Posts Tagged ‘Jonas Hiller’

BackChecking with Emerson Etem & Adam Brady

Posted: 05/16/2013 by bc in Uncategorized
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We haven’t done this for a while. Longtime followers may remember the format. If not you’ll catch on quickly enough. Interviews or stories are republished with a comment. Comments are in italics.

Via Ducks Official Website:

Earlier this week, having just packed his locker and gone through exit interviews with coaches and management, Etem reflected on his rookie season and what’s to come for him.

What are your impressions of the season when you look back on it?
The season didn’t finish how we wanted it to. We obviously wanted to lift that Cup at the end of the two months here. But sometimes you just fall short and you’ve got to regroup in the summer, see what you did wrong individually and as a team, and be better next year. I’m going to look at my game, watch a lot of video. I was pretty happy with the way my season progressed. It started out a little bit slow, but I worked on it, from getting sent down and coming back up. I just continued to work on my shot and a lot of the areas of my game I knew I needed to work on. I finished pretty strong, especially in the playoffs, and I thought I played pretty solid. I’ll just take that into next year.

For a guy who initially struggled in the ‘A’ EE’s growth was truly exceptional. By the end of the playoffs EE had clearly establish himself among the top 9 forwards. In game six he played 3 more minutes than Teemu Selanne.

What did you feel was the most notable thing you improved on as the season progressed?

My confidence. It was not only the coaches’ trust in me with my ice time, but I think as it increased, my confidence got that much better.

There are genuine hockey reasons for that. Brady could have followed up much better than he does. But then again, he’s a P.R. not a hockey guy.

Confidence almost sounds like a cliché at times, but it really is huge part of the game, isn’t it?

Yeah, it is. If you’re getting seven or eight minutes a game, you don’t have too many opportunities, especially as far as offense is concerned. You maybe get one or two shots in there. But you feel the flow of the game a lot more when you’re playing and put in different situations. The more I was playing, the more confidence I got. It was great to have the coaches put their trust in my game.

I feel like that kid in the tv commercial, “We want more. We want more.”   Coach saw in EE that he might able to trust him on the PK.  He proved coach right. At this point EE was a solid 4th line ES and 2nd unit PK. He really didn’t consistently get more ice time until he started finishing his scoring opportunities in the playoffs. In the first question EE mentioned working on his shot but it wasn’t until the playoffs that he got rewarded for all that previous effort. What gave EE this confidence is how he met and/or exceeded the tests the Coach put on him. He did this by reading and reacting to the plays. He also used his best asset, his deceptive speed and acceleration. EE has the best acceleration I’ve seen since Bobby Orr. I hope he watches some video of Orr and picks up on how and when to use that acceleration.
Note: Bobby Orr had such power that he achieved top speed between his initial push and his next stride. EE isn’t quite there but he isn’t all that far from it.

You had a couple of big moments in these playoffs, but what pops into your head as the highlight? 

I just think playing in front of the fans, just playing at Honda Center and experiencing that for the first time. Every time I stepped on the ice, the fans got me going. It wasn’t even the goals or anything else. It was just the guys in the locker room, as a team going out on that ice and preparing to battle every game. That was the biggest thing.

Typical rookie. Nothing stood out because he was so busy soaking it all in.

The most important thing in your development is your play in all three zones. Did you see that continue to improve this season?

Yeah, for sure. Back in juniors, like a lot of guys on this team, you’re looked at as the No. 1 guy. But I think your role changes when you’re here at this level. I think I’ve carried over the defensive role I had in Medicine Hat. Obviously the offense didn’t come as quickly, but slowly but surely I was able to accomplish some of the stuff I did at that level, and I hope to keep that going.

It was EE’s accountability that earned him the opportunity to eventually begin showing the offensive ability. The goals began to come when he showed patience with the puck around the net. The skill that gave him that is his  breathtaking acceleration. One flows from the other.

What was discussed in your season-ending meetings with coaches and management? 

Just don’t change anything. What you did in the last series was great, but now it’s time to keep working hard in the summer, don’t stop and make sure you’re prepared for training camp in the summer.

