Anaheim Ducks show great potential with recent performance -NHL Special
With the start of the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season, the Anaheim Ducks were supercharged with ambition, hope and confidence as their legendary veteran player, Teemu Selanne, changed his mind on retiring, saving the option for another
year.
As the season progressed, Selanne and the Ducks team could not have possibly had it worse as they stood in the bottom ranks of the Western Conference, below teams that seemed like child’s play in front of their All-Star line-up.
"We had the group in here to play like this all season," Anaheim's Ryan Getzlaf said. "For whatever reason, the start of the season was just tough for us, and we couldn't get it done. We've found a way now, and we're rallying around our coach and rallying
around each other."
A much recent rebound by the Anaheim Ducks team has surely developed hope amongst the circles that have interest in the team as they managed to take their game-play to a whole different level in the month of January and surprisingly, are on the same tract
as of today.
Currently, Anaheim sits in the 13 number spot with 57 points, which might not seem much to the untrained eye and is a place they would have remained if it was not for this monumental turnaround, but the Ducks are certainly headed towards the right direction
now, the sooner the better as players always say.
The Ducks won nine out of 12 matchups during January, which definitely gave them the much needed boost to work on. Anaheim has so far continued and stayed consistent in their performance by winning five of their recent eight in February, the latest being
against the Pittsburgh Penguins for their third straight.
Looking at their win against a team like Pittsburgh, and that too in the CONSOL Energy Center, Anaheim is showing a lot of potential.
"This game was huge for us," Selanne said. "We got here at like 3 in the morning. They came out pretty hard and controlled the first period, and then we got into the game. This team is playing with a lot of confidence right now, and even though we got behind,
we believed we could come back."
Many term the Anaheim comeback as being related to former Washington Capitals head coach, Bruce Boudreau, who was fired by the team he led in capturing the top Eastern Conference spot twice in a row.
Acquiring Boudreau is one of the potential reasons why Anaheim could be termed to be making a comeback but seeing that he failed to get Washington past the first few rounds in the playoffs is definitely not a good sign for Anaheim.
One thing for sure at the moment is, with the amount of time left in the regular season, the Ducks might not be able to get anywhere near the top but are gaining the momentum to at least land the last few positions that would allow them entry into the postseason.
Luckily for Anaheim Ducks, they have some upcoming matchups against teams which should not be a problem for them in overtaking and grabbing as many points possible, but even a few losses here and there could mean their hopes and dreams of getting through
being washed away for good.
Prediction:
Anaheim gets through to playoffs but is knocked out in round one.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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