The 2-Headed Beast

Is anyone else as riveted as I am by the surge of press coverage about the upcoming war between J.S. Giguere and Jonas Hiller?

Of course, something tells me that it won't be the war that's been hyped. Frankly, it probably won't even be a skirmish.

Why?

Because both gentlemen are professionals. This summer has really gotten me thinking about how lucky the Ducks are in one key regard: they are a team of men.

To use a timely example, when was the last time you heard of a Duck player assaulting a cabbie? For that matter, when was the last time you heard of a Duck assaulting anyone? (And no, Mike Brown's hit on Jiri Hudler this past postseason doesn't count as assault - for the last time, it was a clean hit, dammit.)

On top of that, I can't remember a single occasion post-lockout (i.e. under the current set of financial limitations faced by teams) where a Duck asked to be traded out of Southern California. As an OC native, I can intuitively understand why a player might be a little slower to leave here than, say, Ottawa (*coughcoughHeatleycough*), but it's still interesting to note.

Saku Koivu's quip from when he was traded probably sums it up as well as any: "Coming from Montreal to sunny beautiful California is going to be different. It’s been nothing but hockey in Montreal for 14 years, and I’m sure it’s going to be different. I’m fairly confident I’m going to like that."

(A minor digression: That's part of what made Francois Beauchemin's departure a tough one, in my mind. I have no doubt that he would have stayed if he could have, and in all likelihood the departure of Pronger would have automatically anointed Frankie B as the #2 defenseman, but he thought he was worth more money and Brian Burke proved him right. Tough deal for us, and I hope that I'll get to hear some candid feelings from him about his new environs, but in the interim I'll keep my autographed puck in the display case...)

And this takes me back to the Giguere/Hiller situation. I can't believe that either of them actively wants to leave Anaheim, so the only reason either of them is likely to do so is if they've lost our #1 netminder job and someone else comes calling. Sure, it could happen, and from a salary standpoint it's a lot more likely that another team will try to snipe Hiller than Giguere, but the trade has to be approved by both parties and the Ducks won't let go of either goalie easily.

So what's going to happen? If our front office is as intelligent as I give them credit for being, they'll keep up the "1A and 1B" spiel right up until somebody hits either a hot streak or a slump. That's when things will change. But as Giguere himself recently alluded, the battle won't be between the goalies, it will be in each goalie's head.

It's up to Giguere to put his personal demons behind him and keep his eyes on the puck. If he can do that, and if he can swallow shots like we know he can, he'll be back to his old self in no time. Having Pete Peeters as a new and apparently highly-supportive voice can only help in that regard.

It's up to Hiller to ignore the cacophany that now surrounds him, and to tighten up his already tight system so that he allows as few rebounds as possible. Until our new defensive corps proves that they'll be able to retrieve any pucks that Hiller leaves prone, the onus will be on Hiller not to leave them prone in the first place. And again, having a few all-new tips from Peeters (or at least an all-new perspective on the same old tips) should be a boon.

And what about that Pogge kid? It's almost impossible to say at this point. He simply hasn't yet done what the scouts and pundits thought he could. Maybe he'll turn that around here, maybe not, but being without a steady gig in the AHL will be a damper on his development.

(I'm sorry, Levasseur and Pielmeier, but you've got some waiting to do. Unless a long string of unlikely events occurs, you're not going to be part of this year's conversation.)

All in all, we're lucky to have two excellent netminders and a potentially solid #3. Nobody is going to request a trade unless they bring it on themself by underperforming. Nobody is going to directly compete with anyone or anything outside of their own body. And most importantly, nobody is going to be locker room poison just because they're feeling pouty (looking at you again, Heatley).

Now, if Bob Murray thinks that he can move a certain 2-year, $13 million salary and get a decent return on it, that's another story...

Until next time...
-The Raving Duck