No need for concern here. This is one fine young man devoted to developing his skill. The only question now is his upside.

What’s the biggest thing you learned by being at this level for an extended period of time?

The biggest thing is just to stay humble, keep working hard, learn from the veterans in the room – Sheldon Souray, Getzlaf, Perry, Teemu and all those guys. Both on an off the ice, learn what they’re doing, because it’s obviously working. I just need to make sure I follow their path.

The reason we’re here BackChecking with Emerson Etem. He said, “The biggest thing is just to stay humble…” The rest, “keep working hard, learn from the vets”  flows one from the other. Fact is, he just showed the world he’s a fine young man intent on making the most of his ability. We of course get to enjoy the show.

With Teemu Selanne’s future uncertain once again, and considering your popularity with fans already, is there any thought in your mind of someday filling the void his retirement would leave for this franchise? 
I would want everyone to return no matter what they’re thinking for their future. But you always want to be the go-to guy. You work hard to be popular, just through work ethic or by what you bring every night. If you work hard, the chance of the fans loving you is pretty high. I think everyone loves Teemu here and Getzlaf and guys like that because of what they do for us. If I keep working hard, then maybe I’ll be in those names someday. But I’m nowhere close to being there yet. I’ve just got to keep working hard.

So Brady immediately tests that humility by asking the rookie to compare himself with our legendary face of the franchise. If anything shows Brady is more P.R than hockey it’s comfort with massive egos. And by working hard it’s likely EE moves ahead of Teemu on the depth chart. And yes supplants him on PP. This is partly why I hope Teemu retires now. Seeing kids pass him is just not something I want to witness. It does appear that we can trust EE’s work ethic. He gets that from his good family upbringing. He’s not carrying any baggage such that he’s one guy I think will avoid the sophomore jinx. This is one level-headed dude.

What are your plans for the next few months? 
I’m going to be training again with TR Goodman at Pro Camp Sports up in Venice once again. I’ve been training there since I was 13, so that’s not going to change. I might even get a place up in Venice, so I can be more focused up there. My buddy Beau Bennett plays for the Penguins, so we’ll be skating a lot together this summer and working hard. I’m looking forward to it.

Devante Smith-Pelly would be wise to join him.

Special teams play dictating series outcome

Posted: 05/05/2013 by bc in Uncategorized
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Special teams continue to be the story as our Ducks scored one shorthanded and two power play goals while dismantling the Red Wings during a 4-0 road win Saturday night.

The Wings went 0 for 7 on the PP including a 5 on 3 for fifty seconds.

Even the beneficiary of the officials largess was unappreciative. Following the game Coach Babcock talked about how the calls disrupt the game. He mentioned that his top players had all played over eight minutes in the first period.

If ever there is a signal to the NHL that the quality of the officiating must improve it is when the team apparently benefiting is the one complaining.

Our Ducks have earned a decided lead in special teams play. In their two losses the Wings are 1 for 11 with the man advantage. Our Ducks PP efficiency is 33.3%.

At the outset of the playoffs the Red Wings were said to be better in net and were the hot team going in. Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard is 1-2 with a SP of just .885 and a GAA of 3.33. Ducks goalie Jonas Hiller has a GAA of 1.99, SP of .922 and a shutout.

Of concern to Coach Babcock is that our Ducks have scored 4 times even strength. Four of the Wings six goals in this have come with the man advantage. Ducks are beating the Wings in all phases of the game.

Down 2 games to 1 in a 7 game series, Detroit find themselves in a must win situation. Their only win coming as a result of one-sided officiating.

Babcock said the game (and perhaps this series) turned on Ryan Getzlaf‘s shorthanded goal. Wings fans began to abandoned their team midway through the third when Emerson Etem put our Ducks by 3. The Joe virtually emptied out five minutes later when Matt Beleskey put us up 4-zip.

Abandoned by their fans. Unable to benefit from one-sided officiating. Our Ducks are clearly inside the mind of their goalie. These Wings are clearly on the ropes. They now represent a challenge our ducks have risen to infrequently through this season.

Do they have the killer instinct? Finding it now will elevate our Ducks to another level.

