October is a month known for ghouls, ghosts, witches, and all sorts of scary things. That being said, the Anaheim Ducks record for the beginning of the season would prove to be terrifying. The team returned home this past weekend to end the devilish month from a terrible 5-game road trip in which they only earned 1-point from an OT loss in Chicago. The last team they faced on that road trip were the St. Louis Blues in a game that the Blues won from a goal off a very unlucky bounce, the final score would be 1-2 making the following days to come interesting. In the first ten games, the Ducks would have an abysmal record of 1-7-2 that nobody had predicted, and the reason why things would get interesting is because many would say that coach Bruce Boudreau's days behind the Anaheim bench were coming to an end. That was until GM Barstool Bob finally made a statement to the media after a Ducks practice at home where BB was still coaching the team.
“I really don’t like commenting on rumors, but I will say this: We were one game away from the Final just five months ago. So while this has been a terrible start, I’m not inclined to make rash changes. I’m going to be patient. That said, we are severely underperforming as a group. I can’t recall a time where a vast majority of our players have underachieved simultaneously, and I fully expect a turnaround.”
Fortunately, no barstools were flung. Either way, that is not to say that someone and/or people are not on a short leash. Some are even suspecting that Barstool Bob is one of them, and I'm not one to be calling for the head of Boudreau. You can see that in the last couple of games on the road trip, the team were still playing for their coach, even when the clouds got heavier due to Cap'n Invisible himself (Getzlaf) having to come home for an emergency appendectomy in what the Cap'n stated was the sole cause of him playing like total crap...since last years playoffs. With Getzy out and things on edge, the teams first game in November would be against the Nashville Predators. The Preds easily took out Anaheim a week prior in Nashville, and it was time for all parents in Orange County to lock up their teenage daughters because Mike Ribeiro would be in town as well as a test for Anaheim - would the Ducks continue their losing ways or would they change things around? It was the latter.
The Ducks would score 3 goals in the 1st period (a goal in the first minute, two within twelve seconds of each other), and they would never look back. Which was good because the last two games on the road, the Ducks would score first then give up the lead. And although they would win the first game of the month at home 4-2, it was easy to spot the continuous defensive issues with the team along with certain players needing to improve or just plainly be shot out of a canon and into the sun (Maroon). The test continues tonight where Anaheim will take on Roberto Luongo's hair-do and the rest of the Florida Panthers who have done very well against the Ducks. Hopefully, there will be another number tacked inside the "W" column for our lads. If not, gotta think that the ice will thin more for some of the coaching staff. Oh, the suspense.
Go Ducks!
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