The Anaheim Ducks are currently looking to establish themselves as an up-and-coming team, but in this exclusive story from THN's archive, we spotlighted a young Ducks star named Ryan Getzlaf, and his ascent to the top of the NHL's pecking order.
The Anaheim Ducks are still trying to turn the competitive corner and rise to the top of the Pacific Division – and in this cover story from THN’s’ June 5, 2007 edition (Vol. 60, Issue 33), senior writer Ken Campbell profiled Ducks star center Ryan Getzlaf as he settled into his role as a cornerstone competitor for the franchise.
(And this is your friendly, daily reminder: to access THN’s exclusive archive, go to http://THN.com/Free and subscribe to the magazine.)
After being drafted 19th overall in 2003, Getzlaf made a mark at the NHL level very early, and won a Stanley Cup with the Ducks in 2007. And then-Ducks-GM Brian Burke was effusive in his praise for Getzlaf as a competitor and a leader.
“He’s a great kid and he’s going to be a captain and he’s going to be a star, I think,” Burke told Campbell. “We have no quarrel with Getzy and his development.”
Ducks coach Randy Carlyle concurred with his GM, while setting new goals for Getzlaf as a night-in, night-out difference-maker.
“When we talk about him being as good as he wants to be, when he doesn’t move his feet, he’s not as effective and that’s all it is, really,” Carlyle said. “If he’s standing around, he’s ineffective. He just has to keep moving. But he has a skill set a lot of people would like to have.”
RYAN’S ARRIVAL
By Ken Campbell
Ryan Getzlaf has been hearing about it all season and words to the same effect will undoubtedly be spoken a few more times during the Stanley Cup final.
Somewhere, sometime, somebody will talk about how good Ryan Getzlaf is going to be someday. Somebody will predict stardom, maybe even superstardom, for a player who didn’t even score 40 goals as a bantam player and has never scored 30 in a season as a player in major junior, minor pro or the NHL.
All season, both Anaheim Ducks GM Brian Burke and coach Randy Carlyle have been telling anyone who will listen that Getzlaf will be, “as good as he wants to be.” (If that’s the case and Getzlaf is smart, he’ll start dreaming about being as good as Wayne Gretzky sometime soon.)
Teammate Teemu Selanne, who has played 15 years in the league and scored 76 goals in his rookie season, has said Getzlaf has the potential to be one of the top players in the NHL, maybe the best. He also says the 22-year-old center still has no idea how good he can be.
Sheesh, you’d think the kid would have taken the hint by now.
“I guess it shows people have confidence in the player you can be,” said Getzlaf, drafted 19th overall in 2003. “It’s great when people who are behind you think you can be a pretty good player in this league.”
Usually when GMs or coaches tell a player he can be as good as he wants to be, that’s not a real positive thing. The underlying notion is they’re not playing up to their potential and if they only wanted success a little more and were willing to work for it, it would come to them.
Burke insists that’s not the case with Getzlaf.
“That’s not how we’re saying it,” Burke said. “We’re saying it with a great deal of respect. He’s a great kid and he’s going to be a captain and he’s going to be a star, I think. We have no quarrel with Getzy and his development.”
But what the Ducks want to see from Getzlaf is what hockey people call, “the fire in the belly.” For example, coaches often schedule optional practices as a way of seeing which players will show up and for now, anyway, they’d like to see Getzlaf at all of them. Even Getzlaf acknowledges he needs to develop more consistency.
“The guys who really succeed are the ones who show up every night and are ready to play and bring the same thing every night,” said the 6-foot-3, 211-pounder.
Those who predict stardom for Getzlaf have this year’s playoff tournament to use as evidence. Most young, developing players watch their ice time dwindle during the post-season, but the opposite has been true for Getzlaf. He started this season as a fourth-liner and gradually worked his way up, averaging 15:03 in ice time per game.
Entering the Stanley Cup final, though, Getzlaf was anchoring the second line between Corey Perry and Dustin Penner and was putting in a remarkable 22:30 per game. He sat second on the Ducks in scoring with five goals and 13 points in 16 games and has been playing in all situations. When the Ducks have a 5-on-3 (you never used to be able to say that in the playoffs before, could you?) Getzlaf is oft en at one of the points so the Ducks can exploit his big shot.
“He has earned it,” said Burke of Getzlaf’s increased workload. “He has been terrific.”
Of the 15 minutes Getzlaf averaged this season, about 90 seconds of it was killing penalties. Despite that, he managed to score 25 goals and 58 points. Mike Ribeiro of the Dallas Stars and Lee Stempniak of the St. Louis Blues were the only players who played less than Getzlaf and still managed to score 50 or more points. Only Penner, Stempniak and Jordan Staal of the Pittsburgh Penguins played less than Getzlaf and scored 25 or more goals.
Injuries to Todd Marchant and, later, Chris Kunitz, forced the Ducks – who run a short bench to begin with – to rely more on young players such as Getzlaf. Carlyle said the young center continues to progress, but has to be mindful of the consistency factor from one game to the next.
“When we talk about him being as good as he wants to be, when he doesn’t move his feet, he’s not as effective and that’s all it is, really,” Carlyle said. “If he’s standing around, he’s ineffective. He just has to keep moving. But he has a skill set a lot of people would like to have.”
Should Getzlaf develop into an elite player at the NHL level, he will be one of those few players who turns out to be a better pro than he was a junior. Getzlaf was a very good player as a teenager, good enough to play for Canada at the world Junior Championship in 2005, but was not a dominant player at that level. For his part, Burke thinks Getzlaf will eclipse his junior numbers in the NHL.
“I think there’s going to be a day when he has a tough time remembering when he only got 30 goals,” Burke said.
Getzlaf skates well, plays an increasingly physical game and has the second-hardest shot on the team after Chris Pronger. Which is something as a surprise, considering as a promising young baseball player in Regina, he was a singles hitter. He looks like he could tear the cover off the ball, but he was strictly Punch and Judy.
“He actually probably could have played baseball for a career if he wanted to,” said Ryan’s brother, Chris.
“He was a really good catcher, but he made his choice in hockey and it looks like it has worked out for him.”
Chris, two years Ryan’s senior, will spend the Stanley Cup final in training camp with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League. The Tiger-Cats drafted Chris 33rd overall after he starred as a slotback at the University of Regina. Chris was named an all-Canadian after finishing second in the country with 10 touchdowns and third in receiving yards with 923.
Brother Ryan also played football in the prairies and one season teamed up with Chris on a local team; Ryan as a running back and Chris as a receiver. Between them, they scored 34 touchdowns.
Undoubtedly, even back then, people were telling Ryan Getzlaf how good he could be.
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