Analyzing all 5 Wings goals

Posted: 05/03/2013 by bc in Uncategorized
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Followers of this blog know what happened last night. We told you. Wings shifted to a short gap, short passing game or what Gabby calls shares, Howard was spectacular when needed and they got some very fortuitous calls by the officials.

What I didn’t think would happen is that we didn’t have an answer. Our guys nearly came back but in a nutshell, we were unable to overcome bad and biased officiating and shut down the Detroit power play.

We’ll look at all five goals with video links.

Ducks opened strong. Our guys got the puck in deep. As the play moved back into the neutral zone Ducks went for a line change. Getz, Ryan and Fowler got off leaving Beauchemin and Perry out there. Perry picked up the puck along the boards and sensing backside pressure, he flipped the biscuit back up ice into the pressure. In this situation Pears needed to eat the puck rather than try a no look back hand chip during a line change. In Perry’s defense he did chip the puck into a safe area,. The mistake was doing it during a line change. You have to know when to eat the puck.
Pavel Datsyuk jumped on the loose puck. Pushed it to Abdelkader flying through the neutral zone. The Wing forward used Beauchemin for a screen and from about 30 feet out, ripped a seeing eye shot high blocker side past Hiller.

Hiller could have played it differently but I don’t fault him on the play. The turnover is on Perry. Hiller had backed off from the top of the crease when Abdelkader shifted to his left. I don’t think Hillsy saw the release point of the shot though. While Hiller does have line of sight the puck on the last nan0-second prior to the release; Hillsy had moved with the shooter, Abdelkader fired against the flow of the goalie’s movement.

The mistake on the play was made by Perry. Nobody else was at fault. You don’t blame goalies for “seeing-eye” shots.

About 3 minutes later, Detroit capitalized on another Ducks turnover, this time by Teemu Selanne. Flash picked up the loose biscuit and attempted a share with Fowler who was moving up with speed. Just at the moment of the truth, it looked like Quincy pressured from the point, got his stick into the passing seam and tipped the puck over to Brunner. Brunner untouched in the primary shooting area beat Hiller top shelf, glove side.

I won’t get back to this post until tonight. Ducks turnovers and short Detroit passes led to the first two goals. Exactly what we talked about in the pre-game.

 

Let the chess game begin

Posted: 05/01/2013 by bc in Uncategorized
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Ducks checking line is as improbable as the players who comprise u it. Two small skill guys and a journeyman grinder. When the line is most effective, Andrew Cogliano uses warp speed to provide the pressure up ice. Saku Koivu patrols the center lane from slot to slot. Journeyman Daniel Winnick is a travelin’ man delivering punishing checks and challenging physical battles around the wall.

Drawing the daunting assignment of dogging Detroit’s two best players this unlikely trio not only kept Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterburg off the score sheet but reduced Datsyuk to just one and Zetterburg to only three shots on Jonas Hiller.

On many shifts the Ducks checking line hemmed the Wings best deep in their own zone. How they do their work is a bit comical actually. Off the puck, Koivu and Cogliano are the pressure forwards who force the opposition to Winnick’s wall. When they have the puck, breaking up the Saku and Cogs cycle is like catching butterflys without a net or fishing with just your hands.

So thoroughly did the unsung trio shadow Detroit’s stars they reduced Coach Mike Babcock to complaining about the inability of his D to move the puck. This poses quite a challenge to the former Ducks coach. Does he breakup his Eurotwins or adjust the system?

Actually Babcock directed a lot of Plan B, whip it around the net break outs to no avail, to chips along the wall. He went to the so-called stretch pass, sending the mail from deep in the Wings zone high into the neutral zone. Time after time Ducks players, most notably Saku, Cogs or Winnie saw that one coming with anticipation and reads reminiscent of Wayne Gretzky.

So thorough was the Ducks defensive scheme that the Wings committed 13 giveaways compared to averaging just 4.7 giveaways per game during the season.

Datsyuk and Zetterburg got healthy and hot down the stretch. Along with goaltender Jimmy Howard they powered the Wings into the playoffs.

