In the build-up to the Edmonton Oilers-Anaheim Ducks series, one of the hidden strengths of the young Anaheim team was said to be their veteran leaders, Jacob Trouba, 32, Radko Gudas, 35, and Chris Kreider, 34. Between them, they had decades of NHL experience and no shortage of playoff games under their collective belts, Trouba 74 games Gudas, 58 games, and Kreider, 124 games.
After Game 1, however, with Edmonton winning and Trouba, Gudas and Kreider all making glaring mistakes on goals against, their names are dirt among Ducks fans and commentators, at least for now.
Mainstream and social media aggressively turned on them as the game unfolded and afterwards.
The criticism picked up late in the first period with the Ducks already down by one after Jake Walman hit Jason Dickinson with a breakaway pass, Dickinson flying by two younger Ducks players Ryan Poehling, 26, and Tyson Hinds, 22, to score.
Kapanen’s first goal, Kreider blamed
A minute later Anaheim was breaking out with the puck, with the head-man pass sent to Kreider at centre ice. Kreider evidently sensed a Ducks player was going to close on his left, so he made a quick, no-look back pass to his left, the problem being that no Ducks player had moved up into the rush. Instead, Oilers winger Vasily Podkolzin won a battle for the puck with 22-year-old Ducks d-man Pavel Mintyukov. Podz passed to Leon Draisaitl who took a pass as he moved into the Ducks end, then quickly passed back into the high slot, through 21-year-old Ducks forward Leo Carlsson, to Kasperi Kapanen, who took one shot, then hammered in the rebound, beating Mintyukov’s partner, 36-year-old John Carlson, to the loose puck.
Said Anaheim hockey podcaster Félix Sicard: “Way too casual of a blind backhand by Kreider in the neutral zone, and it’s 2-0 Edmonton. The Ducks simply cannot shoot themselves in the foot like that to have any chance in this series. Especially not from their veterans.”
Dickinson’s second goal, Gudas blamed
Next came Dickinson’s second goal of the game to tie it 3-3 in the third, with Mattias Ekholm roaring up ice, Gudas falling down on his butt to the ice as he attempted a backwards pivot, Ekholm hammering a slapper on net and Dickinson roaring by a flat-footed 19-year-old Beckett Sennecke in the neutral zone and pouncing on the rebound to score.
Said the California-based Empty Netters podcast: “3 depth goals for the Oilers in game 1 of the playoffs. That’s bad news for everyone else. Also sick D by Gudas on that goal 😂”
And Anaheim podcaster Félix Sicard @Felix_Sicard: “Ducks sat back for roughly 12 minutes, was bound to bite them eventually. Gudas trips on thin air, giving Dickinson room to walk in and tee off.”
And Ducks fan Anaheim Calling @anacalling_fhf: “Radko, what the hell”
And Sportsnet’s Mike Johnson of the Gudas wipe-out. “Radko Gudas, that is some kind of blown tire right here. Whoa, that is a nasty heel pick at the worst possible time. That’s an ACL blow-out right there somewhere else. And Auston Matthews is saying, ‘See, that’s what you get for taking on guys’ knees.’ But that one is tough.”
Kapanen’s second goal, Trouba blamed
It got even worse for the Anaheim vets when Draisaitl fought his way past two young Ducks defenders, Leo Carlsson and Jackson LaCombe, bulled his way around the net, reversed the puck down low to Podkolzin, who put a pass by Carlsson into the slot, where Kapanen had moved past Trouba to get shooting position and score the winning 4-3 goal.
After the game, on the Crash the Pond podcast, podcaster Felix Sicard blasted Trouba’s lost battle. “I think that what’s doubly frustrating is that Trouba was attached to Kapanen. He knew that that’s where the play was going, but he was just a step behind him and he didn’t do anything proactively to mess with Kapanen’s stick or to give him a little whack or just anything. It was just unfettered access to the slot. I mean, I’m just going to say it. There’s a lot of people that told us we were super wrong about being down in the Truba trade and, ‘Oh, he’s a veteran and he’s this experienced, solid defenceman.’ And he does sh*t like this all the time.
