Viktor Fasth Proving the Dream Can Never Die

(Jeff Gross / Getty Images)

 After an intense 3-2 shootout victory at the Honda Center, Anaheim Ducks back-up goaltender Viktor Fasth skated onto the ice to the cheers of a capacity crowd for first star honors. Fasth, visibly emotional after earning his first career win in his first career start as an NHL netminder, stuck around for an on-ice interview presented to rollicking Ducks fans further relishing the team's first home win of the season. Struggling to find the words to describe his feelings (perhaps in awe of his accomplishment, or maybe it was just a language barrier thing,) he spoke into the microphone that boomed throughout the stadium, "It feels great. I've been waiting 30 years for this."

 That's funny, that Swedish guy is so happy that he can't even count right. 30 years, ha! But upon closer inspection, Fasth's timetable was not incorrect at all.

 After tearing up the Swedish Non-Elite League for three years, he joined AIK of Sweden's SEL. Departing after two solid seasons there, Viktor Fasth finally got his chance with an NHL club at age 30.

Duck Hunt

 The Anaheim Ducks, by far the greatest disappointment of the first half of the 2011-12 season, have been the subject of many bold trade rumors since their slow start to the year looked to be like something far greater than just a slump.  The Ducks seemed destined to be big time sellers at the trade deadline, and the debate became not only what superstar players would be on the move, but how many juggernauts' days were numbered in Anaheim.  BUT WAIT!  Now, suddenly the Ducks seem mighty once again, barrelling through opponents with wings of fire like they're out to prove that they are the talent-riddled team that everyone had believed them to be.
 The Ducks are 8-2-1 in January, their best players have lived up to the old hockey cliché and have been the team's best players, Jonas Hiller hasn't been a deadbeat between the pipes, and, although they still reside in the basement of the Pacific Division, just might pull off a miracle when it comes to a playoff push.  Even though Anaheim's General Manager, Bob Murray, is surely excited by his squads recent success, he's now left with some difficult decisions to make as his team approaches the trade deadline.  Should he be a buyer, and add to a hot team?  Should he consider a storybook run to a playoff berth too improbable to reach for, and sell at the deadline?  The smart decision for Mr. Murray to make here is a combination of both.

That Didn't Take Long

 Bruce Boudreau, only a few days after being fired by the Washington Capitals, already has a new gig.  he Anaheim Ducks put out a team release around 1am today, stating that the club had come to the decision to fire their head coach who served them behind the bench since 2005, Randy Carlyle, and immediately replace him with Boudreau.  Carlyle is the third NHL coach to be fired so far this week, adding him to the group including Paul Maurice, and his predecessor, Bruce Boudreau.
 The Ducks have limped along so far this season, "earning" a 7-13-4 record so far.  Their year so far has been highlighted by the +/- struggles of their top line, Jonas Hiller's inability to achieve top form since returning from the vertigo condition that plagued him last season, and, on a more positive note, the surprisingly strong and effective play of the Ducks' young role player Devante Smith-Pelly.  Carlyle has been on the hot seat for a majority of the year as Anaheim has inexplicably struggled with a roster chock full of talent.  Management had already made their decision to let Carlyle go before the Ducks' 4-1 victory over the Montréal Canadiens tonight, as they informed him that his job as bench boss was over approximately 40 minutes after the game ended.
 Not only does Boudreau bring a replacement for a big name coach with another big name coach, but one would expect that he also brings with him the end to the Bobby Ryan trade rumors that have run rampant over the past two days.  Nothings official on that front, of course, but Anaheim should wait and see if a new man calling the shots behind the bench will provide the change of scenery necessary to get things back to where they should be before moving one of their star players in an attempt to find that same boost.

Coaching Carousel

 Two big name head coaches were relieved of their duties today.  The Washington Capitals fired four-year bench boss Bruce Boudreau, and the Carolina Hurricanes let go of their coach for the past three seasons, Paul Maurice.  Both teams have been underachieving throughout November, and both clubs' administrations respectively felt it was time for a change.

Forget Crosby, forget Ovechkin, Boudreau was the
 true break-out star of HBO's 24/7 series!!!

 The Capitals, after getting off to a league leading 10-2-0 start through the first 12 games of the 2011-12 season, have stumbled tremendously during the course of the past month.  Washington has gone 3-7-1 in the 11 games since their start, and have also had to deal with a struggling captain in Alexander Ovechkin, an overpaid misfit growing more distant from "team" mentality in Alexander Semin, a goalie who seems to believe nonchalantly shuffling from post-to-post is an effective goaltending strategy in Tomas Vokoun, as well as an entire roster of players that just have been plagued by fundamental errors recently.  Last year, the Capitals went through a long stretch of futility chronicled by HBO's 24/7 series, but Boudreau and his team were able to collect the pieces of their season and put it back together to earn the best record in the Eastern Conference.  Caps' GM George McPhee clearly did not think Boudreau could do so again this year, so he's out, and Capitals legend and fan-favorite Dale Hunter is in.
 McPhee sent Boudreau a text message, that he received at 6:30 am, informing him that he had lost his job as "as result of the performance over the past 10 games."  Regarding rumors that the move was prompted by the poor play of the team's superstar, Alex Ovechkin, or a growing rift between him and his coach, McPhee was quoted as saying, "I don't think this has anything to do with Ovechkin. I think it's got everything to do with this team not playing well."  He also noted that Ovi will remain the team's captain.
 After practice today, Ovechkin was predictably interviewed and was asked for his thoughts on the subject, to which he responded, "Everybody was in shock."  Mike Knuble was also asked several questions, and had glowing things to say of his now former coach, but is also ready to move on with Dale Hunter at the helm.