So what is the Detroit coach to do next? Look for him to breakup the Eurotwins in game two. He has to get one of them, most likely Zetterburg, away from the Koivu line.

If it doesn’t work, Babs will surely find his Wings down 2-0. At that point the Wings tactician will reunite them and use the home team’s last change to get his offensive stars away from Anaheim’s most unlikely checking line.

Our Ducks did more than win a game last night. They sent the Wings back to the quiet study of the video room.

 

Plot lines and a Prediction

Posted: 04/30/2013 by bc in Uncategorized
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Old v. New

Detroit has been aging for 20 years and though the transition from Yzerman-Fedorov to Datsyuk (34)-Zetterburg (32) appeared seamless there isn’t a pair of emerging young stars coming up behind the Eurotwins.

Ducks are powered up front by the tandem of Ryan Getzlaf (27) and Corey Perry (27). These Twins were united a decade ago back in Cincinnati of the AHL.

It’s a battle of old Wings looking for more day in the sun against the Ducks emerging stars.

Flash and Dash v. Bash and Smash

These Red Wings are Chicago-lite. They can skate, wheel and execute the pretty plays. While the Ducks have players have skill they wear you down physically before taking you out.  It’s boxer v. puncher.

In this plot the Wings equalizer is long time Ryan Getzlaf nemesis Jordan Tootoo.  The Ducks captain will be challenged to keep his emotions in check.

The Goalies

Jimmy Howard has had a stretch run reminiscent of the 2003 J.S. Giguere. In his last ten games Howard has posted 3 shutouts and GAA of 1.44.

While no announcement has been made I expect Jonas Hiller to get the start. As impressive as Howard’s stats are, Hiller is 2-0 with .963 SP and a GAA of 1 in his last two games. Hiller is a money goalie as his playoff record 7-6 GAA 2.23 SP .942 attests.

Coaching: Tactician v. Motivator

Playoff success eluded Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau in Washington. In Anaheim, he has a more balanced team though.

For many Ducks fans Mike Babcock will always represent the one that got away.  His teams have won the Stanley Cup and Olympic Gold. You can’t argue with success.

Prediction

With two relatively evenly matched teams, they get it done differently but each does get ‘er done, the difference is how well each is organized and the intangibles. Both of these factors weigh in favor of our Ducks.

Teemu Selanne has called this the tightest group he’s seen since the Cup winning team. It is also a healthy hockey team now that Luca Sbisa went full-bore at practice. The vets, including Getzlaf and Perry, know from experience that these opportunities don’t come along every year.

These Ducks are special. Four of them of them, Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu and Sheldon Souray and Toni Lydman recognize that this may be their last best chance to win a Cup. Each is preparing to leave it all on the ice.

Another flock of Ducks, Ben Lovejoy, Matt Beleskey, Nick Bonino, Dave Steckel, Emerson Etem  are successful in large part because their coach has believed in them.

Still another flock, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Francois Beauchemin, Andrew Cogliano are at or near the peak of their careers.

Two factors that can tilt a series are one-sided officiating and hot goal tending. Wings best chance of winning this series is the Ducks lose their cool and Jimmy Howard plays lights out hockey.

If our Ducks have accomplished one thing this season it is that they have risen to every challenge. They pushed the Blackhawks to the longest winning streak to start a season ever. When they had nothing left to play for they pulled themselves and finished strong.

The Wings represent a serious challenge not to be taken lightly. This is the best thing that could have happened to a team that consistently welcomes and responds to challenges.

Ducks in six.

Red Wings v. Ducks one very intriguing series

Posted: 04/28/2013 by bc in Uncategorized
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The difference between our Ducks and the Red Wings season record is just 4 RT losses and 2 OT losses. Red Wings were minus-4 (10-14) compared to our Ducks plus-4 (13-9) in one goal games. This tells us that our Ducks are a better shut down team overall.

The question is can our Ducks shut down these Red Wings head to head?