Sicard continued: “Nobody seems to call him out for it. Here we are now in the playoffs and it arguably just cost the Ducks a game. I wish that there was a little more accountability when it came to the veterans because I’m seeing that a lot in the chat and I’ve seen it on my Twitter replies is that, ‘Yeah, this game, I don’t think the kids were the problem in this game.’ There are a lot of the issues”
Even careful commentator Eric Stephens of The Athletic, a long-time California hockey writer, singled out the vet for criticism: “Chris Kreider had an assist but also committed a costly turnover that ultimately resulted in Kapanen’s first goal. John Carlson couldn’t bat away the rebound that Kapanen’s first shot created after failing to block the first attempt. Radko Gudas fell as he retreated into his zone, giving Mattias Ekholm a clean shot that created the rebound for Dickinson to bury in the third period. Alex Killorn took both Ducks penalties, which they killed.”
And Anaheim hockey writer Zach Cavanaugh the Sporting Tribune highlighted Kreider, Gudas and Trouba for their mistakes. “Where the Ducks playoff rookies led the second-period surge, it was some of Anaheim’s most experienced players that factored in their fall… When the Ducks gave the Oilers any bit of air, they took it.”
Ducks fans were withering in their social media commentary:
Said Ducks fan Trevor Zebras @ZegrasTrevor: “I wish Gudas was still suspended… Radko Gudas had the lowest TOI among all Ducks players last night, playing just 9:40. Maybe his injury is getting to him, maybe it’s not, but he needs to be a true captain and accept the fact that he is negatively impacting the team, and sit out.”
Said Ducks fan Alex Burch @AlexBurch__; “Hope Chris Kreider retires. Guy is a zero.”
And Ducks fan Chris @LAPCJK: “Just a terrible play from Kreider…that’s what you don’t want to see from veteran players jfc.”
And Ducks fan Steven Panepinto @pushead2; “Q needs to change the lines. 20 (Kreider) & 17 (Killorn) are liabilities and slow as sh*t. Stack. The. Lines.”
And Ducks fan matt @gelsDucks: “Gudas needs to retire.”
And Ducks fan Bosh @Boshwizzle: “Get Gudas, Killorn, and Kreider off this team.”
And Ducks fan Jesse Leonard (The Beard) @JesseLeonard11: “Gudas is a liability. Gotta trade him.”
And Ducks fan Chuck Detz @ChuckDetz830: “Gudas needs to be a Vancouver Canuck! What a total loser playing from his back.”
And Ducks fan Ryan Besaw @Beezkneez97: “Crazy how our captain does the least amount of good for this team. And 4 goals now allowed by shitty lazy defense. We just love leaving our goalies out to dry. It’s been that way for 15 years.”
And Ducks fan MK @mkton35: “The veterans are really leading the way in shooting this team in the foot…Kreider and Gudas absolutely gave that game away.”
And Anaheim’s Locked On Anaheim Ducks podcast: “Chris Kreider lost us that game. That’s all.”
My take
1. There’s not much online commentary and discussion around the Anaheim Ducks, certainly not compared to the constant roar of noise around the Edmonton Oilers, but when things go wrong, Ducks fans are every bit as nasty and upset as Oilers, Leafs, Flames or Habs fans, with Canucks fans in their own category, of course.
2. I note that on all the goals against both young and old Ducks players made mistakes, but it’s the old players who are getting singled out. I don’t watch Anaheim enough to know why exactly that is. But I note a general trend for some fans to fall in love with the potential of younger players and tend to overlook their mistakes, while at the same time they get tired of the same old mistakes by veterans, even if those veterans are no more blameworthy on a particular play than a rookie.
3. Finally, it’s the lot of any pro athlete to a bum one minute, a hero the next. Kreider, Trouba and Gudas have plenty of runway left in this series to redeem themselves, as do the Oilers player who performed poorly in Game 1, a game that the Ducks were had significantly more and better shot quality than the Oilers.
At the Cult of Hockey
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