Here's why the Ducks are Stanley Cup champions, and the best pro sports organization in Southern California.
They don't mess around.
Sunday was the first day for free-agent signings in the NHL, and the Ducks expected to be pretty quiet. The team is in pretty good shape, after all.
Then defenseman Scott Niedermayer called general manager Brian Burke and said he was leaning toward retiring — “strongly leaning,� he said in a later conference call. That meant the team suddenly had a need, and it didn't dither about how to respond.
“We immediately jumped into the game,� said Burke, “and were able to sign Mathieu Schneider.�
Niedermayer called Burke at 8 a.m. The Schneider signing was eported at 11:49 a.m. That's a remarkably quick reaction, particularly taking into account that Schneider will reportedly be paid $11.25 million for two years.
“I called my boss, Mike Schulman,� said Burke, referring to the Ducks' CEO, “and told him we'd be at a salary cap figure we hadn't anticipated. He said, “If that's what you have to do, go ahead and do it. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.'
“Our goal is to repeat, and this was the best move we could make today.�
This is why the Ducks are so good. The organization has an unquestioned commitment to winning, and a general manager bold and decisive enough to turn that commitment into action.
If Niedermayer retires, the Ducks have a replacement in place. If he doesn't, the defense corps is even stronger and deeper than it was this year — and it was already good enough to win a championship.
Meanwhile, at this writing, more than 12 hours after the free-agent signing period began, the Flyers, Rangers and Avalanche have snapped up the four best forwards in the free-agent market, and a number of other teams have made signings of varying degrees of significance.
The Kings' next move will be their first. Has anyone pointed out that they need to do something to get better, and to restore their credibility?
No doubt GM Dean Lombardi has tried to do something. But he hasn't, as of yet, succeeded, which makes the team look even worse, if possible, in comparison to the Ducks.
With every hour that passes, Kings owner AEG reaffirms the belief that it's a conglomerate that happens to own a hockey team, rather than a serious hockey organization that happens to be part of a larger company.