Anaheim’s dynamic duo leads team’s resurgence
You can’t talk about the Anaheim Ducks without mentioning Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf.
They go together like Montana and Rice, Jordan and Pippen, Batman and Robin.
They are the superheroes on the Ducks. When they go, the Ducks go.
The 30-year-olds were born six days apart in 1985: Getzlaf was born May 10 in Regina; Perry on May 16 in Peterborough.
They’ve been almost inseparable since the Ducks drafted Getzlaf at No. 19 overall and Perry No. 28 in 2003.
In the modern NHL era, you’d be hard-pressed to find two superstars teamed up for such a long period: you have Crosby and Malkin in Pittsburgh and the Sedin twins in Vancouver.
Their size alone makes them a powerful force. Getzlaf is six-foot-four and 221 pounds, while Perry stacks up at six-foot-three and 210.
Together, they have a Stanley Cup in 2007 and two Olympic gold medals.
Getzlaf is a prototypical power forward who is a tough on the forecheck, while Perry finds goals in tight spaces even though he doesn’t possess the hardest shot.
In their Cup triumph, the Ducks had two of the top three defencemen in the league on the ice in Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger, who each played 30 minutes a game.
“Our team is younger now,” Getzlaf said, “but we still have a great group that can do some things. We’ve been building.”
Going into Thursday night’s game against the Maple Leafs at the Air Canada Centre, the Ducks were still regarded as a Cup favourite.
Getzlaf was among the first 16 to be named to Team Canada’s roster for the upcoming World Cup, but Perry was conspicuously left off.
“I’m sure he’s had a chip on his shoulder since,” Getzlaf said.
“The one thing I know is that he doesn’t talk a whole lot. I know things affect him; he had four goals in the next two games.”
Against the Canadiens in Montreal on Tuesday, Perry potted his 30th of the season, giving him six seasons of 30 or more goals. That tied him for second in Anaheim team history with Paul Kariya, leaving him one behind Teemu Selanne.
Getzlaf, on the other hand, got off to a slow start and had only 11 goals going into Thursday’s action, but he’s been willing to sacrifice scoring for the greater good of the team.
“We’re at a point in our careers where it’s not about us,” Getzlaf said. “It’s about what’s best for our team.”
The Ducks were more like lame ducks to start the season due in part to a lot of veteran turnover.
“Anyone who has been in a locker room knows that the veterans aren’t the same as the young guys coming in,” Getzlaf said. “We have to find a way to make them fit in their spots, where they want to be, what their attitude in the room is . . . those kinds of things.”
The Ducks were 1-7-2 in October and Getzlaf said the team should have done a better job of team building.
“Some of it is on us and some of it is on the organization,” Getzlaf said.
After getting shut out in five of their first eight games, several team meetings were held.
Coach Bruce Boudreau told them if they weren’t able to score they had better learn how to win 1-0.
“They bought into that,” Boudreau said. “We started to win1-0. It’s about us defending and playing the right way.”
Since the Christmas break, Anaheim has been the hottest team in the league (28-8-3 going into Thursday’s game) and Getzlaf and Perry have been leading the charge.
Getzlaf, who had only one goal prior to Christmas, had 22 points, including seven goals, in his last 21 games prior to Thursday’s action.
He said he’s happy his personal slump came in Anaheim and not in Toronto, where the spotlight is far more intense.
Boudreau said this is one of the luxuries of playing in California.
“You can hide a little bit out there,” he said.