State of the Franchise 2008: Recap

For the third year in a row, the Anaheim Ducks put together a State of the Franchise event featuring General Manager Brian Burke, Head Coach Randy Carlyle, Team Captain Chris Pronger, and presently-injured checking line hockeygod Samuel Pahlsson. The emcee was television play-by-play announcer John Ahlers, as per usual. Spotted in the crowd: Kent French, host of the DuxTV feature on the Ducks' website.

In the past, the SotF allowed fans to witness an open practice of the Ducks (2006). I can't remember what they featured last year other than a chance to needle poor Ryan Getzlaf with questions while Scott Niedermayer sat back and watched the youngster glitter in the spotlight. This year, they allowed fans to enter the inner sanctum of the players: the Lockerroom! I tried to get pictures of whatever I could out of curiosity and as "research" for my hockey-based romance novel which is still in-process (stop harassing me, you'll get your next installment as soon as I find time to sit down and write more).

Brian Burke kicked things off with an opening statement giving attendees the rundown on the organization. But he opened with a topic that had my snapping my head up: SHANE O'BRIEN. Huh?

He was talking about the trade that yielded a 1st round pick in the last entry draft, but he opened with saying that my hockey heart is both a "good kid and good player" but he'd do the trade again in a heartbeat.

Friends sent me sympathetic looks as I dipped my head and scribbled away, trying to settle my stomach at the mere mention of the Black Saturday trade. Burkie went on to give a progress report on some of the kids in the system that they're quite proud of. Among them: the latest pick Logan MacMillan (who's apparently getting over being "sick"?). The Pirates are currently ranked third in their division in the 'A' with their top scorers including former Blue Jacket Geoff Platt. Los Angeles native Brian Salcido received some high praise from Burkie for the second year in a row along with Brendan Mikkelson. There was more good vibes for Ryan Carter, future Sammy P-replacement Petteri Wirtanen (but his skating "must improve"), and the possibility of shuffling J.P. Levasseur up since he's playing well in our ECHL affiliate, the Augusta Lynx. Naturally, there was talk of our draft pick from two years back, Mark Mitera, who's over being an alternate captain-slash-stud at the University of Michigan. He's been playing on the PP unit and Burkie proclaims to be "happy with his progress". Mitera is projected to be a 235-lbs., 240-lbs. stay-at-home defenseman. Burkie also hopes to make a decision regarding co-University of Michigan stud Steve Kampfer (D) sometime this summer.

As far as the salary cap goes, Burkie made the comment that we do have issues. "The only team with no cap problems is a crappy team." The statement earned him laughs even as he went on to allude to the sore spot involving Oilers GM Kevin Lowe when he went on to say that things are okay until "someone from Edmonton goes and signs your player and you go back to scratch."

He indicated that "We are determined to remain competitive and determined to repeat, if we can." Presently, we're over the projected budget with a salary bankroll totalling $48.2 million this season. We are unable to spend up to the cap limit because we don't have the revenue to do so. He cited the fact that our lower bowl (of the arena) is among the smallest, seating only about 5,700 while the 'Nucks lower bowl seats over 9,000 at $100 a seat. Honda Center lower bowl seats start at $60 (behind the netminders) or $80 closer to center ice. Apparently, we were in the red last year and will also be in the red this year in terms of revenue. (Season Ticket Holders: my guess is ticket prices will experience a 'slight increase' as well, so get those checkbooks ready!)

With respect to the complex tagging issues that forced us to deal Andy McDonald to St. Louis, Burke indicated that we are unable to sign team-leading goalscorer Corey Perry at this time. "YET" is the key word here, though he may have to wait until after the season ends to hammer out a deal involving the young forward.

Teemu Selanne has not yet committed to a return, and Burke has told him not to call unless he is 100% sure he has it in him to do it all over again. He made a remark that they always thought Scott Niedermayer would return, but he is not so sure about Teemu. In terms of dollars, Burke indicated there is flexibility in hammering out a deal with Teemu since he is over 35-years-old and they can build in performance-based bonuses that they can't offer the youngsters.

With respect to Dustin Penner, Burke indicated that he would've kept him, but the price was too high. It's possible that the unfortunate loss could turn into a positive thing depending on the draft, since we hold Edmonton's first round pick.

Both Samuel Pahlsson and Brad May participated in the team skate yesterday, and Sammy is "feeling good". He will not be in for tonight's contest against the Maple Leafs, but he will be likely return for Sunday's game against division rivals, the Sharks.

From the peanut gallery were these questions (mostly paraphrased, okay? I had only a pen, paper, and my lap. If it's a direct quote, I put it in quotations. The rest is summarized/paraphrased.):

Q: What will happen with Ryan Carter after Sammy returns?

Randy Carlyle: Carter's shown he's got grit and determination. He's great in the face-off and hard to play against. He's challenging Sammy for his job, and until Sammy can get off the "Swedish vacation" he's on, I trust Carter's ability.

Brian Burke: I credit David McNab on finding Carter (along with undrafted college players Andy McDonald and Chris Kunitz). "I wouldn't know him if he walked into my office and kicked me in the butt."

Q: Is it just me, or is the officiating really going against us more often than not?

Chris Pronger: "I'll let the former league disciplinarian answer this one." (looks at Burke).

