An uphill climb + the power of supporters

I'll just jump right in and say that a lot of us Duck fans were really excited going into the beginning of the season. During the summer the Ducks did a little bit of "tinkering". Had one of the biggest news on draft day with GM Bob Murray trading away defense powerhouse, Chris Pronger, to the Philadelphia Flyers for former Ducks forward, Joffrey Lupul(in case you don't know yet he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers for Prongs), D-man Lucas Sbisa, a few draft picks, a pair of shoes, a brand new puppy, brand new wall to wall hardwood flooring in Murrays house... you get it. As well as Lupul and Sbisa coming in, the Ducks penned former Montreal Canadians cap'n and Selanne's fellow countryman, Saku Koivu. Also out was D-man great Francois Beauchemin to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Along with former Tampa Bay Lightning beast, Evgeny Artyukhin and a couple of veteran D-men new to the Ducks, things were looking promising coming into the new season.

However it hasn't been so amazing for the 1st 8 games. As of last night, the Ducks currently sit at the bottom of the mountain in the Pacific Division with a 3-4-1 record and measly 7 pts. With already 2 shutouts to the NY Rangers (Away) and the St. Louis Blues (Home), the Ducks are now looking at a growing uphill climb. At home in Olympia, I've watched each game wearing either my Selanne (away) or Neidermayer (home) sweater, listening to Stevie C via AM830 stream and the video feed going through my telly. I've watched with frustration from the lack of playing coming out of my team. And last night, I hoped for a dominating game out of the Ducks when they played the Dallas Stars. Now, when I say "I hate the Stars", I really really really mean that I HATE them. There are teams that I respect, like the Red Wings. I know that the Wings are a great team and I respect them, I just can't stand their supporters. With the Stars, I don't respect them save for Mike Modano. I hate them and I don't like any of their fans. So I was hoping that the Ducks would go out last night and embarrass them. But it was just hope, the Ducks would get scored on twice in the 1st and once in the 2nd but Ryan Getzlaf would get a goal back towards the end of that 2nd period. In the 3rd, the Ducks would close the gap when Joffrey Lupul put one in the back of the net to get the team within 1 goal of a tie. However dirty, cheap Steve-Freaking-Ott got an open net goal and the Ducks would go on to lose 2 - 4. For only one period did the Ducks look absolutely in control and that was the 3rd, 20 mins. Of course everyone knows that a team has to play all 60 mins doing well on offense as well as defense. I just hope that this kind of playing, or in the Ducks case, barely playing ceases. I'm sure all of us Duck fans think the same.

And speaking of fellow supporters, today I received my Ducks Care Package in the mail from fellow fan, Vicky. I was excited to get it inside and open it up. In the package was a Ducks t-shirt from this past Saturday's shutout against the Ducks game, a programme from Opening Night, a magnet schedule and one thing that I've been trying to get for a few years: Scott Niedermayer's autograph on a puck. Which was the biggest surprised. Here's a photo

The fact that someone sent me this care package was really touching. When I looked at the the programme, I couldn't help but get a little knotted in the back of the throat. The hardest thing is being away from my home and being able to watch games with my fellow supporters but when I looked at it, holding it in my hands, It felt like home. So with that, I want to give my sincerest Thanks to Vicky. Ducks fans are the best, hands down. And the Ducks are the best of course. I just want them to start winning!