ANAHEIM, Calif. -- What Anaheim Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau looks to instill in his team – what any NHL head coach is looking to build, really – is confidence.
"The way you just go out there and whether you believe you're going to win, or whether you believe, 'uh oh, what's going to happen for us to lose?'," as Boudreau said Friday, is often the difference between winning and losing in the parity-rich NHL.
Ducks GM Bob Murray had more of a direct approach to jump start his team, which won for just the sixth time since the beginning of November with a 4-2 defeat of the New York Islanders Friday night at Honda Center.
On Wednesday, in a conversation with Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times prior to the club's 3-1 setback to San Jose, Murray indicated that major personnel changes were possible in light of the club's overall lackluster play and sluggish response to Boudreau since his introduction as head coach on December 1.
"First of all, we do have a lot of good core players," Murray said to Elliott. "Everybody in pro hockey knows we have good core players and explaining why they're playing the way they are and why we've had the year we've had so far it's just frustrating and unexplainable and it's not good enough. It's unacceptable.
"I still believe we have some core players. Now, whether we have to change a few core players, so be it. They're deciding who's staying and who's not staying at this point."
While the quotes seem contrary to the positive, encouraging approach Boudreau has championed in an effort to rebuild the team's confidence, the harsh words lit a fire under Ryan Getzlaf, who scored for the first time in 12 games, and Bobby Ryan, who scored twice and whose name has been brandished in trade rumors more than any other Duck.
"Our GM is one of the most honest guys around, and he's going to call it like he sees it," Getzlaf said after the win Friday. "He made a bold move when he got rid of our coach, and we didn't back him for the first little bit here. Now it's up to us to get on his shoulders and know what we're doing here and know what we're playing for in our spots here."
Ryan offered support for his captain, calling him someone who "wears his heart on his sleeve" and finding solidarity amongst a group of elite players whose future in Orange County is uncertain.
"The speculation between the three of us over the past month, week, whatever it is has been exhausting," Ryan said. "It was really nice to see [Getzlaf] get rewarded because he's putting in the work and he's doing the right things and he's being a captain, and those are things that people don't see behind the scenes. We certainly appreciate having him in the room."
In the conversation with Elliott, Murray had indicated that only veterans Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu were exempt from trade consideration, but even that seems like a half truth: Koivu is the only player who definitely won't be moved. If Selanne decides he wants an opportunity to win another Stanley Cup as a 41-year old whose future beyond this year is in doubt, Murray will honor that wish and trade him to a team expected to make a playoff run.
You can also forget about trades involving key young players Cam Fowler and Devante Smith-Pelly, who are sturdy cogs to build a diverse team around, as well as reigning league MVP Corey Perry, whose drop-off in points is more telling of the team-wide scoring inconsistency rather than any individual issues.
As for Ryan, we're still at a loss at why he's become the most popular name included in trade negotiations this season. He's not a piece to be dangled around for other salivating GMs, he's a dynamic young player capable of scoring 40 goals (his career low in a full NHL season is 31) and whose 5.1 million dollar cap hit through 2014-15 is a more than reasonable price to pay for a player whose talent, honesty and respect throughout the locker room make him an ideal choice for a captain later in his career.
Bobby Ryan is someone who should play his entire career in Anaheim and have his number retired in an emotional pre-game ceremony 20 years from now. His second goal Friday – a shorthander – was the result of splitting the Islanders' defense before stickhandling his way around Evgeni Nabokov to tie the game at two midway through the third period. It electrified the crowd, it gave confidence to his teammates, and was the pivotal moment in a game that the Ducks will look to use as a springboard towards just their second winning streak of the season when they host Columbus on Sunday.
Murray's discussion with Elliott on Wednesday wasn't as much of a declaration to other general managers that Duck Hunting season had opened – it was also a call inwards to breathe life into a floundering team, particularly Getzlaf and Ryan. While it differs sharply from Boudreau's efforts to gradually instill confidence throughout the locker room, it certainly seemed to light a fire under certain players for at least one night.
NOTES: Bruce Boudreau, on the win: "There were a lot of good things about that game that we were looking for. We got mad instead of hanging our heads when we got behind. The big guys got made and it showed. When they are playing good, everybody else just rides along. … With an assist on Ryan's shorthanded goal, Perry recorded the 400th point of his NHL career. … Three Anaheim prospects won a gold medal with Sweden at the World Junior Championships: Rickard Rakell (1st round / 2011), William Karlsson (2nd round / 2011) and Max Friberg (5th round / 2011). Friberg was named to the tournament's All-Star Team and led the entire tournament in goals and ranked tied for second with 11 points (9-2=11). … Forward Kyle Palmieri was selected to represent the Eastern Conference at the 2012 AHL All-Star Classic in Atlantic City over January 29-30. He leads the Syracuse Crunch and ranks second in the AHL with 19 goals.
