Justin Pogge who, in case you need a reminder, is currently the proud owner of a 4.36 GAA and .866 save percentage through his 7 NHL games last year, and who allowed Douglas "Chin Dribble" Murray to score a hat trick in the preseason, has been recalled, presumably to take Giguere's seat while he nurses a "body injury" that just reared its head.
Oh, crap.
Coming on the heels of a 5-0 thumping by St. Louis that we really didn't deserve, this is kind of atrocious news.
In fairness, the overwhelming odds right now are that Pogge sits on the bench tonight and shows off his "interested" face while Hiller tries to make some magic happen in net. Hiller, on the other hand, really needs to make that magic happen. But I’m not sure that he can.
To state the obvious: The Ducks need a boost right now. They need something to galvanize them. Maybe it'll be Bobby Ryan waking up, saying "Oh yeah - I'm Bobby Ryan" and providing some tangible offense. Maybe it'll be some random Todd Marchant heroics. Maybe it'll be George Parros dominating a fight, or Artyukhin using his size to break a guy (and if that guy happens to be Mike Ribiero in tonight's game, the "WOOT!" you hear will be mine), or even Getzlaf dropping the gloves.
I think it will be when J.S. Giguere steals a game.
It's tempting to write a diatribe about why, exactly, I have such fiery hatred of the Sharks, but I'll save that for another time. The crux of that argument is, however, relevant to this discussion. Specifically, it's that the Ducks have heart. Visible, tangible heart. Sure, we have quite a nice sampler plate of raw talent present in our roster; not many teams would turn down the opportunity to sign Scott Niedermeyer, Teemu Selanne, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Ryan Whitney... well, you get the idea. And yet on most nights, we don't use that talent to win games. We win faceoffs. We check. We beat icing calls and force the opponent offsides. When we win, we win through strength of will.
You've seen "Pulp Fiction," right? Remember this?
That's what we need right now. For John Travolta to shoot us full of adrenaline. Because right now, we're passed out on the floor.
Right about now, you may be asking yourself just what the Pogge recall has to do with our need to wake up and smell the nachos. Simple - it would be great for this team if Giguere found a solid win. Even better if he held down a shutout.
When you consider this, remember the human factor. Giguere has carried the team on more than one occasion, sometimes while he was fighting personal demons off the ice. He's a big-hearted guy, and this was the season for him to prove himself and to reclaim the #1 job. That hasn't happened yet, and I truly don't think it's because of Giguere's play. He's been very solid, and I believe all the various comments he's made to the press about how good he's feeling and how well he's seeing the puck. A new defense is still figuring itself out, and Randy Carlyle it still figuring out how to deploy it. So yeah, Hiller and Giguere have seen their numbers fall a bit. It happens.
If Pogge is up tonight, then Giguere isn't playing. Ergo, he won't be getting his big win tonight. Therefore, the softer, more tentative Ducks that tend to hit the ice in front of Hiller will be playing tonight's game. Q.E.D., the pattern probably doesn't break tonight. Hence "Oh, crap."
Yeah.
Hence.
Bear in mind that no part of this is anti-Hiller. Quite the opposite. I like the guy quite a bit. It's just that he hasn't stepped up to take the mantle of #1 Goalie. He’s as self-assured (possibly even arrogant) as his talent allow him to be. He has all the skill you'd ever need, but I'm not convinced of his heart.
What I am convinced of is that we'll need heart to win, and to get some momentum going.
But Pogge was called up.
Oh, crap.
Until next time...
-The Raving Duck
Edit: Hope is not lost. Apparently, Jiggy is a "maybe" for tonight, but he's still injured and not at 100%. Hence, my post remains valid.
Hence.
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