Ducks grind out end to lengthy slide

If the Ducks were mired in a nine-game winless skid in past seasons, they could have eased the tension by going to dinner together, dropping the bill in the laps of their rookies. Or they could have called off practice and gone bowling or held a ping pong, pool or golf tournament.

One time, they scrimmaged outdoors on the frozen Rideau Canal in Ottawa, taking a break from the grind of the 2005-06 season. Teemu Selanne and Todd Marchant served as coaches. Goaltender J-S Giguere shed his pads and mask and played forward, scoring a goal.

Two days, later the Ducks beat the Senators.

Team bonding exercises are banned because of the

NHL’s COVID-19 protocols. Players cannot go to dinner together, on the road or at home. Bowling, ping pong, pool and golf in groups are forbidden activities. Their time at the rink is limited, too.

So, what’s a struggling team to do?

In the Ducks’ case, the answer was to keep grinding through what longtime team captain Ryan Getzlaf called “probably the most challenging (time) I’ve encountered here in my 15 years.” So much of their past lives has been altered and not in a favorable way.

“There’s a lot of different methods of breaking out of slumps and team troubles and all that kind of stuff,” Getzlaf said. “But most of them involve something off the ice, where you get together as a group. You do some things as a group, a team dinner or whatever it is.