By Brian Hayward
FOX Sports West and PRIME TICKET
HAYWARD ARCHIVE
The Ducks continue to fight valiantly for a spot in the Western Conference playoff dance despite a serious injury to captain Ryan Getzlaf. Everyone wondered if the sinus cavity fractures that will keep Getzlaf out of the lineup until February might be the death knell for Anaheim this season, but an impressive 4 wins in 5 games home-stand finds the Ducks right in the thick of the playoff race. Their two best players this season have been Jonas Hiller and Corey Perry, and both deserve recognition as NHL All-Stars based on their first half performance. The fans have voted 6 players to the All-Star Game already, but tomorrow, the NHL Hockey Operations Department will add 36 more players to the Spring Classic roster.
Corey Perry has scored the fourth most goals in the NHL this season but he has done so much more to lift his team back into contention. The Ducks are a team that seemed earlier this season to have lost its identity, but players need to look no further than a typical Corey Perry shift to recapture their focus. He has easily been the teams most consistent forward, and his willingness to pay a physical price to establish position in front of opposing teams goaltenders is starting to become infectious. A fierce forechecker, Perry has added the role of trusted penalty killer to his resume, increasing his average ice time per game to the point where he plays more each game than every other forward in the NHL, which of course includes superstars Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. Ponder that fact for a moment, and you'll get a strong sense of what Perry means to the ducks this year.
Hyper competitive at all times, Perry's father once told me that he's not truly happy until opposing team's players (and fans) are all upset with him. As he has matured, this focus has thankfully shifted more toward his more tangible on-ice contributions. Though still willing to drop the gloves with a player of lesser stature (never a good thing since every 3rd line opponent would love to take him off the ice), he's now taking fewer penalties realizing that he alone can sometimes mean the difference between winning and losing for the Ducks. His confidence is soaring and the best news of all is that he continues to improve.
Jonas Hiller has established himself this season as one of the top netminders in the game. At the beginning of the season when a completely revamped defence struggled mightily, Hiller kept scores respectable in games the Ducks should have been blown out of. I also believe that things looked so bleak two weeks into the season that Hiller took a long look at his own game and decided he needed to add a few component parts that were missing.
There have been noticeable improvements in his technical approach not only stopping certain shots but in how he influences the game by handling and setting up pucks for his defence. Before, most pucks shot along the ice into Hiller would often yield a juicy rebound for opponents to pounce on. He has gotten much better at using his stick to deflect pucks up into the air and into the corners of the rink. Most importantly, it appears he has completed the learning curve on how to help his defence by correctly handling pucks when they are shot into the defensive zone. These tweaks have complemented his unparalleled ability to move laterally around his crease, and to siphon up all shots more than a foot or two off of the ice. It has all come together for him lately, as he rides a 154:40 minute shutout streak into Wednesday's matchup against the St. Louis Blues. As of this writing, he leads all goalies in appearances (39) and saves (1156), while ranking second in wins (21), third in save percentage, and fourth in shutouts.
It would be great to see both players participating in this year's All-Star Game. They certainly deserve to be there.
