you think that there is a huge competition for the 4-5-6 spots on defense.  I do not belong to that group. 

It is true that there are at least 8 contenders for the bottom three defensive slots in the Ducks’ lineup.  Of those eight, however, four (Festerling, Sbisa, Mikkelson & Salcido) have played 40 or fewer nhl games, and one (Steve McCarthy) is on a two-way deal after playing in the KHL last year.  Having said that, the fact that the Ducks currently have no American League affiliate this year should significantly motivate those on the bubble to have a big camp.  With that in mind it has been hard not to notice that Brett Festerling has come to camp looking to be very physical.  My money is still on the newcomers.  Nick Boynton will bring some size, physicality and veteran presence to the lineup that was lost with the departure of Chris Pronger, as Steve Eminger tries to bounce back after being traded three times since the 2008 draft and youngster Luca Sbisa should round out the top six. 

After coming to Anaheim in the Chris Pronger deal, Sbisa trained this off season with Anaheim’s strength and conditioning coach Sean Skahan, whose most recent accomplishment has been whipping Bobby Ryan into shape over the last two summers.  According to Curtis Zupke of OCRegister.com Randy Carlyle has taken notice of the 19 year old defenseman’s improvement at the Ducks’ rookie camp which started on Saturday.  “He’s starting to develop into a young man, and it’s evident on the ice,” said Carlyle.  Similarly in an interview with Kent French on The Element Murray said, “He has all the tools. I think our fans are going to love him. His poise, his body language, how he acts on the ice with the men. He wasn’t intimidated by it. He just fit right in. This kid’s ready.”  Through the first two days of training camp Sbisa has played almost exclusively with Nick Boynton.  I like the combination of Boynton and Sbisa, from the standpoint that it should allow the youngster to move forward and play more of an offensive role while the veteran Boynton can stay at home.  I would ideally like to see Sbisa split some time with James Wisniewski playing alongside Scott Niedermayer.  The split would benefit both Sbisa and Wiz by keeping their ice time manageable while playing with and learning from the maestro.  Of course Randy Carlyle will look for Sbisa to prove he can take care of his own end before letting him roam around the offensive zone.  One small instance of that was his blocked shot on Corey Perry in today’s scrimmage that elicited a few cheers from the Monday morning crowd. 

On Sunday I was trying to pay close attention to the newcomers; one that really impressed me was Steve Eminger.  In the one on one drill Eminger dismissed the likes of Saku Koivu (who was also very impressive in Sunday’s drills) and Corey Perry with effortless stick work and superior body position.  He was less noticeable today, although I only got to see him in the scrimmage.  While trying not to put too much stock into line combinations and defense pairings this early, it is worth noting that Eminger played with Ryan Whitney on Sunday, while Whitney was paired with Sheldon Brookbank today.  Brookbank tends to be overlooked but can be a solid 5-6 defenseman in this league, but the early indications are that he and Festerling are the frontrunners to be the extra defenseman to be carried on the roster in case of injury. 

Switching gears, the offense’s big questions also come in the bottom half of the lineup.  Randy Carlyle usually likes to keep pairs of forwards together.  With the twins: Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry a proven match and the chemistry of Saku Koivu and Teemu Selanne having been established in international play, seemingly all that is left to be decided on the top two lines is whether Joffrey Lupul or Bobby Ryan will play on the first line.  Since 2007 the one constant in the Ducks forward lineup was the presence of the checking line of Moen, Pahlsson and Rob Niedermayer.  This year none of those three will return as Moen and Pahlsson were traded at the deadline last year and signed elsewhere as UFA’s over the summer and Rob still has yet to find a team to play with this year.  Randy Carlyle adjusted his line matching in the playoffs last season, relying on Ryan Getzlaf to shut down San Jose’s first line, going head to head with Joe Thornton.  The third line in the coming year should be lead by Todd Marchant at center, and, I would think, Mike Brown on his right wing.  Marchant and Brown play a similar style, while Brown brings a little more physicality so they seem to be a natural pairing to try and keep a checking line on the ice.  The most competitive spot, possibly on the team, definitely of the forwards has to be the left wing on that third line.  Ryan Carter or Petteri Nokelainen on the wing  would give the line two natural centers and make it a very formidable faceoff line, which is the first step in being a great checking line.  The detriment of having one of those two is that none of those players are particularly large.  If the coaching staff was looking for size, they could put the newly acquired Evgeny Artyukhin (6-4, 254!), who is a left shot, up on the third line, but he generally takes too many penalties, and might have trouble keeping up with the speedy Marchant and Brown.  I would think that Artyukhin is more likely to be paired with Parros to build an enormous fourth line and keep Brian Burke’s “Big Bad Ducks” reputation alive.  The question is if they want to keep that image up. 