Brian Burke: If you drive in the fast lane, you're going to get a speeding ticket. Referees talk among themselves all the time. They'll call each other up and ask how a team was. We were undisciplined early on, and I think that sometimes they're not watching for penaltiies, they're looking for them. A lot of them are reputation calls, because our reputation early on was undisciplined. I can't really complain about it until we shed that reputation.

Q: As a player, do you have to read how an official will call a game?

Chris Pronger: Yes. Paul Stewart loved fights. There are some guys you can't talk to, and others you can. Sometimes you're just talking about the weather. They'll never change a call though. You just have to know what you can and can't get away with. Sometimes the gray area is small, other times it's pretty big.

John Ahlers: Sammy, you have anything to add?

Sammy Pahlsson: I try to stay away from the officials.

Q: Brian, how do you justify not getting anything in return for Bryzgalov?

Burke: I don't have to justify anything. Fact is, I made a promise to a player and I'm going to honor it. We didn't get a single offer for Bryz. We gave our word to him, but we didn't get an offer for him. We honored our word.

The Stanley Cup Hangover is not a myth, folks. I called up the GMs for Carolina and Tampa Bay and asked them how do you avoid a Cup Hangover. Jay Feaster (TB's GM) laughed in my face and said, "You don't." The last four Cup winners have not won one round in the next season's playoffs. We're trying to defy that. We told our players that we know they're going to have the Hangover. They've got twenty games to get over it. After that, we'll make some moves.

We knew Phoenix was going to take him.

Q: And the second part of my question is--

Burke: Is it equally offensive as the first?

Peanut Gallery laughs.

Q: Are you done tweaking the roster?

Burke: We believe in the group that we have.

Q: What was said between the first and second period of last night's game (the 5-3 win over the Preds that started terrible, but the Ducks came back with four goals within 10 minutes in the first half of the second)?

Pronger: (use?) Ear muffs.

Carlyle: It was one of the calmer approaches we've had in a while, I think. Well, we weren't happy. Sometimes the players try to much. Simple is better.

Pronger: Right about the 12-minute marker, I was sitting with Mathieu Schneider on the bench. He turned and looked at me, then said, "Man, we weren't bad; we were awful!" So, we know it when you know it.

Q: Whenever a player comes here, they seem to talk about "the system" we play. What does that mean, "the system"?

Carlyle: We play an uptempo North-South game. We like to constantly be moving off the puck. We have 3-4 breakouts we like to use out of the offensive zone. We like having a 2 man cycle down low with the third man up high. It's high risk, high reward hockey.

Q: We have a lot of back to back games this year. How do you ensure better output on night two?

Carlyle: We usually look at the week, then we worry about the first game. Yes, we have a lot of schedule issues, but it gives up some valuable practice time. It isn't all work and no play, but I guess these guys will disagree with me. Bottom line, we don't use the back-to-back games as an excuse. We make sure our players eat right and they get their rest. Number one thing is rest. If an athlete is not rested, it's like whipping a dead horse.

Pronger: The trick to winning back to back games is to win the first one.

Q: Are we ever going to get an All-Star game here?

Burke: We will. We've tried. Some of the other teams have new buildings so they were promised the All-Star game or the Entry draft, others have milestones so they commemorate 'em with getting an All-Star game or an Entry Draft. We want to show off our fans and intend to have it here sometime in the future.

Q: If you are unable to keep Perry, how do you plan to reload our team?

Burke: There are three pillars I have always conducted business on. I will always spend money intelligently. I would have loved to have kept Penner, but he wasn't worth the money. In all my time as a GM, I've only had one NHL player go to salary arbitration. I told him, "If you get your price, you'll be gone in the next 72 hours." We got our price, and he still plays with the Canucks today. With Perry, he will sign for market money or he won't. Simple. He's the got "worst tan in hockey." (I'm sure I missed something that connected that last comment, but I wrote it down and put it in quotes because it was funny... I just can't recall what it was really in reference to.)

Q: What about our minor league team? They're too far. Will you consider a team in Vegas?

Burke: The farm is too far. We expect to make a decision in March sometime. Al Coates, who originally put the farm team in Portland, put 'em there for good, logical reasons. Essentially the team can bus to all their games and be home every night. The idea is to have well rested players come up when they're called up. Some other teams have their farm team down the street! (I think he cited Philadelphia, but I can't remember if it was them or Pittsburgh...). The team in Vegas is an ECHL team. We're not opposed to having our primary development team be an ECHL team. We've got a couple of ECHL teams here in California, believe it or not. I'm well aware of the market in Vegas and we're looking into having some rookie games in Vegas with the Sharks.

When pressed further about the future of Corey Perry, Brian Burke indicated that they got the "Big Duck" locked in, which was a priority. He stated that Ryan Getzlaf will end up being Captain in Anaheim. In their opinion, they locked in the better player. "Getzlaf is better than either Perry or Penner, and maybe better than them combined -- and I'd say the same thing if Perry or Penner were standing here now."

After that, came the locker room tour and my snap-happiness! *Phew* So... I hope you've gotten your fill. All my questions were answered before I ever got a hold of the microphone... and that's probably good thing since who knows what would've came flying out of my mouth had I gotten a hold of it. Right? Right.

goal by Finny at 12:45 PM