Terry praises Getzlaf: ‘He is irreplaceable’
Ducks leading scorer Troy Terry spoke at great length recently about retiring captain Ryan Getzlaf, who will play the final game of his 17-year career today against the St. Louis Blues at Honda Center.
Terry talked about Getzlaf the teammate, Getzlaf the mentor and Getzlaf the future Hall of Famer passing him the torch as he heads into retirement with more than 1,000 points in more than 1,150 games.
Here’s Terry, in his own words, on Getzlaf (lightly edited for clarity):
“He deletes a lot of files out there. If you ask him about the last play, a lot of times he doesn’t even remember it or want to talk about it. That’s one of the things about him, there’s things you can learn from, but he’s just a big ‘let it go, keep going’ guy. When I first started playing with him, I was like, ‘I don’t know if you remember this one? Like, I was over on the weak side and I didn’t know what you were doing over there.’ And he’d be like, ‘I don’t even remember, so just forget it.’
“I’ve learned to not come at him with a hundred different questions about specific plays, but he has this ability that when you play with ‘Getzy,’ the game just feels slower. When he’s playing center, in the middle there, he just has this ability. He calms everyone on the ice down. He’ll slow the puck down. Everything seems like it’s moving a little slower. He’s just always had that ability.
“On the bench, and all that, he’s always the most positive guy. He doesn’t necessarily want to talk about specific plays within the game, but he’s always giving advice and doing all that. I could go on forever. It’s truly been an honor to be on the team with him. Just incredibly special to play alongside him for most of this year and a lot of the
Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf, left, and teammate Troy Terry, second from left, watch while the Kings’ Jacob Moverare helps defend during the first period Saturday night.
last couple of years.
“You ask him about the last play and he doesn’t even remember it. Like, if I see someone on TV playing hockey, I will always know what hand they are, if they are right- or lefthanded. I don’t even know if he knows everyone on the team what hand they are. He lives in the moment. He doesn’t overthink anything. He just plays. It’s something we can all learn from.
“I mean, he could turn over the puck for a goal (by the opposition) or he could make a spectacular play for a goal and he still is going to approach the next shift the same. Not to talk about myself, but about him, but that’s been the hardest part for myself in pro hockey. And he’s been someone myself and everyone can learn so much from and have learned so much from.
“It’s taken me a while, but when he has the puck, if he hasn’t looked at me, if there’s a passing lane that there’s no way I think he can see, I need to be ready for it. It’s not often you see a guy with his size and how big he is have just that incredible ability to slow the game down and pass and all of that. It’s no secret how great he is at it and I do think it’s similar to a quarterback.
“He’s got a very dry sense
of humor. He’s funny. He likes to give it to guys and be that guy in the locker room. I guess two things, since I just started talking about that: His ability to turn it on when it came to game time and just all of that was just incredible to me. Off the ice, just as a man, obviously, how he is with his family and how he is as a father. Obviously, I’m not there yet, but it’s something we can all learn from. It’s not just his family, but how he treats everyone.
“There was a time this year when I was in a hurry and I forgot to put my dish away upstairs (at Great Park Ice) for breakfast and ‘Getzy’ was the one who got on me, and I forgot and it was my mistake, but it was just an example of how he holds everyone accountable and we treat everyone the right way. You know, whether it’s the Zamboni driver or the flight attendant or whoever it is, just the way we treat people is first and foremost. I could talk about it forever. Those are just the things off the ice, and as a man, that resonated with me the most. He’s always been good to me.
“There’s not one person that can replace him. He is that to this organization. He is that to this community. He is irreplaceable. I
think losing him next year, obviously, he’s retiring, I mean, for myself, I’m looking to step into a leadership role and become more of that. But I’m not going to sit here and tell you I’m going to be Ryan Getzlaf next year or anything like that leadership-wise. We’ve got great leaders in the room, and it’s going to have to be a by-committee thing – all of us just trying to carry on the way he was with young guys, with the culture in the room. When we’re down and losing, what would ‘Getzy’ do? And just that type of thing is going to have to be a by-committee thing. At the end of the day, there’s no one person who can replace what he’s meant to this team and this community.
“I think his entire résumé is incredible. We went to his ceremony (when he announced his retirement during a press conference April 5 at Honda Center) and some of the stats they were reading off were just incredible. He is the last person to ever talk about his achievements or his stats, so sometimes you don’t realize how much he’s done or how much he’s accomplished. I think he checks basically every (Hall of Fame) box. He is that special of a hockey player.”