Much has been made of our Ducks goal scoring depth that features six players with 10 or more goals on the lockout shortened season. Red Wings have five scorers in double digits and two more, Valtteri Filppula and Dan Cleary, with nine. Most Ducks fans will recall that it was Dan Cleary who scored the winning goal in Game 7 the last time these met in the playoffs. And who was the goat on that play? Francois Beauchemin.

The Red Wings will go as far and/or push our Ducks as hard as Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterburg and Jimmy Howard can power them. On one hand this makes the focus simple. Keep Datsyuk and Zetterburg off the score sheet and get a few past Howard and the Wings are done. Were it so simple though.

Stat wise, Jimmy Howard is the best of the three goalies likely to see action in this series. Howard’s 2.13 GAA, .923 SP and 5 SO’s is better than either Ducks’ goaltender. The series could well come down to a goaltender’s duel.

Our Ducks have the better blue line on paper but they haven’t proven to be better in the head to head match-ups.

The coaching is very different according to conventional media wisdom. Mike Babcock is a tactician up against Bruce Boudreau, the motivator. Don’t let the media fool you. Underestimating Gabby could be Babcock’s and the Wings undoing.

The Wings match-up in every key area save one. The Big Bad Ducks are back. The physical match-ups favor our Ducks. To prevail we have to pound these Wings into submission.

In the playoffs physical advantages often show up in the following series though. Remember how beat up these same Wings were after surviving seven grueling games against our Ducks?

Jonas Hiller will start the series in goal. For one, Gabby already said last week. For another it’s Hiller’s start and Fasth had a rough night against the Coyotes (though not entirely his fault) and went 1-2 against the Wings during the season.

The odds makers haven’t put up a line yet, but I make this series a Pick ‘em.

Wings will try to out skate and out hustle us. Like Chicago they rely on their passing game and flow.

The keys you want to look for is when we’re breaking up their passing game and the Wings are constantly looking over their shoulders. If the Wings players look like they’re preparing to be hit every time they touch the puck, our Ducks have ‘em.

At various times throughout the season I’ve posted that I didn’t think our Ducks have played their best hockey yet.  These Red Wings are the beginning of rising to and achieving the next level.

Pregame: Phoenix Coyotes @ Anaheim Ducks

Posted: 04/27/2013 by bc in Uncategorized
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Tonight’s game is like the last day at work or school before vacation or spring break. All you want to do is get past it.

Even Coach set practice to optional.

For us fans it’s a good game to bring out our measuring sticks. Our Ducks are about to meet their toughest challenge of the season. Themselves. Tonight our Ducks will fight the temptation to watch the scoreboard. They also must motivate themselves to play in a meaningless game.

Even the Ducks Official website is calling this game a “playoff tune-up.” If I’m Coyotes coach Dave Tippett that’s on the white board. Along with a chat about how the Ducks and the City of Anaheim have no respect for these Phoenix Coyotes.

In a game like this though the ‘Yotes really aren’t the challenge. We are the challenge. Can we raise our intensity, compete and play the disciplined brand hockey that earned our Ducks a 30-11-6 season record?

The ‘Yotes are playing their third game in four nights and second of back to back games. Even casual fans know that’s a rough road.

The only key to this game is will.

Note: I don’t care who will become our first round playoff opponent. Each of Detroit, Columbus and Minnesota present a unique challenge. Right now Minnesota looks to be the easy out. That could change by the time the puck drops next week.

Gabby on slump, playoff goalie, next two games

Posted: 04/24/2013 by bc in Uncategorized
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Via Ducks Audio

Just the facts Ma’am highlights:

Coach said it was very difficult to motivate the team during the slump because of their position in the standings. The idea settled in that they weren’t catching Chicago and had too big a lead on the teams behind them.
Given how quickly they turned it around when the Kings reached striking distance, Gabby might be right.
I don’t think anybody ever knows what causes slumps. You’re sure glad when it’s over though.

Teemu has the night off against Vancouver and may or may not take it. Coach said “some of our high-profile guys will sit out.” Bobby Ryan, who’s dropped some weight with the flu, is expected to go Saturday in the season finale.I don’t know what Vancouver will do but teams tend to give out games off after wining their division.

