Ducks look for answers after missing playoffs

truebluefan · Apr 18, 2010

http://www.dailynews.com/sports/ci_14879455

Team pictures, jerseys and hockey sticks lined the hallway outside the Ducks' locker room Monday, all waiting for autographs, the surest sign it was time to dot the I's and cross the T's on another season.

This one ended sooner than anyone expected.

"I wish I could put my finger on it," center Ryan Getzlaf said. "It's not an easy thing. We came out of the gate slow. With the three-point system, it's tough to gain points on teams."

For the players who grinded out a 39-32-11 season, maybe the answers weren't clear as to why the team missed the playoffs for the first time since the lockout season of 2004-05.

But forget about the mess on the ice. The lost season was just as much a byproduct of who wasn't on the ice.

Aside from two future first-round draft picks, the Ducks' only immediate return on the blockbuster Chris Pronger trade was 23 games from forward Joffrey Lupul and eight from defenseman Luca Sbisa. Injuries and illness cost Teemu Selanne a total of 26 games and Getzlaf missed another 16.

Maybe a deeper team could withstand those kind of personnel losses and still make the playoffs. Maybe the Ducks could have, too, were it not for a 16-19-7 start to the season or five consecutive losses after the Olympic break to negate a solid midseason run.
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Ducks look for answers after missing playoffs

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Ducks look for answers after missing playoffs

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