Anaheim Ducks: The Fat Lady Has Sung

For the defending Stanley Cup champion Ducks, the season ended with a 4-1 loss to Dallas in game six, after a hard fought battle in Game 5 to stay alive in the series. I can understand the Dallas fans excitement, especially when it comes to beating the Ducks, who in several previous playoff series, stopped short their attempt to climb to the top.

I won’t begrudge my fellow hockey fans their glory and excitement, as it is a thrill to advance to the next round. I know the feeling, anyone remember when the Ducks swept the Wings in 2003? That was magical for any Ducks fan and everything else was just icing on the cake.

As individual players meetings took place this past week with Brian Burke, before the players go home for the long summer, Ducks fans might be wondering what changes we are in for. It’s no secret that Toronto is continually trying to woo Burke and now with the 2007-2008 season officially over for the boys from Anaheim, they can talk to him even sooner.

Will "Burkie" abandon Anaheim for any General Manager’s dream job in T.O.? He says he will stay through his contract, which is for one more year, and try to work out a contract extension, but until that is done, I am not going to put all my Duck eggs in one basket. For my own selfish reasons I hope he stays, but GM’s, owners, coaches and players come and go…even fans sometimes, but that’s another story.

It is uncertain and maybe even doubtful that Teemu Selanne and Scott Niedermayer will return. Selanne has stated that he will make a decision no later than July 1, having said in a local paper that he will either play an entire season, or not play at all. Scott Niedermayer on the other hand, still isn’t sure if he will return or not, which is unfortunate, because they’re both stellar players in their own right.

Either way, a decision will need to be made soon, as Brian Burke has already stated that the two fan favorites will not be given the same opportunity of taking their time, as they were last season. Mathieu Schneider and Doug Weight are also a mystery, although no one is expecting Weight to return, which makes the loss of Andy MacDonald a little harder to stomach if Scott Niedermayer doesn’t return.

There are still a lot of up and coming young stars on this team and two of the youngest, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry are already veterans of the playoffs. Although Corey Perry has made it clear he loves Anaheim and his home is here, I still hope the Ducks do not waste time signing the young, chippy forward.

It would be a shame to lose another player to an exorbitant offer sheet, as was the case with Dustin Penner.

In a nutshell it is hard to predict what will happen during the off season, but while the guys are out playing golf, something I need to get back to doing, I will be nursing my playoff wounds and preparing for next season, because as they say, "there’s always next season.”