As to who will be playoff goalie, Coach seemed to indicate that he will go with the hot hand. Hiller is the likely starter but that too is subject to change. Hilly draws the Canucks. Fasth the Coyotes. The rotation would go back to Hiller to start the playoffs.
Worthy of note, Boudreau said that the goalies are very supportive of each other and more importantly, Coach thinks it’s genuine.

Notes: Ducks also have a logjam of players competing for spots on the fourth line. Steckel will center ahead of Matthew Lombardi. Etem, Belleskey, Dvorak and Staubitz battle for the wingman spots.
Luca Sbisa is the odd man out on the blue line.  As he did earlier in the season for Cam Fowler, Bryan Allen is providing a stay@home steadying influence allowing Sami Vatanen to play a little rover D. Don’t look for Vatanen to come out unless he slumps badly.

 

Twitter feed rivals Hazy/Ahlers & Co. for entertainment & insight

Posted: 04/23/2013 by bc in Uncategorized
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Twitter was rockin’ last night after this blog reciprocated follows with  Ducks Fan Zone. Alex Adrian has a good eye for the game. Here’s a sample:

Beauchemin gets a penalty for not quitting on the play. Good times.

Is Bonino the Ducks heat & soul? is a good read as well. i challengethe notion that Bones is comparable to Pahlsson because it’s an apples and oranges deal in skills sets and roles. Otherwise, Adrian makes good points.

Also, getting Bones back improves our Ducks any time he’s on the ice. On the 1st unit PP he competes physically and distributes the puck; alongside Palmieri and Flash at ES he’s driving another scoring line and he’s helped the PK achieve a 89% efficiency rating of late.

Heart & Soul though? That’s high praise on a team with hardworking character guys, among them Flash, Cogs, Perry, Koivu, Winnick, Beauchemin, Souray, Steckel and Hiller.
Etem is showing heart & soul in the tradition of Todd Marchant. He’s learning it from the guys around him.
Getz has been making it look too easy to be included in a grouping of heart & soul guys ;)

Pregame: Anaheim Ducks @ Edmonton Oilers

Posted: 04/22/2013 by bc in Uncategorized
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One of the toughest things to do in sport is to beat a team twice in a row. Look for the Oilers to bring it from the drop of the puck. Arguably the fastest team in the NHL, these Oilers can really bring it.

Job 1 tonight isn’t to survive the attack. You may hear or read such nonsense advanced in broadcast or print media. Job 1 is to match the Oilers intensity. Do this, compete, and the rest will take care of itself. As we were reminded last night, our Ducks are a pretty good hockey team when they compete.

Our Ducks can clinch the Pacific Division crown and second seed in the Western Conference with a win. While it’s too soon to think about the playoffs, mainly because our first round opponent has yet to be determined, we won’t.

Keys to the Game

As mentioned, compete. Match the Oilers intensity from the get go. The challenge here is for our Ducks to keep their feet moving. You compete with the Oilers by skating with them.

Don’t look ahead. Focus on the play in front of you. Wednesday’s game against Vancouver is televised in Canada and on the NHL Network in the USA but that’s no excuse to look past these Oilers.

Second, smart positional play. Two guys deep in the offensive zone with a 3rd man high. Oilers are so quick in transition you committing 3 guys low in the offensive is the sure-fire way to get burned by giving up odd man attacks.
Force the Oilers outside in neutral zone. True their only goal came from the outside but it was their only goal because they were forced to the perimeter the entire game. In our zone every player must keep his body between his check and Jonas Hiller. We can’t let them get behind us.

Finally. finish scoring chances. Jeez Louise, from passes to nowhere, to shooting wide to hitting posts on empty nets our Ducks are having trouble putting the puck in the opposition net.
Yes we won last night but we had as much trouble scoring on an empty net as we did when Dubnyk was between the pipes.

Expecting Nick Bonino to replicate his performance might be a bit much to expect.

It’s been a quite a season for Bones. He unceremoniously caused the demotion of Teemu Selanne off the first unit PP. He settled the depth lines. It may not be long before Coach reunites the Bonino-Ryan-Selanne line. My hunch is that the second act will be far more successful than the first.

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