Sanford's hot right now.

Hahaha. Suck it obi. Your ducks are trash!

Haha, how's that beauchemin trade working out for you?

p.s. Is this the firs time in almost a decade that us Toronto sports fans can risk a little trash talk (with the exception of that ridiculous start the Jays had a few years ago)

Oh my God! Phil Kessel is in danger of losing his NHL scoring lead....


to Joffrey Lupul. =P

Yes.

Yes, my Anaheim Ducks suck and suck harder than...they suck so hard I really can't turn that phrase around and say they suck hard than a female familial relation of maple's, can I?

It is a pathetic day for Anaheim...I'm not even sure why they bother dressing "defensemen" each game...

Final score: Toronto 5 Anaheim 2.

Our backup goalie beats Hiller.

Correction:

Our total lack of defense and the inability of anyone besides Perry, Ryan, or Teemu to play consistently well beats Hiller.

Hey, I'm just happy for my leafs. Past the sporting fun of it, I'm not really into putting another man's team down because for as long as I can remember, it's been way too easy for others to do it to me.

You guys have really turned on Getzlaf, eh?

@Yonni:

I personally haven't, I think he's a good player...just it playing like it this year.

A lot of fans are turning on him, though, which is kind of sad...it's not his fault we have no defense, and THAT'S what's killing us, an inability to effective play defense and clear the zone, so most of the game is played inside our own blue-line, and Hiller stops plenty, but when you're facing constant pressure like that, with no defensive help, and the offense misses easy passes--that I do blame Getzlaf for, but that's not just him, it's a team-wide epidemic, it seems--you're going to lose.

He certainly didn't look great this game and I don't get to watch many coast games but I just remember him being such a tremendous hockey player that it's shocking to hear of him struggling. Perry too.

Perry hasn't had so bad, he's just not getting the tips and breaks that got him 50 goals last year...he's a good hockey player, last year was just an exceptional year, and he's going to be viewed as struggling if he doesn't meet that again, which is sort of unfair.

But Getzlaf is the Captain, and he's just not managing the attack, and not rallying this team at all...I like him and want him to stay...but honestly:

I think it's time he and Selanne switched letters.

Let Getzlaf be an "A"...

There has been ONE true leader for the Ducks, all through the years, from the days of the Kariya/Rucchin line to the 2007 Cup to knocking off the Sharks in '08 to last year's amazing end-year run...

IT IS TIME TEEMU SELANNE WAS CAPTAIN OF THE DUCKS!!!

NO ONE has even come close doing more for this franchise than Teemu, and no one sets a better example, and no one plays with more intensity, and--shocker!--the 40-year old or so is having a good season and leading the Ducks in scoring...HE'S doing just fine, TEEMU doesn't let ANYTHING stop him...

He needs to be Captain and turn this around like I know he can...the man's one of the best wingers EVER. PERIOD.



If Teemu can't do it, no one can, and it's time for a regime change.

A finnish captain? Get real...

But joking aside, I think it would be really cool to see Selanne as a captain. He has such a great history with the ducks and has defied odds by playing as well as he has at his age. The issue is that you strip Getzlaf of the 'C' for half a year and then Selanne retires. Do you give it back to him?

Leaf fans can celebrate with half their team seemingly injured. Doubt their luck will last.

@Yonni:

At this point...WE'LL SEE.

If he deserves it and earns the captaincy back, maybe...but if he keeps playing like this, and showing no leadership qualities whatsoever...

I love my teams, even through hardship, and I love the players.

I was there for the worst years of Alex Smith under Nolan's 49ers.
I was there for the most facepalming defeats Ollie Perez allowed the Mets to suffer.

In the case of Smith, he eventually shaped up after a bit of a dressing down and a benching or two, not to mention the right coach...

But Ollie Perez never clicked for the Mets, was a total bust, and the Mets actually did something right, and got rid of him.

