Bieksa not worried about bad blood with new Ducks teammates
Kevin Bieksa doesn't have many friends on his new team -- the Anaheim Ducks.
The former Vancouver Canucks defenseman was dealt to the Ducks on Tuesday afternoon, in exchange for a second-round pick in next year's draft.
Ducks left wing Pat Maroon quickly made amends with his former division nemesis. Maroon sent Bieksa a tweet saying, "I guess we can become friends now?" He's also had some notorious bouts with Corey Perry. But who hasn't, at this point?
Luckily for Bieksa, he does have one very close friend in Anaheim dressing room, and one who eventually came to be good friends with Perry: Former Canucks captain Ryan Kesler. When the Canucks asked Bieksa to waive his no-trade clause, he sought out other teams to which he would be willing to be dealt. Kesler's input helped put Anaheim at the top of his list.
"Obviously I've been talking to him throughout the process a little bit and he's given me nothing but great reviews about the team, the players, the city, the fans," Bieksa said during a Tuesday conference call. "When he kind of heard about the possibility of me joining him there, he helped me out through the way and answered a lot of questions I had, and obviously I'll be leaning on him moving forward."
#Ducks acquire Kevin Bieksa; Francois Beauchemin hits free agency, via @AbbeyMastracco. http://t.co/akkOhOJQDt #NHL pic.twitter.com/0iF1xTpysN
— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) July 1, 2015
Bieksa's name had been mentioned in trade talks throughout the last few weeks, and he had resigned himself to the notion that he would no longer be a Canuck. He has stated his desire to stay in the Pacific Division and, over the last week or so, it looked as though he would be going to San Jose. But, Tuesday morning, when Francois Beauchemin told Anaheim he was electing to become a free agent, general manager Bob Murray immediately called Vancouver.
"It's obviously been a difficult process the last few weeks with my family going through this trying to decide where we were going to be heading," Bieksa said. "There was a lot of misinformation out there in the media, but obviously San Jose was one of my choices, but Anaheim was always at the top of my list and one of my main choices. We tried to make the best decision for our family and for my hockey career and at the end of the day Anaheim was the best fit for us."
Bieksa possesses a similar skill set to Beauchemin but with a little more of a physical edge to his game. He takes far more penalties, is much quicker to drop the gloves and has a history of injury. But he's a tough, skilled blueliner who skates well and replaces Beauchemin's veteran presence.
In 10 NHL seasons, Bieksa owns career totals of 56 goals, 185 assists and 879 PIM with a plus-22 rating.
#Ducks get busy on day 2 of #NHLDraft, via @AbbeyMastracco. http://t.co/k3Ve9GCjpQ #NHL pic.twitter.com/TI2zktanPq
— FOX Sports West (@FoxSportsWest) June 27, 2015
"They're both competitive guys," Murray said. "He's a right-hand shot. Beauch is a left but plays the right side. It's a little bit better, but it's not a huge difference, I don't think. I think Kevin probably skates better, at this point, than Beauch does since he's had both knees done."
Bieksa isn't sure of where he'll fit with the Ducks yet, but he's anxious to get to training camp and figure it out.
He's also anxious to get to camp and make some friends.
"At some point, you're going to cross paths with guys that you've played against and had altercations with," he said. "I've played with a lot of guys that I've gotten into fights with on the ice and I always became great friends with those guys."