This is actually the 2nd time Maurice has
been fired by Carolina.  He served as
head coach for the franchise from
1996-2004 and, most recently, 2008-11.

  Coming into this season, the Hurricanes, with offseason additions of Tomas Kaberle, Anthony Stewart, Alexei Ponikarovsky, and Tim Brent, were expected to not only make the playoffs, but possibly make a deep push towards the Stanley Cup.  These expectations would prove to be Paul Maurice's downfall.  An inconsistent club, and underperforming captain and superstar in Eric Staal, and pitiful 3rd period performances during the year have made Caniacs feeling like an 8th seed in the playoffs would be a blessing at this point.  The 'Canes sit last in the Southeast Division and searching for answers as to why they cannot string together more wins than they already have.  Whether it is the correct answer or not is yet to be seen, but the first answer we've been presented with is the firing of Maurice, and hiring of the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals' coach, Kirk Muller.
 Muller, who was only in his first year of AHL coaching, had gone 10-6-0-1 with Milwaukee before being scooped up
                                                           by Carolina's staff.

 With these two moves being made today, many are wondering how long it is going to take now for similar actions to be taken in other cities, the most notable being Anaheim.  The Ducks, who have a roster loaded with talent that includes the league's reigning MVP, Corey Perry, have been terrible so far this season.  They're dead last in the Pacific Division, have a 6-13-4 record, goalie Jonas Hiller has not been able to regain his All-Star form since his episodes with vertigo that ended his season last year, Jason Blake had his forearm lacerated in a game back in October and hasn't played since, basically nothing is going right for Anaheim, and head coach Randy Carlyle doesn't have much longer to turn things around.  It is unsure whether or not Anaheim will choose to make a trade or fire their skipper to shake things up in an attempt to move their season in a more positive direction, but Carlyle should approach every day in the near future like his Ducks career is in jeopardy, not one of his player's.  I give Carlyle no later than December 14th to turn things around in Anaheim before he is no longer behind the bench.

A Day Of Little Stories

 Sorry for the lack of a witty or cheesy post title, but I think it appropriately describes a day like today. We have a few little stories, but as small as they may seem, they are certainly worth mentioning.

Lookin' fresh as always, Mr. Avery

 The National Hockey League's most-wanted man and the poster boy for agitators everywhere, Sean Avery, cleared re-entry waivers at noon earlier today.  Some are reporting we may see him on the ice in a Rangers uniform as early as their next game on Thursday against Anaheim.  Avery's stint so far this season with the AHL's Connecticut Whale was a very short one, so why call him back up so soon?  Did the Rangers succumb to mounting fan pressure, after disgruntled fans loudly chanted, "WE WANT AVERY!" during the 3rd period of New York's home opener?  Probably not.  Tortorella does things his way, not the fans' way.  If he didn't want Avery here to begin with, no number of nacho-popping, New Yorker season ticket holders are going to change his mind.  Avery's return is probably the result of the criticisms coming from across the league that the Rangers have been lacking a sense of grit down the roster.


  Almost simultaneously with the news breaking of Avery clearing re-entry waivers, it was reported that the Rangers offer to Swedish defenseman Anton Stralman, a 1-year, one-way contract, made earlier is still on the table.  Stralman, who is still in Sweden, would provide a minor boost to the New York blue line, but would definitely give their roster more depth upon the return of All-Star defender Marc Staal.  Don't look for Stralman, a Jekyll & Hyde-esque player during his last season as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets, to make any significant impact to the Rangers if he were to decide to accept the deal in front of him, but that still wouldn't necessarily make it a "useless pick-up" by New York.  He could help if they needed him to, not to mention it's a better situation for Anton Stralman himself, instead of just sitting on his couch in Sweden.

 The other story of the day isn't about someone's return to the NHL from overseas or the AHL, but rather if they will stay in the NHL at all.  Anaheim's 19 year-old 4th liner, Devante Smith-Pelly, may not have impressive numbers on the scoresheet, but he has been very effective grinding it out on the Ducks' bottom two lines through the first nine games of the season.  Smith-Pelly, an Anaheim 2nd round draft pick in 2010 who no one seemed to be talking about coming into this season, has outlasted talk-of-the-town youngsters Mark Scheifele, Ryan Strome, Brandon Saad, and Mika Zibanejad... but still has received no owrd on whether he's staying with the squad or not.  Smith-Pelly skated on the 4th line during the Ducks' morning skate today, and with reporters swarming to find out if he knew whether or not he'd be staying on the team or not, he didn't really know what to tell them.  Tonight's game against the Washington Capitals (a nationally broadcasted Versus game, mind you) would be his 10th game of the year.  If I were a betting man, I would say Smith-Pelly gets to stay with the Anaheim Ducks' for the rest of the year and hopefully continue to add some sandpaper and strong forechecking to the team.   But I'm not a betting man.  I'm a blogger.  So what do I know?