So either Getzlaf gets back to the All-Star level he's capable of and starts leading this team the way he used to, and taking some interviews and some of the heat--right now it's been TEEMU doing a lot of the talking, Teemu and Koivu and Bobby Ryan and Carlyle and everyone, it seems, BUT Getzlaf--or...as much as it pains me to say it...

We need some defensemen and BADLY--the Ducks have always been a team, historically, that's been deeper in winger and goalie talent than defensemen, Niedermeyer and Pronger notwithstanding...

And we need some defense and NOW--so if Getzlaf can't play and be the captain he once was, and some defenseman-stocked team wants him...well... :/

So, talking about defencemen (and pie in sky trades)...

I hear Bobby Ryan is available. And we're flush with defencemen... Any thoughts there?

LOL...we just resigned Bobby, and he's actually doing alright...and he's young.

I don't see a frade as being pie-in-the-sky...I don't WANT a trade, I like this team the way it looks on paper, but the fact is, it's not functioning, and folks aren't producing.

Bobby and Perry are, they have a fair amount of goals/assists each...not on pace for 50 or anything, but 20-30 for each of them is certainly attainable, they're on pace for at least that.

Selanne's playing well...Koivu's old, so no one's going to pick him up--and I wouldn't blame him anyway--and Cogliano's produced...

So of the Top 6 scorers on this team, only Getzlaf is really falling short right now.

And we NEED defensemen...we already had trouble when Beachemin/Fowler/Visnovsky were our three best, and no that the last of those three is out for some time, we're just getting decimated, and on the off chance a defenseman not named Cam Fowler DOES touch the puck and defends a shot, he's incapable of clearing effectively or moving the puck up the ice in a decent pass.

Something's gotta give.

Perry's got hardware.
Bobby's got a new deal and youth.
Selanne's got a HOF career...and actual production this season.
Koivu has age on his side, not a coveted center at his age.
Cogliano has his status as a just-signed player, and some points to back him up.
Carlyle has that new contract that was tendered his way.
Hiller has All-Star appearances, past great play, and decent play at times this year.

Like it or not--and I don't--it's Getzlaf who's most vulnerable to trade talks right now, with his leadership being called into question and his not producing.

See, knee jerk reaction is that Getzlaf's value would demand too much for what is available in terms of defencemen.

Also, Bobby Ryan doesn't have the same credentials but he's locked up a few more years at a (hm... somewhat) reasonable contract so he may be simply too much to trade.

Corey Perry is obviously untouchable.

So, I don't see how the Ducks can move any of them without being fleeced. With the panic button being hammered in Anaheim and the abundance of youth in Toronto, I hope the Leafs can be the team that fleeces them.

The Yorks are morons who screwed the 49ers over for years and are just now getting it right.
The Wilpons screwed the Mets over even harder, and may go to jail for connections to Madoff.

But the Samueli family that owns the Ducks KNOW how to build a winner...

So even if we So. Cal. fans are a bit knee-jerk--hey, we're the New York of the West, we're used to winners and contention, and get pissed and want quick fixes when that doesn't happen, just look at Laker teams of the past--I wouldn't count on anyone fleecing the Samuelis...

If they make a move, chances are it'll be a good one.

I can't see Bobby or Perry going, so if anyone goes, it'll be Getzlaf--and if he goes, it'll be for a decent price, or not at all.

(Though I WILL concede that we DID end up sending Giguere away, and he wound up on the Leafs...we had Hiller and he was playing well, so it was really more a case of having two great goalies and not enough ice time for the two of them than making a bad deal, but still...I have faith in the Ducks' ownership, if nothing else, right now.)

Psh. Nobody cares about JSG. It's the Beauch for Gardiner and Lupul that I'm basing my optimism on. To be fair, it's tempered optimism as even the biggest homer can admit that Burke's moves cought*seguin*cough haven't all been home runs.

"Leaf fans can celebrate with half their team seemingly injured. Doubt their luck will last."
If there's anything we're built for it's depth. It may be deep mediocrity on paper but it's still depth. What's really surprising is that our first line is playing like a first line.