Bob Murray has on several occasions noted that the main reason that the Ducks did not make it past Detroit last year was an over reliance on Ryan Getzlaf to provide all of the offense.  He addressed that over the summer with the additions of Saku Koivu and Joffrey Lupul, giving Anaheim the type of second line we haven’t seen since Andy McDonald was traded in December of 2007.  Beefing up the fourth line is one thing for a team who as lost some physical presence on the blue line, but those guys don’t play nearly enough minutes to fill the void of physicality left by Chris Pronger.  One of the many options, is for Randy Carlyle to rotate a fourth line pairing of Parros/Artyukhin for the smaller, speedier and much more potent combination of Andrew Ebbitt and Erik Christensen depending on the opponent.  For example, when going up against a team without a heavyweight, but with an abundance of offense, like Detroit, the fourth line could be Nokelainen or Carter with Ebbitt and Christensen, but say, Derek Boogaard is in the lineup one night in Minnesota, George and Artie would get the green light.  Carlyle also hinted to the possibility of putting Lupul together with Marchant and Artyukhin to try and recreate the Lupul-Marchant-Penner line of the 2005-06 season, which would restructure just about everything I just mentioned.  The bottom line is that at this early juncture, with 28 forwards on the roster it is very difficult to judge possible line combinations so we’ll just have to wait and see what kind of chemistry emerges over the next few weeks leading up to the start of the regular season.

There is also the nagging question of goaltending.  Will JS Giguere be able to rebound from a tough season where he lost the starting job to Jonas Hiller, or will Hiller prove that he is up to being a true number one goalie in the NHL?  This competition, I think will take place more over the regular season however.  Randy will most likely go with whoever is the hot hand at the time, but Giguere has made it clear that he will not play a back up role.  If Jiggy stumbles out of the gate and Hiller can establish himself we might be looking at a franchise player asking for a trade out of Anaheim, which is a difficult proposition given his salary and no-trade clause. 

There is exitement all around this team and decisions to be made everywhere for the coaching staff.  It should be a fun run up to the drop of the puck on October third at Honda Center, and that is only the beginning.

Ducks in the Community

Last weekend was the 12th annual Fedorin Cup charity hockey game.  The format is a USA vs. Canada game where current and former pros including Bobby Ryan, Todd Marchant, Teemu Selanne (Honorary American) Luca Sbisa, (Honorary Canadian) Andrew Ebbitt, Sean Pronger, Dustin Penner, Jason Marshall and more are joined by local amateurs, sponsors, the occasional celebrity blogger (MIke V), and two online auction winners.  Held by the Athletic Sports Fund of America, it is a fun, low key afternoon of high scoring hockey (12-11 in shootout) and charity fund raising with a portion of this year’s proceeds going to Hockey Fights Cancer and grants for athletes in need.   (for more info on the ASFA click here) 

The highlights of the afternoon, aside from what must have been tens of thousands of dollars raised for charity, were mostly of a humorous nature.  There was Andrew Ebbitt’s first period breakaway being “expertly defended” by Bobby Ryan hauling him down with a bear hug from behind, and Dustin Penner seemingly trying to goad Bobby into a fight with the biggest hit of the night then mock lifting weights in his direction, or when Teemu Selanne whipped this glove into the goalie’s face before roofing the game winner in the shootout.  This year’s game was the second I have been able to attend in the past three years and I can’t think of a better way to end a long, hot, hockey free summer while supporting a great cause. 

The Fedorin Cup was the second half of the Ducks charity kickoff weekend after Joe DiPenta’s Shoot 4 the Cure youthskills competition.  Participating in both events were Bobby Ryan, Mike Brown and Andrew Ebbitt.  Unfortunately I do not have a report from Shoot 4 the Cure, but I was able to continue my Ducks kickoff weekend by finally getting over to the Discovery Science Center’s relatively new Science of Hockey exhibit.

