The Anaheim Ducks came out on top of the highly competitive Pacific Division, placing themselves atop the Western Conference standings heading into the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs.
After moving past the Dallas Stars in the opening round, the Ducks lost to their rivals, the L.A. Kings, in the second round, despite two chances to close out the series.
Hockey’s version of the Freeway Series went the distance - seven games - but the Ducks couldn’t capitalize on their opportunities in a Game 6 loss and then fell apart in the concluding game of the series.
Now, a summer of change is ahead for the Ducks, with the expected retirement of popular 43-year-old Teemu Selanne, and goalie Jonas Hiller a pending unrestricted free agent this summer.
- The future of the Ducks as it pertains to goaltending looks strong, despite the struggles of John Gibson in Game 7 against L.A. Can’t pin the loss all on the 20-year-old rookie. His team didn’t match the same jump that L.A. had right from the drop of the puck. But give Gibson credit for this: He entered the series right in the heat of it - Game 4. He recorded a shutout, which is what he did in his NHL debut on April 7. All the Ducks need is to look to the Kings and Jonathan Quick to see the importance of a star goaltender, and Anaheim appears to have one in the making in Gibson. It also looks more and more like Hiller is on his way out of Anaheim.
- For the first time in his NHL career, Ducks’ captain Ryan Getzlaf hit the 30-goal mark in a regular season. In fact, Anaheim had two of the top five point leaders in the NHL this season, with Corey Perry scoring 43 goals and 82 points. Both are locked into eight-year deals, with Getzlaf at a cap hit of $8.25 million and Perry $8.625 million, as per Capgeek.com.
- Up front, the Ducks have a trio of restricted free agents in Mathieu Perreault, Jakob Silfverberg and Devante Smith-Pelly. The latter in that list enjoyed a breakout post-season, spending time on the top line with Perry and Getzlaf. Perreault had a career year in points, and Silfverberg also achieved a new career-high in points with 23.
- Teemu Selanne has had a long and distinguished career. He’s been on the farewell tour around the league this season. In 1,451 regular season games, he’s scored 684 goals and 1,457 points. And, of course, he had the remarkable 76-goal rookie campaign for the Winnipeg Jets back 1992-93. Yeah, way back when. But he’s also been well-known throughout his time for handling himself with class.
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