State of the art games, videos and demonstrations allowing kids (of all ages) to skate alongside Ryan Getzlaf, stop a puck from Corey Perry and shoot on JS Giguere are indeed a great way to teach kids about physics and math, as well as hockey, not to mention being a whole lot of fun.  My favorite part was definitely you be the goalie where a digital Corey Perry skates in and shoots foam pucks at you from one of three holes in the screen.  I stopped all 5, but as I passed off the equipment to an eight year old girl the accomplishment lost a little meaning.  As I walked out of the Science Cube I saw two kids playing with mini sticks they had just bought at the gift shop and all I could think was what a great marketing opportunity that exhibit is.  I don’t want to end a post that started on such a charitable note so cynically, but Having been sold on hockey as a seven year old by Gordon Bombay, I think it is great that the Ducks are advertising to young kids again with things like this, the Wild Winger’s Kids Club and the Rinks program.  So what if Wild Wing is the Joe Camel of the NHL, they’re building a young knowledgeable fan base that will grow up being Ducks fans like so many kids in the traditional hockey markets grew up with the original six, and they’re learning about physics.  It worked for me.  Now that I’ve kicked off the rust expect some real hockey writing leading up to training camp and beyond. 

Rumors and Speculation: The Lifeblood of Draft Weekend

I can almost hear Gary Bettman’s eternally optimistic voice, completely devoid of all personality, addressing nervous eighteen-year-olds, the men who are about to change their lives, and the throngs of hockey mad Montrealers waiting to sanctify, glorify and vilify them as they come of age.  The commissioner is telling them how wonderful it is to see the future of the sport represented in a city so steeped in hockey history and tradition, and he is right, The boys in that room will go on to live their life long dreams and ambitions, some for only fleeting moments and others for decades However, in Anaheim the future is more imminent.  After a heartbreaking end to the season the Ducks seem only a few key pieces away from returning to the glory of 2007.  As such, one has to imagine that Bob Murray will mostly focus on trades and free agency while keeping his eye on the long term interests of the club. 

Obviously the direction of the team hinges on Scott Niedermayer’s decision.  If he retires or signs with another team come July 1st, the Ducks instantly become a different team; his combination of leadership, defensive genius and offensive contributions are simply irreplaceable.  Not only will they still need scoring depth up front, but they will have lost the cornerstone of the best defense in hockey.  In either of those cases there are almost limitless options for the management team, on the other hand, if he should return the need is simple, secondary scoring, but the means of filling it are very interesting. 

Trade rumors in Anaheim always begin with Chris Pronger as is evidenced by the erroneous and ridiculous reports of Pronger to the KIngs for Jack Johnson and tomorrow’s #5 pick.  Still it is a possibility that the big defenseman could be shipped out at a high price.  Yesterday, ESPN’s Scott Burnside suggested the possibility of Pronger going back to St. Louis for one of the Blues’ many young offensive prospects, and a while back my idol John Buccigross brought up the fantasy trade of Philadelphia’s Simon Gagne for Pronger.  Of course it is hard to imagine Murray doing anything with Chris Pronger without official word from Scotty. 

The other topic of discussion around the hotstoves involving Anaheim is JS Giguere.  The discussion is almost inevitable due to the emergence of Jonas Hiller combined with Jiggy’s salary.  It makes business sense to deal Giguere for picks and/or prospects.  That was one of the most difficult sentences I have ever written, mostly due to the nostalgic, emotional connection between a die hard fan and a franchise player, but also because I agree with Bob Murray’s assertion that Jiggy will have a bounce back year in 2009/10.  As difficult as it might be to part with a Conn Smythe winner and a Stanley Cup Champion, the move would keep Anaheim’s stellar defense together (with the probable exception of Francois Beauchemin) and make room to bring in a top six forward via free agency (Cammalleri, Lang, Sullivan, Knuble?).  The logistical difficulty in dealing him is his $6 million cap hit and no-trade agreement.  Something tells me, however that a move to Toronto might be a possibility.  After all, Brian Burke did sign Jiggy to that contract two years ago, and just brought in goaltending coach Francois Allaire, who just so happened to be Jiggy’s personal guru for the past 9 years, not to mention the time he spent in Allaire’s summer goaltending camps as a youngster, and the ever present proximity to family Toronto provides.  Also in desperate need of a goalie to build around is Colorado, however most projections keep them at the bottom of the league for several years to come so getting Jiggy to waive his no-trade clause is more of a stretch.  Based on his comments at the annual select-a-seat and on XM’s NHL Live, Murray doesn’t seem to like the idea of trading for cap room (see: Andy McDonald) and would like to stay with the ”1A and 1B” goaltending situation, but It may be his best option. 

While the speculation is fun and the suspense is excruciating, the answers to these questions and much, much more will all be revealed within the next few days.  Happy Draft Day, everybody.